This Looks Like a Great Book: The Story of Abbey Road Studios
As soon as I was halfway through these excerpts on NPR.org, I ordered a copy of Abbey Road: The Best Studio in the World.
A sample:
EMI Studios — as it was then known — opened its doors for business on 12th November, 1931. Bought by The Gramophone Company for £16,500 in 1929, the nine-bedroom Georgian mansion in the heart of St. John’s Wood — London’s first garden suburb — had been transformed into the world’s first custom-built recording studio.
Demand for a bespoke recording studio featuring the latest in recording technology had been established by Trevor Osmond Williams, manager of The Gramophone Company’s International Artistes and Technical Recording departments. As with any new idea, the plans were not welcomed across the board. Objectors included Fred Gaisberg, who was among those initially skeptical about the company’s change in ethos to require the artists to come to them, rather than the other way round.
Should be fascinating.
