Criteria Studios

25°54′48″N 80°09′50″W / 25.913245°N 80.163905°W / 25.913245; -80.163905

Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and producers.

Criteria has seven studios, each with its own letter designation. Studio A is Criteria's largest live room, designed to be large enough to record a symphony orchestra, with a ceiling outline of 3,000 square feet and a Solid State Logic 9096 J console, multitrack tape decks, and a Pro Tools HD3 system. Studio B is a Pro Tools suite with a Solid State Logic AWS900. Studio C has a 20 x 30 foot live room with 19 foot high ceilings, and the 40-input vintage Neve 8078 mixing console formerly in Criteria's Studio A. Studio D has an SSL ORIGIN, the John Storyk-designed Studio E with its 27-foot peaked ceilings also houses an SSL9096J. Studio F is a digital production suite, featuring an SSL Duality console. Lastly, the Studio M7 production suite has a Slate RAVEN.

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.

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)". The Albert Brothers (Ron and Howard) established themselves as a production duo at Criteria in the late 1960s with their signature "Fat Albert" drum sound. 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.

In the 1970s, Atlantic Records' executive Jerry Wexler, producer Arif Mardin, and staff engineer-producer Tom Dowd utilized Criteria Studios for numerous Atlantic projects, earning the Miami studio the nickname "Atlantic Studios South". Wexler hired a group of Memphis musicians, the Dixie Flyers, to become Atlantic's studio band in Miami. 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 same year, Aretha Franklin recorded 5 tracks of her Grammy Award-winning album Young, Gifted and Black at the studio.

The Allman Brothers Band recorded Idlewild South with Dowd at Criteria, leading to Duane Allman playing with Eric Clapton on all but 3 tracks of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. 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, and Crosby, Stills, & Nash recorded parts of their album, CSN, with the Albert Brothers at the studio.