SugarHill Recording Studios is a recording studio in
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. The studio was important in launching the careers of such artists as
Lightnin' Hopkins
Samuel John "Lightnin" Hopkins (March 15, 1912 – January 30, 1982) was an American country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist from Centerville, Texas. In 2010, ''Rolling Stone'' magazine ranked him No. 71 on its list o ...
,
The Big Bopper
Jiles Perry "J.P." Richardson Jr. (October 24, 1930 – February 3, 1959), known as The Big Bopper, was an American singer, songwriter and disc jockey. His best-known compositions include "Chantilly Lace" and " White Lightning", the latter of wh ...
,
George Jones
George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song "He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...
, the
Sir Douglas Quintet
The Sir Douglas Quintet was an American rock band, formed in San Antonio in 1964. With their first hits, they were acclaimed in their home state. When their career was established (subsequent to working with Texas record producer Huey Meaux), t ...
,
Roy Head
Roy Kent Head (January 9, 1941 – September 21, 2020) was an American singer, best known for his hit song " Treat Her Right".
Career
Roy Kent Head was born in Three Rivers, Texas and achieved fame as a member of musical group The Traits from ...
, and
Freddy Fender
Freddy Fender (born Baldemar Garza Huerta; June 4, 1937 – October 14, 2006) was an American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados. He was best ...
. It is renowned for its collection of vintage recording equipment, reverb chamber rooms, EMT plates and a long history of music. A landmark in the Houston music community, SugarHill celebrated its 69th year of operation in October 2011.
Founded in October 1941 by Bill Quinn under the name Quinn Recording, it is the oldest continuously operating studio in the United States. In 1950 Quinn changed the name of the studio to Gold Star Studios.
Huey P Meaux
Huey Purvis Meaux (March 10, 1929 – April 23, 2011) was an American record producer and the owner of various record labels and recording studios including Crazy Cajun Records, Tribe Records, Tear Drop Records, Capri Records, and SugarHill R ...
took control in the early 1970s, and gave the studio its current name.
Incarnations
Quinn/Gold Star Studios
Quinn's Gold Star Records featured
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, then still commonly known as
hillbilly music. Recordings of
Cajun music
Cajun music (french: Musique cadienne), an emblematic music of Louisiana played by the Cajuns, is rooted in the ballads of the French-speaking Acadians of Canada. Although they are two separate genres, Cajun music is often mentioned in tandem w ...
also appeared on the label. In his first few years of business, Bill Quinn also recorded radio commercials and birthday greetings. That changed when Gold Star released its first hit record, a song called "
Jole Blon
Jole Blon or Jolie Blonde is a traditional Cajun waltz, often called "the Cajun national anthem" because of the popularity it has in Cajun culture. The song was popularized on a nationwide scale by a series of renditions and references in late 194 ...
" by
Harry Choates
Harry Henry Choates (December 26, 1922 – July 17, 1951) was an American Cajun music fiddler known as the "Fiddle King of Cajun Swing" and the "Godfather of Cajun music." The scholar Barry Jean Ancelet called Choates "undoubtedly the most popul ...
, a swing and dance tune that became the first and only Cajun record to reach the ''
Billboard Top Five''. It is still popular today. The Gold Star label had a string of hits throughout the late-1940s, 50s and 60s including:
* Lightnin' Hopkins: "T-Model Blues" and "Tim Moore's Farm" were both top 10 hits (1948)
* George Jones' first hit "
Why Baby Why
"Why Baby Why" is a country music song co-written and originally recorded by George Jones. Released in late 1955 on Starday Records and produced by Starday co-founder and Jones' manager Pappy Daily, it peaked at 4 on the ''Billboard'' country c ...
" (1955)
* Six more George Jones hit singles: "What Am I Worth", "You Gotta Be My Baby", "Just One More", "Yearning", "Too Much Water" and "Don't Stop the Music" (1956)
* The Big Bopper's hit "
Chantilly Lace
Chantilly lace is a handmade bobbin lace named after the city of Chantilly,"Chantilly" ''The Oxford English Dictionary''. 2nd ed. 1989. France, in a tradition dating from the 17th century. The famous silk laces were introduced in the 18th cent ...
" (1958)
*
Johnny Preston
John Preston Courville, known professionally as Johnny Preston (August 18, 1939 – March 4, 2011), was an American rock and roll singer, best known for his international number one hit in 1960, "Running Bear".
Life and career
Born in Port Arth ...
's "
Running Bear
"Running Bear" is a teenage tragedy song written by Jiles Perry Richardson (a.k.a. The Big Bopper) and sung most famously by Johnny Preston in 1959. The 1959 recording featured background vocals by George Jones and the session's producer Bill ...
", written by The Big Bopper (1959)
* James O'Gwynn's "Talk to Me Lonesome Heart" and Eddie Noack's "Have Blues Will Travel/The Price of Love" (1959)
*
Willie Nelson
Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...
's first two official hits: "Family Bible" (a song he wrote for Claude Gray) and "Night Life" (1959 & 1960) (Night Life was recorded by
Ray Price in 1960).
The early 1960s saw the beginnings of the psychedelic Texas rock era, particularly with the release of Sir Douglas Quintet's hit song "She's About a Mover", and "
Treat Her Right
Treat Her Right was an American rock group, formed in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in 1985. The band originally featured Mark Sandman on "low guitar," Billy Conway on cocktail drum, David Champagne on guitar, and Jim Fitting on harm ...
" by
Roy Head and The Traits
Roy Kent Head (January 9, 1941 – September 21, 2020) was an American singer, best known for his hit song "Treat Her Right".
Career
Roy Kent Head was born in Three Rivers, Texas and achieved fame as a member of musical group The Traits from ...
(both produced by Huey P. Meaux).
In January 1968, International Artists Record Company leased Gold Star. Coupled with the successes of "Treat Her Right" (#2) and "She's About A Mover" (#13), the studio attracted more psychedelic rock bands including:
13th Floor Elevators, The Red Krayola, The Bubble Puppy, The Continental Five, The Bad Seeds, The Moving Sidewalks (
Billy Gibbons
William Frederick Gibbons (born December 16, 1949) is an American musician who is the guitarist and lead singer of the rock band ZZ Top. He began his career in the band the Moving Sidewalks, which recorded a full-length album entitled, ''Flas ...
' first band) and the Zakary Thaks.
BJ Thomas
Billy Joe Thomas (August 7, 1942 – May 29, 2021) was an American singer widely known for his pop, country and Christian hits of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Popular songs by Thomas include "Hooked on a Feeling" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' ...
also recorded a portion of his first commercially successful album, ''
Tomorrow Never Comes
''Tomorrow Never Comes'' is a 1978 British-Canadian crime film directed by Peter Collinson and starring Oliver Reed and Susan George.
Plot
Coming back from an extended business trip, Frank (Stephen McHattie) discovers that his girlfriend Ja ...
'' during that time.
SugarHill (Huey P. Meaux)
The reputation of SugarHill was enhanced when the studio producer
Huey P. Meaux took over ownership in the early 1970s. He became instrumental in launching many careers, most notably that of Freddy Fender who recorded 21 hit records including "
Before The Next Teardrop Falls", "
Wasted Days and Wasted Nights
"Wasted Days and Wasted Nights" is an American country and pop song recorded by Freddy Fender. It is considered by many to belong to the swamp pop idiom of south Louisiana and southeast Texas that had such a major musical impact on Fender.
Son ...
", "Secret Love", "You'll Lose a Good Thing"'' and'' "Living it Down".'' Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, SugarHill continued to record notable artists including:
* Frieda and The Fire Dogs (now famous blues singer/pianist
Marcia Ball
Marcia Ball (born March 20, 1949, Orange, Texas, United States) is an American blues singer and pianist raised in Vinton, Louisiana.
Ball was described in ''USA Today'' as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist... where Texas stomp-rock a ...
) (1972)
*
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...
recorded their infamous live broadcast on Pacifica's KPFT 90.1FM in 1973.
*
Asleep At The Wheel recorded "Miles of Texas" (1976)
* Gubernatorial candidate
Kinky Friedman
Richard Samet "Kinky" Friedman (born November 1, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, novelist, humorist, politician, and former columnist for ''Texas Monthly'' who styles himself in the mold of popular American satirists Will Rogers and Mar ...
recorded his LP ''
Lasso from El Paso'' (1976)
*
Ricky Nelson
Eric Hilliard Nelson (May 8, 1940 – December 31, 1985) was an American musician, songwriter and actor. From age eight he starred alongside his family in the radio and television series ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''. In 1957, he bega ...
& Elvis Presley's guitarist,
James Burton
James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...
(1976)
*
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
(1977)
*
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American rock musician and activist. He initially gained fame as the lead guitarist and occasional lead vocalist of The Amboy Dukes, a band formed in 1963 that played psychedelic rock an ...
(1978)
*
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...
(1980)
*
Jandek
Jandek is the musical alias of Houston, Texas based lo-fi folk singer Sterling Smith. Since 1978, Jandek has independently released over 45 albums without granting interviews or providing any biographical information, releasing on a self-made lab ...
(1982)
*
Really Red Really may refer to:
* ''Really'' (album), by JJ Cale
* Really (TV channel)
*''Really'', a 2006 film starring Philip Arditti
Philip Arditti also credited as Philip Ishak Arditti, is a Turkish theatre and television actor of Jewish Sephardic d ...
(1984)
* Little Joe y LaFamilia (1984)
*
Arnett Cobb and
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...
(1987)
In 1986, Modern Music Ventures Incorporated purchased SugarHill from Huey P. Meaux. SugarHill consequently became the home base for a number of successful
Tejano recording artists including
Emilio Navaira
Emilio H. Navaira III (August 23, 1962 – May 16, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter of Tejano and country music. He is the winner of one Grammy Award and one Latin Grammy Award.
Known to most by the mononym Emilio, he charted more than ...
, La Fiebre, Excellencia, Country Star Johnny Rodriquez and Adalberto Gallegos.
Concurrently, Modern Music Ventures established their own Tejano label called Discos MM and released hit records by Elsa Garcia, Jerry Rodriguez and Mercedes (album ''Rebelde'' 1990), and The Hometown Boys. Members of influential Australian rock band,
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth.
Hist ...
, Deniz Tek and Chris Masuak, arrived in the early 90s to record their solo albums.
SugarHill (RAD Audio)
![SugarHill StudioAControlRoom](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/SugarHill_StudioAControlRoom.jpg)
In 1996, SugarHill underwent another change in ownership: RAD Audio, a company formed by studio engineers Dan Workman, Andy Bradley and Rodney Meyers. With new management and additional studio renovations, SugarHill continued to evolve. SugarHill recorded such artists as
Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
, Robert Minot,
Ann-Margret
Ann-Margret Olsson (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish–American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress and singer, she is credited as Ann-Margret.
She is known for her roles in '' Pocketful of Miracles'' (1961), ''State Fair'' (1962), '' ...
, Solange Knowles, Brian McKnight, Twista, Smash Mouth, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, Hubert Laws, Clay Walker,
Jay Hooks, and Calvin Owens.
"The SugarHill Sessions"
The 2000s ushered in many changes in the music production industry, not the least of which was a massive rise in home recording. In 2006, SugarHill partnered with the
Pacifica Radio Network
Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/ liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins s ...
and launched "The SugarHill Sessions," a radio show on Pacifica' Houston affiliate 90.1FM KPFT. The show was created as a platform to encourage local music and to highlight live independent music in the Gulf Coast region. The show has profiled indie artists including Marah (Yep Roc Records), Bring Back The Guns, Ume (Pretty Activity), Jana Hunter (Gnomonsong), Spain Colored Orange (Lucid Records), Todd Snider (Universal) and The Long Winters (Barsuk).
In 2006, SugarHill recorded Frank Black (The Pixies), Johnny Bush,
Johnny Nash
John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists ...
, Matt Johnson, Southern Backtones, Row Zero, The Medicine Show, Clouseaux, Glenna Bell, John Evans, Jandek, Maggie Walters, The Inoculist, Broadmoore, Def Trapp, IB3, Darrin Love, Anne Loo, Calvin Owens,
Trystan Layne,
Shei Atkins
Shei Atkins is an R&B singer-songwriter.
Her 2005 album '' The Lita Mae Show'', released by Paid in Full Records, charted at number 47 on US Billboard's Top Gospel Albums chart, and also charted at number 86 on the US R&B Albums.
Reference ...
, and Bullet.
In December 2008, the studio teamed up with Zenfilm and introduced a monthly video podcast,
to give the audience a "behind the scenes" glimpse of recording sessions followed by interviews of the artists.
References
External links
Official site
{{Coord, 29.707989, -95.324941, display=title
Recording studios in the United States