I'd been working part-time at Bob Ross' Harmony Recorders, on Melrose Avenue in L.A., cutting reference discs on their mono Scully/Westrex lathe system. My good friend (and tech for the studio), Don Saunders, mentioned that Calvin Harris, chief engineer at Motown in Detroit, was looking for a disc mastering engineer — someone that was familiar with the Neumann cutting system and could move to Detroit. I was qualified to operate both the Neumann and Scully/Westrex cutting systems — it made no difference to me — though I really did prefer the Neumann.
During my interview with Mr. Harris we talked about Motown. He said I would not be working at the converted homes on West Grand Boulevard, but rather in the mastering lab at the Motown Center building, located at 2457 Woodward Avenue. I said, "You mean the Donovan building, next to the Sanders building, at Woodward and Duffield, next to the I-75 Expressway?" At that point our conversation turned to all things Detroit. He was fascinated to learn that my grandfather and uncle had run a drugstore at 23rd and Bagley since 1896, and that it was still open. Needless to say, I got hired.
I reported for work at Motown on September 10th, 1969, and the first person I met there was none other than Bob Olhsson [Tape Op #30], one of the finest mastering/mixing engineers our industry has ever produced. His help was invaluable to me — he introduced me to people, patiently taught me what I didn't know, and found me a very nice place to live. For the year that I was at Motown, Bob was a good friend and a great teacher. To this day when I master a project in my own studio, I employ many of the techniques that I learned from Bob.
There were two cutting rooms at Motown Center; the stereo room was located on the 10th floor and there was a mono facility in the basement. Along with Bob, I worked with two other disc engineers: Joe Atkinson, the former chief mastering engineer from Atlantic in New York, and Leonard Wisniewski from Dearborn, Michigan. Leonard cut the masters for Diana Ross & the Supremes' last record Cream of the Crop, featuring the chart topping hit "Someday We'll Be Together." To this day, when I hear it on the radio, it still sparkles.
