Nashville RCA Studio B footage. Incredible!

I have now toured Studio B three times. The latest was in September. I must say that Ron was the best tour guide I've been with thus far. He is heads and shoulders above the others. This is coming from someone who thought the other guides were exceptional until experiencing Ron's tour.

 

Velma's guitar was a GIBSON L5 model that she bought back in the early 40's from famed jazz guitarist Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Velma Williams Smith was born in 1927 in Epley Station, Logan County, Kentucky. She began her career at the age of 12 performing at a Hopkinsville Kentucky radio station WHOP with her sister Mildred. The duo known as The Williams Sisters, were discovered by Bluegrass legend Bill Monroe who heard them and invited them to audition for the Opry the next week. That was the beginning of a 40 year career in country music history for Velma. Mildred left the duo in 1941 to get married. Velma joined Roy Acuff's Smokey Mountain Boys and Girls playing bass fiddle. Her future husband Hal Smith played fiddle for the Acuff troupe. The two married in 1948. Hal evolved into more than just a musician. The Smith's were members of Carl Smith's TUNESMITHS band in the 50's. Then Hal ventured into producing and managing artists such as Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and others. He co-owned Pamper Music with Ray Price, and was owner of Cullman Records of Nashville. Velma developed into a talented rhythm guitarist, becoming the first (and only) female recording session musician of the 1950's and 1960's "Nashville Sound" era. She became a member of the elite team of musicians called upon for recording sessions with such stars as Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Carl Smith, Willie Nelson, Rosemary Clooney, Ann Margret, Dottie West, Skeeter Davis, Floyd Cramer, Hank Garland, Waylon Jennings, and others. Velma retired from the music business in the 1980's and suffered a stroke a few years later which ended her ability to play the guitar, but she never lost her spunk and beautiful smith. Velma passed away July 31, 2014 (50 years to the day that Jim Reeves died in a plane crash over Brentwood TN).

 

This is a great compilation! Thanks so much for sharing it!! Love watching for Velma.

 

Thanks for that bio. Although I'm a devout Jim Reeves fan, I never realized that Velma passed away on Jim's death anniversary.

 

Great bio. Thanks

 

Musical Fidelity made some gear using Nuvistors - 100,000 hour rating on the Nuvistor is mighty impressive. Which one is used with the U47? 6CW4s seem to be the one that was geared toward audio use.

 

Musicians at WNOX Knoxville, circa 1945. One of these fine young gents would become a legendary session guitarist and record producer for RCA Victor.

 

I'm happy to report that the Don Gibson Discography has been published. There will be a few minor changes to the menu system over the next few days, most notably adding links for the Instrument Abbreviations used on the session listings, a report for his singles that charted, and a page dedicated to known extant Media Performances (radio, film, TV, etc.).

Patsy's new layout will follow shortly, and it will be in the same design as the new Don Gibson page so that the entire site will have a standard design. Enjoy, folks!

 

Do you know that that session for Roy Orbison took place the day after Elvis had recorded in what became known as Studio B. Elvis recorded the Red West composition "That's Someone You Never Forget," "Kiss Me Quick," "I'm Yours," "(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame" and "Little Sister." I should also point out that Elvis did eventually record the song "She Wears My Ring" in December, 1973 at Stax Studio in Memphis.

Among the musicians that participated in both the Presley sessions and the Orbsion sessions are bassist Bob Moore, guitarist Scotty Moore, drummer Murrey "Buddy" Harman, pianist Floyd Cramer, and saxophonist Homer "Boots" Randolph.

 

Ve

Kkfan....Velma was my cousin.

 

OMG!
Glad to know you here!

I'm sorry for your loss.

Were you two close? Velma must have had so many interesting stories to tell about her time in the studio and all the recording sessions.

 

My wife, I & another couple were in Nashville over Halloween weekend and took the tour there.
Like Motown in Detroit, it had such an incredible vibe there. Lots of great photos on display.
Likewise, this footage is priceless. Our tour guide gave us some incredible back story info. She was great.
Like Elvis recording "Are You Lonesome Tonite" in total darkness and standing up and hitting his head on the microphone towards the end of the take.
You still hear remnants of that in the released recording.

 

You're right! That's his Oldsmobile.

 

bump!

 

That fella on the left Strat, is more than likely one of Waylon's guys he brought in, Jerry Gropp.
In the times where they didn't like outsider musicians coming in.

 

Jim Reeves' comment 'can we do it again please, I was a little out of tune'

His 'little bit out of tune' could be a huge benefit to a lot of 2018 singer/performers haha.
Perfection indeed.

 

Today they would just say "Move on, we'll fix that with the computer."

 

My wife and I took the Studio B Tour in 2017. It was one of the highlights of our Nashville trip.

 

Me and 8 members of my family are doing a Nashville/Memphis vacation in 2020. I have been to Memphis twice, never been to Nashville. I cannot wait to see Studio B.

 

You will like it! The tour is about an hour long and they play several tracks from the Studio B sessions including Are You Lonesome Tonight. They explained the audible click at the end of the song.

 

Hee! if I ever got to visit Studio B, I'd try and prop myself next to the Ampex tape recorder somewhere,
hope nobody noticed, never to be seen again.

 

My gal and I are planning a trip that starts with the American Queen cruise from New Orleans that ends in Memphis. We want to hit Nashville as well for a few days. I took my kids to Nashville and Memphis twice back in 1998 and 1999 and of course saw Graceland and stayed at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, which is truly beautiful and the March Of The Peabody Ducks that takes place in the hotel lobby is a kick to see. I highly recommend the Opryland Hotel as well in Nashville and a trip to Studio B is a must. I am dying to see the newer and bigger Country Music Hall Of Fame as well. My gal has never been to any of these places, so it will be an absolute kick to take her back there to see it all again. Those were the best trips of my life and the people back there are fantastic!

 

I have seen footage of Dottie West at RCA Studio B. It was shown during the tour of the studio. Does not seem to be on the Tubes.

 

Nagra machines were field recorders used for cinema dialogue and field work. And they didn't make a proper studio multitrack machine. And never made 1/2", or 1" or 2" machines. They were a niche machine. Studer then didn't have many USA installations. Studers became popular when the A 80 machines were released, though Nashville was heavily then becoming a MCI town.

When Studer Revox America located to Nashville, more facilities began using Studers. In the 1960's Ampex was what clients then preferred, they were in that era, the dominant US manufacturer of studio tape machines. Scully was used also in the 1965-1975 era. RCA for some years had 3M machines, Studio B at one time late in life was outfitted with 3M M79 16 and 24 track machines, which were used for the 1970's and 1980's. Parts support was also very important when those machines logged 12-18 hour a day use in a busy studio.