Thursday, August 21, 2008

Capricorn Studio Photos

Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, Oscar Toney Jr & Tom Dowd
I've just fallen on Jim Hawkins's website Electro-Acoustic Systems. Jim says:

I have worked as a sound recording engineer since 1966. From 1968-1971 I built and operated the first studio for Capricorn Records in Macon, Georgia.

Jim has begun posting photos of his time at Capricorn which are a fascinating document of the studio. There are shots of the studio, The Maycon Rhythm Section - the house band and artists who recorded there. Jim coninues:

These photographs were taken by Jimm Roberts around February of 1970. He had come to the studio a little early to do some photos for the Livingston Taylor album. We usually had two sessions a day, one from about 1PM till dinner time, and another after dinner until early morning. On this day we were cutting tracks with Oscar Tony, Jr. in the afternoon and doing overdubs with Livingston in the evening. Jimm took these photos and gave them to me a few days later. They represent a cross section or sample of the people who might be found in our studio on a given day. As I look back, the concentration of talent is astounding. This was no ordinary start up studio. Even after the loss of his friend and partner Otis Redding, Phil Walden was firmly established and respected in the music industry. His management and booking company had the largest stable of R&B artists outside Motown, and Atlantic Records was assisting him in setting up his new record label which they would distribute. Capricorn was the land of opportunity at that time. A new artist who showed up in town would get listened to, in fact would probably get into the studio to at least do some demos. An artist looking for more freedom could find it here. It was a place for an established artist or engineer to move up to producer.

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