Cleveland Recording Company was a historic

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 ...

located in the Carnegie Hall building at 1220 Huron Road in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The studio produced many hit records in the 1960s and 1970s by artists such as

James Gang James Gang is an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass), and ...

and Grand Funk Railroad.

History

Founded in 1938 by Cleveland radio announcer Frederick C. Wolf as a place to record local Slovenian musicians he was featuring on his Sunday morning Czechoslovak music programs on WGAR, the studio was Cleveland's first professional recording studio. In its early years, Wolf recorded notable

Slovenian-style polka Slovenian-style polka (also known as Cleveland Style polka) is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. Instruments The Slovenian style polka band always includes ...

artists at the studio, including future "Polka King," Frankie Yankovic. In 1946, Wolf incorporated the studio as Cleveland Recording Company and moved operations to the Loew's State Theater building at 1515 Euclid Avenue. In 1950, Wolf opened

WCCR (AM) WCCR (1260 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, known as "AM 1260 The Rock" and carrying a Catholic-oriented religious format. Owned by St. Peter the Rock Media, Inc., a nonprofit corporation which has applied for 5 ...

in the same location, and in 1954, he added radio stations WDOK-FM and WDOK-AM. Ken Hamann was hired as a staff

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

for both the radio and the recording studios, and eventually built the studio into a state-of-the-art recording and mastering facility. Hamann recorded numerous hits at the studio, including The Outsiders' hit song "

Time Won't Let Me "Time Won't Let Me" is a garage rock song that was recorded by the Outsiders in September 1965. The song became a major hit in the United States in 1966, reaching #5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of April 16 of that year. It is ranked ...

" (1966),

The Lemon Pipers The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s American psychedelic rock band from Oxford, Ohio, United States, known chiefly for their song " Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bub ...

' "

Green Tambourine "Green Tambourine" is a song written and composed by Paul Leka (who also produced it) and Shelley Pinz. It was the biggest hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group the Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track of their debut album, ''Green Tambouri ...

" (1967), The Human Beinz' " Nobody But Me" (1968), Velvet Crest "Look Homeward Angel" (1969), and the

album '' Thirds'' (1970). Grand Funk Railroad recorded their first five studio albums at Cleveland Recording, beginning with their 1969 debut studio album. In 1975, Wild Cherry recorded their first studio album at the studio, including their hit song " Play That Funky Music". In 1970, Hamann and production engineer John Hansen purchased Cleveland Recording Company from Wolf and moved the studio to 1935 Euclid Avenue. In 1972, Michael Bishop joined the studio as a recording and disk mastering engineer. Hamann and Hansen ended their partnership in 1977 when the property was purchased by Cleveland State University, forcing the studio to move. Hansen moved the studio to a new location and focused on commercial recording until his death in 1990.

Legacy

Ken Hamann later founded Suma Recording Studio in Painesville, Ohio, with his son Paul and Michael Bishop working as recording engineers. In 1988, Bishop went on to engineer recordings for Telarc Records. Upon Ken Hamann's death in 2003, Paul Hamann took over ownership of Suma Recording, and recorded many notable artists including David Thomas and Pere Ubu, The Black Keys,

Alex Bevan Alex Bevan (born 1950) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, poet, radio personality, and music producer. Early life Bevan began his musical career playing the French horn with his teacher Ruffier at Chambers Elementary School. In 1965, ...

, Rachel Brown, Chardon Polka Band, and many others. Paul Hamann operated Suma Recording until his death in late 2017.

References

{{Coord, 41.500164, -81.682955, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-OH, display=title Recording studios in the United States American companies established in 1938 1938 establishments in Ohio 1977 disestablishments in Ohio Music of Cleveland Defunct companies based in Cleveland