House of David History

It is somewhat of an understatement to say legendary musician David Briggs has an affinity for recording studios considering he has been associated with three historic facilities: FAME in Muscle Shoals, and Quadrafonic Sound Studio and House of David in Nashville.

Briggs was one of the people who helped put F.A.M.E. Studio in Muscle Shoals on the musical map. Then five years after moving to Nashville in the mid-’60s, he teamed with Norbert Putnam to start Quadrafonic Sound, which would become the go-to studio for rock and folk artists recording in Nashville in the ’70s, acclaimed artists such as Neil Young, Dan Fogelberg, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffett, and Bob Seger.

Because Quadrafonic was so busy, Briggs often wasn’t able to use it for his own projects. So in 1972 he bought a house at 1205 16th Avenue South and between 1974 and 1976 converted it into the studio known as House of David, which he has now owned and operated for more than four decades. That makes House of David the oldest continuously operating recording studio under its original ownership on Music Row, a fact that earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016, the second Nashville studio to receive that designation; RCA Studio A was the first.

The red-brick Colonial-style house was built as a single-family residence in 1913 and remained as such until the early 1960s when it was converted into a multi-unit boarding house. The building had been condemned when he purchased it in 1972. Briggs began work on the building in earnest in 1974, and spent the next two years having it repurposed as a studio. The three tracking rooms were configured from the original front parlors and rear dining room. Opposite the rear dining room, the control room occupies the space that was originally the kitchen.

Initially, Briggs equipped the studio with some of the gear no longer in use at Quad, including the Quad Eight board they had started with and an Ampex 24-track 2-inch tape machine. “It was a great console,” Briggs said of the Quad Eight in 2015. “A lot of the big hits [tracked at Quadrafonic Sound] were cut on that console. The Quad 8 sounds better than just about any console I’ve ever used.”

One of the first artists he planned to host at House of David was Elvis Presley, whom he had recorded with extensively as a keyboardist since the mid-’60s. “It was going to be a place he could come and get away from the fans and just record,” Briggs told Mix magazine in 2008. “I had a set of stairs with an alarm, security and all that so he could park underground and come up through a [trap door] in the floor. I worked on this for him in ’76, and he died in ’77. He never got to use it, although I did work on some of his music here after he died.”

Although it has kind of a biblical ring to it, the story behind the studio’s name is not so esoteric. It comes from the literal fact that the building also served as Briggs’ home from 1975-85, making it literally the “house” of David.

When Briggs and Putnam sold Quadrafonic for a million dollars in 1979, they agreed to not compete with the new owners for a period of three years. With the expiration of the noncompete agreement in 1982, he opened House of David to the public as a full-blown commercial entity. Around the time of the “official” opening, Briggs acquired the grand piano that is still in use at the studio: a Baldwin SD10, a special model with extra strings that had been used in live performances by both Liberace and Dave Brubeck.

House of David’s first client was legendary British rocker Joe Cocker, the first of many music legends who would work at the studio during the ensuing decades. Not long after Cocker worked there, the studio hosted B.B. King and Neil Young.

After rising to prominence as an award-winning jingles arranger and sometime background singer and producer in the ’70s, Briggs continued his work in that field at House of David in the ’80s. The studio hosted sessions for national advertising agencies based in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, many of which were produced by Susan Hamilton of HEA Productions, who had introduced Briggs to the jingle business. During that decade, Briggs worked on jingles for a wide array of companies, including Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, 7 Up, RC Cola, Vernor’s Ginger Ale, Chevrolet, Ford, Cadillac, Walmart, Kmart, Sears, J.C. Penney, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Alka-Seltzer, Miller beer, Budweiser, and Coors. For one beer jingle he he arranged and contracted at House of David, Briggs hired Garth Brooks, who was unknown at the time, to sing on the recording. It was the country superstar’s first professional session in Nashville.

Realizing the Quad Eight board was no longer adequate for some of the projects being recorded at the studio, in 1989 Briggs bought the 1972 API 2832 board which had been at Record One studios in Los Angeles, where numerous big hits were cut by the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Toto, Bonnie Raitt, and Michael Jackson. The following year, he acquired an Otari 32-track digital recorder that could be synced with the studio’s 24-track Ampex machine.

Initially, engineer Gene Eichelberger, who had worked for Briggs at Quadrafonic, was the studio’s chief engineer, but it wasn’t long before Lynn Peterzell took over that position, which he held until the early ’90s. At that point, Peterzell’s assistant, Tom Hitchcock, became the studio’s chief engineer and held that position until 2000 when Briggs decided for personal reasons to close the studio to the public.

In June of 2002, musician/engineer Richard McLaurin took over operation of the studio, and added Pro Tools to the studio’s recording options. McLaurin leased the studio from Briggs for the next decade, a stretch in which House of David became a go-to destination for many of the top Americana artists and producers. Engineer Adam Bednarik worked closely with McLaurin during this period, engineering, mixing, and assisting on a large number of recordings.

When McLaurin decided to leave the studio business in 2012, Briggs resumed operation of House of David. In 2015, he equipped the studio with the top-of-the-line Pro Tools software and a Burl system, an upgrade that increased its bookings for mixing.

Now in its fifth decade of operation, House of David has played host to sessions for some of the biggest names in music, including Roy Orbison, Neil Young, Joe Cocker, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Bo Diddley, Emmylou Harris, Tom Jones, Carl Perkins, Norah Jones, George Jones, Garth Brooks, Clint Black, Wu Tang Clan, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, and Jaci Velasquez.

Partial timeline of House of David clients

• The first “official” client for House of David was Joe Cocker, who recorded half of Civilized Man, his first album for Capitol Records, at House of David in 1982 under the direction of producer Stewart Levine. Briggs was leader on those sessions and called on some of Nashville’s finest rock and soul players to back the British rock legend, including guitarists Reggie Young and Dan Huff, synth player Shane Keister, bassist David Hungate, and drummers James Stroud and Larrie Londin.

• Levine brought another music icon to House of David in 1982, B.B. King. The legendary bluesman did preproduction there for his 1982 MCA release, Love Me Tender, with Briggs contributing not only keys, but also handling the arrangements for the rhythm section and the strings.

• While Presley never had the opportunity to record at House of David, working with RCA Records and the Presley estate in 1982, Briggs produced “The Elvis Medley” for an album by the same name, a quasi-hits collection that included the original versions of some of The King’s most famous hits. That project grew out of another project Briggs produced for RCA on Jim Reeves where he added new accompaniment to four of the late singer’s hits (“Four Walls,” “I Missed Me,” “He'll Have To Go,” and “Oh, How I Miss You Tonight”). “The Jim Reeves Medley” made it to number forty-six on the Billboard country singles chart. RCA was so pleased with Briggs’ work on “The Jim Reeves Medley,” they had him do a similar thing for Presley later that year. “The Elvis Medley” featured parts of six of the hits included (“Jailhouse Rock,” “Teddy Bear,” “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Burning Love,” and “Suspicious Minds”) with Presley’s vocal accompanied by new instrumentation added under the direction of Briggs. “The Elvis Medley” went to number thirteen on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number thirty-one on the magazine’s country chart.

• In January of 1983, Neil Young was back in Nashville for sessions at House of David that would yield material released on his 1985 album, Old Ways, including “My Boy,” “Old Ways,” “California Sunset,” and “Are There Any More Real Cowboys?.” “Depression Blues,” which was released on the 1993 compilation, Lucky Thirteen, was also recorded during those sessions, as were unreleased versions of “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “Silver & Gold,” and “Soul of a Woman.”

• Also in 1983, tracks for Tom Jones’ album Don’t Let Our Dreams Die Young were recorded at House of David under the direction of producers Gordon Mills and Steve Popovich for Mercury Records. Briggs was leader on those sessions, working with guitarist Reggie Young, bassist Mike Leech, and drummer Larrie London, among others. The album went Top 10 on the Billboard Country album chart, peaking at number nine, and yielded the hit single, “I've Been Rained On Too,” which reached number thirteen on the country singles chart.

• In 1984, Roy Orbison recorded “Wild Hearts Run Out of Time” at House of David with cowriter Will Jennings and Briggs producing. The song would be included in the Nicholas Roeg film, Insignificance.

• Also in 1984, vocal overdubs featuring The Jordanaires were done at House of David under the direction of producer Jeff Eyrich for Hard Line, the fourth album by The Blasters, the California rock outfit led by brothers Phil and Dave Alvin. The record is probably best known for the song, “Dark Night,” which has been used on TV (Miami Vice in the 1985 episode, “Whatever Works”) and in films (1996’s From Dusk Till Dawn and Dark Night from 2005).

• In 1987, Orbison was back at the studio to recut his classic hit “Crying” as a duet with K.D. Lang for the soundtrack of the film Hiding Out. The song was produced by Don Was and arranged by Briggs, and recorded in part at House of David with backing from Briggs on synth, Kenneth Buttrey on drums, Steve Gibson on guitar, and Terry McMillan on harmonica. It was released as a single on Virgin Records and won a Grammy in 1988 for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. It was a hit in the UK, hitting number thirteen there on the Official Singles chart, and also charted in the U.S., reaching number twenty-eight on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and number forty-two on the Hot Country Singles chart.

• Another album project recorded at House of David in 1987 was Hymne a pseudonymous instrumental record by producer-guitarist Jerry Kennedy and Briggs under the name Joe Kenyon for Mercury Records. The title cut, which was written by electronic artist Vangelis and used in a commercial for Gallo wines, was released as a single and reached number thirty-three on the Billboard country singles chart. Besides Kennedy and Briggs, the record featured drummer Eddie Bayers, multi-instrumentalist Mark Casstevens, harmonica player Terry McMillan, bassist Larry Paxton, and Kennedy’s son Gordon on electric guitar.

• In 1988, Willie Nelson recorded most of his album A Horse Called Music at House of David with Fred Foster producing. Briggs, who coproduced Nelson’s 1973 album Shotgun Willie with Arif Mardin and Jerry Weller, was leader on the sessions and called in guitarist Reggie Young, pianist Bobby Ogdin, and drummer Larrie Londin to work on the album, among others. A Horse Called Music made it all the way to number two on the Billboard country album chart.

• 1988 was the year Briggs began a thirteen-year tenure as the music director for The CMA Awards, the annual awards show broadcast by CBS. Much of the music heard on the show was prerecorded at House of David. That first year when he added the CMA gig, Briggs worked at Harold Shedd’s Music Mill studio because the Quad Eight board at House of David couldn’t meet the needs of the show. So the following year, he bought the 1972 API 2832 board. From that point forward, he produced the prerecorded tracks for The CMA Awards at House of David, often with the artists on hand who would be performing at the show, including some of the genre’s biggest stars, such as Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw, and Faith Hill.

• Also in 1989, Clint Black cut his breakout album, Killin’ Time, at House of David under the direction of producers James Stroud and Mark Wright. The album topped the Billboard country chart and yielded five singles that went to number one on the magazine’s country single chart.

• Although he didn’t record any master tracks there, British rock icon Steve Winwood worked at House of David a number of times during the mid-to-late ’80s, writing with celebrated songwriter Will Jennings, Briggs’ partner in the publishing company, Willin’ David Music. The Winwood-Jennings songwriting partnership yielded three hit albums: 1986’s Back in the High Life Again, which went to number three on the Billboard 200 album chart; 1988’s Roll With It, which went to number one; and 1990’s Refugees of the Heart, which peaked at number twenty-six. Those three albums yielded a total of eight Top 40 hits for Winwood, including a pair of number ones, “Higher Love” and “Roll With It,” and two others that went Top 10: “The Finer Things, which reached number eight, and “Don’t You Know What the Night Can Do?,” which climbed to number six.

• In 1990, award-winning singer-songwriter Ashley Cleveland recorded two songs at House of David for her 1991 full length, Big Town, “Tentative Man” and “We Can Dance,” with Craig Krampf and Niko Bolas producing, and Tom Hitchcock engineering. Cleveland was backed on those recordings by guitarist Kenny Greenburg, bassist Glen Worf, and drummer Krampf, among others. John Hiatt contributed piano on “We Can Dance.”

• In 1991, producer Jerry Crutchfield recorded overdubs at House of David for Tanya Tucker’s album, What Do I Do with Me. It was Tucker’s highest-charting album, reaching number six on the Billboard country album chart and number forty-eight on the Billboard 200. The album yielded four top five country singles: “(Without You) What Do I Do with Me” and “Down to My Last Teardrop,” both of which went to number two; “Some Kind of Trouble,” which reached number three; and “If Your Heart Ain't Busy Tonight,” which made it to number four.

• In 1993, country band Blackhawk, featuring lead vocalist Henry Paul formerly of the Southern rock outfit The Outlaws, recorded their multiplatinum, eponymous debut at House of David. The album yielded four Top 10 country hits, “Every Once in a While,” “I Sure Can Smell the Rain,” “Down in Flames,” and “That's Just About Right,” while the lead single, “Goodbye Says It All,” made it to number eleven.

• Actress Ann Margret was at House of David in 1994, observing Briggs record the piano parts for her role as a piano teacher in the film, Following Her Heart, which was shot in Nashville.

• From January to March of 1994, rapper Count Bass D was hunkered down at House of David, recording his Epic Records debut, Pre-Life Crisis, on which he played almost all the instruments. About his time at the studio, the rapper would later say, “I wanted to record on Music Row for hip-hop historical purposes.” It’s unclear if he was the first rapper to cut on Music Row, but for certain he was the first rap artist to record at House of David, although not the last.

• In 1995, producer R.S. Field was at the studio to cut a track on Sonny Landreth for his album South of I-10. They recorded “Great Gulf Wind,” the album finale which was written by Allen Toussaint. It was the first of many sessions Field would conduct at the studio over the next two decades.

• Parts of Carl Perkins’ 1996 album Go Cat Go was recorded at House of David. The album, which featured stars like Paul Simon, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Fogerty recording with one of their rock and roll heroes, was coproduced by Bob Johnston and Simon.

• Also in 1996, mixing for Jaci Velasquez’s major-label debut, Heavenly Place, was done at the studio. The album, which was produced by Mark Heimermann for Myrrh/Columbia, was certified platinum for sales of more than one million units.

• George Jones recorded a cover of the Rolling Stones’ hit, “Time is on My Side,” at House of David in 1997 with Briggs producing for the Stones tribute album, Stone Country (Country Artists Perform The Songs Of The Rolling Stones). Jones’ version was lauded as one of the best tracks on the album. Briggs also produced Travis Tritt’s contribution to the album, “Honky Tonk Woman.”

• New Jersey indie rock outfit Yo La Tengo also worked at the studio in 1997, cutting their eighth studio album, I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, there under the direction of producer Roger Moutenot. Rolling Stone named the album as one of the 100 Best Albums of the Nineties, ranking it number eighty-six..

• Legendary Texas songwriter Billy Joe Shaver was the first artist to record at the studio after musician/engineer Richard McLaurin took over. Shaver went into House of David shortly after Labor Day in 2002 to work on the first of five albums he would record for the Compadre label, Freedom’s Child, with R.S. Field producing. Shaver was backed on the album by guitarists Will Kimbrough and Jamie Hartford, bassist Dave Roe, keyboardist Steve Conn, and drummer Jimmy Lester, among others.

• In 2003, producer R.S. Field was back at House of David with singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. Backed by Superdrag’s John Davis on a myriad of instruments, mostly guitar and bass, as well as keyboardist Steve Conn, harmonica man Sonny Red, and Field on drums, Moorer cut her first album for Sugar Hill Records, The Duel. The album, which featured eleven songs cowritten with Doyle Lee Primm, charted on both the Billboard country and independent charts.

• Later that year, Field returned to produce Davis’ acclaimed eponymous solo debut with McLaurin engineering and mixing, and Bednarik serving as assistant engineer.

• In 2005, Field returned to House of David to helm BR-549 alum Gary Bennett’s solo debut, Human Condition, for Landslide Records. Bennett had some all-star backing on the record, including multi-instrumentalist Marty Stuart, guitarist Kenny Vaughan, pedal steel legend Lloyd Green, bassist Mark Winchester, and drummer Jimmy Lester. McLaurin and Bednarik shared the engineering duties with McLaurin handling the mix.

• Early in 2008, producer Marty Stuart recorded overdubs at the studio for Kathy Mattea’s album of coal mining songs, Coal, which topped the Billboard bluegrass album chart.

• Also in 2008, Kevin Costner and his band Modern West came to Nashville to do some of the work at House of Davids for their album, Untold Truths, released in November of that year.

• R.S. Field was back at the studio in 2008 to helm the second album by Texas singer-songwriter Mando Saenz, Bucket, which was released on Carnival Records that same year. McLaurin not only engineered the album, he also contributed guitar, bass and pedal steel. Bucket also included backing from guitarists Kenny Vaughn and Richard Bennett, and keyboardist Steve Conn, and features a duet with Kim Richey on “All Grown Up,” a song she and Saenz cowrote.

• Singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle recorded his first three albums at House of David, beginning with 2008’s The Good Life, his first full-length record coproduced by R.S. Field and Steve Poulton for Bloodshot Records. The album, which was released in March of 2008 was engineered and mixed by McLaurin and Adam Bednarik.

• Later that year, Earle returned to record his second album for Bloodshot, Midnight at the Movies, with R.S. Field producing and Benarik engineering. McLaurin mixed the record which was released in March of 2009.

• Earle was back at House of David later in 2009 to record his breakout album, Harlem River Blues, which was released in September 1010, again on the Bloodshot label. On that record, Earle coproduced with Skylar Wilson with Bednarik handing the engineering and mixing. Harlem River Blues hit the Top 10 on two of the Billboard charts, reaching number three on the Folk chart and number nine on the Indie chart.

• Although Earle didn’t return to House of David to record his fourth and final album for Bloodshot, 2012’s Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, the record was mixed at the studio by Bednarik.

• Earle did work in the studio in 2012 as a producer, helming rock pioneer Wanda Jackson’s album for Sugar Hill Records, Unfinished Business. It was the thirty-first studio album of Jackson’s long career.

• Singer-songwriter Allison Moorer was back at House of David in 2009 for work on her 2010 release for Rykodisc, Crows. Moorer coproduced the album with R.S. Field and was backed by Field on drums, Richard Bennett and Joe McMahan on guitars, and Brad Jones on bass. McLaurin handled the engineering and mixing on the album that went to number eleven on the Billboard Folk chart.

• Also at House of David in 2009, producer Joe McMahan mixed the album Shout! Live by Mike Farris & The Roseland Rhythm Revue, which won a Dove award in 2010 for Traditional Gospel Album of the Year.

• That same year, producer Jacquire King, who is probably best known for his Grammy-winning work with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and Buddy Guy, took singer-singer-songwriter Norah Jones into House of David to cut some sides for her 2009 album, The Fall. The album, which was certified platinum, topped the Billboard Rock chart and went to number three on the Billboard 200.

• Early in 2010, King was back at House of David to work with California indie rock band Cold War Kids on tracks for their 2011 Downtown/V2/Interscope release, Mine Is Yours. King handled the engineering with Bednarik assisting on the album that went Top 10 on both the Billboard Alternative (number five) and Rock (number seven) charts, while reaching number 21 on the Hot 100.

• Also in 2010, New York singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston made a record at House of David for Bar None Records, Rain on the City, with McLaurin producing and engineering (with an assist from Bednarik), as well as playing multiple instruments on the album.

• Country-folk singer Iris Dement recorded her fifth album, Sing the Delta, at House of David in 2012 for the Flariella label, coproducing the record with guitarist Richard Bennett. McLaurin handled the engineering and mixing.

• Producer Dave Cobb brought California rock band Rival Sons to House of David in October of 2015 for additional work on their Hollow Bones album. The album went to number two on the Billboard Hard Rock chart and number thirteen on the magazine’s Rock chart. It went top 10 in several European markets, as well as reaching number thirteen in the UK.

• In 2016, Amanda Shires recorded some of her BMG album, My Piece Of Land, at House of David with producer Dave Cobb at the console. During that same set of sessions, she recorded a duet with her husband, Jason Isbell, “The Color of a Cloudy Day,” for the British documentary, The Fear of 13.

• In the fall of 2017, funk legend Bootsy Collins was at House of David for a live internet stream that was part of the promotional tour for his just-released full-length, World Wide Funk.

• In 2018, mixing for one of the songs on the Garth Brooks box set, Anthology, Part III, was done at House of David with engineer Matthew “Buster” Allen at the console.

• Also in 2018, Jim Lauderdale recorded tracks at House of David for his 2019 album for the Yep Roc label, From Another World.