Background In 1950, musician Mack Emerman, a former trumpet player with the
Les Brown-led
Duke Ambassadors, relocated to
Hollywood, Florida and began recording on location and in his parents' home for release on his own short-lived Criteria Gold Coast jazz label. Emerman eventually acquired property at the corner of 149th Street and
West Dixie Highway in
North Miami to build the original 30 foot by 60 foot building designed by architect Charles C. Reed Jr. that would open in 1958 as the Criteria Recording Studio. Emerman enlisted the help of Grover 'Jeep' Harned, owner of a local hi-fi shop, to troubleshoot and rebuild Criteria's first
mixing console, which had been custom-built by the chief engineer at the nearby local
NBC affiliate
WCKT. Harned would go on to found
MCI, whose success as a recording console and multi-track recorder manufacturer would be closely tied to Criteria Studios' success.
1958–1969: Early years Criteria's early sessions included jazz bands, commercial work, and small film work. When production for CBS
The Jackie Gleason Show moved to Miami Beach in the early 1960s, Criteria Studios was hired to produce the show's music. Criteria expanded in 1965, building Studio A with a live room large enough to record a 72-piece orchestra, still Criteria's largest live room today. The same year,
King Records owner
Syd Nathan visited the studios with
James Brown, and was so impressed by the sound of the studio's 8-channel custom recording console (cutting-edge technology at the time) that he booked an October recording session, during which Brown recorded his hit song "
I Got You (I Feel Good)". In 1969,
Brook Benton recorded his hit song "
Rainy Night in Georgia" with Atlantic Records producer
Arif Mardin.
Wilson Pickett and
Betty Wright were also among the artists to record at Criteria in its early days. After encouragement from Atlantic executive
Ahmet Ertegun,
Stephen Stills first recorded with the Albert Brothers at Criteria in 1971, beginning a relationship that would continue through the '70s. Criteria expanded in 1972 with the addition of Studio C (a 20 x 30 foot room with 19 foot high ceilings) and Studio D. The Allman Brothers Band returned to Criteria to record tracks that would be released on
Eat a Peach, and Clapton took up residence at 461 Ocean Boulevard in Golden Beach, Florida to record
his 1974 solo album by the same name at Criteria. Clapton and his manager
Robert Stigwood later suggested to
RSO label mates the
Bee Gees that relocating to the house to record at Criteria may similarly benefit from a change of scene. In 1973,
Todd Rundgren produced
Grand Funk Railroad's recording of ''
We're an American Band at Criteria, and The Average White Band recorded AWB'' with Arif Mardin at the studio the following year. In 1975, producer-engineer
Bill Szymczyk recorded
Elvin Bishop's "
Fooled Around and Fell in Love" with
Mickey Thomas on vocals at Criteria, and returned to the studio the following year with the
Eagles to record half of their 1976 album
Hotel California (Eagles album) in Studio C. At the same time the Eagles were recording
Hotel California,
Black Sabbath was recording
Technical Ecstasy. Geezer Butler recalls, "Before we could start recording we had to scrape all the cocaine out of the mixing board", Geezer divulged to Uncut in 2014. "I think they'd left about a pound of cocaine in the board." The Eagles were forced to stop recording on numerous occasions because Sabbath were too loud and the sound was coming through the wall.[8]
Fleetwood Mac recorded parts of
Rumours in Studio C, The Bee Gees recorded at Criteria again for their 1979 album,
Spirits Having Flown,
Grayson Hugh's self-titled, first studio album was mixed here in 1979 by Ron Scalise.
1980–1998: Changing times In 1981, Criteria utilized John Storyk's design expertise to expand the original location, adding Studio E, a large space with 27-foot peaked ceilings, decorated with Cuban tile, stained glass, and even a waterfall. Studio E was outfitted with a custom 56-channel MCI console and twin 24-track machines. It was in the brand-new Studio E that Criteria staff producer-engineer Don Gehman helped
John Mellencamp record "
Jack & Diane" during the sessions for his 1981 commercial breakthrough album,
American Fool. The following year,
Bow Wow Wow recorded "
I Want Candy" at Criteria, and
The Romantics recorded their 1983 album,
In Heat at the studio. In 1984, Criteria was the first studio in the southeastern US to install a
Solid State Logic mixing console. In 1987,
Gloria Estefan and
Miami Sound Machine recorded what would become their most commercially successful album,
Let It Loose, at Criteria. Estefan would return to the studio two years later to record her debut solo album,
Cuts Both Ways. But Criteria Studios struggled to balance its debt with the 1980s music industry slowdown, and Emerman ended up selling Criteria to Joel Levy in 1991. In 1993,
Marilyn Manson recorded their debut studio album,
Portrait of an American Family, at Criteria. Other artists recording at the studios in the 1990s included
David Coverdale and
Jimmy Page, and the following year,
CeeLo Green recorded
Cee-Lo Green... Is the Soul Machine at the studio.
Maná recorded their 2006 album
Amar es Combatir at Criteria Other artists recording at the studio in the 2000s included
Jennifer Lopez,
Shakira,
Alicia Keys,
Cliff Richard, and
Nelly Furtado. In 2005,
Lil Wayne relocated to Miami and established semi-residency at Hit Factory Criteria, doing production work on numerous projects for various artists and recording his own material at the studios, including his 2008 commercial breakthrough
Tha Carter III. In 2017, the facility once again reverted to the original Criteria Studios name. == Selected artists ==