Bill Black - Lyn Lou Studio

Lyn Lou Studio

In 1962, Bill Black opened a recording studio called "Lyn Lou Studio" (named for his son and daughter) on Chelsa Street in Memphis, Tennessee, with Larry Rogers (Studio 19, Nashville) as his engineer and producer. Johnny Black, Bill's brother and also upright bass player, who knew Elvis at Lauderdale Courts before Bill, recalls visiting Bill at the studio and reported that Bill would be totally absorbed mixing and playing back tracks. The studio featured a 1958 Ampex 351 mono tape recorder retired from Sun Studios in 1960, basically just like the one Bill recorded on with Elvis in 1954. Sam Phillips replaced the 2 original Ampex 350's with 2 new Ampex 351's in 1958. Bob Tucker and Larry Rogers purchased Lyn Lou Studios after Bill Black's death in 1965. The studio recorded many Bill Black Combo albums (now billed as "The Best Honky Tonk Band in America" as well as "The band who opened for the Beatles"), and produced number-one country hits for Charly McClain, T.G. Shepard, Billy Swan and others. The house band for these sessions was the Shylo Band, featuring guitarist/songwriter Ronnie Scaife, nephew of Cecil Scaife, famed Sun Studio engineer.

Early in 1963, Black sent from two to five different versions of the Combo to different regions of the country at the same time, while staying off the road himself, wanting to concentrate on his business, family and his health.