Gold Star Studios

Location: Houston, Texas

Gold Star Studios: Producer Bill Quinn opened Gold Star Studios in October 1941 in Houston. Originally, Quinn had called it Quinn Recording and focused primarily on country music artists, but, by 1950, he had rechristened it Gold Star Studios and was recording a diverse array of musicians. During the 1970s, the studio would change ownership and be renamed Sugar Hill Studios. 

            Quinn’s first big success came in 1946, when Texas-based cajun fiddler Harry Choates recorded the old Cajun song “Jole Blon” for the Gold Star label. The tune became a regional hit, and Choates and his band, the Melody Boys, went on to record over two dozen more songs for Gold Star by 1947, including “Baisile Waltz,” “Allans a Lafayette,” Lawtell Waltz,” “Bayou Pon Pon,” and “Poor Hobo.” 

In 1948, Melvin Jackson, better known as “Lil’ Son” Jackson, became one of many blues singers to record for Gold Star. In addition to L.C. Williams, Wilson “Thunder” Smith, Leroy Ervin, and Perry Cain, perhaps the most famous of the Gold Star blues artists was Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins. Between 1947 and 1950, Hopkins recorded a number of songs for Quinn, including “Short Haired Woman,” “Going Home Blues,” “T-Model Blues,” “Loretta Blues,” and “Tim Moore’s Farm.” 

Quinn changed the facility’s name to Gold Star Studios in 1950, and soon began working with a new group of artists who would enjoy even greater commercial success. George Jones recorded “Why Baby Why,” while J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson had a huge hit with “Chantilly Lace.” Johnny Preston recorded one of Richardson’s originals, “Running Bear,” and James O’Gwynn charted with “Talk to Me, Lonesome Heart.”  Future country superstar Willie Nelson produced some of his earliest hits at the Gold Star Studios, including “Family Bible” and “Night Life,” later recorded by Ray Price in 1960.

            In 1971, legendary producer Huey P. Meaux purchased Gold Star Studios and renamed it Sugar Hill Studios. During Meaux’s tenure, artists such as Archie Bell and the Drells, the Who, Janis Joplin, the Sir Douglas Quintet, Sunny and the Sunliners, Freddy Fender, Asleep at the Wheel, Kinky Freedman, Ricky Nelson, James Burton, Todd Rundgren, and Little Joe y La Familia, recorded albums there. With Meaux’s help, Sunny and the Sunliners were invited to appear on Dick Clark’s nationally-popular television show, American Bandstand. Their song “Talk to Me,” became a top-forty hit and eventually sold more than 100,000 copies. Another of Meaux’s, more successful artists was Freddy Fender, who recorded such hits as “Before The Next Teardrop Falls,” “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights,” “Secret Love,” “You’ll Lose a Good Thing,” and “Living it Down.” 

            In 1986, Modern Music Ventures, Inc., bought Sugar Hill Studios from Huey Meaux. The facility soon became popular among many Tejano recording artists, isncluding Emilio Navaira, La Fiebre, Excellencia, Elsa Garcia, and The Hometown Boys.  In 1996, RAD Audio bought the studio. With such artists as Destiny’s Child, Robert Minot, Brian McKnight, Twista, Smash Mouth, and Clay Walker, Sugar Hill Studios continued to play a vital role in the Texas music scene. In early 2006, Sugar Hill partnered with Pacifica Radio Network and launched a new radio show on Houston’s Pacifica affiliate, 90.1 FM KPFT. On October 5th, 2006, Sugar Hill Studios celebrated its 65^th anniversary, making it the oldest continuously operating recording facility in Texas.

            Ray Cano, Jr.