Sun Studios in Memphis. Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. Sound City in Van Nuys.
Audio Recorders of Arizona.
One look at the client ledger and it’s impossible to deny the impact Floyd Ramsey’s compact downtown Phoenix studio had on the music of the Southwest in the 50s and 60s: Lee Hazlewood, Duane Eddy, Al Casey, Skip & Flip, Dyke and the Blazers, Goose Creek Symphony…and Waylon Jennings and Sanford Clark.
Zia Records, Arizona’s oldest and largest independent record store chain, has teamed with Arizona historian and archivist John P. Dixon to launch the Audio Recorders Archive project, a series of exclusive limited-edition 45 RPM singles. On April 19th, Record Store Day 2014, Zia Records will release the first installment: Waylon Jennings, “My Baby Walks All Over Me” b/w Sanford Clark, “It’s Nothing To Me.”
“As the music business and faces changed these past years, Zia kept going and growing,” Dixon says. “They have always supported Arizona’s music, present and past, and as a customer and vendor to this day, I was thrilled when approached to be a part of Record Store Day this year.”
Released before departing for Nashville (and super-stardom), Jennings’ contribution remains one of his finest early recordings, infused with the singer’s charm and wit. Clark’s side is a gunslinging classic, featuring fuzzed pedal steel and gunshots. It became a favorite of Bob Dylan, who included the song in his Theme Time Radio Hour program.
“These Waylon and Sanford tracks are great examples of a unique sound that began right here in 1956,” Dixon says.
Pressed on gold vinyl and limited to 1,000 copies nationwide, both songs were recorded during Audio Recorders’ 60s golden age, boasting the studio’s signature twang and reverb. Originally released by Audio Recorders’ label Ramco, this release marks the first time these songs have been pressed to vinyl since their initial run. The single is being distributed by Light in the Attic Distribution.
“This Waylon Jennings/Sanford Clark pairing is just the first of several more Zia/Audio Recorders reissues in the upcoming months,” Dixon says. “Each one will celebrate the rich history of these two local business success stories and our varied and rich musical past. I am honored to be involved in this vinyl revival series as we celebrate the ‘Phoenix Sound’ of Audio Recorders and Record Store Day at Zia Records with this limited release.”
Listen to the single, view hi-res art, and more at Zia Records’ SoundCloud page: https://soundcloud.com/zia-records/sets/audio-recorders-archive