[PR] SUGARHILL MOURNS LOSS OF LOSS OF FORMER ENGINEER MICKEY MOODY

SUGARHILL SAYS GOODBYE TO ENGINEER MICKEY MOODY

(HOUSTON, TX) January 4, 2010 - Former SugarHill Recording Studios' producer-engineer, "Uncle" Mickey Moody passed away over the holiday weekend. He was 69 years of age and suffered from kidney failure, just a week and half shy of his 70th birthday. Moody's employment at SugarHill under "Crazy Cajun" producer Huey Meaux began in the mid-70s. He immediately began working on Freddy Fenders' project, a re-release of his classics, "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights", Before the Next Teardrop Falls" and others for major label ABC/Dot Records. Those recordings earned Fender both aGRAMMY nomination and Country Music Awards' Male Singer of the Year award in 1975. With an extensive body of work during his years at SugarHill Recording Studios, Moody engineered a vast number of important Texas artists. Past recording credits include: Asleep At The Wheel's Wheelin' & Dealin' (1975), Kinky Friedman Lasso from El Paso (1976), a few cuts including a cover of the Beach Boys' hit "Good Vibrations" for the Todd Rundgren Faithful album (1976), Lucinda Williams Happy Woman Blues (1980), Augie Meyers Through the Years (2008) and unreleased tracks for Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes. Personal accounts of Mickey's work at the studios can be found in the upcoming book entitled House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios, a recorded biography chronicling the past 65 years of music making history. The book, co-authored by SugarHill chief engineer, Andy Bradley and noted music historian Roger Wood, is due out from University of Texas Press in Spring 2010. Funeral arrangements are pending. More: Read the Houston Chronicle story by Andrew Dansby here. About SugarHill Recording Studios The oldest continually operating recording studio in Texas is nestled in a southeast Houston neighborhood that over time has been home to legendary producers, record labels, and artists who've produced some of the most historically important and widely recognized musical recordings. Beginning the legacy in 1946, musician Harry Choates, with producer Bill Quinn, laid tracks for the Cajun classic "Jole Blon" for Gold Star Records. Blues icon Lightnin' Hopkins recorded soon thereafter. In the 1950's the studio hosted Pappy Dailey's Starday & D labels, George Jones cut "Why Baby Why?" and the Big Bopper recorded "Chantilly Lace." Willie Nelson, Bobby Bland and Arnett Cobb recorded sessions. In 1960s, the Sir Douglas Quintet tracked "She's About a Mover." The mid-1970s introduced Crazy Cajun producer Huey P. Meaux and his work with Freddy Fender and Clifton Chenier. Since the 1980s, SugarHill has hosted Tejano artist Little Joe, country great Johnny Bush, and urban powerhouse Beyoncé. ###

Huey Meaux, Leo O'Neil & Mickey Moody. Photo property of SugarHill archive