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Sweet Sounds of SugarHill
  
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By Marene Gustin
At the dead end of a dusty street in south Houston, past Produce Row, sits a concrete building with a gated parking lot on Brock Street. From outside, you have to squint to see the black signage above the front door proclaiming this the home of SugarHill Recording Studios. It’s the oldest continually operating recording studio in the Southwest.
Inside, you’ll find a wealth of talent and music history. Even the lobby walls are lined with photos, news clippings and two huge display cases filled with tapes and albums by The Sir Douglas Quintet and Freddy Fender and current CDs by the likes of the Houston Symphony, Destiny’s Child, hip-hop artists and Latin rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Look closely and you’ll also see the urn of Clarence, the most recorded cat in history, who made his home here as the beloved studio cat until 2005. But SugarHill is far from just a museum.
“It’s amazing,” singer/songwriter Jennifer Grassman said. “I love recording here. When I play the piano it’s like you’re in the presence of greatness, because so many famous people have played it before. The mic I’m using might be the same one Willie Nelson used.”
Grassman, a sultry songstress from Spring, is recording her third album at SugarHill, following in the vocal footsteps of Beyonce Knowles and Lucinda Williams.
SugarHill started life as Quinn Recording, founded by Bill Quinn in 1941. In studio A, where a Spanish-style cabana is built into the recording booth, the wood beams are remnants of Quinn’s original house.
In the early days Blues legend Sam “Lightnin” Hopkins recorded “T-Model Blues” and “Tim Moore’s Farm” here along with George Jones; The Big Bopper recorded the hit “Chantilly Lace” and Johnny Preston laid down the vocals for The Bopper’s “Running Bear.”
Quinn changed the name to Gold Star Studios and rode the Texas rock era in the 60s before producer Huey P. Meaux took over in the 70s and named the facility SugarHill Recording Studio.
SugarHill changed hands again in the 80s and became home to rising Tejano artists such as Emilio Navaira and Johnny Rodriguez. In 1996, it was bought by RAD Audio composed of engineers and musicians Rodney Meyers, Andy Bradley and Dan Workman.
“The music industry has changed so much,” Workman said. “The old studio model was that we owned all the equipment and artists had to come here and record. Now anyone whose 12-year-old’s boyfriend has a laptop can record music. A lot of studios have closed but I think it’s good for us because we’re the producers now, people come to us to book musicians and for the quality we create. If you’re happy with that 12 year old’s recording that’s fine. But just because I can afford the tools to do brain surgery doesn’t mean I should.”
In session, Workman lays down Grassman’s vocals for her new album. They have an easy, breezy banter as the 23-year-old singer warms up. Her mom, sisters and best friend lounge in the booth on a sofa that looks like an Austin Power’s set reject.
The equipment may be state-of-the-art, but the ambience is still makeshift. Not quite egg cartons on the wall, but close. SugarHill even has a reverb chamber room, accessed via a panel in the hallway. But the music recorded here is nothing less than magical. And Workman has the platinum albums hanging on the wall in his office to prove it.
Names From SugarHill’s Tape Vault
Asleep at the Wheel
Destiny’s Child
Freddy Fender
George Jones
Willie Nelson
Ted Nugent
The Sir Douglas Quintet
Smash Mouth
Twista
Clay Walker
Inside, you’ll find a wealth of talent and music history. Even the lobby walls are lined with photos, news clippings and two huge display cases filled with tapes and albums by The Sir Douglas Quintet and Freddy Fender and current CDs by the likes of the Houston Symphony, Destiny’s Child, hip-hop artists and Latin rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Look closely and you’ll also see the urn of Clarence, the most recorded cat in history, who made his home here as the beloved studio cat until 2005. But SugarHill is far from just a museum.
“It’s amazing,” singer/songwriter Jennifer Grassman said. “I love recording here. When I play the piano it’s like you’re in the presence of greatness, because so many famous people have played it before. The mic I’m using might be the same one Willie Nelson used.”
Grassman, a sultry songstress from Spring, is recording her third album at SugarHill, following in the vocal footsteps of Beyonce Knowles and Lucinda Williams.
SugarHill started life as Quinn Recording, founded by Bill Quinn in 1941. In studio A, where a Spanish-style cabana is built into the recording booth, the wood beams are remnants of Quinn’s original house.
In the early days Blues legend Sam “Lightnin” Hopkins recorded “T-Model Blues” and “Tim Moore’s Farm” here along with George Jones; The Big Bopper recorded the hit “Chantilly Lace” and Johnny Preston laid down the vocals for The Bopper’s “Running Bear.”
Quinn changed the name to Gold Star Studios and rode the Texas rock era in the 60s before producer Huey P. Meaux took over in the 70s and named the facility SugarHill Recording Studio.
SugarHill changed hands again in the 80s and became home to rising Tejano artists such as Emilio Navaira and Johnny Rodriguez. In 1996, it was bought by RAD Audio composed of engineers and musicians Rodney Meyers, Andy Bradley and Dan Workman.
“The music industry has changed so much,” Workman said. “The old studio model was that we owned all the equipment and artists had to come here and record. Now anyone whose 12-year-old’s boyfriend has a laptop can record music. A lot of studios have closed but I think it’s good for us because we’re the producers now, people come to us to book musicians and for the quality we create. If you’re happy with that 12 year old’s recording that’s fine. But just because I can afford the tools to do brain surgery doesn’t mean I should.”
In session, Workman lays down Grassman’s vocals for her new album. They have an easy, breezy banter as the 23-year-old singer warms up. Her mom, sisters and best friend lounge in the booth on a sofa that looks like an Austin Power’s set reject.
The equipment may be state-of-the-art, but the ambience is still makeshift. Not quite egg cartons on the wall, but close. SugarHill even has a reverb chamber room, accessed via a panel in the hallway. But the music recorded here is nothing less than magical. And Workman has the platinum albums hanging on the wall in his office to prove it.
Names From SugarHill’s Tape Vault
Asleep at the Wheel
Destiny’s Child
Freddy Fender
George Jones
Willie Nelson
Ted Nugent
The Sir Douglas Quintet
Smash Mouth
Twista
Clay Walker
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Commonsensedude wrote on Aug 29, 2008 12:03 PM: