Morgan Studios - Battery Studios
Willesden London
Morgan Studios in Willesden, North London, was one of the most active and successful independent recording facilities of the late 1960s and 1970s. Founded by drummer Barry Morgan and partners, the studio complex grew from a single room in an old warehouse to four studios, becoming a favourite with artists such as Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, and many more.
Morgan studios was created by Barry Morgan, Monty Babson, Jerry Allen and Leon Calvert. Originally they ran a jazz record label operating out of Lansdowne studios. A desire for office space of their own led to Leon finding an old warehouse premises at Maybury Gardens, Willesden High Road. It was decided to incorporate a small recording studio in the building and the first Morgan studio opened in late 1967. The first room was designed by Leon Calvert with assistance (for a bottle of scotch!) from Sandy Brown.
The control room was side on to the studio area and featured a Cadac desk with a Scully 8 track and Ampex 4 and 2 track machines. Monitoring was by Tannoy and the studio had a Steinway piano and a Hammond organ.
Originally the studio was managed by Terry Brown (later producer of Rush) and chief engineer was Andy Johns. Jeff Calvert recalls early tape-ops being Roy (Thomas) Baker and Barry Hammond (later at Chipping Norton).By 1969 the studio was busy enough to sustain another room so the original, ground floor, studio became studio 2 and a new Studio 1 was built upstairs. The new studio occupied two floors with an overhead control room.The control room had another Cadac desk this time paired with a 16 track 3M tape machine. Quarter inch machines were originally Studer A80 and C37.
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It rapidly became apparent that separation between the two rooms was going to be a problem so the old studio was moved to the front of the building and a bar was put in its place.
We'd go over to Morgan Studios, have a few beers in the downstairs studio which had been converted to a full bar, go upstairs and start recording. The takes were very spontaneous; it was all about the feel rather than perfection'. Rod Stewart.
In 1971 Rod Stewart would return to Morgan to record his 3rd solo album 'Every Picture Tells a Story' which included 'Maggie May'. This became a number one single in both the UK and America charts and would provide great publicity for the studio.
Battery Studios
Morgan studios were sold off in the 1980s. First Studios 3 and 4 were taken over by Zomba who rechristened them Battery Studios.
In 1984 studios 1 and 2 were sold to record producer Robin Millar - who had recently had big success with Sade - and renamed "Power Plant" studios.
The original Morgan team bought another property in Maybury Gardens and this was opened as "Stage Door" a studio/rehearsal room/bar complex with a Trident Series 80 desk. This studio was also eventually sold on to Zomba and became part of the Battery Complex.
1971 would also see one of the first Cadac Desks replaced with a larger format Cadac and the former ending up in Majestic Studios.
In 1972 Morgan acquired a building situated on the opposite side of the street which was to become the home for Studio 3. Again designed by Leon Calvert the studio featured another Cadac desk (equipped with quad joystick panners) with a 3M 24 track recorder. An unusual feature of this room was that the control room was in a corner and could only be reached by walking through the recording area. It opened to the public in 1973.
Morgan Studios Maybury Gardens 1978
Morgan Studios Maybury Gardens 2011
In 1973, with its continuing expansion and success, Morgan also opened a studio in Brussels. Jeff Calvert recalled that the studio had a wraparound Cadac desk, In 1974 Morgan bought an old laundry in Chaplin Road, just around the corner from the existing studios. This property soon became Studio 4. Initially designed by a "specialist" company it was quickly changed to a Leon Calvert specification to match the existing rooms. The studio was the largest in the Morgan complex, one large oblong space with no isolation booths. The control room was side on to the recording area and again sported a Cadac desk.
