Welcome to RANDY McNUTT's
STILL TOO HOT TO HANDLE
More Historic Recording Studios and the Hits of the 20th Century
HHP BOOKS
Author's Note:
This is the fifth installment of Still Too Hot to Handle,
first published in 2005 by HHP Books.
first published in 2005 by HHP Books.
The Sounds of America
Selected Hits Singles from the Original
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio
3614 Jackson Highway, Sheffield, Alabama
“Take A Letter, Maria,”
R.B. Greaves
“Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool
For You Baby),” Lulu, 1969
“Always Something There To
Remind Me,” R.B. Greaves, 1970
“Brown Sugar,” Rolling
Stones, 1971
“Wild Horses,” Rolling
Stones, 1971
“It Hurts So Good,” Katie
Love, 1971
“Heavy Makes You Happy,”
Staple Singers, 1971
“Don’t Knock My Love,”
Wilson Pickett, 1971
“Respect Yourself,” Staple
Singers, 1971
“A Very Lovely Lady,”
Linda Ronstadt, 1971
“Dinah Flo,” Boz Scaggs,
1972
“Tightrope,” Leon Russell,
1972
“Starting All Over Again,”
Mel and Tim, 1972
“If Loving You Is Right (I
Don’t Want To Be Wrong),” Luther Ingram, 1972
“Kodachrome,” Paul Simon,
1973
“Loves Me Like A Rock,”
Paul Simon, 1973
“I Believe In You (You
Believe In Me),” Johnny Taylor, 1973
“Lookin’ For A Love,”
Bobby Womack, 1973
“Still Crazy After All
These Years,” Paul Simon, 1974
“I’ll Be Your Everything,”
Percy Sledge, 1974
“Beautiful Loser,” Bob
Seger, 1974
“My Little Town,” Simon
and Garfunkel, 1975
“Left Overs,” Millie
Jackson, 1975
“Touch Me Baby,” Tamiko
Jones, 1975
“Night Moves,” Bob Seger,
1976
“Main Street,” Bob Seger,
1977
A baffle depicting the original studio.
Elsewhere . . .
THE SOUNDS OF AMERICA
Louie, Louie: “Rock Spit”
Paul Revere and the Raiders recorded “Louie, Louie”
before The Kingsmen’s version hit the national charts. The Raiders had already arrived with a moderate hit called "Like, Long Hair," on Gardena Records. Both the Raiders and the Kingsmen recorded their versions of "Louie, Louie" with the same engineer [Bob Lindahl] , in the same week, with the same microphone, and at Northwest Recording
in Portland, Oregon.
Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsay told writer Richard O. Jones, “It was a big dance hit in the Northwest, and if you were a dance band—and I guess we were because we played a lot of dances—and didn’t play it two or three times a night, you were ostracized . . . Ours was released first, but I think theirs was recorded first. I remember that when we were finishing up our session, the engineer, a guy named Bob, told us we better put it out quick because The Kingsmen had just recorded a demo of it, but I think what he thought was a demo was the actual release.” The Raiders version was first released on the local Sande label. Soon Columbia Records, the largest American label, leased the master.
Lindsay recalled that Jack Ely, lead singer of the the Kingsmen, spit a lot when he sang This repulsed the studio engineer, who had just purchased a new microphone. To avoid “a lot of rock-and-roll spit,” Lindsay said, the engineer hung the mic high above the singer. But it didn’t pick up Ely’s voice too well, Lindsay said, and Ely's braces further garbled the vocals. As a result, the Kingsmen’s version came out sounding semi-unintelligible, which ultimately made it so intriguing. “We sold 6,000 copies in Portland and the Kingsmen sold 600,” Lindsay said. “Mitch Miller was the head of A&R at Columbia Records and he hated rock-and-roll, and he only signed us because of the pressure he was getting from the East Coast. So he released our record, but without any promotion. He told the West coast office to ‘let it die.’”
As a result, the Kingsmen will always be known for “Louie, Louie,” ultimately released by Wand Records of New York. The record peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 9, 1963, and, incredibly, stayed in that position for six weeks. The record remained on the chart for a total of 16 weeks. The band's "Money" single reached No. 16, the second of nine nationally charted singles by the Kingsmen.
But the Raiders didn't lose out with the failure of their "Louie, Louie." Columbia kept them around for decades. From 1965 to 1973, the band went on to record 24 singles that hit the Billboard chart, including "Kicks" and "Hungry." All were released on Columbia, which apparently knew a Good Thing.
Raiders lead singer Mark Lindsay told writer Richard O. Jones, “It was a big dance hit in the Northwest, and if you were a dance band—and I guess we were because we played a lot of dances—and didn’t play it two or three times a night, you were ostracized . . . Ours was released first, but I think theirs was recorded first. I remember that when we were finishing up our session, the engineer, a guy named Bob, told us we better put it out quick because The Kingsmen had just recorded a demo of it, but I think what he thought was a demo was the actual release.” The Raiders version was first released on the local Sande label. Soon Columbia Records, the largest American label, leased the master.
Lindsay recalled that Jack Ely, lead singer of the the Kingsmen, spit a lot when he sang This repulsed the studio engineer, who had just purchased a new microphone. To avoid “a lot of rock-and-roll spit,” Lindsay said, the engineer hung the mic high above the singer. But it didn’t pick up Ely’s voice too well, Lindsay said, and Ely's braces further garbled the vocals. As a result, the Kingsmen’s version came out sounding semi-unintelligible, which ultimately made it so intriguing. “We sold 6,000 copies in Portland and the Kingsmen sold 600,” Lindsay said. “Mitch Miller was the head of A&R at Columbia Records and he hated rock-and-roll, and he only signed us because of the pressure he was getting from the East Coast. So he released our record, but without any promotion. He told the West coast office to ‘let it die.’”
As a result, the Kingsmen will always be known for “Louie, Louie,” ultimately released by Wand Records of New York. The record peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 9, 1963, and, incredibly, stayed in that position for six weeks. The record remained on the chart for a total of 16 weeks. The band's "Money" single reached No. 16, the second of nine nationally charted singles by the Kingsmen.
But the Raiders didn't lose out with the failure of their "Louie, Louie." Columbia kept them around for decades. From 1965 to 1973, the band went on to record 24 singles that hit the Billboard chart, including "Kicks" and "Hungry." All were released on Columbia, which apparently knew a Good Thing.
HISTORIC STUDIO:
NORTHWEST RECORDERS, PORTLAND.
BOB LINDAHL, OWNER-ENGINEER.
Equipment: AMPEX 300 with EMT 120 and 140
echo plates.
Thanks to Richard O. Jones of the Hamilton JournalNews for capturing a little piece of recording history on May 29, 2003, when he interviewed Mark Lindsay. Additional information came from Joel Whitburn's Top Pop, 1955-1982, and Dave Marsh's Louie, Louie. Many details of the "Louie, Louie" saga are forgotten or disputed today, but the story is a fascinating part of regional recording history. This piece represents Lindsay's take on the whole garbled saga of writer Richard Berry's "Louie, Louie."
Down in Memphis
Elvis, Bill Black, Scotty Moore, and the
legendary engineer Sam Phillips at the console.
MEMPHIS
RECORDING SERVICE/SUN RECORDS—GREATEST COMMERCIAL HITS—1956 TO 1961
“BLUE
SUEDE SHOES,” Carl Perkins. Summer 1956.
(First
major pop hit to go to No. 1 on the country and R&B charts.)
“I
WALK THE LINE,” Johnny Cash. No. 17, 1956.
“WHOLE
LOTTA SHAKIN’ GOIN’ ON,” Jerry Lee Lewis. No. 3, 1957.
“GREAT
BALLS OF FIRE,” Jerry Lee Lewis. No. 2, 1958.
“BALLAD
OF A TEENAGE QUEEN,” Johnny Cash. No. 14, 1958.
“BREATHLESS,”
Jerry Lee Lewis. No. 7, 1958
“GUESS
THINGS HAPPEN THAT WAY,” Johnny Cash. No. 11, 1958.
“HIGH
SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL,” Jerry Lee Lewis. No. 21, 1958
“THE
WAYS OF A WOMAN IN LOVE,” Johnny Cash. No. 24, 1958
“WHAT’D
I SAY,” Jerry Lee Lewis. No. 30, 1961.
A Regal Enterprise
Courtesy Lee Hazen.
STUDIO ICON: King Records
1540 Brewster Avenue, Cincinnati, 1947-1970
Official Name: King
Custom Recording Service.
Address: 1540
Brewster Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Owner: King Records
Inc. (Sydney Nathan, president.)
Nicknames: None.
Opened: Early fall
1947.
Closed: Late 1970.
Shape: Square
(three walls of concrete blocks abutting one of brick).
Floor: Concrete.
Manager: Johnnie
Miller.
Engineers: (Selected, 1960s) Lee Hazen, Chuck Seitz, Dave Harrison
Engineers: (Selected, 1960s) Lee Hazen, Chuck Seitz, Dave Harrison
Equipment: Three to
eventually eight tracks.
Afterlife: A
spare-parts storage room.
Selected Clients:
James Brown, Cowboy Copas, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Hawkshaw Hawkins,
Lonnie Mack.
Console: An early
Harrison MCI console was installed later.
Quirks: The metal entrance door squeaked, and the sound could be picked up on sessions. Also, a florescent light glowed in the echo chamber, where it was not needed.
Selected Hits Cut in the King Studio
"Daddy-O," Bonnie Lou, King Records, 1955
"Fever," Little Willlie John, King, 1955
"Please, Please, Please," James Brown and the Famous Flames, King, 1956
"Ivory Tower," Otis Williams and the Charms, DeLuxe Records, 1956
"The Twist," Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, King, 1959
"Memphis," Lonnie Mack, Fraternity Records, 1963
"Wham!" Lonnie Mack, Fraternity Records, 1963
"Lonesome 7-7203," Hawkshaw Hawkins, King, 1963
"Cold Sweat, Part 1," James Brown, King, 1965
"Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye," the Casinos, Fraternity, 1967
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