Classroom

<span><p>&nbsp;Sunset Sound studios, originally known as Sunset Sound Recorders, began its journey in 1958 and was opened by Salvador "Tutti" Camarata who was the director of recording for Walt Disney. In a conversation between Walt and Camarata, who asked the&nbsp;entrepreneurial giant why doesn't he just buy a music studio for his movies himself, Walt replied, “Why would I want to own my own studio, I would rather be a client.” Tutti would later presume that Walt was encouraging him to become an entrepreneur.</p><p>Camarata found an old building that was previously an automotive shop. The sound engineer noticed the walls, ceiling, and floors were all slanted to one end of the brick structure. &nbsp;This is particularly ideal when looking for a place to record acoustics beside parallel structures aren't always the best for acoustics. Once Tutti had set up the recording engine, he began producing Disney classics one after another. These classics include 101 Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomstick and more through mono recording. Through 16 years, Disney would be associated with the studios and in 1962, Tutti became so busy that he had to buy a neighboring restaurant and then turn his studio into three sections.</p><p>Over 200 gold albums would be recorded at the studio throughout the years. The Sunset Studio would even become the last place that the Beatles would play together, for Ringo Star's solo album in 1972. The Doors recorded their first and second studio albums here and Janis Joplin recorded her last album "Pearl" at Sunset Studios. Throughout the years to come, the studios would continue to upgrade and renovate in order to keep up with the times. This was thanks to the help of George Augspurger, who is known in the world of audio as an expert in studio design. Augspurger would later help the company JBL by installing their studio monitors into the Sunset Sound studios that would help with recording many big names in the industry.</p></span><br>

Sunset Sound sign view from parking lot. 

The soundboard that was engineered for studio one.

This is a video of English producer Warren Huart taking a tour through Sunset Studios 

Video

Interview with longtime manager Craig Hubler. 

Sunset sound studios are located on Sunset Boulevard, and have been in business since 1958. The studio was originally bought for the production of Disney movie soundtracks. Over the years, the studio began to host all types of musicians and become a historical place in the industry for cutting hit songs and albums. 

Sunset Sound Studios

Instructor

From New York to Los Angeles, the United States is home to some of the most well known and important music studios of the past century. This tour covers covers some of the most famous and influential recording studios in America who primarily focus on Rock, R&B, Country, and Blues. The tour begins in New York in the legendary Electric Lady Studios and travels to the Motor City of Detroit. Following the visit to the birth of Motown, the tour travels south where it visits the birthplace of rock and roll itself and the capital of country music. The tour concludes in the arguably coolest studio of all time: Sunset Sound Studios. Learning the histories of these legendary studios and the people who helped create the soundtracks of generation after generation can give better insight to the state of America during those times.

<p>The relatively ordinary-looking building at 52 W. 8th Street has one of the more colorful and improbable histories to emerge from the Village. Built in 1929 and originally home to the Film Guild Cinema, the building is one of the first examples of modernist architecture in the city. Within about twenty years, however, a number of the façade’s distinctive modernist features would be removed, leaving a decidedly ordinary building in their place.</p><p><br /></p><p>Curious things were going on inside as well. The basement of the building was home, from 1930 to 1967, to a country music-themed nightclub called the Village Barn. The club was popular enough to spawn a television program of the same name, which ran for two years on NBC. During the time that the basement housed a country music venue, the abstract expressionist painter Hans Hoffmann lectured in an upstairs studio.</p><p><br /></p><p>Upstairs, the building housed the Generation Club, a nightclub and performance venue. Some of the biggest names in music performed at the Generation, including BB King, Janis Joplin, Sly &amp; the Family Stone, and Chuck Berry. In 1969, Jimi Hendrix and his manager, Michael Jeffery, purchased the Generation Club. Their intent was to maintain the nightclub and add a small recording studio. Eddie Kramer, a recording engineer, persuaded the pair that the space would be put to better use as a state-of-the-art recording studio minus the nightclub.</p><p><br /></p><p>The newly redesigned studio, Electric Lady Studios, opened in August of 1970. The space was specially designed for Hendrix, with a distinctly Jimi-esque psychelic vibe. The new studio featured curved walls, sci-fi paintings, and multicolored lights that could be changed to suit any mood. Among the building's most distinctive features, however, were its round, bubble door and round windows. The day after its opening, Hendrix recorded "Slow Blues," his last studio record, in the facility.</p><p><br /></p><p>Hendrix died of an overdose just three weeks later. But Electric Lady Studios would play a major part in music history long after his death. In the 1970s, Led Zeppelin, Patti Smith, David Bowie, and Stevie Wonder were just a few of the performers who recorded in the space. More recently, following a remodel in the 2000s, the Ryan Adams, Lana Del Rey, Adele, and The Roots have recorded at the studio.</p>

Constructed in 1929 and home to the Film Guild Cinema in its early years, this Greenwich Village building would later become home to the Village Barn, a country-themed nightclub that inspired an NBC spinoff. During the late 1960s, the building was home to the Generation, a legendary but short-lived live music venue, and later, a recording studio owned by Jimi Hendrix. Although Hendrix is most often associated with Seattle and London, this building is an important part of the musician’s legacy and he and his manager purchased the nightclub in 1968 and transformed it into a state-of-the-art recording studio that continues to operate as Electric Lady Studios. Hendrix’s untimely death occurred not long after the studio was completed, but it continues to draw some of the biggest artists of the day, including Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey.

Electric Lady Studios 

Berry Gordy, Jr. was born in Detroit in 1929 and had an interest in music from a young age. When he was 27, he quit his job on the assembly line at Lincoln-Mercury to pursue a career in songwriting. His first successful song was Jackie Wilson’s hit “Reet Petite.” Gordy soon decided to start his own record company and borrowed $800 from his family to form Tamla Records in 1959. On April 14, 1960, Gordy incorporated Motown Record Corporation, coining a term that reflected the Motor City nickname for Detroit. He began working with friend Smokey Robinson’s group, The Miracles, and their recording of “Shop Around” became Motown Records’ first Top 10 hit the same year.<sub>1</sub><br><br>Gordy set up his recording headquarters in a home on West Grand Boulevard that he called Hitsville, USA, living in the upstairs apartment with his young family. He began taking on new talent, and some of the early performers who recorded with Motown included Mary Wells, The Temptations, The Supremes, and Stevie Wonder (then an 11-year-old prodigy). With Gordy’s direction, the company developed the “Motown Sound,” a mix of gospel, rhythm and blues, and pop. With the Civil Rights Movement raging in the 1960s, Gordy saw an opportunity for African-American performers to appeal to a broader white audience. Motown Records would become the largest Black-owned company in the United States and the most successful independent record label in the industry.<sub>1</sub><br><br>In <i>Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock &amp; Roll</i>, Charlie Gillett writes that, <br><br><blockquote><small>“Although Gordy showed an
outstanding flair for combining good business sense with a seemingly infallible
instinct for new, commercial sounds, perhaps his most important ability was his
gift for recognizing good performers, writers, producers, and musicians, and
for inspiring them to fulfill their potential. Within four years of forming his
company, Motown had ten performers capable of making the pop market's top ten,
any one of whom could compare with the best singer any other company could
offer. Yet none had any kind of reputation before Gordy signed them. […] The
system enabled the Motown Corporation to have an unparalleled ten-year run in
the singles market, with 79 records making the top ten."<sub>2</sub></small><br></blockquote>Just five years after forming, Motown Records was bringing in $15 million. The Studio A space where musicians recorded their Motown hits was open and running for 24 hours. Around 75% of its releases made it into the charts, from artists such as The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight &amp; The Pips, The Jackson 5, and Lionel Ritchie. Motown Records moved its headquarters from Hitsville, USA to a larger building on Woodward Avenue in 1968 and then to Los Angeles in 1972. Around this time, Gordy was dealing with disgruntled singers and songwriters who felt that their contracts under Motown were very unfair; some of these disagreements developed into lawsuits and the departure of the artists. Gordy sold Motown Records to MCA in 1988 for $61 million.<sub>1</sub><br><br>The Motown Museum was opened in 1985 by Gordy’s sister Esther Gordy Edwards. When Motown Records moved their headquarters, Edwards, who had been Senior Vice President, stayed to run a corporate office out of the original Hitsville, USA building. According to the museum’s website, “As she worked, people would knock on the door, asking to ‘take a peak’ at Studio A, the original Motown recording studio where their favorite songs had been recorded. Ever gracious, Mrs. Edwards would stop working and take these uninvited, but nonetheless welcomed, guests on an impromptu tour of the facility. It soon occurred to her, after eventually touring thousands of people from around the world, that the building at 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Hitsville, USA, had become a monument to the music Motown created."<sub>3</sub><br><br>The museum preserves Motown’s legacy and encompasses a vast collection of memorabilia from the era. It was renovated with a new gallery space, offices and the upper apartment where Gordy lived was restored. Awestruck visitors can see the Studio A space where dozens of artists recorded the most famous Motown songs. The studio and control room still contain original instruments and equipment. The collection includes clothing, photographs, records, and promotional items. The museum has drawn international visitors since it opened, including many musical artists who come to pay their respects to the Motown legacy. On display are a hat and sequined glove donated by Michael Jackson that he wore the first time he did his famous moonwalk dance at the Motown’s 25th anniversary. In 2011, Paul McCartney visited the museum and learned that the 1877 Steinway grand piano that was used in the recording studio was no longer functioning, so he paid to have it repaired. <br>

<br>

The Motown Museum is located at Hitsville USA, the original home of Motown Records from 1959-1972. Founded by Berry Gordy, Jr., Motown Records would become the most successful independent record label in the industry and the largest Black-owned company in the U.S. at one time. The "Motown Sound" jump-started the careers of notable artists like The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and the Jackson 5. Visitors to the museum can see Studio A, where some of the most famous Motown songs were recorded, along with a collection of other memorabilia from the era. 

The Motown Museum

<p><span>In 1957 RCA Records
signed a long-term lease for a building on the corner of Hawkins Street and 17th
Avenue South and converted it into a music recording studio. RCA had previously
operated a studio on McGavock Street, but the producers complained of the
structure’s poor acoustics. The new studio was in a concrete block building
that had been built that same year by local entrepreneur Dan Maddox. It was the
second major recording studio to open on Music Row, after the Bradleys opened
their Quonset Hut studio in 1954. RCA eventually named it Studio B, following
the creation of Studio A in 1965. </span></p>

<p>Studio B quickly found
success recording for a plethora of local and nationally-acclaimed musicians in
genres such as country, rockabilly, and gospel. Between 1957 and its closure in
1977 the studio hosted 35,000 recording sessions. It was so prolific in churning
out hit songs that the studio was nicknamed the “home of 1,000 hits.” Notable
musicians who recorded at the studio include Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Jim
Reeves, Willie Nelson, Eddy Arnold, the Browns, the Everly Brothers, and Chet
Atkins, who was also one of its managers. Its greatest success was Elvis
Presley who used the studio frequently for thirteen years and recorded over 230
songs, including hits such as “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “I Got Stung,” and “It’s
Now or Never.” Often he would play on a Steinway piano, which remains in the
studio today. </p>

<p>RCA Records closed all
of its Nashville studios in 1977 after a dispute with the local engineers’
union. Soon afterwards Dan Maddox, who still owned Studio B, allowed the
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum to start bringing visitors inside for
tours. In 1993 the Maddox family formally donated the studio to the Country
Music Hall of Fame and Museum. At the same time, RCA donated some of the old
equipment it had used at the studio. Musicians started recording again at
Studio B on an irregular, case-by-case basis in the 1990s, and it continues to
this day. In 2002 the Mike Curb Family Foundation, known for working to
preserve and restore buildings on Music Row, purchase the studio and promptly leased
it back to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in perpetuity for $1. Today
Studio B is open for guided tours daily through the Country Music Hall of Fame.
The facilities are also used to teach many school students the fundamentals of
music production. </p>

Historic RCA Studio B was the original recording home of Elvis Presley and has been used by dozens of country and folk music stars such as the Everly Brothers, Waylon Jennings, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson. In 2002, the Mike Curb Family Foundation purchased the building, renovated and restored it back to its appearance in the 1970s, and then granted the Country Music Hall of Fame a perpetual lease of the building so that they could operate tours of the studio for the public. 

RCA Studio B

<p>In 1952, musician and producer, Owen Bradley, and his brother, Harold, formed a film and music studio, Bradley Studios, which they operated from a rented space in Lodge Hall at Lindsley and Second Avenue. They were forced to leave a year later after the rent tripled and briefly moved to a space at Hillsboro Village. In 1954, the Bradleys purchased a house at 804 16th Avenue and converted it into a recording studio. At the time, 16th Avenue was mostly a residential neighborhood, making Bradley Studios the first recording studio in what became known as Music Row.</p><p>Soon afterward the Bradleys erected the Quonset Hut at the back of the house. Quonset huts were large, barrel-shaped, steel structures widely used by the military during World War II. They were easy and cheap to mass produce, and a large surplus of them remained after the war. Originally the Bradleys intended for the Hut to serve as a film studio while the main house would be the recording studio; however, they soon found that the Hut provided unique acoustics for recording music.</p><p>The Bradleys’ Quonset Hut studio quickly became a success and served clients from music labels such as Decca, Columbia, Mercury, and Capitol. Many prominent musicians like Brenda Lee, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Bob Dylan, Roger Miller, Elvis Presley, and Loretta Lynn recorded at the Hut. Notable songs recorded here include Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” Brenda Lee’s “I’m Sorry,” and Elvis Presley’s “Indescribably Blue.”</p><p>The Bradleys’ success drew numerous other music labels and recording studios to 16th Avenue during the 1950s and 60s, giving it the name Music Row. The Bradleys sold their studio in 1962 to Columbia Records. The original house was replaced with a brick building, while the Quonset Hut remained. Columbia referred to the brick building as Columbia Studio A and the Quonset Hut as Columbia Studio B.</p><p>Columbia closed the facility in 1982, and it was soon converted into an office space. Around 2009, the building was purchased by Mike Curb, founder of Curb Records and an advocate for the preservation of Music Row. Under the Mike Curb Foundation, the location of the former Quonset Hut is once again serving as a recording studio. In 2014, Curb gifted a 40-year lease on the studio to Belmont University for music education and recording. The facility currently houses classrooms, a learning lab, and recording studio for Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.</p>

<p>The Quonset Hut, later known as Columbia Studio B, was the first music recording studio in the historic Music Row district of Nashville. In 1954, music producer Owen Bradley and his brother, musician Harold Bradley, converted a house and a surplus Quonset hut into a makeshift music studio on 16th Avenue. Noted musicians such as Brenda Lee and Johnny Cash recorded at the Quonset Hut, known for the superior acoustics it provided. As the studio became more successful, other music labels moved into the neighborhood and it became known as "Music Row." After Bradley sold Bradley Studios and the Quonset Hut in 1962, Columbia Records owned and operated the studio until 1982, repurposing a portion for offices. In the 2000s, music producer and philanthropist Mike Curb purchased the land and office space, and it currently houses facilities for Belmont University’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.</p>

Quonset Hut (Columbia Studio B)

<p>This region and the land&nbsp;along the banks of the Tennessee River have long been associated with&nbsp;musical inspiration. Some of the early&nbsp;Native inhabitants believed that the area had a natural connection to music and&nbsp;referred to the Tennessee River as "the singing river." William Christopher Handy, known as W. C. Handy, was born in nearby&nbsp;Florence in 1873 and went on to become the most influential American musician. His efforts to record and perfect a new style of improvisational music that was growing throughout the region earned him the title&nbsp;“Father of the Blues.”&nbsp;</p><p>Exactly fifty years after Handy's birth, Florence became home to a second musical pioneer.&nbsp;Sam Phillips was born in Florence and would later create&nbsp;Sun Studios and Sun Records. His Memphis studio signed artists such as Johnny Cash B.B. King&nbsp;and&nbsp;Elvis Presley.&nbsp;</p><p>Local studio owner and producer&nbsp;Rick Hall established&nbsp;FAME studios and moved his operation to&nbsp;Muscle Shoals in 1962. FAME provided the backdrop for hit records by hundreds of artists including Arthur Alexander, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, Bobby Gentry, the Osmonds, Mac Davis, Jerry Reed, Paul Anka and many more.&nbsp;<span>In 1969, FAME's famous "Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section" left Hall to start the&nbsp;Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Nearly every prominent musician of the 1970s travelled to Muscle Shoals to&nbsp;record at least one song at the studio.&nbsp;</span></p><div><br></div>

From 1969-1978, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio was one of the preeminent recording studios in the world. It was founded by legendary producer Jerry Wexler in partnership with four session musicians (Barry Beckett, Roger Hawkins , Jimmy Johnson and David Hood) who called themselves the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The four musicians got their start at FAME Studios, which was established in Muscle Shoals by Rick Hall. While under the leadership of Hall, the four musicians produced the background msic for musical acts ranging from Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding to the Osmonds and Bobby Gentry. These four musicians were later referred to as “The Swampers” by Lynyrd Skynyrd in his hit song “Sweet Home Alabama.” 

After partnering with Wexler and creating their own studio, the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio produced 400 albums, 52 of which earned gold and platinum status. The Rolling Stones, Cher, Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkle, Willie Nelson, Joe Crocker and many others recorded at the studio during this period. The Rolling Stones recorded "Wild Horses" and "Brown Sugar"—two of their more popular songs—here in 1969. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Today it is owned by the Muscle Shoals Music Foundation.

The studio moved to a new building in 1978 and sold it to Malaco Records in 1985. Malaco ran the new studio for twenty years. The original building on Jackson is undergoing restoration at the time of this writing but tours will be offered after the restoration process is complete.

Muscle Shoals Sound Studio

<div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Before the Stax Museum was a museum, it was Satellite Records. Jim Stewart, a banker, knew he would never become a famous musician, but believed he could become a producer. Stewart opened Satellite Records in 1957 and produced the country song "Blue Roses" as its first record. The record was of low quality, but Stewart was not financially stable to buy more advanced equipment. Jim asked his older sister Estelle Axton for financial support for the record company, so Estelle donated money to update Satellite Records equipment. By 1960, Estelle was still financially helping with the studio and provided the way for Satellite Records to move from Brunswick to what was formerly known as the Capitol movie theater on McLemore Ave. in Memphis. Due to the slanted floors in the old movie theater, it gave the company their signature sound while recording. &nbsp;Since Estelle Axton was now involved in the record company, the company was renamed Stax for Stewart and Axton in 1960.</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;By the 1960s, Stax was booming. Estelle Axton transformed the theater’s concession stand into a record shop and this helped the company know which records would sell and which ones would sit on the shelf. The record store gave Stax an advantage so they could produce music they knew people would buy. The studio had produced records from artist such as Rufus and Carla Thomas, William Bell, Otis Redding, and even some neighborhood people Axton and Stewart came in contact with at the record shop. Stax Records caught the attention of Jerry Wexler who owned Atlantic Records. Atlantic took control of Stax record distribution, making it easier for Stax to get their records on the market.</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;With Stax Records growing and becoming more available to the public, the demand grew for more songs. Otis Redding quickly became the label’s biggest star in 1962 through his unique sound. However, as things were going well in the Stax world, outside of those four walls came much turmoil. Racism was a pressing issue in the 1960’s but especially in Memphis, Tennessee, and many public businesses were segregated. The interesting thing about Stax is how they had always been integrated. It did not matter what the color of a person’s skin was; if they could make good music, they were allowed to work for Stax.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1967, Stax had become so widely known that it took its first international tour to Europe. Artists such as Otis Redding, Eddie Floyd, Carla Thomas, and the MG’s traveled to Europe to perform in front of crazed fans. The European tour was a huge success and only made Stax more popular in the U.S.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Even though Stax was becoming a huge record company, its distributor, Atlantic Records, was bought out by Warner Brothers in 1968. Jim Stewart tried to negotiate a deal with the new company, but no deal was agreed on. Warner Brothers refused to give Stax their master tapes back causing Stax to become an independent label. &nbsp;Eventually Stax cut a deal with CBS for distribution, but&nbsp;in 1972, the deal with their new distributor fell through preventing Stax from distributing their records. Since the public could no longer get ahold of the music produced by Stax, the company fell into deep debt and closed in 1975.</div><div>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Even though Stax closed down, its memory is still impressed on people today. Not allowing the spirit to die, the Stax Museum was founded in 2003. The museum tells the story of soul music and how it can truly change lives.</div><b>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</b>

The Stax Museum was originally a business called Satellite Records, owned and operated by Jim Stewart. The museum's purpose is to show the heart and soul that was poured into the record company and the musical history. Even though the company shut down in 1975 due to bankruptcy, the legacy lives on and is still impacting people today. Stax Museum is run by Soulsville Foundation, who helps people recognize the beauty of soul music.

Stax Museum of American Soul Music 

<span><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;One of the most popular and notable recording studios ever is none other than Sun Studio, located in Memphis, Tennessee. The studio sits just one block over from the musically famous Beale Street but is just as famous in its own right. To give you an idea of how Sun Studio is regarded, people compared music to a religion and Sun Studio as a holy shrine.</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The owner, Sam Phillips, opened up the studio in an attempt to start a dominant recording brand. He would draw in icons of the 1950s and ‘60s music, such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, to name a few. If you visit Sun Studio, you can take a complete tour through rock'n'roll birthplace, where you can experience the very outtakes that the studio had back in its prime, touch Elvis’ first microphone that he used in recording, and hear the entire story of one of the most prominent recording studios to ever exist.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1950, Phillips opened up his studio, originally called Memphis Recording Service. That same year he would see one of the greatest blues writers and musicians, B.B. King cut some of Phillips’ first recordings at the studio. A year later, Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats would record a song titled “Rocket 88”, which is to this day said to be the first rock’n’roll single, making Sun Studio the birthplace of the genre that would change both the music industry and American culture.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;By 1955, Elvis Presley had recorded his hit version of “Blue Kentucky Moon” and Johnny Cash had a Top 15 country music single with his debut song “Cry! Cry! Cry!”. Both Cash and Presley would leave the recording studio by 1958, launching their careers from Phillips’ studio just three years prior. Before the pair had left, however, they recorded a jam session with fellow musicians Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis in what would later be dubbed the “Million Dollar Quartet”. Their recording was not released on record until 1981, and again as a complete collection of 46 tracks in 2006.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;In 1969 Sam Phillips sold Sun Studios for $1 million to Mercury Records executive Shelby S. Singleton. The studio would later house several different shops and other services. It was converted back into a studio in 1985, and throughout the years to follow, many artists would come and record typically acoustic versions of songs they have performed or release a more raw cut of other songs. Groups such as U2, Def Leppard, Magnolia Electric Company, John Mellencamp, and Elle King have all used the legendary recording studio to record various albums, songs, and other collaborations.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee can truly be considered a musical temple, simply for that names that have passed through and the way it changed music in America. The studio remains a staple of the musical influence that the city of Memphis has had among Americans and the world.&nbsp;</p></span>

Where Rock and Roll was born. Sam Phillips launched his record company in February, 1952, and named it Sun Records as a sign of his perpetual optimism: A new day and a new beginning. Sun Studio became known as a place that nurtured talent and then encouraged it to expand with bigger labels.  In 2003 it became a national tourist attraction due to the record company discovering Elvis Presley. 

Sun Record Company

<div>Lincoln “Chips” Moman, a songwriter, producer, and musician created&nbsp;American Sound Studio after&nbsp;splitting&nbsp;from Stax Records and starting his own studio with some partners. The studio recorded its first hit when a teenage garage band named The Gentrys recorded the song "Keep On Dancing."&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The creation of the house band would prove instrumental, as several famous musicians had their sound in the background. They included the likes of Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield, Neil Diamond, BJ Thomas. Atlantic Records, who had a tenuous relationship with Stax Records, made the change to the American Recording Studios and things took off from there.</div><div><br></div><div>Most of the soul stars from Atlantic were recording there, but one artist was determined to change the direction of her music and career - Dusty Springfield. Her "Dusty In Memphis" album featuring the hit song "Son Of A Preacher Man" was recorded here. Others who recorded hits here include Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," "Hooked On A Feeling" by BJ Thomas, The Box Tops with "The Letter," Wilson Pickett's "I'm In Love." But the most famous artist who recorded there was Elvis Presley, who cut "In the Ghetto."</div><div><br></div><div>Momon sold the studios in 1972 after Atlantic Records did not renew the contract with the studio. The current American Recording Studios was an offshoot of the original studio and remains today as a place where artists record. It is located at 2272 Deadrick Ave. The old site is now a Dollar General and a historical marker shows the place where the hits were made. There is also a marker for Elvis Presley's recording at American Sound Studio in the same location.<strong><br></strong></div>

Between 1965 and 1972, many of the leading musicians recorded their albums at Memphis's American Sound Studio. A Family Dollar now occupies the original site and there is only a small historical marker to let the public know the significance of this location to the history of American music. In addition to recording hits, studio owner Lincoln “Chips” Moman created his own house band with guitarist Reggie Young, drummer Gene Chrisman, pianist Bobby Wood, organist Bobby Emmons, and bassists Mike Leech and Tommy Cogbill. This house band provided the background for many leading musicians, including Elvis Pressley. 

American Sound Studio

While it may not look like much now, The Church Studio is historically significant as the birthplace of what became known as the "Tulsa Sound," the style of music that combines blues, country and rock. Many famous artists recorded here including Tom Petty, Willie Nelson, George Harrison, J.J. Cale, The GAP Band, Kansas, and Leon Russell himself. The Church Studio was established by recording artist Leon Russell in 1972 to be the location of his company Shelter Records, which he co-founded in 1969. The building itself was built in 1915 and called Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. As of August 2019, the current owners are remodeling the building and plan to open in the Summer of 2020. They will add a museum, a small theater/screening room, a professional culinary kitchen and bar, and collaborative space for music professionals. The Church Studio also features an archive holding a large collection of 4,000 items highlighting the legacy of Leon Russell, the musicians that recorded here, and the Tulsa Sound. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

A Tour of American Recording Studios from Coast to Coast

Sunset Sound Studios

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information