Record Makers and Breakers: Voices of the Independent Rock 'n' Roll Pioneers

25. End of Session: Art Rupe's New Rules at Specialty Records

25 chapter End of Session: Art Rupe’s New Rules at Specialty Records In the mid-1950s, Art Rupe wrote up the equivalent of a staff instruction manual based on his personal experiences in the “school of hard knocks.” Viewed as a whole, these documents represent priceless insights into the modus operandi of the independent record makers from a faded era through one of its leading practitioners. The idea came to Rupe when he appointed Johnny Vincent, often a loose cannon, as his southern representative in the spring of 1953. Vincent, who sold his year-old Champion Records to Rupe at the same time, was already acquainted with the region through his posts as salesman for distributors William B. Allen and Music Sales of New Orleans and as a label owner and distributor in his own right. His Specialty duties were described by Billboard as “a roving good-will ambassador among distribs, d.j.’s and retailers.”1 After two explosive years, during which time he produced Guitar Slim’s huge R&B hit “The Things That I Used to Do,” Vincent moved on to start Ace Records out of Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1955. There, he had great success in the rock ’n’ roll era with Jimmy Clanton, Frankie Ford, and Huey “Piano” Smith. While running Ace, he was a partner with Joe Caronna in Record Sales distributors of New Orleans at the turn of the 1960s. In Art Rupe’s notes, there are references to distributors, retailers, unions, and disc jockeys, but there appear to be no files on jukebox i-xvi_1-592_Brov.indd 472 11/19/09 10:45:17 AM end of session 473 operators. In order to plug this gap, Rupe added his inimitable reflections on the jukebox topic after a hiatus of almost a half century. To put the original chronology into perspective, Specialty was about to break out with one of rock ’n’ roll’s crucial records, “Tutti-Frutti” by Little Richard, accompanied by the New Orleans studio band with saxophonists Lee Allen and Red Tyler. It is worth noting Rupe’s serendipitous references to New Orleans musicians and in particular to Earl Palmer, who set the pace impeccably as rock ’n’ roll’s premier drummer. On this evidence, the independent record business was becoming more sophisticated in its business approach yet at times still seemed to be barely above cottage-industry status. I: General Recording Principles 1. Try to record in the following studios whenever possible: a. New Orleans (Cosimo’s) b. Houston (ACA—Bill Holford’s) c. Memphis (Sam Phillips) d. Chicago (Universal—Bill Putnam) e. Dallas (Sellers) 2. Otherwise, try to record in a large hall with a high ceiling, or an auditorium, or a large room, or nite club. 3. Remember that a recording session costs money and requires extreme concentration of everybody involved. GET RID OF ALL SIGHTSEERS, HANGERSON , etc. TRY NOT TO HAVE VISITORS! That is also the way competitors learn your business. That is also the way such interference keeps you from getting good results. 4. Microphone placement is very important and may require a little experimentation for best results. Generally, it is best to group the rhythm section (piano, bass, drums, guitar, vibra-harp, mouth organ) together. The horns (alto, tenor, baritone, trumpet, etc.) should have their own mic. The vocalist should always have his own mic. 5. Where having heavy rhythm is desirable, it might be a good idea to put a mic on a boom near the piano and also one mic near the drums. You can also get good results by grouping the rhythm together. 6. Place the singer on a separate mic in such a way that the sounds of the rhythm or the band will not feed into the singer’s mic. It may be necessary to place the singer in another room, although you can probably get good sound isolation with a little experimentation. 7. The general idea is to control the various elements of sound so you can mix them any way you desire. Just imagine that you have the rhythm in one room, the horns in another room, the singer in still another room, and that you can bring in whatever you want just by turning the dial of your mixer controlling that room. This is called isolation. i-xvi_1-592_Brov.indd 473 11/19/09 10:45:17 AM 474 rock ’n’ roll is...