By mhc (172.140.83.173 - 172.140.83.173) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 12:46 am:

For a few years after High School (early '70s) I was in a Detroit area band called (gulp!) ASTIGAFA. (Actually, "Gulp" would've been a better name; wish I'd thought of it..). Definitely the coolest thing that band ever did was when we bought a package of recording gear from an ad in the Tradin' Times for $6500.00. To pick the stuff up we had to go first to a paint/hardware store where half the stuff was laying around in a storeroom, then to another storeroom, at a body shop, to pick up the rest. The gear included a Scully 4 trk., an Ampex 354 2 trk., two Neumann KM64s (mics), a Fairchild spring reverb (which I think we threw away..), two of those Altec pencil mics, and a board made from four Altec 1576A mixers, four great graphic EQs like I've never seen since (with big orange knobs on the faders), a Pultec 3-trk. panpot (with a little knob added for the fourth track), and 4 Langevin faders. So, I'm wondering if any of you studio owners, engineers, or players here might have any idea who this setup belonged to before we bought it. Recently I was listening to this CD called "The Magic of Detroit" which includes tracks by Lee Rogers, Silky Hargreaves, Ronnie Love, and others, and I started thinking, maybe some of this stuff was recorded on that gear that I used to have.. This forum is the one place in the world where I might be able to find out. Also, a note of trivia: In 1991 I went and visited Norman Petty studios in Clovis, N.M. (so I could stand in the room where "That'll Be the Day" was recorded..). All of Norman's gear was there, including the 4 trk. setup that he would've used to record "Bottle of Wine" by The Fireballs, and other hits. And it was nearly the same setup that we used to have, with the Scully, the board made out of Altec 1576A mixers, the Pultec panpot, etc. I said "Wow"..

By Ed Wolfrum (165.247.229.13 - 165.247.229.13) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 02:35 am:

The 1567A Altecs were used everywhere, Motown, United, Theme, Artie Fields, you name it, but based on the rest of the gear this may have been the old Seidra Studio that Stan Getz from Sound Inc. and I built in around 1967. The Scully Four Track and 1567's were standard fare around here. If this was all in the same place,the Langevin Graphic EQ and the Ampex 354 2 track, Pultec Panner and the KM-64's indicate the probability that it was Seidra's old gear. Siedra was on Wyoming near 7 mile.


There were not many Pultec Panner's around town other than the old one at Motown and the one at Seidra. Today, you could sell one of the Neuman KM-64's "tube" mikes for what you paid for the whole setup, proving that there is a sucker born every minute.

Pax,
Ed Wolfrum

By mhc (172.142.145.42 - 172.142.145.42) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 03:37 am:

Wow, that's AMAZING. Quick service around here. Thanks a lot; that really sounds like a buy-able answer. Do you have any recollections about who recorded there? Of course I've wished many times over the years that I had some of that gear back. The stuff really sounded beautiful (shame about our band..) I actually have two of those mixers now (purchased from a guy in Ohio in the mid '90s). I record lead vocals through them sometimes. Anyway, Seidra; I'll be damned. Thanks again.

By acooolcat (211.78.28.76 - 211.78.28.76) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 03:41 am:

MHC, I'm sure the correct spelling is SIDRA.
Best wishes, Graham

By Ritchie (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 08:08 am:

Marshall

ASTIGAFA is a bit of a mouthful, but a nice acronym. (For those who don't know, it's borrowed from the back of the Sgt Pepper album: "A Splendid Time Is Guaranteed For All")

But, more to the point - I thought Norman Petty eventually went up to 8 track at Clovis, or were you just referring to the earlir gear? By the way, I wonder what happened to the Ampex tape machine he bought from Norman Petty, that he recorded his last songs on...

(Guys - sorry to digress from Detroit/Soul here, but Buddy Holly IS a big favourite of mine, and a timeless artist. Marshall - back me up, please!)

By Ritchie (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 10:47 am:

Sorry, "he" referred to Buddy Holly, and the Ampex he bought was the one Petty used to record "Rave On".

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.5 - 62.252.128.5) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 12:18 pm:

Marshall

Here's a pic of Sidra's studio, which was based at 18292 Wyoming.

Two cd's feature (amongst others) Sidra/Drew tracks.

"Night Owl 3:It Really Hurts Me Girl"(Joeboy
jba-s007)

and "The Northern Soul Years" (Joeboy jba-006)

All Sidra output that I have encountered is of extremely high quality.

By mhc (172.165.107.14 - 172.165.107.14) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 12:43 pm:

Ritchie, Norman Petty eventually made it up to 24 track. David from Glasgow, thanks for that information. I just searched on amazon.com under "Northern Soul" and they didn't have the CDs you mentioned. Can you name some artists that were on Sidra/Drew so I can look for their stuff on other comps? Thanks again guys..

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.5 - 62.252.128.5) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 01:24 pm:

Marshall

On Sidra:-
The Embraceables/Barbara Mercer/Timmy Willis/Ronnie & Robyn/

On Drew:-
The Precisions (many tracks)

I'm sure BR@BEATINRHYTHM.COM will have copies. Maybe even Ritchie on here?

Well worth seeking out. Ask for Tom.

Especially "The Northern Soul Years".

By Ed Wolfrum (165.247.229.13 - 165.247.229.13) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 03:20 pm:

Somewhere aroud here I have a slide of the Sidra control room during the construction. I'll try to find it.

Marshall, I believe we have a mutual friend in the talented Mark Gottlieb

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.5 - 62.252.128.5) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 04:53 pm:

Well Ed, that would be fantastic!

By Bob Olhsson (68.32.101.228 - 68.32.101.228) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 08:22 pm:

"Stan Getz from Sound Inc"

Ed, wasn't that the place in a little town northeast of Detroit that had the solid chrome console?

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.5 - 62.252.128.5) on Saturday, June 29, 2002 - 09:06 pm:

That was exactly where it was Bob.

By Ian W (213.122.158.55 - 213.122.158.55) on Sunday, June 30, 2002 - 09:40 pm:

Now I know where that telephone directory went!

By mhc (172.135.25.118 - 172.135.25.118) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 02:41 am:

I was just wondering if any record collectors here have ever heard of a Detroit artist called Brimstone Ingram? I've wondered about him over the years; he came into our studio once and recorded a great tune called "I'm Sorry", and said that he had a deal with a British label. Also, Ralph, I've been trying to go to the Sidra page on the Soulful Detroit tour but it won't work. Is the page unavailable?

By Ralph (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 03:26 am:

Marshall,
I can't get it either. It's pssible some work is being done on it but this is really a question for Lowell or David. I'm sure it will get cleared up.

By mhc (172.142.190.44 - 172.142.190.44) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 03:46 am:

Thanks, Ralph..

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.122.166.56 - 213.122.166.56) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 08:12 am:

Marshall please go to the Soulful Detroit main page via button the left.

Then click Soulful Detroit webisode.

Then click Revilot and click on the Revilot pic it will let you in to the Sidra page.

I will get Lowell to fix the "Sidra" button later.

We have been having some internal-link problems recently. Lowell tells me that we have almost used up our quota of web space and I wonder if that is part of the problem.

The growth in the site since inception date of October 4th 2001 has been enormous.

Thanks again to everyone. Without participation it would be nothing.

I am also pleased to announce that we will be moving hosts in the next couple of months. That should eliminate for good the type of technical difficulties we were experiencing in January/February.

We will also be extending our web space capacity, but I'm beginning to wonder how much we will ultimately need!

By Livonia Ken (136.1.1.101 - 136.1.1.101) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 03:50 pm:

Marshall,
"Arnold Brimstone Ingram" had a keyboard credit on Philipe Wynne's 1980 "Wynne Jammin'" LP from Wynne's P-Funk period. He played with the Detroit Emeralds band. I'm not sure what stuff he released in the UK.

By Livonia Ken (136.1.1.101 - 136.1.1.101) on Wednesday, July 10, 2002 - 03:55 pm:

Oops! I left a "p" out of Philippe Wynne's name above. Please don't propagate my error. I normally live with my bad spelling, but it's important to get peoples' names right.

By mhc (172.166.46.15 - 172.166.46.15) on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 12:25 am:

Thanks Ken, I'll bet it's the same guy; the Brimstone that I'm remembering was a keyboard player.
At our studio we had almost no clientele ('cause our equipment was totally out of date for the early '70s). Brimstone has stuck in my mind over the years because he was really good.

By Ralph Terrana (Ralph) (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Thursday, July 11, 2002 - 12:45 am:

Hey Marshall,
Here's one for you. There is a killer singer here in Monterey. Her name is Nancy Jones. I produced her for a while but we had creative differences and parted some years back. Today she told me that a few years back she opened for you in Ashville, North Carolina when she was with the group Skatfish.She said you probably wouldn't remember her but apparently you guys had a good time and she says to say hey.

By Frankj (212.159.70.184 - 212.159.70.184) on Wednesday, August 07, 2002 - 02:28 pm:

Brimstone Ingram did in fact have a deal with John Andersons Grapevine label. "What Happenned To The Songs/Songs We Used To Sing" launched the Red series as Red 1.The yellow series were so well set as a reissue label that the Red series appeared to be to reach a wider audience with a more contemporary product.The only records I have on it are the Brimstone Ingram record and an absolute gem of a coupling by Leos Sunshipp- "Give Me The Sunshine/I'm Back For More" which was Red 3. Anyone know anything about Red 2?
Frankj