Ardent Studios

Ardent Studios is an American recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. The studio was opened in the late 1950s by John King, Fred Smith, and John Fry, a group of amateurs. Over time, it has become a commercially successful recording studio.

History
Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry, John King, and Fred Smith, in 1959. Initially, it was a studio in John Fry's family garage, where he recorded his first 45s for the Ardent Records label. Equipment in the studio included an Altec tube mixing console, Ampex 2-track tape recorder, a Pultec equalizer, and Neumann microphones.

In 1966, the studio moved to a commercial location shared with a bookshop. Tom Dowd was consulting with Auditronics on an early multitrack console for nearby Stax Records, and Fry ordered the same input modules for his second mixing board. When the studio upgraded to a Scully 4-track tape recorder, Ardent became the first 4-track studio in Memphis. It was also the first studio in the area to use EMT plate reverbs.

Looking towards the future, on October 25th, 1968, Fry Acquired the 2000 Madison parcel of land and broke ground on the future home of Ardent Studios, marking the beginning of a new chapter in its evolution.

On Thanksgiving weekend, 1971, Ardent Studios fully moved to its current location on Madison Avenue, consisting of two studios, A and B.

In 1980, Ardent Expanded once more, Adding studio C.

In 2022-24, Ardent underwent a large-scale renovation in all of its control rooms and common areas, keeping the live rooms original and intact.

Ardent currently has four studios and one mastering vinyl mastering suite.

Studio A: houses a 72 Channel Neve 88RS.

Studio B: SSL 9080 J series

Studio C:72 Channel Custom Wunder Console with 1073 type modules.

Studio D: Neve 8424

Mastering Neumann VMS70 lathe.

All rooms have Pro Tools HD and Studer A800 and 827 Multitracks.

The studio is managed by Jody Stephens, the drummer for Big Star, an early Ardent group whose first two albums appeared on the Ardent Records label in the early 1970s. All three Big Star albums were in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The song “In The Street” from their first album became the theme for “That 70s Show.” In the 2000s, younger artists such as The White Stripes, 3 Doors Down, Cat Power, North Mississippi Allstars, The Raconteurs, Low Cut Connie, and Guy Sebastian recorded at Ardent. The soundtracks for Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan were also produced at Ardent.

As of February 2024, there are four studios available, each corresponding to the first four letters of alphabet and differing in and musical gear, mixing and recording capacities.

Notable Mentions
Ardent Studio recorded Sam & Dave, Led Zeppelin, Isaac Hayes, Leon Russell, and the Staples Singers, and in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s recorded James Taylor along with ZZ Top, The Tragically Hip, George Thorogood, The Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Joe Walsh, and Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Ardent became home to young producers and engineers such as Jim Dickinson, Terry Manning, Joe Hardy, John Hampton, Paul Ebersold, and later Skidd Mills, Jeff Powell, Brad Blackwood, Pete Mathews, and Jason Latshaw.

The studio also helped record soundtracks for Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan.

Notable artists

 * .38 Special
 * 3 Doors Down
 * 8Ball & MJG
 * Aaron Tippin
 * Against Me!
 * Al Green
 * Alain Bashung
 * Albert Collins
 * Alex Chilton
 * ALL
 * Alvin Youngblood Hart
 * Anita Ward
 * Anthony Gomes
 * Archers of Loaf
 * Audio Adrenaline
 * Bar-Kays
 * B.B. King
 * Big Star
 * Big Tent Revival
 * Black Oak Arkansas
 * Black Rob
 * Bobby Rush
 * Bob Dylan
 * Booker T & the MG's
 * Cat Power
 * Cheap Trick
 * Coco Montoya
 * Cracker
 * Dave Matthews
 * DC Talk
 * DeGarmo and Key
 * Dreams So Real
 * Evanescence
 * Fuel
 * George Ducas
 * George Thorogood
 * Gin Blossoms
 * Golden Smog
 * Guy Sebastian
 * Isaac Hayes
 * James Taylor
 * Jimmie Vaughan
 * Joe Walsh
 * John Hiatt
 * Julien Baker
 * Juvenile
 * Led Zeppelin
 * Leon Russell
 * Little Texas
 * Lucero
 * Lynyrd Skynyrd
 * Mach Five
 * Maria Taylor
 * Marty Brown
 * Marty Stuart
 * M.I.A.
 * Mika Nakashima
 * Mikey Jukebox
 * Mojo Nixon
 * Montgomery Gentry
 * Mudhoney
 * North Mississippi Allstars
 * Prehab
 * Primal Scream
 * Prix
 * Puscifer
 * R.E.M.
 * Reverend Horton Heat
 * Robert Cray
 * Satellite Soul
 * Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies
 * Seven Mary Three
 * Shawn Camp
 * Sister Hazel
 * Skillet
 * Smalltown Poets
 * Soundgarden
 * Spacehog
 * Steve Earle
 * Stevie Ray Vaughan
 * Tanya Tucker
 * The Afghan Whigs
 * The Allman Brothers
 * The Angels
 * The Box Tops
 * The Cramps
 * The Fabulous Thunderbirds
 * The Georgia Satellites
 * The Hooters
 * The Posies
 * The Raconteurs
 * The Radiators
 * The Replacements
 * The Scruffs
 * The Smashing Pumpkins
 * The Tragically Hip
 * The White Stripes
 * Tim McCarver
 * Todd Agnew
 * Todd Snider
 * Tom Cochrane
 * Tommy Hoehn
 * Toots Hibbert
 * Travis Tritt
 * Triple 6 Mafia
 * Waylon Jennings
 * Yo Gotti
 * Zucchero
 * ZZ Top

Notable albums

 * Al Green – Soul Survivor
 * Alain Bashung – Osez Joséphine
 * Alex Chilton – Like Flies on Sherbert
 * Alvin Youngblood Hart – Motivational Speaker
 * B.B. King – Blues Summit
 * Big Star – Keep an Eye on the Sky, #1 Record, Radio City, Third/Sister Lovers
 * Booker T. & the M.G.'s – Soul Limbo
 * George Thorogood and the Destroyers – The Dirty Dozen, Bad to the Bone, Born to be Bad
 * Guy Sebastian – The Memphis Album
 * Huey Lewis and the News – Soulsville
 * James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon
 * Jim Dickinson – Free Beer Tomorrow, Dixie Fried
 * Joe Walsh – Got Any Gum?
 * Johnny Diesel and the Injectors – Johnny Diesel and the Injectors
 * Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin III (Mixing Only)
 * North Mississippi Allstars – Electric Blue Watermelon, 51 Phantom, Polaris, Shake Hands With Shorty
 * R.E.M. – Green
 * Stevie Ray Vaughan – Live at Carnegie Hall, The Sky is Crying
 * The Afghan Whigs – Gentlemen
 * The Allman Brothers – Shades of Two Worlds
 * The Angels – Beyond Salvation
 * The Box Tops – Cry Like a Baby
 * The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
 * The Replacements – Pleased to Meet Me
 * The Scruffs – Wanna Meet the Scruffs?
 * The Staple Singers – The Staple Swingers
 * The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan
 * ZZ Top – Antenna, Afterburner, Eliminator, El Loco, Degüello, The Best of ZZ Top, Tejas, Fandango!, Tres Hombres, Rio Grande Mud