Having worked with Rhett Davies for so long would BF benefit from a change of producer? There hasn't been an independant (To Ferry's circle) outside producer to work with him since Robin Trower (Didn't seem to make any difference to his sound on mamouna) and Pat Leonard (Departure from his usual sound if a little to close to Madonna's then sound). Given that he works with people such as Nile Rodgers and Eno who have produced major artists and shifted units, would it be a good idea for BF to work with another producer?

IMO - a different producer and a whole set of new musicians would do the trick and get him out of that familiarity thing.

No more Good, Thompson (Ollie) Newmark, Nile Rodgers, Dave Gilmour, etc etc etc

A clean slate would do him the world of good - Bride Stripped Bare worked in that regard -

New producer would be great. Absolutely no Good anywhere. Ollie is fine, he can stay . Nile is a god, but time for a change...

Just look at what the collaboration with Dave Stewart did: I know I may have lost some people now, but I still think the original alphaville material was some of his best ever.

Elegantly Ageing Hipsters,
What a great question monsieur wrighta poses.
In my not so humble opinion (IMNSHO), our hero has such a strong handle on things that all producers are under good control and his band of musical troubadours provide incomparable and contrasting musical input. What other artist would work with artists as diverse as Colin Good and Nile Rodgers? Certainly Good has been pivotal in the renaissance of our hero's career.
However one conclusion, that as a consummate listener, I am reaching is that some of the more over produced back catalogue is not ageing well. IMNSHO, given the strength of his songs, this just cry's out for a 'stripped' treatment.
Regards,
Windswept.

why not send emails to Bryan's sites & let him know?! Maybe he'll hear y'all enough to plant a seed in his mind.

I agree with Roxysiren regarding Alphaville, I always thought it superior to Frantic (rather like a dark mirror image twin) but in true Ferry fashion the collaboration with Dave Stewart was delayed long after Stewart's period of everything he touched being covered in gold dust. The major crux to this question is Ferry doesn't like being bossed around which I think happened with Chris Thomas, doesn't like the idea of being in a band where he is pushed/challenged by the band environment and is managed "in house", the emperors new clothes syndrome in fact.

I'm not sure a new producer will help much. Bryan seems to have run out of lyrics and his voice seems so weak now.

I agree he seems to need pushing, which I think Chris Thomas used to do. I know that Bryan is not happy with the In Your Mind album, stating somewhere that it didn't have a proper producer and needed someone like Chris Thomas to push him to produce better top lines for the tracks.

Crazy as it may sound, production of others may be the way ahead for Bryan in the twilight years of his career. The Jazz Age hints at this direction.

I recall that the great Kevin Rowland wanted BF to produce him/Dexys way back in their early days. KR was, and is, a huge BF fan; he really gets him. Sadly, that production gig never happened, of course.

Exactly my thoughts, IMNSH
Much darker, and no Colin Good, thankfully (btw, I like CG doing jazz and ATGB, but really can't take too much of his straight line virtuosity on any other BF material, sorry)

Great question. I think he would benefit from Eno, not just because of the Roxy connection, but from Eno. I don't know figures, but would hazzard a guess that Eno has £gained more from the music industry than Ferry has, due to his undoubted production accumen, and musical ear. I would back Eno to produce Ferry, yes. Would Ferry bow down to it? Probably not.

For what it's worth, I see young Oliver Thompson going onto huge things, way after Ferry, and us. Surprised he's not been mentioned before the close of the transfer window long before now, a-la Paul going on a "free" transfer to Lindasfarne.