Quonset Hut Studio was a music

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 ...

established in 1954 in Nashville, Tennessee by brothers Harold and

Owen Bradley William Owen Bradley (October 21, 1915 – January 7, 1998) was an American musician and record producer who, along with Chet Atkins, Bob Ferguson, Bill Porter, and Don Law, was one of the chief architects of the 1950s and 1960s Nashville sou ...

as Bradley's Film & Recording Studios and later operated as

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

Studio B. The Quonset Hut was the first commercial recording studio in what would later become known as Music Row. Today the studio serves as a recording classroom for Belmont University.

History

In 1954, producer

, along with his brother

Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...

, purchased a house at 804 16th Avenue South in Nashville for $7500 to convert into a film and

. The Bradleys tore out the first floor of the house to create recording space in the basement. They also attached a surplus Army Quonset hut that they bought to the back of the house to use as a television studio for filming musical performances. In 1958, the basement space became too crowded and the recording end of the Studios moved into the Quonset Hut. The recording facility became an instant success, attracting business from the Decca,

, Capitol, and

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

labels. The Bradleys sold the studio to Columbia Records in 1962, and both would later work with Chet Atkins on building RCA Studio A. Columbia Records operated the studio from 1962 through 1982, when it was converted into office space. In 2006, philanthropist

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

bought the structure and had it restored. Today it serves as a recording classroom for Belmont University.

Notable recordings

Patsy Cline's "

Crazy Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or t ...

", Brenda Lee's " I'm Sorry" and Bobby Vinton's " Blue Velvet" were produced at the recording studio, and artists across different genres including Tammy Wynette,

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

, the Byrds,

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

, Gene Vincent and

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music groups of the 1960s, and their biggest hits—including the electric remix of " ...

recorded music there.

References

Recording studios in Tennessee Companies based in Nashville, Tennessee {{recording-studio-stub