By david, glasgow, scotland (217.32.160.59 - 217.32.160.59) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 09:02 am:

ralph has provided me with some excellent text for an upcoming tera shirma story. his brother russ has also forwarded photos of the studio interior.

what we might need help on however is detail of soul recordings made there.

nothing too elaborate. maybe 10-20 tracks.

i sent ralph a copy of the hesitations cd and i don't think it's ringing any bells. how do we know that it was recorded there? is it on the album sleeve?

hope you can all help.

thanks david

By acooolcat (211.78.0.219 - 211.78.0.219) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 01:54 pm:

How about these 2 off the top of my head:
Spyder Turner - Stand By Me, plus others on MGM.
Patti Young - Head And Shoulders
I'll delve through my files and come up with something more comprehensive in the next day or so.
My guess is the that Hesitations tracks were recorded at United Sound, or maybe even in Chicago.
Graham

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 02:54 pm:

Graham and David,
The problem I have is remembering what was going on in the studios at any given time.
Once Tera Shirma got hot, there was SO much activity that except for certain instances, I never really knew what the finished product was or who was doing it. I was so busy running the studios that that seemed to be my primary focus.I do remember Spyder Turner though because I think it was one of the earlier hits to come out of the studio. It was after that time that things just seemed to get rather crazy and eveyone was coming in to record.
Also there was the period of transition when Studio B was being built. Here was all this relatively new activity taking place in Studio A and meanwhile we were building Studio B. I don't know how any of us kept our heads straight at that time wth all that was going on.

By david, glasgow, scotland (217.32.141.145 - 217.32.141.145) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 03:48 pm:

ralph

while compiling the northern soul overview, i tried to base it on my own experiences.

it was unbelievably difficult to remember detail and that was a timely reminder of what you are going through.

your detail on business decisions/policy/new workloads/changes of luck etc are absolutely first class however (ie things that had a major impact on your life/business are easy to remember).

i can assure everybody that we have the makings of a first class story!

you have mentioned in your notes that you remember seeing eartha kitt in the studio. do you remember any other african americans - eg deon jackson.

i think it is the people who were renting your studio who will supply our soul recordings detail.
i know graham has interviewed many of them.

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 05:44 pm:

David,
Thanks for taking the pressure off my poor brain old friend. I would say at least 80% of the talent coming through Tera Shirma's doors were of African American descent. Eartha Kitt was memorable because she was the first big name to record there. Many others would follow, such as Chuck Jackson, Spyder turner, Issac Hays, George Clinton, Freda Payne, Betty LaVette, and so many others. I will have to dig deep to come up with the names.
I think you are right on the money when you say the real story there will come from the producers themselves and who they were recording. I'm sure Graham's assistance here will prove invalueble. I also feel as the web-site grows in notoriety we will be in for many unexpected surprises. Meanwhile David, I will continue to do my very best to furnish you with the story as I remember it and hopefully it will be very fascinating to the countless soul fans around the globe.

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.4 - 62.252.128.4) on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 10:28 pm:

ralph

do you recall joe hunter/jack ashford/lorraine chandler at the studio?

were you aware of the company 'pied piper productions'?

were you aware of a gerald purcell of 'gwp productions'?

By Ralph Terraa (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Friday, November 02, 2001 - 12:51 am:

Yes David, I knew Jack Ashford and I barely remember Lorraine Chandler. I'm sure they were doing things at the studio but I couldn't tell you what. Pied Piper does ring a bell.

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Friday, November 02, 2001 - 01:21 pm:

David,
I'll tell you something interesting. When you or others ask me of certain producers or production companies, I'll tell you how, for the most part, I recall them. I have this mental image of their names written in Necia's studio appointment book. So in other word if LaBaron Taylor had booked time, it would just say Revlot...Or Holland Dozier Holland would be written...Stagecoach..
So I do have these remembered images of names in the appointment book, but at times, can't put them to an individual.
Some I remember so well and others, I'm afraid are rather vague. Wish I had a better memory David.

By david, glasgow, scotland (62.252.128.4 - 62.252.128.4) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 01:14 pm:

ralph

what do you remember of lebaron taylor. what did he look like. did he go around with don davis?

did the likes of him use your studio band?
was there such a thing at tera shirma.

By John Lester (213.1.181.244 - 213.1.181.244) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 01:16 pm:

I treated myself to Pete Rivera's book....and I see there's a picture or two of Ralph and Russ (Cork) Terrana in there - in their Sunliners guise.

Why did Peter refer to Russ as Cork? Hope it's not rude!! Which apparently is more than can be said if I mention the word "Rosie"! Hee hee

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 02:08 pm:

David,
LeBaron Taylor was a pretty big heavy set guy with a rich baritone speaking voice.
I guess you might say we were more acquantences than friends, but we did go out to lunch together a couple of times. I always liked and respected him. As a record guy, he was very proffesional and all business. I called him Le B. I'm not sure what his ties to Don Davis were. It seems I saw in this site that they had been in business together, but I honestly was not aware of that at the time. He used Tera Shirma often and always immediately paid his studio bill the day he was in the studio, which I liked. There was no TS house band. Most of the musicians used on sessions were what I would refer to as the alternate " Funk Brothers ".ie: Bob Babbit on bass..Andrew Smith , Uriel, or George McGregor on drums..Dennis Coffey..Joe Messina and some of the Motown guys...Eddie Willis..Robert White on guitars. These guys were doing sessions for all the independents but had no affiliation to TS as far as being a house band. It seemed they were though because they were there so much.

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 02:25 pm:

John,
My brother Russ and I are twins. When we were born I was much bigger than he was so the nurses named us Porky and Corky. Fotunately my nickname didn't stick.I still refer to my brother as Cork as do family members and friends of long ago such as Pete Rivera. My mother read the book. so what's the first thing she asks me?...Who was Rosie?? All I could do was laugh and say we were all sworn to secrecy on that one. That is strictly inside Sunliner information.

By Dave Moore (193.165.251.233 - 193.165.251.233) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 04:24 pm:

John,
I have not got the Pete Reviera book. Where can i get a copy? Can you help?

Thanks,

Dave

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 04:46 pm:

John, go to ...rare earth.com. it can be ordered from there.

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Saturday, November 03, 2001 - 05:11 pm:

Sorry Dave...I meant the message for you.

By Dave Moore (193.165.251.234 - 193.165.251.234) on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 10:05 am:

Ralph & John,

Thanks for the info, Pete's book now on order.

Regards,

Dave

By John Lester aka Theboyfromxtown (213.122.195.137 - 213.122.195.137) on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 10:48 am:

Ralph

So just how many of YOUR secretaries could sing then!

And what's the lowdown on Telma Hopkins then (page 42 of Peter Rivera's book)? Any idea about her vocal contributions at Motown? Jimmy Ruffin recalls Telma doing the "voices" around 1970 - any thoughts..

BTW for all readers of this site, the "Rosie" story that Ralph won't break the bond about (but I dare say we can all guess!) is in Pete's book on page 32.

By Ralph Terrana (209.240.222.130 - 209.240.222.130) on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 03:44 pm:

John,
Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent were extremely successful back-up singers in the Detroit music scene. They worked with a third girl but this one usually varied. When I used them for the Stoney and Meatloaf album a singer named Bunny was with them on these sessions.
For a time, when Telma wasn't in the studio she worked part-time as a receptionist for me. She was doing so many sessions at Tera Shirma that she was there all the time anyway.
In later years, at Motown, Telma and I had some sort of relationship that was trying to get off the ground. She and Joyce had been in New York doing some sessions when they were noticed and approached by Tony Orlando. He told them of this new TV show that was being planned and would they be interested in doing it with him. When they returned from New York Telma came to my office to talk to me about it and for me to advise her on what to do with this. I told her to take the offer. I guess it would put an end to anything that was developing between us but it was an offer that was just to good to pass on, and I told her this.
Rosie???....hmmmm...Rosie??? Geeze John...it's all so vague now....

By John Lester aka The boy from xtown (213.122.200.126 - 213.122.200.126) on Sunday, November 04, 2001 - 04:43 pm:

Just as well that Rosie is a bit vague Ralph.... LOL....if your mum can't get you to spill the beans then no-one can.

Some things a man has to keep to himself (hey that sounds like a good title for a song!!)