SugarHill Recording Studios
| Gold Star Records | |
|---|---|
"Jole Blon"
|
|
| Parent company | Quinn Recording Company |
| Founded | 1941 |
| Genre | Cajun, country, blues, rock], R&B, hip hop |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Houston, Texas, United States |
SugarHill Recording Studios is a recording studio in Houston, Texas. The studio was important in launching the careers of such artists as Lightnin' Hopkins, The Big Bopper, George Jones, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Roy Head, and Freddy Fender. 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 southeastern United States. In 1950 Quinn changed the name of the studio to Gold Star Studios. Huey P Meaux took control in the early 1970s, and gave the studio its current name.
Quinn's Gold Star Records featured country music, then still commonly known as hillbilly music. Recordings of Cajun music 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" by Harry Choates, a swing and dance tune that and 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:
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" by Roy Head and The Traits (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' first band) and the Zakary Thaks. BJ Thomas also recorded a portion of his first commercially successful album, Tomorrow Never Comes during that time.
...
Wikipedia