Cleveland Recording Company was a historic

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 ...

located in the Carnegie Hall building at 1220 Huron Road in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

. The studio produced many hit records in the 1960s and 1970s by artists such as

James Gang James Gang was an American rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1966. The band went through a variety of line-up changes until they recorded their first album as a power trio consisting of Joe Walsh (guitars, lead vocals), Tom Kriss (bass) a ...

and

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in Flint, Michigan, in 1969 by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica), Don Brewer (drums, vocals) and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved pea ...

History

Founded in 1938 by Cleveland radio announcer Frederick C. Wolf as a place to record local Slovenian musicians he was featuring on his Sunday morning Czechoslovak music programs on WGAR, the studio was Cleveland's first professional recording studio. In its early years, Wolf recorded notable

Slovenian-style polka Slovenian-style polka (also known as Cleveland Style polka) is an American style of polka in the Slovenian tradition. It is usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. Instruments The Slovenian style polka band always includes ...

artists at the studio, including future "Polka King,"

Frankie Yankovic Frank John Yankovic (July 28, 1915 – October 14, 1998) was an American accordion player and polka musician. Known as "America's Polka King", Yankovic was considered the premier artist to play in the Slovenian style during his long career. He ...

. In 1946, Wolf incorporated the studio as Cleveland Recording Company and moved operations to the Loew's State Theater building at 1515 Euclid Avenue. In 1950, Wolf opened

WCCR (AM) WCCR (1260 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, United States, featuring a Catholic–oriented religious broadcasting, religious format known as "AM 1260 The Rock". Owned by St. Peter the Rock Media, I ...

in the same location, and in 1954, he added radio stations WDOK-FM and WDOK-AM. Ken Hamann was hired as a staff

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 ...

for both the radio and the recording studios, and eventually built the studio into a state-of-the-art recording and mastering facility. Hamann recorded numerous hits at the studio, including The Outsiders' hit song "

Time Won't Let Me "Time Won't Let Me" is a garage rock song that was recorded by the Outsiders in September 1965. The song became a major hit in the United States in 1966, reaching No.5 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on the week of April 16 of that year. It is ran ...

" (1966),

The Lemon Pipers The Lemon Pipers were a short-lived 1960s American rock band from Oxford, Ohio, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart ...

' "

Green Tambourine "Green Tambourine" is a song written and composed by Paul Leka (who also produced it) and Shelley Pinz. It was the biggest hit by the 1960s Ohio-based rock group the Lemon Pipers, as well as the title track of their debut album, '' Green Tambo ...

" (1967),

The Human Beinz The Human Beinz ( ) is an American rock band from Youngstown, Ohio. Originally known as The Premiers, the band initially featured John Richard "Dick" Belley (vocals, guitar), Joe "Ting" Markulin (vocals, guitar), Mel Pachuta (vocals, bass), and G ...

' " Nobody But Me" (1968), Velvet Crest "Look Homeward Angel" (1969), and the

album '' Thirds'' (1970).

recorded their first five studio albums at Cleveland Recording, beginning with their 1969 debut studio album. In 1975, Wild Cherry recorded their first studio album at the studio, including their hit song "

Play That Funky Music "Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry. The single was the first released by the Cleveland-based Sweet City record label in April 1976 and distributed by Epic Records. The performers on th ...

". In 1970, Hamann and production engineer John Hansen purchased Cleveland Recording Company from Wolf and moved the studio to 1935 Euclid Avenue. In 1972, Michael Bishop joined the studio as a recording and disk mastering engineer. Hamann and Hansen ended their partnership in 1977 when the property was purchased by Cleveland State University, forcing the studio to move. Hansen moved the studio to a new location and focused on commercial recording until his death in 1990.

Legacy

Ken Hamann later founded Suma Recording Studio in

Painesville, Ohio Painesville is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Grand River (Ohio), Grand River, it is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Pa ...

, with his son Paul and Michael Bishop working as recording engineers. In 1988, Bishop went on to engineer recordings for Telarc Records. Upon Ken Hamann's death in 2003, Paul Hamann took over ownership of Suma Recording, and recorded many notable artists including David Thomas and

Pere Ubu Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...

The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, Singing, vocals) and Patrick Carney (Drum kit, drums). The duo began as an Independent music, independent act, record ...

Alex Bevan Alex Bevan (born 1950) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, poet, radio personality, and music producer. Early life Bevan began his musical career playing the French horn with his teacher Ruffier at Chambers Elementary School. In 1965, ...

, Rachel Brown, Chardon Polka Band, and many others. Paul Hamann operated Suma Recording until his death in late 2017. In 2018, Suma Recording was purchased by Cleveland-based producer and audio engineer Michael Seifert. In early 2022, the studio reopened to the public, after an extensive renovation project.

References

{{Coord, 41.500164, -81.682955, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-OH, display=title Recording studios in the United States American companies established in 1938 1938 establishments in Ohio 1977 disestablishments in Ohio Music of Cleveland Defunct companies based in Cleveland