The Starday Story: The House That Country Music Built

5. SUNNY TENNESSEE

107 5 SUNNY TENNESSEE By 1960 Pierce had earned the esteem and admiration of music executives on Nashville’s downtown Music Row as well as fans and disc jockeys. Respect for Starday was further cemented with the grand opening of the Starday Sound Studios in May 1960. Prior to its opening, Nashville studio time was hard to come by. Pierce’s studio was soon booked solid as well. The studio quickly became one of the top four recording outlets in Nashville, alongside Owen Bradley’s Quonset Hut (which was sold to Columbia Records in 1962), RCA Victor, and Fred Foster studios. Though the Starday studio had initially been Tommy Hill’s idea, it was Pierce’s friend and golfing buddy, John Story, who made the idea a reality. Pierce remembers that Story, a stockbroker, approached Pierce about helping with studio costs. “I said, ‘What did you have in mind?’ He said, ‘Well, I have an investor and we will put up the money and I will have 25 percent and my customer will have 25 percent and Starday will have 50 percent.’ I got Glenn Snoddy, and for 25,000 he built a complete recording studio. I put up the building to house the studio, and the money went for the equipment in the studio.” Still in operation today by Gusto Records, it is now the oldest continuously operating recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Though Story’s contribution to the studio was significant, it was also brief. Just a short while after the studio opened, Story passed away. Pierce explains:, “It was a little later on when John Story and myself and Silliman Evans, the publisher of the Tennessean, used to barbeque and party together. One day we were at my cottage up on the lake, and we were having a party and John was there, and wanted to ride the horses. I wasn’t able to break away from the party, but John took Morning Glory, my horse, and he got out on Shute Lane, and apparently was racing the horse. There’s a curve at the end of the Southern Shores place on Shute Lane that turns sharply to the right, and apparently he lost control and fell off, and one foot was caught in the saddle. He was dragged on the road and was killed. It was a tragic, tragic accident and much regretted.” 108 SUNNY TENNESSEE When Story’s estate was settled, Pierce purchased Story’s share in the studio , as well as his investor’s share, and took on full ownership. Shortly thereafter Hill and other Starday employees began experiencing strange goings-on in the studio. According to multiple employees, faucets would turn on and turn off when no one was in the lavatory, the sound of footsteps would be heard where no one had walked, and occasionally Story’s voice would call out for a friend during late-night recording sessions. Adding to the lore of the oldest operating studio in Nashville were the many ghost stories of friendly John Story who is said to have moved into the studio to become the resident spirit. Tommy Hill had only limited experience with home recording machines prior to taking the helm at Starday Sound Studios, but proved to be a quick learner. After helping Pierce acquire the necessary components, Hill’s involvement with the studio became a full-time obligation. Pierce placed his full trust in Hill and gave him sole control of all studio production. Although he tried to stay out of the studio as much as possible, Pierce still expressed to Hill exactly what he was looking for in the finished product. Pierce recalls: The recordings I would leave entirely up to Tommy. We’d agree on what we’d record and he was in charge. Rarely did I have much criticism for him. All he knew was this: I want to hear the melody. I don’t want no hot licks in there. I want to hear Tommy Hill at the recording controls and Junior Husky playing bass (Courtesy of Don Pierce) SUNNY TENNESSEE 109 the melody. And another thing I said to him, ‘Get that singer separated in the booth where the music does not override being able to understand everything that the singer sings.’ And that’s one thing about Starday’s stuff: you could hear that singer and you could understand the goddamn lyrics! Musicians...