United Sound Studio

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The United Sound Studio in Detroit was the first independent studio in the US and was made famous by classic Blue shots. It grew to become Detroit's largest recording studio.

Emergence

Studio founder Jimmy Siracuse was trained as a machinist in Italy and also played the violin and harp. He was working in local advertising in Detroit after immigration when he seized the opportunity to purchase a house at 5840 Second Avenue in early 1933 . The building near Wayne State University required some structural changes to accommodate the two recording studios initially planned. On the ground floor there was the smaller Studio B at the front, Studio A was set up in the rear extension and had space for a complete symphony orchestra. At that time, United Sound Studio was the first independent recording studio in the United States that did not belong to a record company. Independent studios were preferred by the independent labels because they did not have their own recording capacity. But the major labels , which mostly had their own recording studios, also resorted to the work of independent studios. Jimmy Siracuse used his son Joe Siracuse as a sound engineer. The recording studios themselves operated as United Sound Systems Inc. and quickly became the most important recording studio in town.

Early blues recordings

Nothing is known about the first recording chronologies in the decade after the studio was founded. During the initial phase, Siracuse initially concentrated on the production of radio commercials for the local industry.

Blues pianist Todd Rhodes first recorded at United Sound Studios in July 1947, with the titles Dance of the Redskins , Flying Disc , Bell Boy Boogie and Blue Sensation . The first recording session of the Paul Williams Sextet produced the titles Hastings Street Bounce , Paradise Valley Walk , The Way You Look Tonight and Foolish Me on September 5, 1947 . On October 6, 1947 and November 20, 1947 he returned for another 4 titles each. The Wild Bill Moore Sextet also recorded 4 tracks on November 21, 1947, and 8 on December 18, 1947. On December 20, 1947, Paul Williams booked the studio for 4 songs. On December 21, 1947, the Charlie Parker Quintet had the studio for Another Hair Do , Bluebird , Klaunstance and Bird Gets the Worm with the line-up Miles Davis (trumpet), Charlie Parker (alto saxophone), Erwin Duke Jordan (piano) and Max Roach ( Drums) booked.

Boogie Chillen ' was created in the first commercial recording session for John Lee Hooker on September 3, 1948 in Studio B, released on November 3, 1948 (Modern # 627) and produced by Bernard Besman. The recording conditions were so technically perfect that you can hear his hand touching the guitar strings. The sound engineer for the song with the typical guitar staccatos and unusual foot-stamping was Joe Siracuse ; Hooker only accompanies himself on guitar. In this session Sally May (or Sally Mae ; A-side), Highway Blues or Wednesday Evening Blues , a total of 10 tracks, were written. The first three tracks used up a large part of the scheduled 3-hour recording time, so Boogie Chillen was created under time pressure. Boogie Chillen finished on February 19, 1949 for one week ranked first in the Rhythm & Blues - charts and was sold albums with a million the first success of the Detroit Studios and John Lee Hooker.

The second session with Hooker took place on 18./19. February 1949 ( Weeping Willow Boogie , Hobo Blues and Crawling King Snake ). Hooker's I'm in the Mood was recorded on August 7th, 1951, was in the top position for 4 weeks and also achieved million seller status. It Hurts me So , I Got Eyes For You , I Got The Key , Bluebird Blues and Key to the Highway were written on May 22, 1952 . The studio appointment on October 18, 1954 produced a total of 4 titles ( Odds Against Me , Nothin 'But Trouble , I Need Love so Bad and Don't Trust Nobody ). It was Hooker's last recording session at United Sound. Of the more than 200 songs by Hookers, the most important music-historically was created in United Sound Studios.

Only Hooker's recordings could still reach the charts. Alberta Adams recorded Messin 'Around With the Blues , This Morning , Remember and No Good Man here on July 16, 1953 with no measurable success. From 1955 the blues orientation of the studio was given up in favor of other styles. The first country sounds came into the studio with Jimmy Work, who recorded a total of 4 tracks in June 1954, also in August 1955 and September 1955, 2 in March 1956 and 4 tracks in May 1956. However, none of the titles could achieve hit parade status.

pop music

In April 1957 was for Jack Scott with Baby She's Gone / You Can Bet Your Bottom Dollar whose first single, followed by Greaseball / My True Love (Jan 1958). In May 1958 he created the ballad My True Love , which sold more than a million copies within a few weeks and reached number 3 on the pop charts. Let's be Partners was produced for the Romeos (July 1957), the Paragons recorded Poor Boy at home in September 1958 and had it mixed at United. Jackie Wilson had his hit Lonely Teardrops / In the Blue of the Evening, recorded for seven weeks at number 1 (R&B charts; rank 7 pop) , leveled on October 5, 1958 (produced by Dick Jacobs on 3-track).

As Berry Gordy Jr. Founded his first record label Tamla Records in Detroit on January 12, 1959 and did not yet have his own recording studios, he used four independent recording studios in Detroit, namely United Sound in addition to Special Recordings , BB Productions and Ecolic Recorders , before he set up his own company in "Hitsville" Studios built. The first ever single from Tamla Records was Marv Johnson with Come to Me / Whisper , which was created in 7 takes by United Sound in January 1959 and released on February 21, 1959 (Tamla # 101). With this, Johnson reached sixth place on the R&B charts. Mary Wells took 22 takes for her first recording of Bye Bye Baby under producer Robert Bateman, released in December 1960 and reached number 8 on the R&B charts. Eddie Holland, later part of the successful team of authors Holland-Dozier-Holland , recorded a total of 22 titles from January 25, 1962 until September 10, 1964 here. The Motown Group's big hits were then created in the company's own recording studios. Only Stevie Wonder came here for My Cherie Amour (September 1969), and Marvin Gaye also produced the rhythm track and other parts in Studio A for the LP What's Going On, which was made between June 1970 and March to May 1971. The reverb effects (“delay reverberation ”) was created at United Sound, and 3 other recording studios were also involved (Hitsville, Golden World and Sound Factory in Los Angeles).

The Royaltones immortalized their single Short Line / Big Wheel in 1960. The Detroit group Falcons played here again in December 1961 I Found A Lov e, which reached sixth place on the R&B chart after its release in January 1962. Famous soul interpreters such as Eddie Floyd and Wilson Pickett emerged from this formation ; the latter sang lead on the mentioned recording. Some local artists got a chance to join United. The Reflections brought the title Just Like Romeo and Juliet into the national pop hit parade (March 1964; # 6 Pop), Barbara Lewis brought out Baby I'm Yours (June 1965; Rank 5 R&B, # 11 Pop), The Boys tried with I Wanna know / Angel of mine (12 October 1964), The segment with The Story of My Life / It's Unfair (November 26, 1966, included in 3½ hours), John "Johnny Powers" Pavlik with Long Blonde Hair (August 1957) and Seventeen / You're to Blame (January 1961). Many early recordings by the small Chicago record labels Fortune Records and Fox Records were made here, for example in December 1963 Misery / I'm the Man by the Royal Playboys.

In the Beatles style, the Rationals produced the single Feelin 'Lost / Little Girls Cry in January 1966 . Darrell Banks track Open the Door to Your Heart / Our Love (Is In the Pocket) was produced by Don Davis in June 1966 and reached number 2 on the R&B chart (# 27 Pop). Banks later had his entire album Here to Stay (1969) leveled here. For their dance record Cool Jerk (March 1966) the Capitols resorted to a successful instrumentation. Her song, recorded at Golden World and mixed by United Sounds, was instrumentally amplified by some members of the Motown session group Funk Brothers (George McGregor / percussion, Bobby Jones / vocals, Johnny Griffith / piano, Bob Babbitt / bass guitar and Andrew "Mike" Terry / Baritone saxophone). They had just finished the production of Love is Like an Itching in My Heart for the Supremes and helped out with the Capitols, so instrumental similarities to the Motown sound are unmistakable. The Way You've Been Acting Lately with the instrumental B-side of the same name by Al Kent was released in April 1967. The band MC 5 recorded the single Borderline / Looking at You on January 4, 1968 .

Isaac Hayes had the basic tracks, violin and brass sections recorded by United Sounds for his album Hot Buttered Soul in June 1969. Jackie Wilson from Detroit had his last - and probably best - LP Nobody But You leveled in here in August 1975. Shortly thereafter, on September 29, 1975, he fell into a coma following a heart attack. Under the supervision of Don Davis, Johnnie Taylor recorded the million-seller Who's Making Love (October 1968; Rank 4 Pop) and all singles up to Disco Lady (January 1976), the first ever platinum award from the American RIAA on April 22, 1976 for 2.5 million copies sold. The pulsating dance song took first place in both charts, making it the studio's most successful production.

The funk troupe Parliament was one of the regular customers in the United Sound Studio. This is where the LPs Up For the Downstroke (July 1974; with the single hits Up For the Downstroke , October 1974 # 10; Testify , December 1974), Mothership Connection (December 1975; single: P Funk , February 1978), The Clones were created of Dr. Funkenstein (July 1976), Parliament Live P Funk-Earth Tour (May 1977), Parliament - Funkentelechy vs. The Placebo Syndrome (November 1977), Motor Booty Affair (January to July 1978), Gloryhallastoopid (November 1979), and Trombipulation (December 1980); after that they had HDH Records produced. Funkadelic was Parliament's parallel band, both led by George Clinton . She also had almost all of her albums produced here. Free Your Mind (July 1970), Cosmic Slop (1973) or One Nation Under a Groove (title track was number 1 on the R&B charts; September 1978). Most of the P-Funk albums were also made here. The funk band Zapp immortalized their album of the same name, produced in August 1980, from which the track More Bounce to the Ounce rose to number 2 in the R&B charts. At the mixer was - as is usually the case with radio recordings - Jim Vitti.

Vitti also mostly operated the controls at the funk group Dramatics, which was also produced by Don Davis. All early LPs were made under his direction at United Sound. Whatcha See is Whatcha Get (released January 15, 1972) with the single of the same name, A Dramatic Experience (October 27, 1973), Dramatically Yours (May 11, 1974), The Dramatic Jackpot (March 29, 1975), Drama V ( May 15, 1973) November 1975) and Joy Ride (October 23, 1976) were made by United Sound, from 1977 they moved to other studios. The Dramatics returned to United Sound for the LP New Dimension in 1982, and a piece from the LP Stone Cold (September 24, 1990) also came from United Studio: No Place to Live . Her biggest single success was In the Rain (LP Whatcha See is Whatcha Get ), which reached top position on the R&B charts and number 5 on the pop charts after its release in February 1972. This high proportion of the funk music style has earned the studios the reputation of the “funk center” in the USA.

The head of both Parliament and Funkadelic was George Clinton, who produced the LP Freaky Stylie for Red Hot Chili Peppers in May 1985 at United Sound Studios. Aretha Franklin visited United Sound Studios between October 1984 and May 1985 for the LP Who's Zoomin 'Who? (only published in July 1985). Her single Jumping Jack Flash (July 7/8, 1986) with Keith Richards as producer and Steve Lillywhite as sound engineer was also created here. Martha Reeves & the Vandellas recorded the single Step Into My Shoes here in July 1989. Grover Washington was here from February 22, 1994 for several titles in front of the microphone.

Another fate of the studios

Music writer and producer Donald "Don" Davis (formerly Stax Records ), who had already produced here many times, acquired the studios in 1971. Because of the great success of Disco Lady , Billboard magazine named him "Producer of the Year" in 1976 . In 1978 he bought a 24-track sound system. After 10 years, Davis left the studios and in 1980 became a director of First Independence National Bank in Detroit, where he was appointed chairman of the board in 1986.

Attorney Roger Hood bought the derelict building from the city in 1997 and began renovating it. The studios had therefore been closed since October 1997 and opened in July 2003 after extensive renovation work with new studio equipment. The reopening is thanks to Roger Hood and chief engineer Kevin Powell. In 2002 Hood also bought the license rights held by Don Davis at Groovesville Productions Inc. Hood also owns the BlackBottom record label. The building will fall victim to the 10.8 km inner-city expansion of Interstate Highway 94 planned for 2018 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ David A. Carson, Grit, Noise and Revolution: The Birth of Detroit Rock 'n Roll , 2009, p. 8
  2. ↑ Lars Bjorn / Jim Gallert, Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit , 2004, p. 179.
  3. ↑ Lars Bjorn / Jim Gallert, Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detroit , 2004, p. 145.
  4. ^ Charles Shaar Murray, Boogie Man , 2002, p. 126 ff.
  5. ^ A b Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 53.
  6. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 122.
  7. ↑ the master tape was handed over to Gordy on February 8, 1959 ("2-8-59")
  8. ↑ Motown's Studio B.
  9. ^ First admission on July 1, 1961 in Cincinnati
  10. ↑ Max Décharné, A Rocket in My Pocket: The Hipster's Guide to Rockabilly Music , 2011, p. 74
  11. ↑ the title song was written by Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil
  12. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 272.
  13. ^ Fred Bronson, The Billboard Book of Number One Hits , 1985, p. 432
  14. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records , 1985, p. 428.
  15. ↑ The Rolling Stones never recorded their own songs at United Sound Studios, as is often claimed
  16. ↑ Davis played as guitarist for Motown ( Money , August 1959; or Bye Bye Baby , December 1960), went to Stax in 1968 as chief producer
  17. ↑ Pro Sound News, July 2003, p. 25

Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '44.5 "  N , 83 ° 4' 19.7"  W.