March 11, 2014

 

When Motown stripped the recording equipment out of its legendary Studio A at 2648 W. Grand Blvd. in the mid-’70s, it broke the hearts of musicians like Peter Frampton, who longed to record in one of the world’s great temples of sound.

 

And yet, an older studio at 5840 Second that served as a cradle for the Motown Sound has been ready and available for recording since 1933.

 

Because Berry Gordy learned how to produce and mix there, and recorded his earliest sessions at United Sound Systems, it has an integral role in the Motown story. (It’s also been incorrectly labeled a “Motown studio” because of that history.)

 

The walls of United Sound ooze with soul and an authenticity that served not only early Motown, but all genres of Detroit music: jazz, rock, R&B and country. This is where John Lee Hooker cut “Boogie, Chillen”; where young turks of jazz including John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Burrell cut sides; where George Clinton practically lived when it was P-Funk’s home studio; and where Detroit’s rock elite, including the Rationals and Bob Seger, put down sweat-soaked tracks (Seger recorded his early singles there).

 

From The Detroit News: