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When the Albert Brothers (Ron and Howard) began (circa 1967),
recording
techniques where a little different. Multi-track tape machines
where just
finding their way thanks to the efforts of Les Paul and Tom Dowd.
Recording
consoles,
power amps and speakers left a lot to be desired.
In fact the only true
wonderful stuff was the European microphones.
Howard and Ron where
instructed early on that those expensive mics
where only for
delicate orchestra recordings, not for loud rock!
In spite of that, the Albert Brothers were on a mission. Daytime recording
was reserved for ad agency clients, so most of Howard and Ron’s recording
(and experimenting) was done at night (out of sight from the boss). As soon
as Howard heard the drum sound they got with condenser mics all bets
were off! Uncountable hours were spent experimenting and eventually the
Albert Brothers "fat" drum sound was being heard all over the world.
As time went on it became common knowledge that the secret to the
Albert Brothers sound was their "multi mic" concept of using a separate
mic on every thing! (So now you know why the album credits read:
Recorded and Produced by Howard Albert and Ron Albert for Fat Albert
Productions).
It is important to remember that through the kindness and understanding of
Mack Emerman (founder and owner of Criteria Studios) and that Boss,
Howard and Ron
were given the opportunity to develop their skills.
South Florida wasn’t known as a recording capital and South Beach
hadn’t been invented yet, but Jerry Wexler (Atlantic Records president)
and legendary record producer Tom Dowd had a plan. They were spending
a lot of time in South Florida entertaining artists on "The Big A"
(Atlantic’s corporate sport fishing yacht). Naturally the idea of hopping
into a studio for a quick overdub made a lot of sense. Soon Ron and
Howard (also fishin’ fools) were hangin' out with the best of company.
The Albert Brothers have said "Tom Dowd gave us both his unlimited
knowledge of producing records and the understanding of artists’
creative minds. It is a great honor for us to have Tom as our mentor
and as our friend". Working with Tom (and later with Karl Richardson
and Chuck Kirkpatrick) Howard and Ron have recorded rock history!
"Idlewild South" and "Eat A Peach" by the Allman Brothers Band are
two of the early albums that Ron and Howard recorded. The first album
the Albert Bros. recorded with Eric Clapton was Derek and The Domino's
"Layla". By the time the Brothers recorded the Rolling Stones,
Crosby Stills & Nash, and John Melencamp the floodgates were open.
Sales of records recorded and produced by Howard and Ron have topped
100 million copies! The sun was shining brightly on both South Florida
and The Albert Brothers.
In 1987 Howard and Ron (along with their partner Steve Alaimo) formed two
new companies. Vision Records, an independent record company offering
national distribution to new and established artists including Betty Wright,
Stephen Stills, Jimmy Cliff and Dion.
Additionally they opened Audio Vision Recording Studios (initially for their in
house use). Recently Audio Vision Studios was opened to the recording
community, offering major labels, producers and local artists a state of the
art recording facility.
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