Hey -- JB's. Love them!

Dave, your whole posting speaks to my point -- a local group needs to get up the focused enthusiasm
and funds and then a successful preservation and repurposing of the building will happen. I put JB
in the bullseye because I still think he's the most famous of all those you listed. You gotta go
with the name everyone knows to draw in the focus, and then the funding, and then the crowds.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2015 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Good News About the King Building


Tom,

You wrote:

Didn't James Brown record a bunch of hits in that studio? [...] I know King
did a bunch of other stuff, but wasn't James Brown the most famous, most
likely to draw the most attention?

Not only did JB do his thang on Brewster Ave., the King studio hosted these
other R&B artists: Earl Bostic, Ivory Joe Hunter, Lonnie Johnson, Wynonie
Harris ("Good Rockin' Tonight" in 1947; some cite this as the first rock 'n
roll record, though not Roberta Freund-Schwartz, thank you!), Bull Moose
Jackson, Big Maybelle, Clarence “Gatemouth” Moore, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis,
Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, Memphis Slim, Tiny Bradshaw, Todd Rhodes, Roy
Brown, Little Willie John, Freddie King ("Hide Away"), Otis Williams and
the Charms, The Dominos ("Sixty Minute Man"), Hank Ballard and the
Midnighters ("The Twist"), Bill Doggett, Joe Tex, Boyd Bennett, Hardrock
Gunter, Lula Reed and The Five Royales.

The Country and Western folk that recorded on Brewster included: Grandpa
Jones, Merle Travis, Cowboy Copas, Hank Penny, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Charlie
Gore, Zeb Turner, Moon Mullican, Wayne Raney, Brother Claude Ely, Charlie
Feathers, Delbert Barker, Reno and Smiley, the Delmore, Carlisle, York,
Stanley and Osborne Brothers.

I had to dig into the notes of my recent lecture to get those lists, so
they were readymade. However, it makes the point that the King Records
location on Brewster Ave. is more than just an old building once used as a
recording facility. In terms of American sound recording history, it is
sacred ground.

Tom continued:
Some local group should get up efforts to create the James Brown Museum and
Educational Center there, like what Al Bell and others did with the Stax
site (the old movie theater had been torn down so there's a new building on
the site of what was Stax Studios and the Satellite Record Store). In this
case, if the King studio building is still intact, they can do along the
lines of what was done with the old Motown studio in Detroit -- set it up
to operate and look like when James Brown was there.

Well, just yesterday the city of Cincinnati accorded it landmark status,
which means it can't be torn down, The current owner was ready to do it
too; cyclone fencing has been erected around the whole thing. There are
lots of ideas and more than one local organization -- the Cincinnati Music
Heritage Foundation, Bootsy Collins Foundation etc. -- is involved going
forward. There are a lot of ideas floating around. It's located in a poor
neighborhood that could use a community outreach center, and I for one
would like to see the big room retrofitted for recording once again. I
think there will be a way to make these various ideas shake hands down the
road, but the building itself is in bad shape and that's gotta be job one.

Lots of things happening on the Cincinnati music front. This morning I
learned that The JB's (James Brown's backing group, which started in
Cincinnati and included several local musicians) have been nominated for
induction into the Rock Hall. However, I've also learned that we just lost
Billy Joe Royal, who recorded for the King subsidiary Fairlane and
performed in local clubs before he hit it big with "Down in the Boondocks"
with Columbia.

best,

David N. "Uncle Dave" Lewis
Hamilton, OH

On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 5:45 PM, Gene Baron <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> And in case anybody missed it, there is a very enjoyable book ("King of the
> Queen City") about King Records -- some information here:
>
> http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/67rsc9mz9780252034688.html
>
> Thanks.
>
> Gene
>
> On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 11:40 AM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
> > Didn't James Brown record a bunch of hits in that studio? Some local
> group
> > should get up efforts to create the James Brown Museum and Educational
> > Center there, like what Al Bell and others did with the Stax site (the
> old
> > movie theater had been torn down so there's a new building on the site of
> > what was Stax Studios and the Satellite Record Store). In this case, if
> the
> > King studio building is still intact, they can do along the lines of what
> > was done with the old Motown studio in Detroit -- set it up to operate
> and
> > look like when James Brown was there. I know King did a bunch of other
> > stuff, but wasn't James Brown the most famous, most likely to draw the
> most
> > attention?
> >
> > -- Tom Fine
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Lewis" <[log in to unmask]>
> > To: <[log in to unmask]>
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2015 7:04 AM
> > Subject: [ARSCLIST] Good News About the King Building
> >
> >
> > [forwarded by Uncle Dave Lewis]
> >>
> >> For Immediate Release
> >> Contacts:
> >> Patti Collins 513-236-2724
> >> Marvin Hawkins 513-448-8980
> >> Ed Vardiman 859-801-3543
> >>
> >>
> >> *Mayor Cranley and City Council Expected to Designate King Records
> >> Landmark*
> >> *--> Owner is suing to demolish the actual studio structure where civil
> >> rights, economic inclusion made culture that changed the world*
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> (Cincinnati OH) After unanimous votes from the Historic Conservation
> >> Board,
> >> Planning Commission, and City Council Neighborhoods Committee, City
> >> Council
> >> and Mayor Cranley are poised to designate the remaining former King
> >> Records
> >> buildings and parcels as a Landmark Designation. Joined by Evanston
> >> Community Council President Ms. Adkins, King recording artists like Otis
> >> Williams, Denise Kinnard, Jimmy Railey, Philip Paul, and the proposed
> King
> >> Records Experiential Learning Center, the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage
> >> Foundation's and Bootsy Collins Foundation's joint application has
> helped
> >> to significantly raise the importance of these buildings.
> >>
> >> "There is no other place in Cincinnati that busted down racial barriers
> >> like King. At this civil rights landmark The Stanley Brothers joined
> with
> >> Hank Ballard and changed the world," said CMHF President Marvin Hawkins.
> >>
> >> "It will be an exciting day for Cincinnati and the King Records fans
> >> across
> >> the world,' said BCF President Patti Collins.
> >>
> >> BCF and CMHF will continue to reach out to owner and team of lawyers to
> >> try
> >> and find win-win for all that does not tear down any of the buildings,
> >> especially the structure where the studio still stands and where Danny
> >> Adler proved recording can still be done with The Last Session On
> >> Brewster. BCF and CMHF greatly appreciates an open dialog, even while
> >> owner sues city, and hopes owner will sell to #SaveKingOnBrewster.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> *#SayItLoud to City Council and Mayor to #SaveKingOnBrewsteras
> >> #CivilRightsLadmarkwhere rock and roll, funk and hip-hop were conceived*
> >> *Contact Us - Clerk of Council
> >> <http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/council/contact-us/>*
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >> [log in to unmask]
> >>
> >>
> >>
>