Historic Recording Studios: America's Sound Factories and the People Who Made Them

In Historic Recording Studios, each studio gets a short history, notes on the gear used there, plus many personal anecdotes from studio visits and interviews he’s done. The scrapbook section is filled with old studio advertisements, photos, and more. Special attention is paid to recording spaces found outside the New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville studio axis – something that really adds to the value of this book . . . Get a copy of Historic Recording Studios, scour it, and learn more about the history of recording studios and music across the US in the 20th century!--Larry Crane, editor, Tap Op magazine“Probably the only book that will tell you about the dimensions of the King studio in Cincinnati and tales of its echo chamber. The old advertisements in this history/scrapbook are priceless. Randy McNutt was lucky enough to interview the people who practically created the indie record and recording businesses of the 1900s . . .” -- Larry Stidom, writer, Echoes of the Past magazine“His book [its first edition, 2001], saves the tape-recording scene of the mid-1900s. I’m in it, so I’m partial! The pictures help tell the story!” -- Shad O’Shea, owner, Counterpart Recording Studio, Cincinnati“The book [first edition, 2001] smoothly merges the sound recording studios with the vocalists and bands of their times . . . Frank Guida’s story about recording with a one-track machine is outrageous in this day of digital miracles, but there was something magical about the sounds that came from the hole-in-the-wall studios in the 1960s." -- Lee Hazen, recording engineerThe author, a former newspaper reporter, visited many studios over nearly 40 years. He interviewed owners, producers, engineers, vocalists, musicians, and songwriters, and saved a piece of audio and music history. As an independent producer, when he worked on some of the very equipment that he writes about. In an engaging style, the author focuses heavily on the underappreciated studios — names you might not recognize but have heard their sounds — places like American Sound in Memphis, Cleveland Recording, J&M in New Orleans, and King Recording in Cincinnati. He includes oral histories of some engineers (Cosimo Matassa etc.) and incorporates dozens of personal interviews with audio and music people. I enjoyed his story about his dream of finding the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio . . . only to arrive in unbearable 100-degree heat and seeing a nearly deserted building with stars' autographs on the back side of the restroom door . . . Audio types like me will appreciate the information on the studio equipment and music fans will enjoy personal stories behind the hits of the 20th century. -- Alison James, former Cincinnati radio personality and studio ownerHistoric Recording Studios is volume one of a two-part book about America's 20th-century sound studios. This book, 399 pages and large format, is at once an encyclopedia, a history, and an appreciation of an unparalleled period in popular music. Author Randy McNutt traverses the countryside looking for the mystique of the famous and the funky. Rats in the ceiling? Leave them be. A leak in the ceiling? Stick a Tampon in it. Crickets in the echo chamber? Dive in there, son! McNutt, an independent record producer who worked in such studios, concentrates on the tape-recorder years from 1948 to 1995, when digital recording became widespread. He features mega hit factories, feisty independents, and hole-in-the wall studios across the United States. Using dozens of photos and illustrations, he tells the histories of the studios and the types of equipment used. He offers stories of how the hits were made, and how the records ended up at the top of America's singles charts. From interviews with pioneer audio engineers, he learns something important: authenticity and simplicity often make the best recordings. Read more