![]() In the early 1970s, Richardson built the new Mastersound studio in midtown Atlanta, which he managed with his wife, Babs. 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. 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. In 1965, he tracked Billy Joe Royal’s classic, “Down In The Boondocks”, and, later, the Classics IV 1967 chart-toppers “Spooky” and “Stormy.” ![]() Richardson was soon engineering hits for the performers associated with the Lowery publishing and production company. Sensing a solid opportunity, Richardson relocated to Atlanta and became partners with Lowery in the early Mastersound studio, located in an old suburban schoolhouse. Using an Ampex 300 tape deck, he scored a modest success with The Delacardos’ “On The Beach” (Imperial 5992) in 1962.Īs a regional rep for Mercury Records in the early Sixties, Bob Richardson visited an Atlanta photo session for Ray “Ahab the Arab” Stevens, where he first met music publisher Bill Lowery. 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. 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. Beginning in 1972, Richardson’s Atlanta studio, Mastersound, became one of the first American studios to have full console automation, multiple 24-track synchronizations, and Quadraphonic mixing capability, making it a haven for such R&B titans as Isaac Hayes.īorn in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1927, Bob Richardson was a professional musician by age 14, playing upright bass around his hometown during World War Two years. In 1966, he recorded The Swingin’ Medallions’ fraternity anthem, “Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love)”. As an aspiring engineer in the 1950’s, he taped regional bands in his North Carolina basement. Prior to his retirement in 1992, Richardson’s career had embraced the whole of modern recording history. Legendary Atlanta studio pioneer, Bob Richardson, died in Stuart, Florida on April 15, 2003.
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