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Bolic Sound Studios was a
recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...
complex in
Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...
. It was built by musician
Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1 ...
in 1970, and remained in operation until it burned down in 1981.


History

As a young bandleader, Ike Turner had grown skeptical of the music industry beginning when he wasn't credited for "
Rocket 88 "Rocket 88" (originally stylized as Rocket "88") is a song that was first recorded in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1951. The recording was credited to " Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats", who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. T ...
," which is considered by many to be the first rock and roll record. While still in his teens he became a talent scout and session musician for the
Bihari brothers The Bihari brothers, Lester, Jules, Saul and Joe, were American businessmen of Hungarian Jewish origins. They were the founders of Modern Records in Los Angeles and its subsidiaries, such as Meteor Records, based in Memphis. The Bihari brothers wer ...
at
Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and John Lee ...
. Turner, unaware of songwriter's
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
, also wrote new material which the Bihari brothers paid him to copyright under their own name. Following the success of
Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing vocal ...
, Turner had the finances to create his own recording studio which he called Bolic Sound. The name Bolic derived from the maiden name of his then wife
Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...
(née Bullock). The studio was previously a furniture store which Turner bought as a shell and had it fully renovated. He also purchased the surrounding properties. The facilities began being used for Turner productions in 1970 before officially opening for business in February 1972. Turner wanted to utilize his knowledge of the "music industry systems," so he set up the studio to help musicians. "Entertainers get all of the fame and end up with nothing – the manager got all the money," he said.
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
, who wrote the introduction to Turner's autobiography ''
Takin' Back My Name ''Takin' Back My Name: The Confessions of Ike Turner'' is a 1999 autobiography by American musician Ike Turner with British writer Nigel Cawthorne. Overview After Ike Turner's ex-wife Tina Turner revealed that his violent behavior and infidelity ...
'' (1999), said: "Bolic, was one of the greatest studios I've ever seen. He had everything in this studio. He had his own booking agency, and he was showing people how to produce." ''Billboard'' magazine described Bolic Sound as "one of the most ornate recording plants in the world." Turner had two 16-track
quadraphonic sound Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...
studios built, a large one to rent out and a smaller one for his personal use. He fitted them out with
state-of-the-art The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level ...
equipment which included two 24-input and 16-output mixing consoles custom built by John Stephens and Daniel Flickinger, multi-track 16-track and 24-track recording machines by 3M Corporation and John Stephens, IBM mix memorizers,
JBL JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. JBL serves the customer home and professional market. The professional market includes studios, installed/tour/portable sound, cars, music ...
studio monitor speakers, vintage German-made Neumann, AKG and
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
studio microphones, and an
Eventide Eventide, an archaic word for evening, may also refer to: * ''Eventide'' (EP), a 1998 EP by Monique Brumby * ''Eventide'' (''Magic: The Gathering''), a 2008 trading card expansion set * '' Eventide: A Scene in the Westminster Union'', an 1878 pa ...
digital delay A digital delay line is a discrete element in digital filter theory, which allows a signal to be delayed by a number of samples. If the delay is an integer multiple of samples, digital delay lines are often implemented as circular buffers. This me ...
. The lushly decorated facilities included a writer's room, Turner's own office, business offices for his staff, a playroom furnished with a pool table, a Steinway Grand Piano; a Hammond B-3 organ with a Leslie speaker and a Fender Rhodes Electric Piano all available in Studio A; restrooms and a Technical Maintenance Room at the end of the studio hallway, a closed-circuit TV security system with an intercom, a large Rehearsal Room with a private entrance that featured a floor-to-ceiling mirrored wall, storage space for band equipment and a private luxury apartment suite. It also housed Ike & Tina Turner's other companies: I & TT Productions, Placid Music, HUH Music, and the Spud Nik Booking Agency. Artists who recorded at Bolic Sound include Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Duane Allman, Little Richard, and Gayle McCormick. Frank Zappa recorded most of his ''Over-Nite Sensation'' and ''Apostrophe (')'' albums there in 1973 and 1974. Ike & Tina Turner's hit single "
Nutbush City Limits "Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 19 ...
" was also recorded at Bolic Sound in 1973. In 1973,
United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, ...
sponsored their first college seminar, it was held at Bolic Sound. Ike & Tina Turner performed at the event. In 1974, police raided Bolic Sound. Turner and three associates were arrested for allegedly using an illegal
blue box A blue box is an electronic device that produces tones used to generate the in-band signaling tones formerly used within the North American long-distance telephone network to send line status and called number information over voice circuits. ...
to avoid paying for long-distance telephone calls. He was cleared of the charges. The debut single from Shalamar, "
Uptown Festival ''Uptown Festival'' is the first album credited to American R&B group Shalamar, released in 1977 on the Soul Train label. The album was in fact recorded by session singers. It peaked at #22 on the US R&B chart and #48 on the Billboard Albums cha ...
," was recorded by session musicians at Bolic Sound in 1976. Turner was in financial disarray after his divorce from Tina in 1978. As a part of their settlement, she gave him her share of the studio. He tried to sell Bolic Sound, but the temporarily uninsured building was destroyed by
arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wat ...
in January 1981.


List of artists recorded

Many artists outside of the Turner organization recorded at Bolic Sound, including: *
Chris Darrow Christopher Lloyd Darrow (July 30, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was an American multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. He was considered to be a pioneer of country rock music in the late-1960s and performed and recorded with numerous groups, ...
*
Delaney & Bonnie Delaney & Bonnie were an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg Al ...
*
Flo & Eddie Flo & Eddie is a comedy rock duo consisting of Mark Volman (Flo, short for Phlorescent Leech) and Howard Kaylan (Eddie). The two were the original founding members of the Top 40 mid-to late 1960s rock and pop group The Turtles. After the Turt ...
*
The Gap Band The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets (Greenwood, Archer, an ...
*
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
*
Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael Allsup ...
*
The Turtles ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*
Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...
*
Judy Cheeks Judy Cheeks (born February 13, 1954) is an American singer and actress. In the 1970s and 1980s, she recorded as a soul and R&B singer, before releasing more dance-oriented music in the 1990s. Cheeks performed with Ike & Tina Turner as an Ikette ...
*
Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...
* J. A. Deane *
George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...
*
Leon Haywood Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American funk and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1975 hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been frequently sampled by ...
*
Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...
*
Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
*
Gayle McCormick Gayle McCormick (November 26, 1948 – March 1, 2016) was an American singer, best known for her work with the rock band Smith. She attended Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri and sang high soprano with the Suburb Choir, a 150-v ...
*
Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
*
Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...
*
Pete Sears Peter Roy Sears (born 27 May 1948) is an English rock musician. In a career spanning more than six decades, he has been a member of many bands and has moved through a variety of musical genres, from early R&B, psychedelic improvisational rock o ...
* Steppen Stones *
Tim Weisberg Jules Timothy Weisberg (born January 1, 1943) is an American flutist, vocalist, and record producer. Career In school he wanted to play drums, but instruments were chosen in order of the students' last names, and when Weisberg got his chance, hi ...
*
Bobby Womack Robert Dwayne Womack (; March 4, 1944 – June 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Starting in the early 1950s as the lead singer of his family musical group the Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guit ...
*
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
*
Shalamar Shalamar () is an American R&B and soul music vocal group active since the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic line-up on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey Daniel, together with dancer ...


List of albums recorded

The following albums were recorded and or mixed at Bolic Sound: * ''
Workin' Together ''Workin' Together'' is a studio album released by Ike & Tina Turner on Liberty Records on November 9, 1970. This was their second album with Liberty and their most successful studio album. The album contains their Grammy Award-winning single "Prou ...
'' (1970) — Ike & Tina Turner * '' 'Nuff Said'' (1971) — Ike & Tina Turner * ''Flesh & Blood'' (1972) — Gayle McCormick * ''La Croix'' (1972) — La Croix * '' Feel Good'' (1972) — Ike & Tina Turner *'' Strange Fruit'' (1972) — Family Vibes * ''
Blues Roots ''Blues Roots'' is a studio album by musician Ike Turner. The album was released on United Artists Records in June 1972. Recording and release ''Blues Roots'' was a side project recorded in 1971 and 1972 at Turner's studio, Bolic Sound, in I ...
'' (1972) — Ike Turner * '' The Phlorescent Leech & Eddie'' (1972) — Flo & Eddie * ''
Let Me Touch Your Mind ''Let Me Touch Your Mind'' is a studio album by Ike & Tina Turner released on United Artists Records in 1973. Recording and release ''Let Me Touch Your Mind'' was recorded at the Turners' Bolic Sound studio in 1972. The album package was design ...
'' (1972) — Ike & Tina Turner *''Confined To Soul'' (1973) — Family Vibes * ''Judy Cheeks'' (1973) — Judy Cheeks * ''
Over-Nite Sensation ''Over-Nite Sensation'' is the ninth studio album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, released in September 1973. It was followed by Zappa's solo album ''Apostrophe (')'' (1974), which was recorded during the same sessions. Recording ...
'' (1973) — Frank Zappa and
the Mothers of Invention The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Originally an R&B band ...
* '' Bad Dreams'' (1973) — Ike Turner * ''
Nutbush City Limits "Nutbush City Limits" is a semi-autobiographical song written by Tina Turner which commemorates her rural hometown of Nutbush in Haywood County, Tennessee, United States. Originally released as a single on United Artists Records in August 19 ...
'' (1973) — Ike & Tina Turner * ''
Tina Turns the Country On! ''Tina Turns the Country On!'' is the debut solo studio album by Tina Turner, released in September 1974 on the United Artists Records. Released while Turner was still a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, it was an attempt by her husband, Ike ...
'' (1974) — Tina Turner * '' (G)Old & New'' (1974) —
The Ikettes The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as ...
* ''
The Gospel According To Ike & Tina ''The Gospel According to Ike & Tina'' is a studio album by Ike & Tina Turner released on United Artists Records in 1974. Content and release The album features the Turners both singing lead on new arrangements of gospel standards. Ike's rend ...
'' (1974) * ''
Sweet Rhode Island Red ''Sweet Rhode Island Red'' is a studio album by Ike & Tina Turner released on United Artist Records in 1974. The album was created exclusively for the international market. It was available in the US through the Columbia Record Club. The album c ...
'' (1974) — Ike & Tina Turner *''Tim Weisberg 4'' (1974) — Tim Weisberg * '' Apostrophe (')'' (1974) — Frank Zappa *''
Roxy & Elsewhere ''Roxy & Elsewhere '' is a double live album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers, released on September 10, 1974. Most of the songs were recorded on December 8, 9 and 10, 1973 at The Roxy Theatre in Hollywood, California. Overview The material tak ...
'' — Frank Zappa *'' Acid Queen'' (1975) — Tina Turner * ''Country Boy, City Man'' (1975) — Mr. Cix * ''Do You Hear Me Talking To You?'' (1976) — People's Pleasure with Alive and Well * '' Love Brought Me Back'' (1978) — D. J. Rogers * ''Gardens, Not Battlefields'' (1981) — Harrison Johnson and The Los Angeles Community Choir


References

{{Authority control Ike Turner Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner Recording studios in California 1970 establishments in California Arson in California 1981 disestablishments in California Music of Inglewood, California