A Look at Tinseltown Broadcasting
Listening to Las Vegas radio since 1963 and being employed in broadcasting since 1971, I have accumulated quite a bit of information on the relatively brief broadcast history of this once dusty town in the desert. There have been many colorful individuals who have worked behind and on the microphones.
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Radio Bits and Bytes: The Age of Aquarius and a famous false ending from a studio on Industrial Road
Posted on September 6th, 2009 17 commentsAs I chronicle the history of Las Vegas radio stations and their facilities, mention should be made of a little-known recording studio which was housed in the same building complex which was home of the studios of KLUC AM/FM in the 1960s and 1970s: The Industrial Arts Building on Industrial road. KLUC was on the second floor, while below on the ground floor United Recording Studios.
What makes this particular studio significant is that some of the giants in the industry recorded tracks there: names like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. Elvis Presley’s last number one single would be mixed down in this studio. And the man who owned it was legendary recording engineer Billy Porter.
Industrial Arts Building ca. 1963. The now long-gone Stardust Drive-In screen is visible in front.
There was nothing to indicate a recording facility existed in this building, it appeared to be just another store located on the first floor with the small sign painted on the window, “United Recording Studios.” Plus one would think it was odd locating a recording facility next to railroad tracks. In recalling the recording of the Fifth Dimension’s “Aquarius” producer “Bones” Howe described it as “that horrid studio where you had to stop recording when the train went by.”1 But, the studios were right next to the Strip. Artists could easily get to the unassuming location from their hotels to recording sessions.
A good friend of mine at Las Vegas High School was Gerry Porter, who’s father was legendary recording engineer Billy R. Porter. In one week of 1960, his recordings accounted for 15 of Billboard Magazine’s “Top 100,” a feat no one has ever matched. Gerry had a key to the place, and showed me the studios — complete with a “real” reverb chamber–a room with a very high ceiling, speakers, and a microphone. And yes, you could clearly hear the rumble of Union Pacific trains rolling by behind the building.
In a letter Billy Porter tells the story how he came to Vegas:
“I left Nashville in 1966, and purchased United Recording Studio in Las Vegas. In August, 1969 Elvis came to Las Vegas, where he was to appear at the International Hotel (now the Las Vegas Hilton). Elvis’ producer, Felton Jarvis, booked time at my studio on August 7, 1969, and brought in an 8-track tape (all 8 tracks full) and asked me to overdub the horns, after which he would take the “new tape” to another studio in Nashville or Memphis, and do the finished mix. I convinced Felton to let me mix the 8-track tape and overdub the horns at the same time for a finished master. This isn’t a normal process, since the producers want to experiment with different mixes, and the overdub/mix I created would not allow this flexibility. I did two overdubs: one for the stereo master and one for the monaural master. The horns played their parts twice: once for the stereo version, and once for the monaural version. “Suspicious Minds” was the last No. 1 record I recorded for Elvis, and the first I’d done for him since recording “Good Luck Charm” in 1962.”
“As a result of my Las Vegas involvement with Elvis, and his request for me to redesign the sound system at the International Hotel, I became Elvis’ Sound Engineer on his live performances from the beginning of 1970 until his death in 1977. The last “performance” l recorded for Elvis was his funeral service in Memphis in 1977.” 2
Billy Porter
Billy’s last recording session would take place in United Recording in Las Vegas. Much like the soft-spoken engineer, the small unassuming studio would be the location where many legends would record. It is in these studios Billy engineered the famous false ending to Elvis’ “Suspicious Minds.” The next time you hear the Fifth Dimension’s “Age of Aquarius” know that the vocals and final mix-down were done in that little storefront studio next to the railroad tracks in Las Vegas.
A thanks to Gerry Porter for showing me around his dad’s recording studio when we were in high school. Billy was often called “the nicest engineer to work with in the business” I can personally attest to that from meeting him many times at his home.
1http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb06/articles/classictracks.htm
2 http://www.elvis-collectors.com/porter.html
17 responses to “Radio Bits and Bytes: The Age of Aquarius and a famous false ending from a studio on Industrial Road”
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Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R. -
Pam Gang September 21st, 2009 at 10:02
Boy, do I remember the “good old days” of Vegas radio. After a short stint as a relief DJ at KLUC I was inducted there as the first female disc jockey in Las Vegas when I took over 2 days (actually nights) a week from Bob Roberts aka The Spirit In The Dark. I remember always starting my shift with the Doobie Brothers’ “South City Midnight Lady” as my intro song. Later on I would go over to KQRS (106.5 on the dial - also known as “The Q”) to work for Bat Henderson and Len Mitchell and help establish the first computer-operated, top 40, all quadrophonic (remember that?!?) radio station as music director. I also sold advertising on the side, as we all did in those days. But the siren song of law resumed in my life and I went back to my true calling, and spent the next 30+ years doing the Legal Assistant/ Paralegal thing, winding up where I am now, as a Judicial Executive Assistant.
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Pam Gang September 21st, 2009 at 10:04
Oops. I’m sorry, it was KMZQ, not KQRS, silly of me not to remember the call letters of my favorite radio station! Still, it was known as “The Q”, and it was 100.5 on the dial, not 106.5. Little bit of “Some-Heimer’s” after all these years!
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Happens to me, too when I bring back memories from over three decades ago! I remember Len “E” Mitchell, and I ended up working with Bat over at KITT 96.3/KRAM 1340 in the mid 80s. In the 70s many of the on-air talent sold advertising time…except me, when I wasn’t on the air I was usually working on fixing something….
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@Sandra742, thanks! Glad you like!
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PlanetPage September 26th, 2009 at 16:00
Hi, I am still wondering if anyone know about Led Zeppelin at Ice Palace Summer’69 - There were radio announcements, that is for sure..is there any way to establish contact with some of the DJ’s who would have announced this? or are Radio transcripts are available from 1969?…
Tks.
PlanetPageI am doing some reasearch and will credit the source, should I find one..
Ledzeppelin51@hotmail.com -
Ron Murphy November 20th, 2009 at 12:02
George,
Best (ie:cheapest) way to go from cassettes to CD’s?…I have lots of my full airchecks from KORK from 1976-79. Had to go to EBAY to find a cassette recorder! Need best way to go through Windows Vista and get onto cd’s before these cassettes totally disintegrate.Thanks
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Ron,
That’s exactly what I did with my old airchecks, I recorded them using Adobe Audition from cassette to my computer and burned CD copies. Cassette decks are now an EBAY item! -
Ron Murphy November 25th, 2009 at 22:34
GT,
Is there a free version of Adobe Audition? Looks like it costs between $200-$300..which version would be simplest and easiest?..Don’t need production quality, just able to hear quality.Thanks,
Ron -
Ron, there’s not a free version of Audition but there is a free program called Audacity which should work fine for you.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Has the basic functions of Audition with a similar look and feel. It’s stable and has performed well for me, we use it on a laptop to edit news actualities out in the field.
GT
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Steve Gettler January 9th, 2010 at 10:49
Thanks for the site…great to hear Jeff Colson after all these years…he is as good as I remember him….I had a tape of him at KENO in the 1960’s I recorded….but on that day he was just going through the motions and it didn’t capture him at his best as this air check accomplishes on your site.
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Steve, thanks! Jeff was such a trip, I worked with him during the 90s over at KEYV when KFM bought the station and flipped it to “Hit Kickin’ Country.”
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Jeff had a system of classifying his work, all centered around “mool.” His collection of analogue reel to reels were graded mool and more mool. RIP Master of Mool and I still have those Sennheiser cans from which you ‘borrowed’ the plug.
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Does anyone remember Mel Ryan who was GM at KRAM 1340 around 1969?
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I was Jeff Colson’s friend from early in 1963.
He and his mom Audry treated me like I was Jeff’s Brother
Late in 1969
Jeff told me I was his “only true friend”
in the Las Vegas radio market. He told me this while I was doing my evening air shift on 1400 KBMI as he was leaving Las Vegas to start a new gig in Phoenix. Jeff really loved every aspect of Radio.
He loved to cue records and see how tight a board he could run.
RIP my Friend -
One more thing, anybody have any airchecks of Jeff Colson on KENO radio?
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Chris, I have 19 minutes of scoped Jeff Colson on this site from 1969, courtesy of the website http://www.abovemystation.com.
Here’s the link:
http://www.abovemystation.com/STUFF/Jeff%20Colson%20KENO%20Number%20One%20-%201969.wmaor click the link to the upper right of the homepage. I’m listening to it right now…Jeff also did the imaging so it’s All Jeff All the Time!
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