Morgan Studios (founded as Morgan Sound Studios) was an independent

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

Willesden Willesden () is an area of north-west London, situated 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933; it has formed ...

in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by notable artists and bands such as

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

, Jethro Tull,

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

, Joan Armatrading,

Cat Stevens Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and musician. He has sold more than 100 million records and has more than two billion st ...

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

, UFO and many more. Morgan sold its studios in the early 1980s, with some of its studios succeeded by Battery Studios.

History

Morgan Sound Studios was founded in 1967 by Barry Morgan, Monty Babson, Jerry Allen, and Leon Calvert, who were operating a jazz record label at Lansdowne Studios and wanting dedicated office space for their label. Upon securing a location at 169–171 High Road, in the

area of northwest London, the musicians decided to also build a recording studio. They hired ex-

Olympic Studios Olympic Studios was a British independent recording studio based on Church Road, Barnes, Church Road, Barnes, London, Barnes, London. It is best known for its recordings of many artists throughout the late 1960s to the first decade of the 21st ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Terry Brown to manage the studio, who appointed another Olympic Studios alumnus, Andy Johns as chief engineer. Roy Thomas Baker, who would later achieve fame as an engineer and producer at Trident Studios, also worked at Morgan in its early years as an assistant engineer. Studio manager Terry Brown knew that Clive Green was designing a new

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

for Lansdowne Studios, and he asked if he could buy the design. Green instead chose to build the console himself, resulting in the founding of mixing console manufacturer Cadac Electronics. The first Cadac console - a custom hand-wired 8-channel split-console desk with transformerless balanced inputs and outputs - was installed at Morgan Studios. Morgan Studios initially operated with a modestly-sized 20 foot x 20 foot live room and a 17 foot x 10 foot control room with a Scully 1-inch 8-track recorder as well as

Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

2-track and 4-rack recorders. The studios also had a Steinway grand piano and a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

. In 1969, a new, larger Studio 1 was built upstairs, with the original studio being re-named Studio 2. The new studio was outfitted with a modular 24x16 Cadac mixing console, a 16-track 3M recorder, and a 2-track Studer A80. The same year, four of the studios' employees, including founder Barry Morgan, keyboardist Roger Coulam, guitarist

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...

, and bassist Herbie Flowers joined forces with vocalists Roger Cook and Madeline Bell to form the British pop group Blue Mink. In 1972, Morgan opened a significantly larger Studio 3 on the ground floor of a building across the street, outfitting it with a 24x24 Cadac console and a 3M M79 24-track recorder. In 1974, Morgan purchased another property around the corner to open Studio 4, Morgan's largest studio space yet. Outfitted with a 28x24 Cadac mixing console, Studio 4 also had the distinction of being the recipient of the first Ampex 24-track tape recorder in England (although it was later replaced by a Studer A80). Each of Morgan's control rooms had 3 EMT plate reverbs, 2 Pye limiters, and 2 UREI limiters. Morgan's studios also utilized Neumann U47 and U67 microphones.

Successors

In 1980, Morgan Studios 3 and 4 were sold to the

Zomba Group The Zomba Group of Companies (sometimes referred to as Zomba Music Group or just Zomba Group) was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 a ...

and became Battery Studios. In 1984, Morgan Studios 1 and 2 were sold to Robin Millar and renamed Power Plant Studios, which closed 6 years later.

Recordings

Albums

1960s

*'' The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse'' (1968) –

Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as the Bonzo Dog Band or the Bonzos) was created by a group of British Art school, art-school students in the 1960s. Combining elements of music hall, trad jazz and psychedelic music, psychedelia with sur ...

*''

Disposable A disposable (also called disposable product) is a product designed for a single use after which it is recycled or is disposed as solid waste. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months (e.g. disposable air filt ...

'' (1968) – The Deviants *'' Tons of Sobs'' (1969) – Free *''

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

'' (1969) –

*''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

'' (1969) –

*'' Ahead Rings Out'' (1969) –

Blodwyn Pig Blodwyn Pig was a British blues rock musical ensemble, band, founded in 1968 by guitarist–vocalist–songwriter Mick Abrahams. Career Abrahams left Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull after their debut album, ''This Was'', was released, due to a ...

*'' Free'' (1969) – Free *'' Mott the Hoople'' (1969) - Mott the Hoople *'' Led Zeppelin II'' (1969) –

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

(partially) *'' Ssssh'' (1969) – Ten Years After *'' Stand Up'' (1969) – Jethro Tull *'' Supertramp'' (1969–1970) – Supertramp

1970s

*'' McCartney'' (1970) –

*'' Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One'' (1970) –

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

*'' Open Road'' (1970) –

*'' Gasoline Alley'' (1970) –

*'' It'll All Work Out in Boomland'' (1970) – T2 *'' Benefit'' (1970) – Jethro Tull *'' Tea for the Tillerman'' (1970) –

*'' Friend's Friend's Friend'' (1970) – Audience *'' Long Player (portions) (1971) – ''Faces'' *''

Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 5 November 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a se ...

'' (1971) –

*'' Every Picture Tells a Story'' (1971) – Rod Stewart *''St Radigunds'' (May/June 1971) –

Spirogyra ''Spirogyra'' (common names include water silk, mermaid's tresses, and blanket weed) is a genus of filamentous charophyte green algae of the order Zygnematales, named for the helical or spiral arrangement of the chloroplasts that is charact ...

*''

Muswell Hillbillies ''Muswell Hillbillies'' is the tenth studio album by the English rock group the Kinks. Released on 24 November 1971, it was the band's first album released through RCA Records. The album is named after the Muswell Hill area of North London, w ...

'' (1971) -

*'' Anticipation'' (1971) –

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

*'' Can I Have My Money Back?'' (1971) – Gerry Rafferty *''A Tear And A Smile'' (1971) – Tir na nOg *'' Madman Across the Water'' (portions) (1971) –

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

*''

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

'' (1971) –

*'' Teaser and the Firecat'' (1971) – Cat Stevens *'' Thick as a Brick'' (1972) – Jethro Tull *''

Waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

'' (1972) – If *'' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (1972) –

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist and composer best known as a member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his prolific solo career. AllMusic describes Wakema ...

*''

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

'' (1972) –

*'' Catch Bull at Four'' (1972) – Cat Stevens *''Wringing Applause'' (1972) – B. A. Robertson *'' Never a Dull Moment'' (1972) – Rod Stewart *'' Lady Lake'' (1972) – Gnidrolog *'' The Chieftains 4'' (1972–1973) –

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

*'' Greenslade'' – (1972–1973) Greenslade *'' There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (1973 – one song) –

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

*''

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

'' (1973) –

*'' A Passion Play'' (1973) – Jethro Tull *'' Tales from Topographic Oceans'' (1973) –

*'' Billion Dollar Babies'' (1973) –

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

*'' Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'' (1973) –

*'' Bedside Manners Are Extra'' (1973) – Greenslade *'' Orexis of Death'' (1973) – Necromandus *''

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

'' (1973) – Lou Reed *'' War Child'' (1974) – Jethro Tull *'' Back to the Night'' (1974) – Joan Armatrading *''Jumblequeen'' (1974) –

Bridget St John Bridget St John (born Bridget Anne Hobbs; 4 October 1946 in East Molesey, Surrey, England) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel's Dandelion record label ...

*'' The Psychomodo'' (1974) – Cockney Rebel *'' Smiler'' (1974) – Rod Stewart *'' Spyglass Guest'' (1974) – Greenslade *'' Now We Are Six'' (1974) –

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

*''

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...

'' (1974) – UFO *'' The Prince of Heaven's Eyes'' (1974) – Fruupp *'' The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'' (1974–1975) – Rick Wakeman *'' Time and Tide'' (1975) – Greenslade *''

Sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, government, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, demoralization (warfare), demoralization, destabilization, divide and rule, division, social disruption, disrupti ...

'' (1975) – Black Sabbath *'' Commoners Crown'' (1975) – Steeleye Span *'' Force It'' (1975) – UFO *'' Return to Fantasy'' (1975) – Uriah Heep *'' Fish Out of Water'' (1975) – Chris Squire *''Dance'' (1975) – Arthur Brown *'' Sad Wings of Destiny'' (1976) –

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

*'' No Heavy Petting'' (1976) – UFO *''Answer Me'' (1976) – Barbara Dickson *'' Electric Savage'' (1976–1977) – Colosseum II *'' Baris Mancho'' (1976) – Barış Manço *'' She Wouldn't Understand'' (1976) –

The Goodies The Goodies were a trio of British comedians: Tim Brooke-Taylor (17 July 1940 – 12 April 2020), Graeme Garden (b. 18 February 1943) and Bill Oddie (b. 7 July 1941). The trio created, wrote for and performed in their The Goodies (TV series), ...

*'' The World Starts Tonight'' (1977) – Bonnie Tyler *'' Songs from the Wood'' (1977) – Jethro Tull *'' Peter Gabriel I'' (1977) –

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

*''Chisholm in My Bosom'' (1977) – Arthur Brown *'' The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome'' (1977) –

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith. They were the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much ...

*'' At the End of a Perfect Day'' (1977) – Chris de Burgh *'' Crna dama''/''

Black Lady Black lady is an American card game of the hearts group for three to six players and the most popular of the group. It emerged in the early 20th century as an elaboration of hearts and was initially also called discard hearts. It is named afte ...

'' (1977/1978) –

Smak Smak ( sr-Cyrl, Смак; trans. ''The end time'') was a Serbian and SFRY, Yugoslav band from Kragujevac. The group reached the peak of popularity in the 1970s when it was one of the most notable acts of the yu rock, former Yugoslav rock scene. T ...

*'' Squeeze'' (1978) – Squeeze *'' Natural Force'' (1978) – Bonnie Tyler *'' Variations'' (1978) –

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

*'' Back on the Streets'' (1978) –

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

*''

Three Imaginary Boys ''Three Imaginary Boys'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Cure, released on 8 May 1979 by Fiction Records, and reached number 44 on the UK Albums Chart.Roberts, David (ed.) (2006). '' British Hit Singles & Albums'', 19th edit ...

'' (1979) –

*'' Tell Me on a Sunday'' (1979) – Marti Webb

1980s

*'' Seventeen Seconds'' (1980) – The Cure *'' Wild Cat'' (1980) – Tygers of Pan Tang *''Lampefeber'' (1980) – C. V. Moto *'' The Affectionate Punch'' (1980) – The Associates *'' Bucks Fizz'' (1981) – Bucks Fizz *'' Spellbound'' (1981) – Tygers of Pan Tang *'' Renegade'' (1981) –

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

*'' Teddy Boys Don't Knit'' (1981) – Vivian Stanshall *''

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

'' (1981) – The Cure *'' Iron Fist'' (1982) –

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

*''Pictures On A String'' (1982) – Comateens

Singles

*" Pinball Wizard" (1969) –

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

*"Riki Tiki Tavi" (1970) - Donovan *" Lola" (1970) –

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

" (1970) – Matthews Southern Comfort *"Anticipation" (1971) – Carly Simon *" Hi, Hi, Hi" (1972) – Wings *" C Moon" (1972) – Wings *" Step into Christmas" (1973) –

*"American Tune" (1974) – Paul Simon *"Monkey Jive" (1975) – Tiger Lily *"Your Generation" (1977) –

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

News of the World The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...

" (1978) –

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

*" Jumping Someone Else's Train" (1979) –

*" C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" (1980) –

Bow Wow Wow Bow Wow Wow are an English New wave music, new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band with then 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on lead vocals. They released their deb ...

*" A Forest" (1980) – The Cure *"

Primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

" (1981) – The Cure *" Charlotte Sometimes" (1981) – The Cure *" Making Your Mind Up" (1981) – Bucks Fizz

References

{{Coord, 51, 32, 50.05, N, 0, 14, 0.42, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Recording studios in London 1967 establishments in England 1984 disestablishments in England Media and communications in the London Borough of Brent Willesden Former recording studios