Anthony Heilbut (born November 22, 1940) is an American writer, and a Grammy Award winning record producer of gospel music.
In 2003, a conference entitled “Exiled in Paradise” was held at Los Angeles’ Villa Aurora, the palatial residence of Lion Feuchtwanger, one of the best-known emigre writers.
Heilbut's The Fan Who Knew Too Much, a collection of cultural essays published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2012,[6][7] ranges from Thomas Mann to the gay and lesbian influence on gospel music.
Among his productions, How I Got Over (Columbia) by Mahalia Jackson won both a Grammy Award and a Grand Prix du Disque; Prayer Changes Things (Atlantic) by Marion Williams won a Grand Prix du Disque; and Precious Lord: The Great Gospel Songs of Thomas A. Dorsey (Sony) was the first gospel album to be included in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry.
He jokes that the critical reception has been “as full-throated as a gospel solo.” Ten Spirit Feel albums have received five-star reviews from Rolling Stone.
Other gospel acts Heilbut has produced include The Dixie Hummingbirds, Professor Alex Bradford, Dorothy Love Coates, Bessie Griffin, Reverend Claude Jeter, R. H. Harris,[11][12] Inez Andrews, The Roberta Martin Singers, Sallie Martin, J. Robert Bradley, Robert Anderson, Willie Mae Ford Smith,[13] The Stars of Faith, and Delois Barrett Campbell.
"[This quote needs a citation] He has also produced reissues and career overviews of Edna Gallmon Cooke, The Fairfield Four, and his good friend Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Williams' Spirit Feel recordings, produced by Heilbut, have been featured in several films, most famously Fried Green Tomatoes and Mississippi Masala, as well as in the video game Scene It.
And in April 2020, Bruce Springsteen compiled a 20-song tribute to the victims of the COVID-19 coronavirus, which included Marion Williams’ Trouble So Hard — a track Heilbut composed and produced in 1990.