There are few ideas in the history of American music as pervasive as the “rags-to-riches” legend. It’s a concept that’s been even further ingrained into our collective musical consciousness through the rise of bedroom-to-stadium musicians and producers — we can’t help but root for the underdog. While modern music-making tools have leveled the playing field between executive power and artists of more humble origins, make no mistake: this is no contemporary phenomenon. We tend to think of the 20th century’s musical trajectory as being dominated by major label bigwigs and extravagant studios, but the reality is that modern music’s DIY attitude carries on a legacy that’s been going strong since the inception of recorded music. From meager means to reshaping musical history, here are the stories of three small studios that made it big!
Sun Studios
A strong contender for the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll, Sam Phillips’s Sun Studio (originally known as the Memphis Recording Service) opened its doors on January 3, 1950, in a former radiator repair shop that shared a building with a restaurant. The studio measured a diminutive 18-feet by 33-feet, renovated and acoustically treated by Sam himself, and powered by an old (even at the time) RCA 76D console that Phillips had rebuilt and modified.
Initially, Phillips found nothing but failure — difficult to believe considering some of his first recorded acts contained the likes of B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf. It was during this period that Phillips recorded Ike Turner’s “Rocket 88,” a propulsive shuffle that features one of the earliest recorded examples of guitar distortion, courtesy of Willie Kizart’s newspaper-stuffed amplifier. No matter how groundbreaking some of this period’s recordings might be in hindsight, Sun was still deep in the red, finding its first hit in Rufus Thomas’s “Bearcat,” which subsequently dragged Phillips into a nearly career-ruining copyright infringement case for its similarity to the song “Hound Dog” by Big Mama Thornton.
Speaking of hound dogs, Sun’s salvation was about to arrive in the form of an 18-year-old truck driver who claimed that he wanted to make a record to give to his mother as a gift — a teenager whose name you might recognize: Elvis Presley. Elvis was no immediate hit at Sun, cutting a couple of soft ballads with little success, but Phillips saw enough potential to invite him back for a session with guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black. The three musicians struggled to find a sound that worked until Elvis, in one of the most iconic moments in rock history, abruptly broke into Arthur Crudup’s 1946 blues tune “That’s All Right,” singing and dancing around with such a frantic and contagious energy that Bill and Scotty couldn’t help but join in. Phillips immediately knew that he had found the sound that he was looking for. In this humble little Memphis studio, through sheer determination, sonic ingenuity, and a little bit of luck, the trajectory of music was forever changed. Elvis cut all his early singles at Sun, and though he would move on soon enough, the early Sun period of his career was arguably most influential to both rock ‘n’ roll’s golden period and the music made thereafter.
While Elvis’s short tenure is certainly what put the small studio on the map, Sam quickly proved that Sun’s early success was no fluke — Johnny Cash, Carl Parkins, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis would all find a home at Sam’s studio, recording some of the most iconic songs of the ’50s before Sun’s needs outgrew its modest location.
Besides the legions of classic American tunes that came out of the studio, Sam’s unique ear for unconventional sounds is a defining quality of Sun’s lasting influence. The distorted guitar in “Rocket 88” wasn’t the only early electric guitar innovation at Sun — the slapback delay that’s all but a prerequisite for rockabilly and a variety of country guitar styles was created by Phillips using a pair of Ampex 350 tape machines. Seventy or so years later, his use of the effect on rock ‘n’ roll’s seminal records still stands as the gold standard for a sound that pedal and effect builders have been chasing ever since.
Hitsville U.S.A.
Unless you’re a Motown history buff, it might come as a surprise that Hitsville U.S.A. — the studio responsible for all-time classics such as “My Girl,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and the immortal “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” — was essentially a converted garage in the middle of residential Detroit.
Berry Gordy, the mastermind behind Motown, started off with little more than a love of music, a knack for writing hit songs, and an independent spirit that would impress even the staunchest of indie labels. After some early success writing songs for artists such as Smoky Robinson, he borrowed $800 from his family’s shared savings to start a small label that would eventually produce the Motown sound that we know today. In 1959, Berry purchased a small house, confidently erected a sign on the front that read “Hitsville U.S.A.,” then spent the next decade proving that his bold claim was more than just unfounded bravado.
He converted the first floor into a studio while he and his family occupied the second floor, and by 1960, he had a million-selling hit in the Miracles’ “Shop Around.” When Motown ended their golden period in 1971, Hitsville U.S.A. had 110 Top 10 hits and over 50 #1s, becoming one of the most dominant studios in the world.
Gordy took a somewhat unique approach to songwriting and talent-building, taking inspiration from his time working at an automotive plant to create an artistic “assembly line” where hit songs could be efficiently and reliably pumped out in a factory-like fashion (no wonder he built his studio in a garage). Another distinct aspect of Gordy’s vision was his determination to make Motown’s hits cross over into white audiences — an incredible success by any measure, and it’s worth mentioning that the Beatles’ second album contains three different Motown covers.
To accomplish these lofty goals, Berry would need a top-tier team of writers and musicians — and that’s exactly what he found in the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team and the revolving cast that made up Hitsville U.S.A.’s house band, the Funk Brothers. Unfortunately, Motown had a policy of not listing session musicians on their tracks, so it’s not always easy to tell who exactly played on what. For most of Motown’s history, the musicians that made up the Funk Brothers have been tragically unsung, although musicians like the inimitable James Jamerson and his signature Fender Precision Bass thump are now receiving their rightful due as some of the most influential sounds in musical history.
Hitsville U.S.A.’s influence on recorded music is incalculable; it’s synonymous with the golden age of Motown, one of the farthest-reaching and widely beloved sounds to come out of the 20th century. Gordy’s fusion of lush arrangements, strong grooves, simplistic lyrics, and his signature assembly line method created a sound that’s firmly cemented in the past and timeless, all at once.
FAME Studios
FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) began life in the late ’50s in a small room above a drugstore, but it wasn’t until 1961, when Rick Hall split from his business partners, that the musical powerhouse we know today was truly formed. Taking the proceeds from a minor hit called “You Better Move On” by Arthur Alexander, Rick built the studio that’s now the legendary home of the Muscle Shoals Sound.
While Rick certainly started out small, FAME is very much a full-on professional studio when compared to Sun or Hitsville, and it makes sense that they’re the only studio in this article that’s still functioning more as an operational facility than as a historical attraction. However, FAME never had the luxury of being located in a prime musical location like Detroit or Memphis, instead being tucked away in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a tiny town that would soon draw the likes of Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, and countless others. Rick Hall shared Berry Gordy and Sam Phillips’s independent spirit and unorthodox manner of approaching music, and his “colorblind” method of recording with both Black and white musicians (long before segregation ceased to exist in the south) allowed FAME to serve as a safe haven for musicians more concerned with music than race.
FAME’s first big break came in the form of “Steal Away”, a powerful ballad sung by a local rubber factory worker named Jimmy Hughes. This record served as the inception of the famous Muscle Shoals Sound and began FAME’s ascension to the heights of musical royalty. The hits kept on coming, famously including a troubled session with Aretha Franklin that nevertheless catapulted her from the status of second-string pop singer to the Queen of Soul. Etta James would also record her career-revitalizing Tell Mama album here, and in the late ’60s, Duane Allman would find a home at FAME during his brief but unforgettable career.
Like Hitsville U.S.A., a key element to FAME’s early success was its legendary house band, the Swampers. While FAME has housed its fair share of history-making studio bands, the Swampers’ rock-solid R&B groove and soulful playing served as the backdrop for FAME’s heyday. An all-white group, many Black musicians were astounded to find that the grooves found on FAME’s hits were in fact played by a group of rural white Alabama boys who looked more like mechanics than a swinging soul outfit — reinforcing Rick’s vision of a “colorblind” studio. The Swampers would set off on their own in the late ’60s to form the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, but their influence weighs heavily on FAME’s golden period.
FAME would continue to find success throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and beyond, pivoting to accommodate more rock and pop musicians and eventually launching the career of country legends Shenandoah. The studio is still very much operational today, as you can see in our very own Mitch Gallagher’s tour with Rick’s son, Rodney Hall.
What Makes a Small Studio Great?
So, how exactly did Sam Phillips, Rick Hall, and Berry Gordy take the meager tools they were given and set the course of musical history? It would be unfair to say that luck had nothing to do with it; Elvis doesn’t just walk into your studio every day. However, all three of these men had an incredible ear for music, recognized when they heard talent, and had the experience and good sense to direct their artists towards a certain sound when they heard even an inkling of potential. It goes without saying that they were all incredibly hardworking, but they also shared a certain idiosyncratic quality, a willingness to buck tradition and venture out into the unknown to make history. It’s this aspect that hits closest to home when comparing these legends to modern musical underdogs who win Grammys and sell out stadiums, armed with but a laptop, a few mics, and an idea. For those of us who run our own makeshift recording setups — from simple bedroom rigs to fully decked-out basement studios — it’s both reassuring and inspiring to see that although we’re up against the odds, we’re carrying on one of the most deeply rooted legacies in America’s musical history.
Even if you’re starting out small, you’ll still need some gear to get going! Make sure to give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700 to outfit your studio setup.