music: "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" - Jack Montgomery (Barracuda 101a)

Ed Wingate would go on to do a lot of recording at Tera Shirma, after selling his studio on West Davison to Motown.

He was quite a character......

It's not uncommon for arrangers to stop a string session to tell the players to make a change on their music, because of a mistake on the original score sheet. 

Well one day in Tera Shirma, during a full blown string session, Wingate gets on the talk-back mike and instructs them to make a change at line 42, bar 6, or something of that nature.

So here is the Detroit Symphony string guys thumbing through their music looking for a place that didn't even exist and Wingate is in the control room laughing his ass off.

He said..." I always wanted to do that".

My most vivid memory, however, was driving somewhere around Detroit.... I think I was at Motown on West Grand Boulevard. 

Anyway, I noticed this car in front of me. A Cadillac. A woman was driving and a huge figure was sitting next to her on the passenger side. Every few seconds a peanut shell would fly out his window. 

I knew who it was. I whipped my car along side of him and yelled  "UNCLE ED" he looked over at me an when he saw who it was his face lit up and he yelled back in a booming voice " HEY SON...HOW YA DOING....HOW'S YOUR BROTHER" 

That was the last time I saw Ed Wingate. I'll never forget him.

The studio was beginning to pick up but as I mentioned money was tight.

Then one day Harry Balk's secretary called to book some time for Harry to listen to some mixes. I was overjoyed. I had heard Harry's name for years. 

I was overjoyed and apprehensive. THE MAN was coming to Tera Shirma. He came in alone, without the usual entourage that I would soon become familiar with. 

I stayed in the control room with Harry and Milan Bogdan while he listened to some things. I just wanted to be around the man. He was so cool. This was the quintessential record guy. 

He found what he was looking for and asked Milan to make some copies of what he wanted. Oh oh.....Milan looked up at me....we had a problem....we were out of quarter inch tape. Like I said...money was tight.

There may have been tape on order, I don't remember...but the fact remained I had no tape at the time and Harry wanted copies of a mix. I told Harry we were out. The look on his face made my heart sink. Kind of an irritated look. 

But then he reached into his pocket and gave me a hundred dollars and said "go buy yourself some tape".

This was the beginning of a long and warm friendship that still goes on today.

I had been out of the studio. When I returned Neica Lee was smiling and said she had some news for me. Ollie McLaughlin had called to book time in the studio.

This blew me away. I may not have known Ollie's name as long as I knew Harry Balk's name, but Ollie always had all my respect.

When I was still in The Sunliners we had done a TV show or two along with Barbara Lewis. I'm not sure if Ollie was with her at these performances, but I would not meet him at this time.

After I had made my decision to leave the band, as I was playing my last days, one of the last songs I worked up with them was a killer version of The Capitols " Cool Jerk " at the Roostertail.

So I was pretty familiar with Ollie McLaughlin and he was coming to the studios. 

Ollie and I were immediate friends. A friendship that would last for years. I would eventually lease Ollie office space in Studio A after our offices were moved into the newly
built Studio B.

When I heard of Ollie's death, the news genuinely saddened me. I will always remember Ollie's smiling face and I will always think of him as a friend.

When Russ was working with me at Tera Shirma he was developing into one hell of an engineer.

One day Stax records booked time to record a new act that they were hot on...Isaac Hayes. My brother did the project for them and blew everyone away. The album was "Hot Buttered Soul".

From that point on Russ's reputation exploded. When we ended up at Motown, only the top producers like Norman Whitfield and Frank Wilson could get him.

His track record is astounding. Something like 89 Gold singles and 37 platinum albums. A feat many in the business say will never be duplicated. 

If any one out there remembers the Diana Ross concert in Central Park, it all came through my brother's talented ears and hands. This is a long story in itself. That's my bro and I'm proud of him.

I first met Mike Theodore during a Sunliner recording session. We were being produced by John Rhys at the time. Mike had stopped into the studio (Golden World) to see John. He and I struck up a conversation. He had some suggestions to make on what we were doing in
the studio. I thought this was rather incongruous with the load of biology books he was carrying. He was a college student at the time.
 

Coffey and Theodore with one of the classic songs from the era

I had known Dennis Coffey's name for some time. He was already an established musician in the Detroit club scene when The Sunliners were just beginning to emerge. 

There was a downtown bar called Rose's. All the musicians hung out there when they weren't playing in the clubs. I would go to Rose's to see Dennis Coffey play.

A few years down the line Mike and Dennis would form Theo-Coff productions and work exclusively out of Tera Shirma. 

They were so busy and brought so much work to the studios that I gave them office space in Studio A rent free. Their office would be next to mine and across from secretary, Neica Lee. The offices were wood panelled and each had a large glass window looking out onto the waiting area. My own office was nearest the studio.

I am still in touch with Mike Theodore. He and Dennis are still collaborating on certain projects. We all remain good friends to this day.

One of the great Detroit production teams.

Continued