Studio A vs Studio B

[RanRan79]

Awhile back I was searching through DFTMC and noticed that pretty much every song I looked up after 1966 was recorded at Golden World. Was there a point when Motown stopped using the original recording studio prior to shutting down Detroit operations altogether? And if so, when was that?

[snakepit]

I think that most of the backing tracks, I.e. rhythm, were done at A Hitsville.
Golden World B was mainly sweetening...strings, overdubs, vocal backgrounds etc.
Apparently some producers were superstitious about using A, where the earlier hits were recorded.

[RanRan79]

Thanks Snakepit. That makes sense.

[ralpht]

Snake has it right. Record producers can be as superstitious as baseball players. I actually talked Frank Wilson into using GW for a rhythm date when he was hot to get into the studio and Studio A was booked solid. He liked what he got out of there but would never use GW again, returning to the iconic Studio A.

[RanRan79]

Thanks Ralph. Superstition is famous in sports but I never knew music had it's own battle with it too. So interesting.

[TomatoTom123]

Interesting question, RanRan!

So when DFTMC states something was recorded at 'Hitsville GW' it could mean just that the strings and overdubs etc were done there....?

[thanxal]

Snake has it right. Record producers can be as superstitious as baseball players. I actually talked Frank Wilson into using GW for a rhythm date when he was hot to get into the studio and Studio A was booked solid. He liked what he got out of there but would never use GW again, returning to the iconic Studio A.
I have a pair of socks for you.

[bradsupremes]

Interesting question, RanRan!

So when DFTMC states something was recorded at 'Hitsville GW' it could mean just that the strings and overdubs etc were done there....?

That's what I assumed. Wasn't Golden World a bigger studio so it was easier for strings to be recorded there?

I figured if the tracks were done by the Funk Brothers, it wouldn't matter what studio they recorded in.