American Sound Studio
Encyclopedia
American Sound Studio was a recording studio located at 827 Thomas Street in Memphis, Tennessee. More than one hundred hit songs were recorded there between its founding 1967 and its closing in 1972, The music for these hits was played by the house band "The Memphis Boys", also known as the "827 Thomas Street Band".
Artists who recorded at American Sound Studio included Elvis Presley
, Aretha Franklin
, Neil Diamond
, Dusty Springfield
, B. J. Thomas
, Joe Tex
, Roy Hamilton
and The Box Tops
. Bobby Womack
was a session guitarist at American Sound Studio and recorded his first charted hit there.
by producer Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman
and Don Crews. Between 1967 and 1971 approximantely 120 hit songs were produced, and listed in the top 100 of Billboard
, at the American Sound Studio. During one week span 25% of Billboards top 100 not only came from the same studio but featured the same band backing a variety of artists. It was further noted that the Memphis Boys recorded 122 Top 10 records using the same rhythm team, and were also known as the 827 Thomas Street Band after the address of the studio.
American Sound Studio folded in 1972 and the building was later torn down. In its place is a beauty shop and a crumbling parking lot.
recorded his last number one hit Suspicious Minds
with producer/engineer Chips Moman. Around this time, American Sound Studio was at the top of its game, in the middle of a three-year span that would yield more than 100 hit records for artists that included B. J. Thomas
, Neil Diamond
and Dusty Springfield
.
and Mike Leech, guitarist Reggie Young
and keyboardists Bobby Emmons and Bobby Wood. They brought versatility to the studio, including Joe Tex
's "I Gotcha," Neil Diamond
's "Sweet Caroline," The Box Tops
' "Cry Like a Baby," Presley's "In the Ghetto" and Danny O'Keefe
's "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues."
's American Sound Studio in Memphis, and played on recordings by Joe Tex
and The Box Tops
. Until this point, around 1967, he had had little success as a solo artist, but at American he began to record a string of hit singles, including 1968's "What Is This" (his first chart hit), "It's Gonna Rain" and "More Than I Can Stand". During this period he became known as a songwriter, contributing many songs to Wilson Pickett
's repertoire; these include "I'm in Love" and "I'm a Midnight Mover." He also applied guitar work on three of Aretha Franklin
's hit-making late 1960s recordings, including Lady Soul
, where he played guitar on Franklin's hit, "Chain of Fools
". Among his most well-known works as a session musician from this period, his appearance as guitarist on Sly & the Family Stone
's 1971 album There's a Riot Goin' On
and on Janis Joplin
's Pearl
, which features a song by Womack and poet Michael McClure
entitled "Trust Me". In 1971, on an album with jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó
, he introduced his instrumental piece "Breezin'", which later became a hit for George Benson
.
record In the Ghetto
, unusual in Elvis' repertoire for its social commentary on the cycle of crime and poverty, and Suspicious Minds
, which became a centerpiece of his live Las Vegas
performances that would begin that year. Indeed, four charting singles came from these sessions--Suspicious Minds
, Don't Cry Daddy
, In the Ghetto
, and Kentucky Rain
--as well as two critically acclaimed albums, From Elvis in Memphis
and Back in Memphis were recorded over a 13 day span at American Sound Studio.
came full circle. The five-time Grammy Award
winner made his name in the mid-1960s with easy listening hits like "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
recorded at American Sound Studio The song written by Hal David
and Burt Bacharach
for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Further, David and Bacharach won Best Original Score. The version by B. J. Thomas
was number one on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in the United States
in January, 1970 for four weeks and the first #1 single of the 1970s. It also spent seven weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart
.
The song was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six.
went to Memphis, Tennessee
to record an album of pop and soul music
at American Sound Studio. The LP Dusty in Memphis
earned Springfield a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
in 1970 and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award
in 2001. International readers and viewers polls list the record among the one hundred greatest albums of all time. The LP's standout track "Son of a Preacher Man
" was an international Top 10 hit in 1969.
recorded Wayne Carson Thompson
's "The Letter." Though under two minutes in length, it was an international hit in late 1967, reaching Billboard
's number-one position and remaining there for four weeks. The record, produced by Dan Penn
, sold over four million copies and received two Grammy Award
s nominations. Their single "Cry Like a Baby" was a major hit in 1968, peaking at number two on Billboard, and has been covered by such artists as the Hacienda Brothers
and Kim Carnes
. Some of their recordings' instrumental tracks were performed by session musicians like Reggie Young
, Tommy Cogbill, Gene Chrisman, and Bobby Womack
at Moman's American Sound Studio, and by future Chilton producer Terry Manning
at Ardent Studios
, although the actual group members performed on a number of the recordings, including their first hit, "The Letter," and on all live performances.
", recorded at American Sound Studio, was Neil Diamond
's first major hit after his slump.
recorded his last major hit, "I Gotcha
", in 1971 at American Sound Studio. "I Gotcha" was originally intended to be recorded by King Floyd
, but Floyd never recorded a version of it. Instead, Tex went ahead and recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but ended up not releasing it. He decided to re-record the song in late 1971 at American Sound Studio and released it as the B-side of "A Mother's Prayer," the first single off his 1972 album that was also titled I Gotcha. Radio DJs decided to flip the single over and started playing "I Gotcha." This would result in Tex having his first major hit in five years as "I Gotcha" eventually peaked at number one on the R&B chart
and number two on the Pop chart
and would sell around three million copies.
", a blues
ballad that introduced listeners to her gospel style. Produced by Jerry Wexler
, the song became Franklin's breakthrough single reaching the Top 10 on the Hot 100, and holding the #1 spot for 7 weeks on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. The B-side, Do Right Woman, Do Right Man recorded at American Sound Studio, charted on the R&B side, and introduced a more gospel element to Franklin's developing sound.
Artists who recorded at American Sound Studio included Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, B. J. Thomas
B. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
, Joe Tex
Joe Tex
Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
, Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton
Roy Hamilton was an American singer, who achieved major success in the US R&B and pop charts in the 1950s...
and The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
. Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
was a session guitarist at American Sound Studio and recorded his first charted hit there.
History
American Sound Studio was started in 1967 in North MemphisNorth Memphis, Memphis
North Memphis is one of the five defined districts of Memphis, Tennessee. It includes smaller neighborhoods such as Klondyke, Binghampton, Douglass, Hyde Park, Hollywood, Nutbush, Smokey City and Frayser....
by producer Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman
Chips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
and Don Crews. Between 1967 and 1971 approximantely 120 hit songs were produced, and listed in the top 100 of Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, at the American Sound Studio. During one week span 25% of Billboards top 100 not only came from the same studio but featured the same band backing a variety of artists. It was further noted that the Memphis Boys recorded 122 Top 10 records using the same rhythm team, and were also known as the 827 Thomas Street Band after the address of the studio.
American Sound Studio folded in 1972 and the building was later torn down. In its place is a beauty shop and a crumbling parking lot.
Recording artists
In January 1969, Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
recorded his last number one hit Suspicious Minds
Suspicious Minds
"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...
with producer/engineer Chips Moman. Around this time, American Sound Studio was at the top of its game, in the middle of a three-year span that would yield more than 100 hit records for artists that included B. J. Thomas
B. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
, Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
and Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
.
The Memphis Boys
The Memphis Boys, American Sound Studio House Band was composed of Drummer Gene Chrisman, bassists Tommy CogbillTommy Cogbill
Thomas Clark Cogbill, and known as Tommy Cogbill was an American bassist and record producer.Tommy Cogbill was born in Johnson Grove, Tennessee. He was a highly sought-after session and studio musician who appeared on many now-classic recordings of the 1960s and 1970s, especially those recorded in...
and Mike Leech, guitarist Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
and keyboardists Bobby Emmons and Bobby Wood. They brought versatility to the studio, including Joe Tex
Joe Tex
Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
's "I Gotcha," Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's "Sweet Caroline," The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
' "Cry Like a Baby," Presley's "In the Ghetto" and Danny O'Keefe
Danny O'Keefe
Danny O'Keefe is a U.S. based singer-songwriter, born in Spokane, Washington, in 1943. O'Keefe's musical career has spanned four decades from his early days playing in the Minnesota coffee houses to his present station in the Seattle area...
's "Goodtime Charlie's Got the Blues."
Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack worked at producer Chips MomanChips Moman
Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman is an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. As a record producer, Moman is known for recording Elvis Presley, Bobby Womack, Carla Thomas, and Merrilee Rush, as well as guiding the career of the Box Tops in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1960s...
's American Sound Studio in Memphis, and played on recordings by Joe Tex
Joe Tex
Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
and The Box Tops
The Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
. Until this point, around 1967, he had had little success as a solo artist, but at American he began to record a string of hit singles, including 1968's "What Is This" (his first chart hit), "It's Gonna Rain" and "More Than I Can Stand". During this period he became known as a songwriter, contributing many songs to Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
's repertoire; these include "I'm in Love" and "I'm a Midnight Mover." He also applied guitar work on three of Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
's hit-making late 1960s recordings, including Lady Soul
Lady Soul
Lady Soul is an album by Aretha Franklin, released in 1968. The album was her second R&B chart-topper, the follow-up to "Aretha Arrives" and included some of her biggest hit singles, "Chain of Fools" , and A Natural Woman , and " Since You've Been Gone"...
, where he played guitar on Franklin's hit, "Chain of Fools
Chain of Fools (song)
"Chain of Fools" is a song written by Don Covay. Aretha Franklin first released the song as a single in 1967 and subsequently it appeared on many of her albums. It reached number one on the U.S...
". Among his most well-known works as a session musician from this period, his appearance as guitarist on Sly & the Family Stone
Sly & the Family Stone
Sly and the Family Stone were an American rock, funk, and soul band from San Francisco, California. Active from 1966 to 1983, the band was pivotal in the development of soul, funk, and psychedelic music...
's 1971 album There's a Riot Goin' On
There's a Riot Goin' On
There's a Riot Goin' On is the fifth studio album by American funk and soul band Sly & the Family Stone, released November 20, 1971 on Epic Records. Recording sessions for the album took place primarily throughout 1970 to 1971 at Record Plant Studios in Sausalito, California...
and on Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
's Pearl
Pearl (album)
-Personnel:* Janis Joplin – vocals, guitar on "Me and Bobby McGee"* Richard Bell – piano* Ken Pearson – organ* John Till – electric guitar* Brad Campbell – bass guitar* Clark Pierson – drums-Additional personnel:...
, which features a song by Womack and poet Michael McClure
Michael McClure
Michael McClure is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums...
entitled "Trust Me". In 1971, on an album with jazz guitarist Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...
, he introduced his instrumental piece "Breezin'", which later became a hit for George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
.
Elvis
ElvisElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
record In the Ghetto
In the Ghetto
"In the Ghetto" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music in 1969. It was written by Mac Davis and made famous by Elvis Presley who had a major comeback hit with the song in 1969. It was released in 1969 as a 45 rpm single with "Any Day Now" as the flip side...
, unusual in Elvis' repertoire for its social commentary on the cycle of crime and poverty, and Suspicious Minds
Suspicious Minds
"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...
, which became a centerpiece of his live Las Vegas
Las Vegas Strip
The Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
performances that would begin that year. Indeed, four charting singles came from these sessions--Suspicious Minds
Suspicious Minds
"Suspicious Minds" is a song written by American songwriter Mark James that, after the failure of his own recording, was handed to Elvis Presley by producer Chips Moman becoming one of his most notable hits and a number one in 1969, "Suspicious Minds" was widely regarded as the single that returned...
, Don't Cry Daddy
Don't Cry Daddy
"Don't Cry Daddy" was written by Scott Davis and recorded by Elvis Presley on January 15 and 21 1969 and released as a single. The rhythm track was laid down on 15 January and Elvis' vocal overdub on the 21st. Some speculate that it is a consolation song considering that Elvis's father became a...
, In the Ghetto
In the Ghetto
"In the Ghetto" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music in 1969. It was written by Mac Davis and made famous by Elvis Presley who had a major comeback hit with the song in 1969. It was released in 1969 as a 45 rpm single with "Any Day Now" as the flip side...
, and Kentucky Rain
Kentucky Rain
"Kentucky Rain" was a 1970 hit song for Elvis Presley. Featuring then-unknown pianist Ronnie Milsap and written by Eddie Rabbitt and Dick Heard, the single peaked at number 16 on the pop charts....
--as well as two critically acclaimed albums, From Elvis in Memphis
From Elvis in Memphis
From Elvis in Memphis is the thirty-fifth album by American rock and roll icon Elvis Presley, released on RCA Records LSP 4155, in June 1969. Recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, between January 13–16 and 20–23, and February 17–22, 1969...
and Back in Memphis were recorded over a 13 day span at American Sound Studio.
B. J. Thomas
B. J. ThomasB. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
came full circle. The five-time Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner made his name in the mid-1960s with easy listening hits like "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head
"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is B. J. Thomas's #1 song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. It was recorded in seven takes, after...
recorded at American Sound Studio The song written by Hal David
Hal David
Harold Lane "Hal" David is an American lyricist. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. David is best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach.-Career:...
and Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach
Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...
for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a 1969 American Western film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman...
, winning an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Further, David and Bacharach won Best Original Score. The version by B. J. Thomas
B. J. Thomas
Billy Joe "B. J." Thomas is an American popular singer known for his chart-topping hits in the 1960s and 1970s—appearing on the pop, adult contemporary, country and Hot 100 charts.-Career:...
was number one on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in January, 1970 for four weeks and the first #1 single of the 1970s. It also spent seven weeks atop the U.S. adult contemporary chart
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
.
The song was recorded in seven takes, after Bacharach expressed dissatisfaction with the first six.
Dusty Springfield
The sudden changes of pop music in the mid-1960s left girl singers out of fashion. To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Dusty SpringfieldDusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
went to Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
to record an album of pop and soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
at American Sound Studio. The LP Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis is a landmark album by Dusty Springfield, released in 1969. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "So Much Love", "Son of a Preacher Man", "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Breakfast in Bed", "Just One Smile", "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore",...
earned Springfield a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
in 1970 and received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award
Grammy Hall of Fame Award
The Grammy Hall of Fame Award is a special Grammy award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old and that have "qualitative or historical significance"...
in 2001. International readers and viewers polls list the record among the one hundred greatest albums of all time. The LP's standout track "Son of a Preacher Man
Son of a Preacher Man
"Son of a Preacher Man" is a song recorded by Dusty Springfield in September 1968 and featured on the album, Dusty in Memphis. It was written by John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. The rights to cover "Son of a Preacher Man" were originally offered to Aretha Franklin, who turned it down...
" was an international Top 10 hit in 1969.
The Box Tops
The Box TopsThe Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
recorded Wayne Carson Thompson
Wayne Carson
Wayne Carson Thompson is an American country musician. He is a songwriter, producer and plays percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most famous songs include "Neon Rainbow", "The Letter", "Always on My Mind" , and "Soul Deep".-Biography:Born in Denver, Colorado, his parents, Odie and Olivia...
's "The Letter." Though under two minutes in length, it was an international hit in late 1967, reaching Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's number-one position and remaining there for four weeks. The record, produced by Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
, sold over four million copies and received two Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s nominations. Their single "Cry Like a Baby" was a major hit in 1968, peaking at number two on Billboard, and has been covered by such artists as the Hacienda Brothers
Hacienda Brothers
The Hacienda Brothers is the name of an alternative country band composed of Chris Gaffney, Dave Gonzalez, Dave Berzansky, Dale Daniel, and Hank Maninger. They have been described as "the finest country-rock band since the Flying Burrito Brothers in their prime," and were called "the best country...
and Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice....
. Some of their recordings' instrumental tracks were performed by session musicians like Reggie Young
Reggie Young
Reggie Young was lead guitarist in the American Sound Studios Band , and is a leading session musician. He played on various recordings with artists such as Elvis Presley, B.J. Thomas, John Prine, Dusty Springfield, J.J...
, Tommy Cogbill, Gene Chrisman, and Bobby Womack
Bobby Womack
Robert Dwayne "Bobby" Womack is an American singer-songwriter and musician. An active recording artist since the early 1960s where he started his career as the lead singer of his family musical group The Valentinos and as Sam Cooke's backing guitarist, Womack's career has spanned more than 40...
at Moman's American Sound Studio, and by future Chilton producer Terry Manning
Terry Manning
Terry Manning is a music producer, songwriter, photographer and recording engineer known for work in rock, rhythm and blues, and pop music genres....
at Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios
Ardent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
, although the actual group members performed on a number of the recordings, including their first hit, "The Letter," and on all live performances.
Neil Diamond
"Sweet CarolineSweet Caroline
"Sweet Caroline" is a pop song written and performed by Neil Diamond and officially released on September 16, 1969, as a single. It was later released on December 9, 1972 as a part of Diamond's Hot August Night album. There are three distinct mixes of this song...
", recorded at American Sound Studio, was Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present....
's first major hit after his slump.
Joe Tex
Joe TexJoe Tex
Joseph Arrington, Jr. , better known as "Joe Tex", was an American Southern soul singer-songwriter, most popular during the 1960s and 1970s...
recorded his last major hit, "I Gotcha
I Gotcha (Joe Tex song)
"I Gotcha" is a song by Joe Tex. Tex originally intended for the song to be recorded by King Floyd, but Floyd never recorded a version of it. Instead, Tex went ahead and recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but ended up not releasing it...
", in 1971 at American Sound Studio. "I Gotcha" was originally intended to be recorded by King Floyd
King Floyd
King Floyd was a New Orleans soul singer and songwriter, best known for his Top 10 hit from 1970, "Groove Me".-Early career:...
, but Floyd never recorded a version of it. Instead, Tex went ahead and recorded it himself in the late 1960s, but ended up not releasing it. He decided to re-record the song in late 1971 at American Sound Studio and released it as the B-side of "A Mother's Prayer," the first single off his 1972 album that was also titled I Gotcha. Radio DJs decided to flip the single over and started playing "I Gotcha." This would result in Tex having his first major hit in five years as "I Gotcha" eventually peaked at number one on the R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and number two on the Pop chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and would sell around three million copies.
Aretha Franklin
In 1967 Franklin issued her first Atlantic single, "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You
I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You is the breakthrough 1967 album by Aretha Franklin. It went to number 2 on the Billboard album chart and number 1 on the magazine's Black Albums chart. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in 1967...
", a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
ballad that introduced listeners to her gospel style. Produced by Jerry Wexler
Jerry Wexler
Gerald "Jerry" Wexler was a music journalist turned music producer, and was regarded as one of the major record industry players behind music from the 1950s through the 1980s...
, the song became Franklin's breakthrough single reaching the Top 10 on the Hot 100, and holding the #1 spot for 7 weeks on Billboard's R&B Singles chart. The B-side, Do Right Woman, Do Right Man recorded at American Sound Studio, charted on the R&B side, and introduced a more gospel element to Franklin's developing sound.