Studio Where Presley Recorded to Be Razed
Published
The recording studio where Elvis Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel" is being torn down to make room for a parking lot.
And some say it's just heartbreaking.
"I'm disappointed that the studio is being torn down," said Gordon Stoker of The Jordanaires, Presley's primary background vocalists from 1956 to 1968. "But you can't hang on to everything your whole life."
The studio at 1525 McGavock St. near Nashville's Music Row was purchased in 1999 by auto-dealership magnate Lee Beaman, who had been leasing the half-acre property until recently, when he decided the dealership needed more parking for customers.
Doug McClanahan, president of Beaman Automotive Group, said the area will be paved over within the next 60 days.
The studio, used by RCA in the mid-1950s, isn't the city's oldest or most famous, but it played a part in the recording of many hits.
During Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" session on Jan. 10, 1956, Presley also recorded Ray Charles' "I Got A Woman," according to John Rumble, senior historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.
In 1957, Jim Reeves cut one of his biggest hits there, "Four Walls." Chet Atkins, The Everly Brothers and Hank Snow also recorded at the McGavock Street studio.
The studio's success led RCA in the late '50s to open its famed Studio B, where Presley, Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Charlie Pride and others recorded. That studio, in the heart of Music Row, has been preserved as a popular cultural and tourism attraction.