TTG Studios
# TTG Studios

TTG Studios was a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, co-founded in 1965 by recording engineers Tom Hidley and Amnon "Ami" Hadani.

## History

The studio was located at 1441 North McCadden Place in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, near the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue. Originally the home of the Hollywood Knights of Columbus, the building was built in 1927, an active period in Hollywood, as nearby buildings Grauman's Chinese Theatre, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and the Hollywood Athletic Club all date from the same period. In 1960, Radio Recorders converted the ground floor billiards room and half the lounge into a recording studio to form their Sunset-Highland Division, which housed the Blue Network and other entertainment-related companies.

TTG was co-founded by Tom Hidley and Amnon "Ami" Hadani, who had both previously worked with MGM/Verve Records and A & R Recording in New York before relocating to Los Angeles in 1965 to found TTG. The studio's name did not stand for "Two Terrible Guys" as has been mistakenly claimed, but rather was adopted from the name of a Jewish Brigade formed after World War II whose name was an acronym for the Israeli slang expression "Tilhas Tizig Gesheften", which roughly translates to "up your ass".

TTG leased 1441 North McCadden Place, converting the second story main hall into a large recording studio that could accommodate up to 100 musicians. Meticulously and innovatively designed by Hidley with a high decibel level threshold, the studio became popular with the up-and-coming rock musicians of that time, including The Monkees, Eric Burdon, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, and Alice Cooper. Burdon introduced Jimi Hendrix to the studio and Hendrix "raved" about the studio's sound.

TTG installed one of the first 16-track tape recorders, which was custom built by co-owner Hidley, at a time when 4- or 8-track recording was still the norm. Jimi Hendrix used this machine at TTG in October 1968.

TTG went out of business in 1985, and building was sold to Yoram and Peggy Kahana, owners and directors of Shooting Star International, a photo agency. The agency retrofitted the cinder block structure, restored the main hall and third floor balcony to their original state, and moved into the building in December 1990. The Kahanas kept and upgraded the ground floor recording studio, which is now occupied by their tenants Wax Ltd, the multi-platinum production and songwriting record label of Wally Gagel and Xandy Barry, and WICK Studios, a photo and video rental production studio.

## Personnel

### Tom Hidley

TTG Studios' co-founder was Tom Hidley. He was born May 27, 1931, in Los Angeles, California. As a teen, he spent long hours playing the saxophone, clarinet, and flute, until ordered to cease by his physician after a physical breakdown. He then turned to non-performance aspects of music, and spent nights recording at clubs and days working at loudspeaker and tape-machine companies.

In 1959, "Madman Muntz" hired Hidley to assist in the development of the first car stereo. Among the first to own a Muntz car stereo was Frank Sinatra, the famous singer and actor. Through Sinatra's purchase, Hidley became known to a Sinatra associate Val Valentin, who invited Hildley to assist in the building of a new recording studio in New York. In 1962, they built the MGM/Verve studio. In 1964, Phil Ramone hired Hidley to work at his A&R studio as the audio technical manager. Also employed at that time by A&R was Ami Hadani. Hidley went on to found Westlake Recording Studios in the 1970s, a facility which was highly influential in standardizing acoustic design in the recording industry and which has been used by a large number of prominent vocal artists.

### Ami Hadani

TTG co-founder Amnon "Ami" Hadani was born August 19, 1929. He was credited as Omi Hadan on some records. Hadani's association with MGM/Verve artists preceded TTG and his work with rock groups. He engineered albums by jazzmen Ray Brown and Milt Jackson, actress Lainie Kazan, and location recording for standup comic Shelley Berman.

According to Bruce Botnick, Hadani was a General in the Israeli Air Force, and had to leave for weeks at a time when Israel was at war.

Ami Hadani was married to actress/screenwriter Ellen Weston and they had one child, Jonathan Hadani. They were divorced when their son was six years old. Ami remarried Christine Ermacoff, a studio cellist. Ami Hadani died on September 22, 2014, in Los Angeles.

## Albums recorded at TTG Studios

| Album | Artist | Release date |
| - | - | - |
| Popsicle | Jan and Dean | March 1966 |
| Filet of Soul (album) | Jan and Dean | March 1966 |
| The Golden Sword | Gerald Wilson | 1966 |
| Freak Out! | The Mothers of Invention | June 27, 1966 |
| Animalism | The Animals | November, 1966 |
| Songs for Rainy Day Lovers | Clare Fischer | 1967 (reissued in 1978 as America the Beautiful) |
| Winds of Change | Eric Burdon and The Animals | March, 1967 |
| Early Morning Blues and Greens | Diane Hildebrand | June, 1967 |
| Goodbye and Hello (Tim Buckley album) | Tim Buckley | June, 1967 |
| Big Boss Bones | Trombones Unlimited | June, 1967 |
| Absolutely Free | The Mothers of Invention | April, 1967 |
| The Velvet Underground & Nico | The Velvet Underground & Nico | July, 1967 |
| The Love Generation | The Love Generation | July, 1967 |
| Love Is | Eric Burdon & The Animals | September, 1967 |
| Mirror Man | Captain Beefheart | Oct-Nov, 1967 |
| Basie Straight Ahead | Count Basie | January, 1968 |
| A Generation of Love | The Love Generation | January, 1968 |
| Those Were the Days | Ernie Heckscher | March, 1968 |
| The Sound of the Seventies | Tommy Vig Orchestra | July, 1968 |
| Patterns of Reality | Andy Robinson | August, 1968 |
| Hal Frazier | Hal Frazier | November, 1968 |
| Waiting for the Sun | The Doors | July 3, 1968 |
| The Jimi Hendrix Experience (archival recordings) | Jimi Hendrix | October 29, 1968 (released September 12, 2000 ) |
| West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology (archival recordings) | Jimi Hendrix | October 20, 21 and 23, 1968 (released November 16, 2010) |
| TTG Studios October 1968 (unauthorized) | Jimi Hendrix | October 1968 |
| Peace in Mississippi (First Rays of The Rising Sun Album) | Jimi Hendrix | October 24, 1968 |
| Red House (song) | Jimi Hendrix | October 29, 1968 |
| Hand Sown ... Home Grown | Linda Ronstadt | March, 1969 |
| "Yes I Need Someone" / "Let Me Stay" (Buddah Records single, circa September 1968) | Eire Apparent | March 21, 1969 |
| Follow Me (Original Soundtrack Album) | Stu Phillips | May, 1969 |
| Sun Rise (featuring Jimi Hendrix) | Eire Apparent | May, 1969 |
| The Association | The Association | August, 1969 |
| Hot Rats | Frank Zappa | October 10, 1969 |
| Neil Young | Neil Young | November, 1969 |
| Right On | Phil Moore Jr. | December, 1968 |
| A.B. Skhy | A.B. Skhy | December, 1968 |
| Crow by Crow | Crow | February, 1970 |
| Lover Man | Jimi Hendrix | March 23, 1970 |
| Longbranch Pennywhistle | Longbranch Pennywhistle | April, 1970 |
| So Young (Love Theme From "Zabriskie Point") | Roy Orbison | March 18, 1970 |
| Sweet Gingerbread Man | The Mike Curb Congregation | April 3, 1970 |
| I Call Your Name (from the MGM film "Zigzag" Soundtrack) | Bobby Hatfield | April 3, 1970 |
| All You Did Was Smile (from the MGM film "Zigzag" Soundtrack) | Bobby Hatfield | April 3, 1970 |
| Copperfields | The Dillards | May, 1970 |
| Take It and Smile | Eve | June, 1970 |
| Our Front Porch | Ralph Carmichael and the Young People | July, 1970 |
| Weasels Ripped My Flesh | The Mothers of Invention | August, 1970 |
| Theme From "Medical Center" | Lalo Schifrin | September 18, 1970 |
| Spill the Wine | Lalo Schifrin | September 18, 1970 |
| Chunga's Revenge | Frank Zappa | September, 1970 |
| Sunday's Child | Sunday's Child | October, 1970 |
| Slow Down | Crow | January, 1971 |
| The Last Time I Saw Her | Glen Campbell | July, 1971 |
| Rainbow Bridge | Jimi Hendrix | August, 1971 |
| I'm Gon' Git Myself Together | Jimmy Smith | October, 1971 |
| Reformation | The California Earthquake | November, 1971 |
| Sailin' Shoes | Little Feat | February, 1972 |
| Let Love Live | Jeremiah People | October, 1972 |
| Doing What Comes Naturally | Charles Wright | January, 1973 |
| Sonlight | Sonlight | March, 1973 |
| Vital Blue | Blue Mitchell | June, 1973 |
| Beginning Today | The Dameans | 1973 |
| Killing Me Softly | Ferrante & Teicher | September, 1973 |
| The Waltons' Christmas Album | The Holiday Singers | January, 1974 |
| Dino Plays Folk Musical Themes | Dino with the Ralph Carmichael Orchestra and Chorus | March, 1974 |
| The Entertainer | Marvin Hamlisch | May, 1974 |
| ...Beautiful...Beautiful | Ferrante & Teicher | August, 1974 |
| Tommy Butler | Tommy Butler | December, 1974 |
| Fly On | Air Pocket | February, 1975 |
| A Southern Memoir | Bing Crosby | April, 1975 |
| Tales of a Courtesan (Oirantan) | Toshiko Akiyoshi – Lew Tabackin Big Band | January, 1976 |
| Inside America | Juggy Murray Jones | April, 1976 |
| Concert in Blues | Willie Hutch | October, 1976 |
| We Have This Moment...Today | Richard Roberts and Patti Roberts | December, 1976 |
| Bahiana | Dizzy Gillespie | February, 1977 |
| A Retrospective | Linda Ronstadt | June, 1977 |
| 'Twas Only Yesterday | Clare Fischer | March, 1979 |
| Duality | Clare Fischer | June, 1980 |
| Straight Ahead | Poncho Sanchez | August, 1980 |
| I Lead a Charmed Life | Russell Garcia | September, 1980 |
| Carl Burnett Quintet Plays Music of Richard Rodgers Vol. 1 | Carl Burnett Quintet | November, 1980 |
| Turning to Spring | Howard Roberts | January, 1981 |
| Road Work Ahead | Bob Magnusson featuring Peter Sprague, Bill Mays, and Jim Plank | February, 1981 |
| Westlake | Bob Florence | March, 1981 |
| Lomelin | Gerald Wilson | April, 1981 |
| Jazz Quintet | Robert Conti feat. Mike Wofford | April, 1981 |
| Hoy-Hoy! | Little Feat | October, 1981 |
| Two Generations of Music | Bob Magnusson featuring Daniel Magnusson | June, 1982 |
| Summer Strut | Andy Simpkins | July, 1984 |
