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At the bottom of a narrow steep flight of stairs is a heavily padded door leading into an equally heavily padded roomIs this some sort of bizarre confinementcell?As eyes become adjusted to the subdued light in the room, a spinet piano becomesobvious along one wall and a set of trap drums emerges from behind a sort of cagelike affairin a comer.It’s becoming clear the padded room has something to do with music and the padding is soundproofing materialProbably a father’s sane solution to a boisterous family of fledgling musiciansHead sets hung carefully along the walls are the first clue there is more to this room than meets the eye. Further inspection reveals another basement room containing all the electronic gear of a basic, fully equipped eight-track recording studioIT IS THE studio of the appropriately labeled Shoestring Recording Company owned by Howard Neal — a studio built by Neal in the basement of his Central Avenue home in AltonIt’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for Neal, who has been building the studio in his spare time since 1978. He also has a full time job as a shift worker at Marathon Pipe Line“I call my company Shoestring Records because I’ve been doing it on a shoestring budget,” said Neal.He said he has invested about $15,000 in electronic equipment, using extra money from the family budget and borrowing someNeal picked up experience in recording as( a music major at Tennessee A I University. in Nashville.1 ‘‘Some of the recording studios down therewould use music majors to help record» . commercial jingles,” he said.”1 understand the process, but DavidBanks is the electronics man He understands the technical side of the equipment ”Ranke nffZnrffrov alcn hne a fnll-fime iobat the Shell Oil Refinery, so recording sessions must be scheduled when both have t ime available There’s also the problem of keeping the rest of the family quiet. That job falls to Lavern Neal, Howard’s wife.The Neal’s have three children — Darin, an Alton High student and drummer with the .Marching 100, Kelton, a student at East M iddle School who plays trumpet; and 3-year-old Olivia Nicole “Nikki” who might be a singer like her grandmother, Mabel MeeksNeal said he comes from a long family t radition of music, but his wife is not a musician.She enjoys music and likes to listen, but she doesn’t piay an instrument. said Neal.A wife being married to a musician must be very understanding and she’s all of that.“Had it not been for my wife being as receptive and being behind me. I probably would never have stuck with music so long She is very patient and has told me to just keeptrying She’s a motivator ”NEAL’S MUSICAL interests, which began as a sax player and then a drummer with local bands, have evolved into composing, arranging and recording. Because he works shift work, it is no longer feasible for him toperform with bands.“ In addition to Shoestring, I have my own publishing company — Nikeda Publishing Co The name is a combination of the first two letters of my children's names,” said NealThat was my wife’s idea.”Neal said he decided to build the studio when he saw there was a need in the area.“A lot of people are looking for a good quality studio, if only for a demo tape or a business looking for someone to do a commercial jingle,” he said.And there was also another reason I wanted the young people in the community to see something positive being done by someone who enjoys young people.“I wanted to build something from scratch using my knowledge of the music businessAnd I wanted to do it in Alton because this is where it all started.”WHEN LONNELL HUDSON, a St Louis entertainment consultant, was looking for a small company to record one of his groups. The James Family of St Louis, he contacted Neal.“I wanted a small recording company for their first record, where they would have more freedom.” said Hudson.The James Family, comprised of lead singer Nancy, her sister, Sandy, and two brothers, Eddie and Michael, are predominantly a soul group But gospel, jazz, rock, blues and country western are allincorporated into their act.Since Neal was looking for a group to perform one of his compositions, W e veGot It Made — written with Ann Grover of St. Louis — a cooperative venture seemed possible.Another musician, Edmond “Petie” Henderson of Alton, benefited from the business venture and the growing friendship between the JamesFamily and Howard Neal Henderson was a guitarist looking for a job, and the JamesFamily needed a lead guitarist for their band.During Henderson’s early years as a music student, Neal was his musical mentor The two have since become good friends.“My role with Petie w as: I taught him basically how to play a variety of styles of music — not just one style,” Neal said. ‘That w’as my involvement in his musical career.”HENDERSON JOINED the James Family and was along when they left on their first European tour over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.Hudson said he had been trying to make arrangements for the family to go on the tour and was having difficulty confirming the booking with the U S. armed forces entertainment office Singer Lou Rawls offered the necessary recommendation and they were on their way.The James Family has received ravereviews for their opening act performances with Rawls.While on tour, the group performed at military bases in Iceland, Italy, Germany and Portugal They averaged about 10 show s a week*‘It was the highlight of our career to this point, said Eddie James. “We really like the atmosphere of a big concert appearance We love the audience participation, and having them join in with us really made us feel good They really appreciated us on the tour ”Before Thanksgiving, w hen the group left the states, a recording session was held in the Neal basement. A tape was produced and sent to a plant to have a master disc cutAS THE JAMES’ relaxed recent ly in the Neal living room, they listened to their recorded sound for the first time They agreed they sounded “pretty good ”We’ve got it made, BabyWe Ve got a love that s really realWe've got it madeNo one can change the way I feel.The recording will be used to “get something of the James Family before t he public,” said Hudson It’s just a feeler tosec t he a ud ience react ion ”Promotional announcements for the record, to be released in mid February, have been airing on WZEN radio.Neal has another goal for use of the recording - to gain the attention of a major production company.“I think with the James Family, the company will be a force in the music industry,” said Neal, “1 think we'll be good for each other.“They are a dedicated group of people and it takes all that to be successful We really have a lot of fun when we are working together.I’m trying to get a major record company to pick up my label to handle my
Newspaper Details
Alton Telegraph
Alton, Illinois, US
Sat, Feb 05, 1983
Page 120
Full Page
Clipped by
Hayner P.
IL, USA 19 Jul 2022
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