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| A real dump, even then: but great music was made here |
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| The great Reggie Young |
Reggie Young (1936-2019) was the guitarist for the house band (the "Memphis Boys") of the great American Sound Studio in Memphis from 1967 to 1972. The studio was started by Chips Moman and Don Crews.
Before American, Young was a guitarist for Hi Record Co's house band, which included Bobby Emmons and Tommy Cogbill, who eventually moved, with Reggie, to American on Thomas Street (pictured above).
American went bust in 1972 and Moman moved his studio to Atlanta. Young and the band followed him there.
Many of these songs were recorded at the American Sound Studio pictured above.
1965: Loved this one when I was a kid. Written by Royal's pal, Joe South but the guitar was by Young.
South played electric sitar on his "Games People Play" (1968) at about the time Young played the instrument on "Hooked on a Feeling" and "Cry Like a Baby."
1973: Years later, Reggie was asked to play this live, but he forgot how.
Zac Childs says this is Reggie's best performance.
"Guitar amps for Young, whose Les Paul played the song’s soulful and defining double-stop fills, and Troy Seals, whose Telecaster added staccato country licks in the chorus, were miked with AKG 224s set about six inches from the speakers, slightly off-axis. “I also used the 224s for acoustic guitars a lot,” says Eichelberger. … “The band picked up the song immediately,” [composer Mentor] Williams remembers. “The intro was a set of chords I had, but Reggie turned them into what you hear on the record”: a folky two-bar riff that sets up the song and serves as the turn-around between verses. Young later doubled the part each time it occurred, and Eichelberger set the two tracks slightly out of phase with each other, giving it a Leslie-like quality. … Gray punched in a word here and there, but Williams says he would let small artifacts, like headphone leakage, pass in favor of keeping the feel of vocal." (Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away”)
1968: English popster goes to a ramshackle studio in Memphis to sing American soul—and kills
"The recording was a challenge for [producer, Jerry] Wexler. In his book Rhythm and the Blues, Wexler wrote that out of all the songs that were initially submitted to Springfield for consideration, "she approved exactly zero." For her, he continued, "to say yes to one song was seen as a lifetime commitment." … He was surprised, given Dusty's talent, by her apparent insecurity. Springfield later attributed her initial unease to a very real anxiety about being compared with the soul greats who had recorded in the same studios. Eventually Dusty's final vocals were recorded in New York. Additionally, Springfield stated that she had never before worked with just a rhythm track, and that it was the first time she had worked with outside producers, having self-produced her previous recordings (something for which she never took credit).
During the Memphis sessions in November 1968, Springfield suggested to the heads of Atlantic Records that they should sign the newly formed Led Zeppelin group. She knew the band's bass player John Paul Jones, who had backed her in concerts before. Without having ever seen them and largely on Dusty's advice, the record company signed the group with a $143,000 advance." (Wikipedia)
1968: Loved this song back in the day. Eventually, I became a huge Alex Chilton fan (he was the singer at age 17). Saw him at the Coach House maybe twenty years ago. He was great.
By the new millennium, Chilton had moved to New Orleans, where the Kinks' Ray Davies was a neighbor. The two became good friends and planned projects together, but Chilton suddenly died of a heart attack in 2010. (See Big Star.)
"Dan Penn was producing The Box Tops, he had produced a #1 record called "The Letter". He recorded that in Memphis when he and I were both living there. So he calls me one day and says, "Spooner, will you help me try to write a song for Alex (Chilton) and the Box Tops?" He says, "People have sent me some songs, but I don't think any of them really fit. This record company's been after me about three weeks for a follow-up single." And I said, "Sure, I'll try to help write a song for you."
We got together in the studio one evening with our little notes of our five or ten best ideas or titles. We each pulled one out and they eventually ended up in the garbage.
The next morning, we were getting tired and decided to call it quits. So we locked the doors, turned out the lights in the studio, turned off the instruments. Went across the street to the little café - name was Porky's or something like that - and ordered breakfast. I remember I was putting my head on the table. There was nobody in there, I don't think, but us and the cook. And I tiredly put my head on the table, my arms under my head, just for a few seconds. Then I lifted my head up and looked at Dan, and because I felt sorry that he needed another record and we were no help to each other that evening, I said, "Dan, I could just cry like a baby." And he says, "What did you say?" And I said it again. He says, "I like that." So unbeknownst to me, we had a song started.
By the time we walked across the street back to the studio, we had the first verse written. When we got in, he turned on the lights and the recorder, and I turned on the Hammond organ. He got his guitar out, and we put on a quarter-inch 90-minute tape, and we finished the song, just recorded a demo.
The next day or two in the morning Alex Chilton came in. I was so tired and weary I didn't know what we had, if anything. I played the little tape demo to him and he smiled and reached out his hand, shook my hand, so I knew he liked it, anyway. And then we got in the studio and recorded it shortly, I think that day." (Spoon Oldham, SongFacts)
1969: Yes, Elvis really did come to this shitty little studio—to record one of his best records ever. Reggie was using Scotty Moore's Sun Sessions guitar (1954).
"Elvis had a cold when he first arrived at American that night and was a bit taken aback by the studio's condition, which was run-down enough for a host of rats to feel comfortable taking up residence; 'What a funky studio!' he announced, responding to hearing rodents scuffling around."
"It was bitter cold the evening of January 13, 1969, in Memphis, Tennessee. Producer Chips Moman and the searing band of musicians he had assembled at American Sound Studios were waiting for the arrival of Elvis Presley and his notorious retinue….
For their part, the musicians weren't overly impressed about working with someone of Elvis Presley's stature, having already worked with many big names by then. But, they were surprised by the charisma he exuded before work even began. 'You'd know he was in the room when he walked in', said Reggie Young. 'You hear stories about people that have that effect on people, and I never thought anything about it. But Elvis really did. He just kind of commanded his space. You definitely knew he was there'." (Elvis Australia)
1968: Once again, Reggie got out his electric sitar. Love that sound!
"This song was written by Mark James, who also wrote Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds." B.J. Thomas was signed to Scepter Records and had some hits with his group The Triumphs before Scepter producer Chips Moman convinced him to leave Texas and come to American Studios in Memphis, where he recorded some of the songs James wrote for his album On My Way. The first single from the album was the James-penned "The Eyes of a New York Woman," which reached #28 in the US. The next single was "Hooked On A Feeling," which was a big hit for Thomas but not nearly as successful as his next one, "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head," which stayed at US #1 for four weeks. "Hooked" was produced by Moman with session musicians that included Tommy Cogbill (guitar) Reggie Young (guitar), Mike Leech (bass) and Buddy Emmons (drums)." (SongFacts)
1972 (O'Keefe recorded a far inferior version of this tune in 1967). Here, Reggie uses his volume pedal to make a pedal steel sound.
'"Good Time Charlie" was re-recorded for [O’Keefe’s] second album, O'Keefe, which was released in 1972 [though recorded in 1971]. This time, it was recorded at American Studios in Memphis with Arif Marden producing. [T]he song was released as a single and became a big hit.... O'Keefe told Mojo about the song's lyrical content: "Maybe it was about hipsters drawn to the high life. I lived in interesting times and there was a lot of experimentation with every kind of drug. There were a lot of damages and strange intersections of lives that provided much grist for a young songwriter's mill."' (SongFacts)
1969: Diamond became a problematic artist, but some of his earlier work was great (e.g., "Solitary Man")
Recorded by Carr in 1966, released in 1967. Recorded essentially by the "Memphis Boys," including Reggie Young, but at another studio in town, another dump of a place; this one was owned by "Hi" Recording Company. The site has been rescued.
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| Royal Studio, Memphis, where "Dark Side of the Street" was recorded, among other classics. |
ALSO:
You Were Always On My Mind (Willie Nelson, 1982)
Pancho and Lefty (Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, 1983)
Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond, 1969)
Show Me (Joe Tex, 1967)
Angel of the Morning (Merrilee Rush, 1968)
I Can Help (Billy Swan, 1974)
