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A&M STUDIOS HISTORY

In April 1967 A&M Records began construction on its studios at its headquarters on the old Charlie Chaplin Studios at 1416 N. LaBrea Avenue in Hollywood, CA. There were two soundstages on the property. A&M kept the newer soundstage and turned the older one into its studio complex.

By late 1967, two of A&M's studios were in operation. Original plans called for only two studios but the artist roster grew enough that a third studio was added and opened in early 1968. Even the first versions of these studios were, according to Larry Levine, "developed to provide a creatively conducive atmosphere" with drapes, incandescent lighting, and specially selected chairs instead of the typical fluorescent lights and folding chairs. A&M also included moving ceilings to create different sonic moods. The original studio equipment was from 3M, Scully and the Holzer HAECO-CSG sound system. Howard Holzer also designed, built and installed the custom constructed recording and mixing consoles.

HAECO was the acronym for Holzer Audio Engineering Company. Billboard reported that "the unit allows sound information to pass through from the right and left channels, but places a hold on the center channel information whose amplitude is doubled when it is combined into a single monaural source for radio broadcasting." Billboard also reported in January 1968 that A&M's first monaural single to use the system was by Lee Michaels and Claudine Longet would be first stereo use, however the singles by these artists released around that time were not marked as HAECO-CSG. The first records from A&M marked as HAECO were released starting in September 1968.

A&M Studios added mixing/cutting rooms and reverberation chambers in 1969.

The first A&M album with recording credit at A&M Studios was The Fool on the Hill by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66.

Herb Alpert hired Larry Levine as the first engineer in 1967. Before joining A&M, Larry Levine was an engineer at Gold Star Studios, Alpert's preferred place to record. Alpert based the construction of A&M's Studio B on the Gold Star studio. While at Gold Star, Levine engineered sessions for A&M artists including the Tijuana Brass, Chris Montez, Brasil '66 and Ike and Tina Turner.

Alpert and Moss nurtured the studios and the engineers. Not only were fine acoustics a priority, only top recording engineers, mastering engineers and technical engineers graced the studios. The technicians built and refurbished equipment. A&M album covers tell the evolution of recording at A&M from four-track to eight-track to 16-track to 32 then 48-track to digital mastering.

A&M told Billboard in 1970 that it had invested over $1M in three 16-track studios, two mastering rooms and three mixdown rooms.

Following are two photos from an A&M Studios ad in Billboard from late in 1977.
   

By 1997, A&M Studios had a staff of 40 people supporting five studios with eight live chambers, a remix/mixdown suite and the Chaplin/A&M Soundstage. From the day it opened until it was closed by Universal Music Group in 1999, the term most often associated with A&M Studios was "world class."

Three examples of the equipment hint at the dedication to creating and maintaining a top recording facility. First is the Neve 4872 Console in Studio A. This was the last board built by Rupert Neve in 1978. It was originally owned by George Martin and AIR Studios and was installed at the Montseurrat facility. Alpert and Moss bought the Neve in 1986 and continued to enhance it until they sold A&M Records. The second is the classic microphone collection. There was a perfect choice to enhance the sound of any artist. Finally, A&M owned an extensive catalog of outboard equipment. Full lists of the mics and outboard gear appear on our Studio Equipment page.

The engineering staff was a Who's Who of the best people in the field. Larry Levine, Henry Lewy, Ray Gerhardt and Dick Bogert came to the studios in 1967. Larry Marks and Bernie Grundman started with A&M in 1968. Levine as an engineer, Marks as a producer and Grundman founded A&M's Mastering Division and managed it until 1982 when he opened his own studio. Henry Lewy became a producer with A&M in 1970. Karl Bischof arrived in 1971 to design, redesign and maintain the equipment. Also in 1971, Tom (Beno) May, became the head of the Studios. All told, he would have more than 20 years experience in mastering. Roger Young, Don Hahn, Roy DuNann, Tommy Vicari, Bruce Botnick, Bruce Swedian, Stewart Whitmore and Ron Rutledge who continued to manage the studios after the lot was sold to the Jim Henson Co. ...just a few of the many talented A&M Engineering Staff.

The A&M Studios were an immediate hit with the label's own artists. Although A&M allowed artists to record in any studio in the world, A&M, Ode, Dark Horse, I.R.S., Windham Hill and Word artists all recorded at A&M. Here are just a few names: