Nashville RCA Studio B footage. Incredible!

I'm watching Desert Hearts for the first time tonight and I'm loving the soundtrack.Most of the songs were recorded in Nashville.

 

Wow!

Truly amazing to know someone who was there at the birth of the King!

 

My wife and I went to see Charley Pride (another Studio B artist) in concert for the first time in 2012. What a GREAT voice!

 

The Roy Orbison contract for the 26 June 1961 RCA Studio B session that resulted in "Crying."

 

Looks like Brenton Banks, a black violinist & music teacher, led the strings.

 

Great voice and a great artist.

 

Brenton Banks also played on Patsy's string dates. Here's a personnel log from the session dated 5 September 1962. It's in Patsy's handwriting (not sure why she would have filled it out instead of Harry Silverstein, Owen Bradley's assistant):



Note that Patsy checked the "White" race box instead of "Mixed". This session produced two of Patsy's most beautiful records, "Why Can't He Be You" and "Leavin' On Your Mind".

 

Thanks, George! "Crying" is probably my favorite Orbison recording.

 

Man, he'd probably have to slap me to get me to stop asking questions!!

I can only imagine how fascinating it must be to interact with someone with that sort of insight.

 

Neumann U67.

Either a U47 or U48, yes.

I'm not sure if Studer was even on the radar in the US at the time. Plus, as far as I know, the 4-track J37 wasn't released until 1964, while the Ampex 300 had been available in a 3-track configuration since 1956 or so. Telefunken did have 4-track machines in the late '50s, but again, I think Ampex was simply the de facto standard in the US at the time.

Possibly worth noting that the AG-440 and MM-1000 machines pictured in that photo are from the late '60s or early '70s.

 

Banks taught music at Tennessee A & I, the black state college here. It is now Tennessee State University, where my wife has been a faculty member since 1992.
He played piano in his own jazz quartet & I believe he was also the first black member of the Nashville Symphony. He later moved to Los Angeles & died there a few years ago.

 

It doesn't look at all like kinescope without all that horrible distortion and blooming highlights, etc. Probably was shot on 16mm, typical of a lot of remote TV productions of the era that weren't live. They were also typical of newsreel productions. Sounds like they synched up tape that was recording a line feed from the console. I believe these camera rigs had crystal sound sync that recorded audio optically (??), but it sounded wretched.

The film rigs looked a lot like this, which is from the CBC. Pretty common in larger markets.
http://www.cbc.ca/75/2011/09/image-of-the-day-sound-on-film-in-news-gathering.html


dan c

 

Is there a big difference in sound between a U47 and U67? Or is the U67 just a newer model with a similar frequency response?

 

Thanks Dan. You're right. No snow or distortion typical of a kinescope. Great to see the vintage CBC out and about

 

So a U67 would have been better for a contralto voice like Patsy's, while a U47 would interfere less with The Jordanaires' harmonies?

 

Thanks

 

I read somewhere that Owen Bradley once asked Chet Atkins how he got such a nice blend of sound at the Victor studio. His reply? "It was all Bill Porter."

 

(copied from "Owen Bradley's Quonset Hut and Columbia Studio A"): .crystalised said: "I don't know much about Marty Stuart. Although I was told by another Patsy Cline fan that he championed the release of a lot of rare Hank Williams stuff. Someone should slip a note under his door to do the same for Patsy."




The Youtube clip is unavailable of David Letterman introducing Marty Stuart & the Fabulous Superlatives and plugging their new album, Ghost Train: The Studio 8 Sessions. Stuart, off camera, goes, "B. Studio B." At the conclusion of a rousing "Country Boy Rock and Roll," Letterman joins the band, all apologetic and says he went to Studio 8 and no one was there. Time for stronger glasses, Dave.

This is the album that contains the Grammy-winning "Hummingbyrd."

Stuart is remarkably approachable and one of the strongest voices in support of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Some items on exhibit come from his personal collection. He really respects tradition and history, recording an album at Studio B is an example.

 

There was no problems getting Elvis into the studio until 1972 or so. Apart from some soundtrack recordings, the 1971 masters from Nashville, is the first time he sounds bored on non-soundtrack recordings. It´s true that Elvis only recorded soundtrack songs between february 1964- april 1966, but that was Parker´s idea, not Elvis. Recorded and released studio masters during his lifetime after 1971:
1972: 6 (Recorded LA)
1973: 30 (I think 3 of them was recorded at his home i Palm springs) The rest at Stax.
1974: 0
1975: 10 (Recorded LA)
1976: 16 (All recorded at Graceland)
1977: 0

 

What is so amazing that everyone is playing together live. A totally different way of doing things back then with, IMO, much better sonic results. Does anyone have images of RCA's echo chamber/plates from back then? The reverb on Jim's voice sounds so rich and natural.

 

What's cool about the photo of the echo plate is that Kittra Moore, wife of A-Team bassist and session leader Bob Moore, supplied it