TTG Studios

TTG Studios was a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, founded by Ami Hadani and Tom Hidley.[1]

Studio

"TTG" stood for "two terrible guys."[1][2][3] The studio was first established in 1965 at 1441 North McCadden Place near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in Hollywood section of Los Angeles.[1] Due to its high decibel level threshold, their studio became popular with the up-and-coming musicians rock musicians of that time, including The Monkees, Eric Burdon,[1] Frank Zappa with The Mothers of Invention,[4] and Alice Cooper.[5] Burdon introduced Jimi Hendrix to the studio and Hendrix "raved" about the studio's sound.[2] Some parts of The Velvet Underground & Nico were recorded at TTG in May 1966.

Tom Hidley

TTG Studios' co-founder was Tom Hidley. He was born May 27, 1931 in Los Angeles, California.[1] As a teen, he spent long hours playing the saxophone, clarinet, and flute, until ordered to cease by his physician after a physical breakdown.[1] He then turned to non-performance aspects of music, and spend nights recording at clubs and days working at loudspeaker and tape-machine companies.[1]

In 1959, "Madman Muntz" hired Hidley to assist in the development of the first car stereo.[1] Among the first to own a Muntz car stereo was Frank Sinatra, the famous singer and actor.[1] Through Sinatra's purchase, Hidley became known to a Sinatra associate Val Valentin, who invited Hildley to assist in the building of a new recording studio in New York.[1] In 1962, they built the MGM/Verve studio.[1] In 1964, Phil Ramone hired Hidley to work at his A&R studio as the audio technical manager.[1] Also employed at that time by A&R was Ami Hadani.[1]

Ami Hadani

Little is known about the other TTG co-founder, Ami Hadani, who also went by the name Omi Hadan.[6][7] According to Bruce Botnick, Hadani was a General in the Israeli Air Force, and had to leave for weeks at a time when Israel was at war.[3] Ami was married to Ellen Weston (actress) and they had one child, Jonathan Hadani. They were divorced when their son was 6. Ami remarried Christine Ermacoff, a studio cellist. Ami died in September 2014 in Los Angeles.

Albums recorded at TTG Studios

Beginning Today The Dameans 1973
Freak Out! [8] The Mothers of Invention June 27, 1966
Waiting for the Sun [8] The Doors July 3, 1968
Hand Sown ... Home Grown [9] Linda Ronstadt March, 1969
Sun Rise (features Jimi Hendrix) [9] Eire Apparent May, 1969
Hot Rats [8] Frank Zappa October 10, 1969
The Last Time I Saw Her Glen Campbell July, 1971

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Verna, Paul (1 July 1995). "From Auto Sound to Infrasound, Hidley's Career has Been Built on Breakthroughs". Billboard.
  2. 1 2 Roby, Steve (2002). Black Gold: the Lost Archives of Jimi Hendrix. Watson-Guptill. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-8230-7854-7.
  3. 1 2 Greenwald, Mathew (1 May 2010). "The Doors and The Elektra Records Sound Part I". musicangle.com. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Mothers Of Invention, The* – Absolutely Free". Discogs. Retrieved 12 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Cooper, Alice; Zimmerman, Kent (2008). Alice Cooper, Golf Monster: A Rock 'n' Roller's Life and 12 Steps to Becoming a Golf Addict. Random House. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-307-38291-7.
  6. ↑ Harvard, Joe (2004). The Velvet Underground and Nico. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-8264-1550-9.
  7. ↑ Barker, David (2007). 331⁄3 greatest hits 1. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-8264-1903-3.
  8. 1 2 3 "TTG Studios". Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 "TTG-Ronstadt-Hendrix". Retrieved 28 July 2015.

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