Devonshire Sound Studios
Devonshire Sound Studios was a music recording studio located at 10733 Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood, California, designed and built by David Mancini. Mancini is also known for designing and building the California Hollywood Recording Studios.[1][2] The original Devonshire Studio was located in Granada Hills and the original partners were Ray Dewey, Glen Pace, Dick Stricklin and a little later Bill Comstock of The Four Freshmen. Ray met Bill when The Freshmen were recording Ray's song "Girls" for Liberty Records. Originally designed as a production studio, Devonshire soon required more space, more studios, a live chamber, parking, etc. and that's when it moved to North Hollywood and Mancini became a partner and builder. Many hits have been cut out of Devonshire. None of the original owners are still involved.
Selected recordings
In spring 1974 Billy Joel's Streetlife Serenade was recorded at the studios.[3]
In October and November, 1976, Bing Crosby recorded tracks at the studios under the direction of Ken Barnes for the album Beautiful Memories.[4]
In 1976 Weather Report recorded Heavy Weather at the studios. Brian Risner, the engineer for Weather Report from 1972 - 1983, described the "air" in Weather Report's recordings as a product of the room acoustics at Devonshire.[5]
In August 1980 Ringo Starr continued recording for the Can't Fight Lighting album at the studios. The album would later be known as Stop and Smell the Roses.[6]
Nirvana Nevermind: The Devonshire mixes
The Devonshire mixes were released as part of the 20th Anniversary Edition of Nirvana’s Nevermind album. Producer Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Green Day, Muse, Foo Fighters) began mixing Nevermind at Devonshire as soon as they were finished recording the album in May 1991; however, the label ultimately hired Andy Wallace to mix the record at a different studio. Vig pulled out the original mixes years later as Nirvana was getting ready to release the 20th Anniversary Edition. These original mixes are now known as "the Devonshire mixes".[1][7]
References
- ^ a b Raul. "Nirvana "Nevermind the Devonshire Mixes"". Feel Numb. FeelNumb. Retrieved 2014-08-01.
- ^ Jaworski, Jay. "Music Producer Michael Mancini Emerges Back Onto the Controls of the Recording Industry". PRWeb. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
- ^ Bego, Mark (2007). Billy Joel: The Biography. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 78. ISBN 1560259892.
- ^ Macfarlane, Malcolm (2001). Bing Crosby: Day by Day. Scarecrow Press. p. 648. ISBN 0810841452.
- ^ Jisi, Chris (2008). Bass Player Presents The Fretless Bass. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 49. ISBN 1617133779.
- ^ Harry, Bill (2012). The Ringo Starr Encyclopedia. Random House. ISBN 0753547163. Retrieved 2014-09-22.
- ^ Rotondi, James. "Stories from a Pro: Butch Vig". iZotope.