The Tera Shirma Story
Ed Wingate 

(label scan courtesy of Dougie Ward)

Ed Wingate would go on to do a lot of recording at Tera Shirma, after selling his studio on West Davison to Motown.

He was quite a character......

It's not uncommon for arrangers to stop a string session to tell the players to make a change on their music, because of a mistake on the original score sheet. 

Well one day in Tera Shirma, during a full blown string session, Wingate gets on the talk-back mike and instructs them to make a change at line 42, bar 6, or something of that nature.

So here is the Detroit Symphony string guys thumbing through their music looking for a place that didn't even exist and Wingate is in the control room laughing his ass off.

He said..." I always wanted to do that".

My most vivid memory, however, was driving somewhere around Detroit.... I think I was at Motown on West Grand Boulevard. 

Anyway, I noticed this car in front of me. A Cadillac. A woman was driving and a huge figure was sitting next to her on the passenger side. Every few seconds a peanut shell would fly out his window. 

I knew who it was. I whipped my car along side of him and yelled  "UNCLE ED" he looked over at me an when he saw who it was his face lit up and he yelled back in a booming voice " HEY SON...HOW YA DOING....HOW'S YOUR BROTHER" 

That was the last time I saw Ed Wingate. I'll never forget him.

Notes thanks to Ralph Terrana

 


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LOWELL BOILEAU

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