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A 60-year run at Royal Studios in Memphis--recording hits with 1960s vacuum-tube technology

Tom Wilmer and Boo Mitchell in Royal Studios control room
Credit Royal Studios
Tom Wilmer and Boo Mitchell in Royal Studios control room

Boo Mitchell carries on the legacy of his father, Willie Mitchell, as a producer of chart-topping hits.

One of Boo Mitchell’s proudest achievements was taking home the “Record of the Year” Grammy in 2016—the first time in the history of the Grammy Awards that a Memphis-made record garnered the award.

Boo’s father is remembered and revered as a pioneer of the Memphis Soul sound.It was a partnership between Al Green and Willie Mitchell that created a home run hit in 1971, followed by a number-one hit every year for four years straight.

One of many amazing and distinctive nuances at the Royal Studios (celebrating its 60th anniversary), instituted by Boos father back in the 1960's and 1970's, is its reliance of old-fashioned tube technology recording equipment such as the 8-channel Ampex 351 reel-to-reel tape recorder, old-style mikes, and more.

Correspondent Tom Wilmer visits with Boo Mitchell in the control room at Royal Studios located in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee.

Al Green sold more than 20 million records while under contract with Royal Studios. A mere sampler of other artists who have recorded hits at Royal Studios include: Charlie Rich, Chuck Berry, Ike and Tina Turner, Ann Peebles, Rod Stewart, Keith Richards, Melissa Etheridge, and Bruno Mars.

Music Credits: 

Uptown Funk--Mark Ronson RCA Records

Let's Stay Together-- Al Green Hi Records

Hold on I'm Coming-- Melissa Etheridge

Credit Kornreich Design San Luis Obispo
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Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
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