Laid Back Royal Studios is located on a Memphis side-street far from the hubbub of legendary Beale Street. The studio structure dates from 1915 when it first opened its doors as the Shamrock Theater before morphing in to the Rex and subsequently the Royal Theater. When Willie Mitchell purchased the theater in 1957 the name morphed in to the Royal Studios, home of Hi Records and the Hi Rhythm Section.
When Willie Mitchell passed in 2010, his son Boo Mitchell took over the reigns at Royal Studios. Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell is a GRAMMY award-winning engineer, producer, composer, award-winning movie producer and studio owner, carries on the legacy of his father, as a producer of chart-topping record 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 for his work on the Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars hit “Uptown Funk”.
Boo’s father is remembered and revered as a pioneer of the Memphis Soul sound. A partnership between Al Green and Willie Mitchell created their first home-run hit in 1971, followed by a number-one hit every year for the next four years.
A distinctive nuance at the Royal Studios, 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 met with Boo Mitchell in the control room at Royal Studios located in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee back in 2017. The original airing of Boo’s interview was one of the most downloaded and shared Journeys of Discovery podcasts over the past decade and is reshared as a Best-of-the-Best Journeys of Discovery show.
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.
You are invited to subscribe to the Award-winning travel podcast, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer, featured on the NPR Podcast Directory, Apple Podcast, and more than twenty other podcast hosting sites including iHeartRadio and Spotify
