Free House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios (Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music) by Roger Wood Andy Bradley

enough to merit an article in Billboard magazine. In 1955 the local entrepreneur known as Pappy Daily (co-owner of Starday Records and the sole owner of D Records) bought the rights to all the Harry Choates masters. In later years, Quinn would also lease numerous tracks by Hopkins and others to Arhoolie Records. Thus, though Gold Star Records was no longer releasing product on its own, many of its recordings were still being issued, or reissued, and heard.
    In late 1951 Modern Records released the fi rst of the Hopkins tracks purchased from Quinn, “Bad Luck and Trouble,” followed through 1954 by
    “Lonesome Dog Blues,” “Jake’s Head Boogie,” “Last Aff air,” “Another Fool in Town,” “Black Cat,” “Santa Fe,” and others. However, Modern could not duplicate Gold Star’s previous chart success with Hopkins.
    Though no longer working for Quinn’s label as he had done from 1947
    through 1950, the prolifi c blues composer continued to record frequently at Quinn’s studio from 1951 through 1964. These sessions occurred at the new facility that Quinn created in (and later expanded into a newly constructed building adjacent to) his residence on Brock Street, and various other labels issued these Hopkins recordings.
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    Sleepy LaBeef, a rockabilly musician who fi rst visited Quinn’s studio in the mid-1950s, recalls his impressions of a typical Hopkins session at this time: One of the outstanding things was when Sam “Lightnin’” Hopkins would come over. . . . Sam came over once after having a falling out with his wife.
    He’d say, “Bill, turn on the mic. I’m ready to sing some blues.” Just him and his guitar, ready to record. I think Bill would sometimes pay him ten bucks a day just to sit in there and record. He might get three or might get ten dif-ferent songs, just him and his guitar. You’d hear him just stomping his foot, playing guitar and singing.

    Sometime in 1950 Quinn had ceased to record at his old Telephone Road location and begun converting the bottom fl oor of his house at 5628 Brock into a recording studio. He likely continued to fi ll orders for pressings at his original shop for a while longer. Clyde Brewer, who had recorded in Quinn’s fi rst studio, says he did sessions at Quinn’s house in the summer of 1950.
    With the relocation, Quinn also changed his business name from Quinn Recording to Gold Star Recording Studios, thereby retaining the brand identity he had established with his former Gold Star label. From later federal tax records (for 1958) we have ascertained that Gold Star Studios was a Sub-chapter S Texas corporation formally owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bill Quinn, with C. M. Faber (of 6731 Harrisburg Street in Houston) listed as Vice President and Richard Greenhill identifi ed as the Secretary-Treasurer.

    Quinn was almost certainly oblivious to the fact that, around the same time that he renamed his company, a place called Gold Star Recording Studios was opening in Los Angeles. That famous recording center, which operated from 1950 to 1984 and produced multitudes of hits, was in no way affi liated with
    Quinn’s business.

    Meanwhile, following the relocation and name change, Quinn continued operating one of the major recording studios in the region. Yellow Pages listings in the 1952 Houston telephone directory show twelve companies cat-egorized under “Recording Service.” Only two of the four identifi ed in the previously cited 1944 Yellow Pages were still in operation: Lil’ Pal and the renamed Quinn enterprise. And of the twelve businesses listed in 1952, only two advertised a full range of professional recording services and air-conditioning. Those two companies were Gold Star Studios and ACA Recording Studios, then located at 1022 Washington Avenue. Bill Holford, Quinn’s chief competitor over the years to come, owned the latter.
    In May 1950 Holford had opened his own facility, ambitiously dubbed ACA for Audio