He is known for his work with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, and the New York Dolls, among other rock artists in the 1970s and 1980s; notably he produced four successful albums for Aerosmith.

Douglas then moved to England and joined a succession of bands before returning to New York to attend the Institute of Audio Research.

A chance encounter with a group member led Douglas to help engineer the Who's 1971 Record Plant sessions for the aborted Lifehouse project.

As a Record Plant staff engineer, Douglas also forged working relationships with Patti Smith, Blue Öyster Cult, the New York Dolls, Cheap Trick, Starz, and most notably Aerosmith.

[5] Douglas engineered and produced many of Aerosmith's albums in the 1970s, including Get Your Wings (1974),[6] Toys in the Attic (1975),[7] Rocks (1976)[8] and Draw the Line (1977),[9] all of which have gone multi-platinum.

For much of the late 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, Aerosmith worked with other producers, but in the mid-2000s, they re-united with Douglas on the 2004 blues cover album Honkin' on Bobo.