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One for AGD. What BB work was done here?


http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2012/03/studio_1041_orange_fire_beatles_beach_boys_elvis.php

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Radio Recorders!

Check the gigs & sessions pages - studios listed where known.  ;D

Top of my head, just a 2/65 track session for overdubs to the single version of "Rhonda".

This is sad - I get caught up in Brian Wilson and Wrecking Crew related studios most of the time, while a place like Radio recorders was at one time (peaking in the 50's) one of the busiest and best-known studios in the US. Many, many, many familiar projects were done there, and unlike some of the ones we talk about more often here (Western, Gold Star, etc) Radio Recorders also did a lot of broadcast material and pre-production recordings for things like television shows (Lawrence Welk did most if not all of his TV show's audio tracks here, apparently) and radio shows.

Probably the most famous of all in the rock world was a series of Elvis records in the 50's, like Jailhouse Rock, and it would make sense since he was on RCA and they started the place...

To put it in a different light, and PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong about Radio Recorders, but I believe they were the kind of "old guard", strict union type of studios whose regulations, timekeeping, and old-school "do-it-the-way-we-always-did-it" attitude drove younger artists in the mid 60's to the independent studios like Western and Gold Star, to places where an older engineer wouldn't stop a session in the middle of a creative burst in order to take his 15 minute break, or who wouldn't try a different way of placing microphones or mixing a track because it wasn't in the rule book.

Again, I'd welcome any corrections to what I said about Radio Recorders...it's sad to see it go like this.

Here's Elvis cutting some classics at RR...

Jailhouse Rock May 1957:
(http://www.scottymoore.net/images/studios/RR/radiorecrdrs.jpg)
(http://www.scottymoore.net/images/studios/RR/dj_ph5.jpg)

May 1965:
(http://www.scottymoore.net/images/studios/RR/pw-128-1.jpg)

For those interested in this story, here are two reports from Los Angeles television news station KABC. It corrects the error of the Beatles recording there (they never did), and follows up on the damage, which is probably a lot less serious than the photos would suggest. 15% of the building was damaged, 85% is OK, according to the estimates. And they were able to find and revive with oxygen the studio's cat!

First report:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8569933 (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8569933)

Follow-up report with video:
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8570306 (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/los_angeles&id=8570306)

SMiLE Fire Music anyone ? Enough to send Brian running to the hills 

I'm betting the stereo vocal tracks of Good Vibrations were in the supply closet...

A fire destroyed Los Angeles’ 1041 Production Studios, a space where Elvis Presley, Nat King Cole, the Beatles and the Beach Boys recorded.

The studio, believed to be one of the oldest of its kind in Hollywood, was used by major labels. Elvis recorded there in '57

The studio was once known as Radio Recorders



source:
http://elvisnews.com/news.aspx/radio-recorders-destroyed/13732 (http://elvisnews.com/news.aspx/radio-recorders-destroyed/13732)

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,12448.0.html

this thread appeared to say it wasn't that bad? DON'T PANIC  ;D

Damnit ! Why didn't I see that thread ?!
If the moderators wish to delete this thread here, I'm fine with it

I have heard over the years that is how the Brian - Dad arguements came out. Pretty simple story. Another band was recording there and found it. Recorded it for themselves, gave to friends. The rest is history.

This could have been a lot worse, obviously. It's good everything worked out as it did and damage was there but less than expected! And it was very heartwarming in light of the personal property lost to see on that news report posted above that the LA firefighters were shown reviving the studio's cat with an oxygen mask on the sidewalk, and the cat coming to life. That was awesome.

*I may be wrong*, but the Los Angeles fire station who covers this area is, I believe, the same number station that was housed in the old firehouse where Brian shot the Good Vibrations promo film with them in fall '66. If the assignments are still the same, I think they would still be covering that part of LA where the studios are located...always looking for a threadbare BB's/Brian connection, you know? ;D

Unknown resources told me that Al Jardine was adding lyrics to Mrs Oleary's Cow at that very studio the night before. 'Loop de Loop flip flop O'Leary's barn's burnin down...'

These are just some of the well known classics he recorded there:

"All Shook Up",  "Mean Woman Blues", "I Beg Of You", "Have I Told You Lately That I Love You", "One Night", "True Love",  "Loving You",  "Jailhouse Rock", "Baby I don't care", "Young And Beautiful", "Treat Me Nice", "Blue Christmas", "Don't", "Santa Claus Is Back In Town"

-» these just in '57


And another pic from the Jailhouse Rock sessions:

(http://scottymoore.net/images/56pbass/1430340.jpg)

This is from the "Baby I don't care" sessions (Elvis played bass on that song) so it's from Radio Recorders, too:

(http://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/media/blogs/rth/elvisbass.jpg)

He recorded some songs for his second album there in '56 with the most well known being "Love me" and the no.1 "Too much"

(http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/img/elvis/50s/56/1956_september_1_3.jpg)


Here's an article about his september '56 sessions and Radio Recorders:
http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/1956_september_1_3.html (http://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/1956_september_1_3.html)


For Beach Boys/Jan & Dean fans, Bones Howe worked with Elvis first at these sessions.

Bones Howe Recording Engineer : I'd worked with Elvis as an engineer at Radio Recorders back in the 50's and he really ran his own recording sessions. I mean, Steve Sholes, the RCA guy from Nashville, just sat there and ran the clock. So what it boils down to was Elvis produced his own records. He came to the session, picked the songs, and if something in the arrangement was changed, he was the one to change it. Everything was worked out spontaneously. Nothing was really rehearsed. Many of the important decisions normally made previous to a recording session were made during the session. What it was was a look to the future. Today everybody makes records this way. Back then Elvis was the only one.
He was the forerunner of everything that's record production these days. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone imitated him. People started doing what Elvis did. It was always about the music, he would keep working on a song, and he would listen to it played back, and his criterion was always, did it make him feel good? He didn't care if there were little mistakes, he was interested in anything that would make magic out of the record. The sessions were always fun, there was great energy, he was always doing something that was innovative. It was always about whether you had a feeling for music or not, whether you felt what he felt, that's why he liked Thorne (Nogar) so much. Thorne was a very genuine, sincere person, and he wanted Elvis to be completely happy with the records. The trick was that there was no trick. Thorne was there, and the studio was there-it was a level playing field. So he could just come in and do what felt good.

And more about Radio Recorders:
http://www.scottymoore.net/studio_radiorecorders.html (http://www.scottymoore.net/studio_radiorecorders.html)

So far for the Presley connection.