Atlanta Studio Pioneer Richardson Dies
Stuart, FL (April 30, 2003)--Legendary Atlanta studio pioneer, Bob Richardson, died in Stuart, FL on April 15, 2003. Prior to his retirement in 1992, Richardson's career had embraced the whole of modern recording history.
As an aspiring engineer in the 1950s, Richardson taped regional bands in his North Carolina basement. In 1966, he recorded the Swingin' Medallions' fraternity anthem, "Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)." Beginning in 1972, Richardson's Atlanta studio, Mastersound, became one of the first American studios to have full console automation, multiple 24-track synchronization, and Quadraphonic mixing capability, making it a haven for such R&B titans as Issac Hayes.
Born in Charlotte, NC in 1927, Richardson was a professional musician by age 14, playing upright bass around his hometown during the World War II years. He worked briefly for National Shirt Shops, and Richardson always credited his youthful background in retail for the business skills he would require to survive in the music industry. As district sales manager for Columbia Records, Richardson's frequent visits to Nashville recording facilities compelled him to build his own studio in his Charlotte home in 1958. Using an Ampex 300 tape deck, he scored a modest success with the Delacardos' "On the Beach" in 1962.
As a regional rep for Mercury Records in the early '60s, Richardson visited an Atlanta photo session for Ray "Ahab the Arab" Stevens, where he first met music publisher Bill Lowery. Sensing a solid opportunity, Richardson relocated to Atlanta and became partners with Lowery in the early Mastersound studio, located in an old suburban schoolhouse. Richardson was soon engineering hits for the performers associated with the Lowery publishing and production company. In 1965, he tracked Billy Joe Royal's classic, "Down in the Boondocks," and, later, the Classics IV 1967 chart-toppers, "Spooky" and "Stormy."
These were the days before the mass manufacture of recording consoles; Mastersound used a custom board designed by the inventor, Jeep Harned, who would presently establish an international reputation as the sole owner of MCI, builders of modern studio gear. Richardson and Harned formed a lifelong association that would only end with Harned's recent death on March 13, one month in advance of Richardson's passing.
In the early 1970s, Richardson built the new Mastersound studio in midtown Atlanta, which he managed with his wife, Babs. Lou Bradley, the renowned Nashville engineer/producer, comments, "Bob had a dream to build and own a recording studio, and he did. He was a bulldog."
Richardson's sharp entrepreneurial instincts provided a motivation that kept him well in advance of technological developments. The Mastersound facility was designed by Tom Hidley and George Augspurger, known for their innovative blueprint at Westlake Studio in Los Angeles. Harned installed one of the early automated consoles on the East Coast. Later, when Mastersound became one of the first (and few) Quadrophonic studios in America, Harned retrofitted his deck with special panning and bussing capabilities.
Richardson always saw the need to provide his clients with state-of-the-art gear and quality sound engineers, like Lou Bradley and Joe Neil, whose experimentation he approved. Neil, who joined Mastersound in 1974, successfully modified a video synchronizer in a trailblazing attempt to lock together two 24-track tape machines. Mastersound also became the first Atlanta studio to offer post-production technology for film, even installing a projector booth that doubled as a vocal chamber.
Under Richardson's direction, Mastersound continued to stay on the cutting edge of the era's technology, installing one of the first Solid State Logic (SSL) consoles in America. Mastersound was the first Atlanta studio to purchase a digital multitrack recorder. At the time of his award in 1987, Richardson was the only studio owner and engineer to be inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.

"Poor Bob Richardson.
We worked him so hard once, that he was kinda punchy, and he was so scared that he was going to accidentally erase,or screw something up, he just refused to work any more.
We didn't quite get how someone could just say" I'm tired and can't go any more" but we softened up, when he explained that he had too much respect for us and our work to not be at his best
As far as Lou Bradley goes, he was always a very positive and steady force.
He went on to a VERY responsible position in Nashville.I wish that we would have stayed in touch
I think that I saw him there when I was putting the strings on a Beaverteeth album........OK Nix when's his birthday ?
When you guys see Joe Billy tell him Hi for me.
RODNEY JUSTO

 

 

"From '66 thru '69, I recorded exclusively at MasterSound Studio in the old Brookhaven school building, owned by my mentor Bill Lowery.

One day I called Bob Richardson, the studio co-owner- manager and asked could I come in to cut a demo. He said "no, an ad agency

has It booked" and I said "that's fine, I'll cut at another studio but I need to come by and pick up the bass". MasterSound had an old Fender

bass that Emory Gordy played on all my sessions. Richardson said,'that bass doesn't leave this studio". I asked him if he was using it on the

ad-agency session and he said "no, but the bass doesn't leave the studio'. I couldn't believe that after helping put his studio on the map,

he'd refuse me the use of that old bass. I begged him to reconsider and he repeated, "that bass doesn't leave this studio". I never recorded

another note in that studio.

Mylon Le Fevre's brother, Maurice, and I made a deal for me to record at Le Fevre Sound. It was here that I got to know Rodney Mills.

Rodney's engineering skills and his willingness to experiment made me an instant fan. Every night, Robert Nix, JR Cobb, Barry Bailey, Dean Daughtry,

and Paul Goddard would meet at Le Fevre Sound. They'd jam and we'd record what they jammed. We experimented with different

sounds and recording techniques. My agent sent a recording of these jam sessions to MCA and they liked what they heard. Later,I called Rodney Justo in Tampa, and asked him if he would be interested in being the singer and he said yes.I talked it over with the guys and they loved the idea. ARS was born.

JR Cobb, Paul Cochran, Bill Lowery, and I pooled resources to build a studio, after it became obvious I wasn't returning to MasterSound. Rodney Mills

left his head engineer position at Le Fevre Sound and became our head engineer. Rodney consulted with us on the studio site and I put him

in charge of all things technical. 3864 Oakcliff Industrial court in Doraville became our new address." ~ BUDDY BUIE, December 14, 2008

rom Mark Harrelson

"Bob Richardson was a contemporary and associate of Ed Boutwell. Their approach to the recording business was similar, based on a mix of music and advertising production. Mastersound was where the popular syndicated radio show “Leonard’s Losers” was produced for many years. Ed and Bob both collaborated with Jeep Harned to develop the MCI line of professional recording consoles and tape machines, which they both used for many years in their multiple rooms.

I participated in a memorable session at Mastersound in the mid 80’s, doing demos with Mike Duke and The Maximums, engineered by Jim Gaines and produced by Johnny Colla and Bob Brown with Huey Lewis and The News. I remember Isaac Hayes dropping by at one point."

Mark Harrelson

Bob Richardson was a contemporary and associate of Ed Boutwell. Their approach to the recording business was similar, based on a mix of music and advertising production. Mastersound was where the popular syndicated radio show “Leonard’s Losers” was produced for many years. Ed and Bob both collaborated with Jeep Harned to develop the MCI line of professional recording consoles and tape machines, which they both used for many years in their multiple rooms.

I participated in a memorable session at Mastersound in the mid 80’s, doing demos with Mike Duke and The Maximums, engineered by Jim Gaines and produced by 

Johnny Colla

 and Bob Brown with Huey Lewis and The News. I remember Isaac Hayes dropping by at one point.