Another Historic Nashville Studio May Fold

Industrial progress has been cruel to some of the great old recording studios where so much history was once made. We've seen wonderful rooms in every major city disappear because of rising real estate costs, while the amount of money that a studio can charge a client has actually dropped.

I was recently in what used to be the old RCA Studio B space in Hollywood to sit on a panel about YouTube. Everyone from Sinatra to The Stones recorded there at one time. Now it's a very nice theater owned by the LA Film School. Not one person I talked to knew they were standing on hallowed ground.

Now it looks like RCA Studio A in Nashville will meet the same fate. The studio is now rented by singer/songwriter Ben Folds, who has just been informed that the studio will be sold to a developer who plans to turn the space into new condos, an awful fate for a studio that once hosted the best of the best of Nashville, from Waylon Jennings to Eddie Arnold to Roy Orbison and many more.

Ironically, the studio is owned by Harold Bradley, a former member of the famed A Team of Nashville studio musicians who played on literally hundreds of hits. It was Harold and his brother Owen, along with Chet Atkins, who created the "Nashville Sound" and built the city into a music powerhouse.

Bradley is quite aware of the history of the place, but states that he's wanted to sell the studio for more than 20 years and it's only coming to fruition now. He's also not as sentimental about the space as many others are, stating that the music made there will still live on.

That said, Folds is trying to get the studio designated as a historic site and have the developer incorporate it into the project that will be built.

Many of the other great studios in Nashville have been bought by Mike Curb (like RCA Studio B and Oceanway) and donated to Belmont University when threatened with a similar fate. Will he come through again?

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10 More Must-See Studios Before You Die

Quite a number of readers liked my "10 Must-See Studios Before You Die" post, of which I had to leave a good many great studios off the list. It's true that a list of 10 is way too short, so here are 10 more studios that every musician, artist, engineer and producer might want to put on that bucket list.

The Woodshed

The Woodshed - Malibu, CA
The Woodshed is a private studio built by my buddy composer Richard Gibbs for his private use, but later opened up to the elite artists of the world like U2, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Lenny Kravits and many more. It's located overlooking Zuma Beach in Malibu, but it's probably the most intelligently designed recording facility that I've ever seen. The room is large enough for a 30 piece string orchestra, but can be split in halves or thirds with custom built moveable walls (a wonder in themselves) that provide the same isolation as regular built walls. The console bay/listening area can also be moved to multiple places around the room. And both the studio and setting are drop-dead gorgeous.

Motown Hitsville - Detroit
There's nothing like going to see where so many of the great hits that made up the soundtracks of our lives were made in the 60s and 70s. Now a museum, the home of the former Motown records will shock you with how small it is, and how many people managed to sound so good at the same time.

The Elvis Cabinet at RCA Studio B

RCA Studio B - Nashville
Now also a museum, there's nothing better than seeing the old gear, instruments, setup and studio where an amazing number of country classics were born in the 50s through the 70s. I especially liked the cabinet that Elvis kicked and broke. The studio said they wouldn't fix it until he paid for it. It's still broken.

Fame Sound - Muscle Shoals, Alabama
So much great music came out of this studio, from Wilson Picket to Aretha Franklin to even "Brown Sugar" by the The Rolling Stones. Of course, the great rhythm Muscle Shoals rhythm section had a lot to do with it.

Ocean Way Nashville

Ocean Way Nashville
Formerly a church, few large studios can compare with Ocean Way Nashville. It's a big complex, but the main large room is one of a kind. Now owned by Belmont College but still available for hire.

Ardent Studios - Memphis
Sam & Dave, Booker T and the MGs, ZZ Top, Freddie King and about a thousand other major and influential artists have called Ardent their home over time. The studio continues to book sessions, with two of the three studios still in their original form.

Sun Studios - Memphis
The home of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, and arguably the true birthplace of rock n' roll. Sun is now a museum and available for tours, so all you have to do is get yourself to Memphis. I once met owner Sam Phillips and he was so gracious it was unbelievable. No wonder he was such a success.

Real World Studios - Box, Wiltshire, England
Peter Gabriel's UK laboratory is much admired around the world (like its owner). This studio might have set the standard for the new wave of open, natural sunlight studios that have taken over from the closed rooms we were used to for so long.

Criteria Studios (Hit Factory)

Criteria (Hit Factory) - Miami
In the 70s, Criteria was the place to be for making hits. Home to The Bee Gees, great records were made there by Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, The Eagles, Bob Marley and hundreds more. It's still open for business, but now owned by The Hit Factory.

Air Studios

Air Studios - Hampstead, England
Producer George Martin's studio after he went independent from EMI, this facility is still a major force in the UK, with a huge live room in Lyndhurst Hall as well as a number of smaller studios.

Once again, I'm sure I've left many worthy facilities out, but if you get to see the ones listed above (as well as the first 10 from the previous article), you'll find at least a little slice of studio nirvana.

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A Visit With Nashville's "A Team"

Those in the know about the studio business of the past frequently talk about studio bands like LA's Wrecking Crew and Detroit's Funk Brothers with great reverence, as well they should. These were some great musicians who were responsible for the soundtracks of our lives, even today to some degree. A studio band frequently overlooked in the conversation is Nashville's "A Team," a group of musicians who made the sound of country music what it was in the 50s through the 70s.

Here's a great video of the 5 remaining members (guitarist Harold Bradley, guitarist Ray Edenton, multi-instrumentalist Charlie McCoy, bassist Bob Moore, and keyboardist Hargus "Pig" Robbins) during a photo shoot at the end of 2013. The shoot was at the famous RCA Studio B and the band discusses recording with Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Bob Dylan, among other things.

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An Excellent Nashville Adventure

Ken and Bobby at RCA Studio B and their excellent piano.

Let me tell you about an excellent adventure that the esteemed producer/engineer Ken Scott and I just returned from. We were invited to speak at the TI:ME Conference in Louisville over the weekend, but the trip was extended to include engagements at Belmont University and SAE in Nashville on Monday and Tuesday. Although we usually each give separate presentations, we decided to combine what we both do because of the time restraints. In three of the sessions, I interviewed Ken about his past work with The Beatles, Bowie, Supertramp and more. On the other session, Ken interviewed me about my various books.

Amp stands in Studio B so the musicians didn't play too loud.

We gave two presentations in the lovely city of Louisville (home of the Kentucky Derby), where one night we were treated to an excellent concert by the US Army Field Band. It certainly makes you proud that a service band can be composed of so many great musicians, and their big band music was the equal to any great concert by just about any band today, bar none. Good music is just good music, no matter the genre.

On Sunday we drove up to Nashville, where we were met by studio designer Carl Tatz and multi-platinum engineer Bob Bullock (I absolutely love the Shania Twain records that he's done). Carl took us to a home studio that he built that features his Phantom Focus System. This turned out to be an incredible treat. Carl's system is more about the interface and tuning of the speakers rather than the speakers themselves and the results are tremendous. I've never heard such pin-point panning in the stereo field, or depth of field. You've got to hear a PFS system to believe it Everything else pales in comparison. We spent of a lot of the afternoon just listening to music for the sheer enjoyment of it. When was the last time that happened?

After that we had a great Indian dinner with award-winning film composer and former LA native Chris Boardman. I think it's very safe to say that he does not miss the City of Angels one bit.

On Tuesday it was off to Belmont University were they drowned us in southern hospitality, first with a lunch with their music and recording faculty, then off to a tour of the their excellent studio facilities. Belmont is lucky to have an endowment from Mike Curb to buy up some of the greatest studios on the planet rather than see them turned into parking lots.  First we were off to Owen Bradley's former studio "The Quanset Hut," home of such classics as Patsy Cline's, "Crazy", Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" and Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet." Then it was off to the former RCA Studio B, where we were amazed to see the same room and gear that Elvis, Roy Orbison, Ernest Tub, Porter Wagoner, Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins used. Wow! Then it was off to see the church turned studio at Oceanway. That's a full day in itself, but there was more.

The cabinet that Elvis kicked and broke (and refused to fix).

At 5:30 we addressed a packed house of students at Belmont and unfortunately, they had to turn a few students away due to fire codes. That said, it was really great to feel their energy and enthusiasm, and we both really enjoyed their questions and interactions. Belmont has a truly wonderful program that touches so many facets of the music industry (I could go on and on about how impressed I was), but a college is nothing without it's faculty, and it was great to see the high caliber of pros that the program employed. Thanks to all for a great time and your hospitality, especially Professor Flo (Mark Volman, of The Turtles, Zappa and Flo and Edie fame) for arranging our visit and Sara Cates and Jim Kaiser for facilitating our tour and talk. One thing that was interesting though - there were more females than males in the audience (which is highly unusual in the audio business), probably thanks to Ken's animal magnetism.

Ken, Bob Welch, Bobby

That night, we were lucky enough to have dinner with former Fleetwood Mac singer/writer/guitar player and solo artist Bob Welch. "Ebony Eyes" has always been one of may favorite songs so it was a treat to finally meet him. But wait, there's more.

On Tuesday we started the day off over at Mayfair Mastering, where the legendary (and new AES Fellow) Glenn Meadows played us some choice Steely Dan cuts in his fine new room. If you know Glenn, then you know that everything he touches can only be excellent.

Then it was off to SAE to speak to more inquiring minds. SAE is different from most recording schools in that it's a fast track program designed to get students on their way into the business in a minimum amount of time. Once again, it was great to have the opportunity to address a great group of future professionals. You could just see the hunger to learn in their eyes. Thanks to Crystal Armentrout to facilitating our talk and Alan Shacklock for the great introduction.

Then it was off to the airport and back to LA and business as usual. Thanks Mike Lawson (my champion) for all your help and being our tour manager, and to Alfred Music Publishing for sponsoring our trip. Nashville, I have a feeling we're going to see you again soon.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.