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| Photos courtesy David Dennard |
| The makeshift studio in which Robert Johnson, Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys and the Light Crust Doughboys, among others, recorded in the mid-1930s |
It would seem 508 Park Avenue's been heavy on my mind of late, even more than usual, what with
Robert Johnson's just-passed 100th birthday and
First Presby's not-just-yet-sealed-deal purchase and
Friday's flashback to the sounds of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys cut at that very same spot two years before Johnson came to town. And then, out of nowhere, unsolicited, I get this email from my
old pal David Dennard with the subject heading "Photos from inside 508 Park Ave." Well, all right.
We've had
our peeks in the past, but David wanted to share his cache nevertheless, especially now. Writes the former
'60s garage-rocker and
label operator:
If you're curious about what it looks like inside 508 Park Ave., here are a few
snapshots taken several years ago when the Glazers allowed us to enter the
building one Saturday for an exclusive tour. I brought an appropriate "period"
guitar and bottleneck slide, and William Williams and I sat in the same studio
and played RJ songs to feel the vibe. It was palpable ... spooky even. This is the
same room Clapton filmed in, BTW.
I had interviewed Smokey Montgomery briefly during my Big D Jamboree research
about his recollections of that day, and he remembered running into a lone black
man ascending the stairs with a guitar on his way to the studio to meet Don Law
as the Doughboys were loading out. Talk about ships in the night! Wow!
More photos follow, including one of that very staircase.
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| David's one of the few musicians who's been able to play there since those '30s sessions. Eric Clapton got to play there too. John Mellencamp wanted to but was told he couldn't. |
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