# Castle Recording Laboratory

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Castle_Recording_Laboratory
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Castle_Recording_Laboratory.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Recording_Laboratory
> Source revision: 1337100526
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Not to be confused with [Castle Recording Studios](https://www.castlerecordingstudios.com/), founded 1983.

Music recording studio in Nashville, Tennessee

Castle Recording Laboratory Industry Recording studio Founder Carl Jenkins, George Reynolds, Aaron Shelton Defunct 1956 (1956) Fate Closed

**Castle Recording Laboratory** (also referred to as **Castle Studio**, or **The Castle**) was a recording studio established in [Nashville, Tennessee](/source/Nashville%2C_Tennessee), in 1946 by [WSM](/source/WSM_(AM)) broadcast engineers Carl Jenkins, George Reynolds and Aaron Shelton. The Castle was Nashville's first commercial recording studio, producing close to half of the songs on the country music charts between 1947 and 1955.[1] Castle Studio was where [Hank Williams](/source/Hank_Williams) recorded almost exclusively for his entire career,[2][3] and [Paul Cohen](/source/Paul_Cohen_(record_producer)) and [Owen Bradley](/source/Owen_Bradley) recorded artists like [Ernest Tubb](/source/Ernest_Tubb), [Red Foley](/source/Red_Foley), [Kitty Wells](/source/Kitty_Wells), and [Webb Pierce](/source/Webb_Pierce) before Bradley co-founded [Bradley Studios](/source/Bradley_Studios).[4]

## History

### Early history

In 1946, recognizing demand for local [recording studio](/source/Recording_studio) services in Nashville, [WSM](/source/WSM_(AM)) broadcast engineers Carl Jenkins, George Reynolds and Aaron Shelton established Castle Recording Laboratory (named after the radio station's nickname "Air Castle of the South"). The engineers utilized an 8-input mono [mixing console](/source/Mixing_console) designed by Reynolds and WSM's facilities at the [National Life and Accident Insurance Company](/source/National_Life_and_Accident_Insurance_Company) Building at 7th Avenue North and Union Street after broadcast hours, with signals transferred via telephone line to a [recording lathe](/source/Disc_cutting_lathe) at WSM's backup transmitter site 12 miles (19 km) away.[3]

Less than a year later, Castle Recording recorded [Francis Craig and His Orchestra's](/source/Francis_Craig) [Ryman Auditorium](/source/Ryman_Auditorium) performance of "[Near You](/source/Near_You)" for [Bullet Records](/source/Bullet_Records), which became the first number one song recorded in Nashville and the number one song of 1947.[5]

### Tulane Hotel

The subsequent demand for Castle Recording's services was too much for its owners to accommodate in WSM's studios after hours, and in 1947, with a $1,000 loan from [Third National Bank](/source/SunTrust_Banks) to convert a banquet room on the second floor of the Hotel Tulane at 206 8th Avenue North into a recording studio equipped with their mixing console, an [Ampex Model 200](/source/Ampex) tape recorder, and a [Scully](/source/Scully_Recording_Instruments) [lathe](/source/Disc_cutting_lathe),[6] establishing the first commercial recording space in Nashville.[7][4] Castle cut master discs for all major labels (except [RCA](/source/RCA_Records)), and independent labels like [Bullet Records](/source/Bullet_Records).

Between 1947 and 1955 the Castle Recording Laboratory produced close to half of the songs on the country music charts.[1] [Hank Williams](/source/Hank_Williams) recorded his first demos at Castle Recording on December 11, 1946, and went on to record almost exclusively at Castle while it was in operation.[8][3]

[Paul Cohen](/source/Paul_Cohen_(record_producer)) and [Owen Bradley](/source/Owen_Bradley) recorded artists like [Ernest Tubb](/source/Ernest_Tubb), [Red Foley](/source/Red_Foley),[9] and [Webb Pierce](/source/Webb_Pierce) at Castle Recording before Bradley went on to co-found [Bradley Studios](/source/Bradley_Studios).[4] In May, 1952, [Kitty Wells](/source/Kitty_Wells) recorded "[It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels](/source/It_Wasn't_God_Who_Made_Honky_Tonk_Angels)" at Castle Studio. The song became the first No. 1 *[Billboard](/source/Billboard_magazine)* [country hit](/source/Hot_Country_Songs) for a solo woman artist.[10]

Castle Recording Laboratory shut down in 1956 in light of WSM enacting new policies designed to limit employees' outside business interests, as well as the planned demolition of the Tulane Hotel. The studio's founders continued their WSM careers.[3]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Blevins_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Blevins_1-1) Blevins, Charlene. ["Hank Williams – "Lovesick Blues" – Castle Studios – Nashville, Tennessee (1948)"](https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/hank-williams/castle-studios-nashville-tennessee-1948/). Paste Media Group. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Turpen, Brian. ["Hank's Historical Marker in Cincinnati and the Herzog Studio"](http://hpcisp.com/~turp/cincinnatimarkerstudio.html). Hank Williams Books. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Kingsbury_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Kingsbury_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Kingsbury_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Kingsbury_3-3) Kingsbury, Paul (1998). [*The Encyclopedia of Country Music*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tLZz02EzmBYC&dq=castle+recording+laboratories&pg=PA88). New York, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 88. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-517608-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-517608-7).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Cooper_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Cooper_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Cooper_4-2) Cooper, Peter. ["History Lesson: Nashville's Music Milestones from the Bradleys to the Outlaws and Beyond"](https://www.mixonline.com/recording/history-lesson-365977). Mix Online. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Murray, Noel. ["Pop History: Francis Craig and Nashville's first-ever hit record"](https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pop-history/article_c2c64884-e63a-5847-8713-ee649085aa61.html). Nashvillescene.com. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CMWW_6-0)** Snoddy, Glen (1972). ["Nashville, The Recording Center"](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/72/Record-World-Country-Music-Who%27s-Who-1972_428.pdf) (PDF). *Country Music Who's Who*. Record World. Retrieved 10 May 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Carey, Bill. ["A $1,000 loan produces an industry"](https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/education/a-1-000-loan-produces-an-industry/article_99529551-92eb-5138-8e63-07d76fec3901.html). Nashville Post. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Turpen, Brian. ["Hank's Historical Marker in Cincinnati and the Herzog Studio"](http://hpcisp.com/~turp/cincinnatimarkerstudio.html). Hank Williams Books. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Owen Bradley"](https://countrymusichalloffame.org/artist/owen-bradley/). Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Retrieved 21 September 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CountryHOFKW_10-0)** ["Kitty Wells"](https://www.countrymusichalloffame.org/hall-of-fame/kitty-wells). 1976. Retrieved August 13, 2024.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Castle Recording Laboratory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Recording_Laboratory) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Recording_Laboratory?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.