Interview with Bert Frilot Part 2

Accession No.: 
BE2-068

Bert Frilot:

00:06 - Continued story about Nashville - Playboy Records

00:40 - Started building Gilley's Studio in 1976; Gilley was in business Sherwood Cryer
-Studio was next door to the club; Used to be Shelly's Club before Gilley's

02:25 - Sherwood kept building out the club; Rodeo arena that double as a concert hall
-He was able to record in the studio as well as live performances in the club and the arena
-Started the Live from Gilley's radio show; Aired on about 450 stations

04:45 - Artists who played there: Merle Haggard, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton
-Tammy Wynette, Alabama, Fats Domino, Bobby Bland, Ernest Tubb
-Johnny Lee, Roy Orbison, Paul Revere and the Raiders

07:45 - Artists who recorded at the studio (other than Mickey): Archie Bell, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis
09:20 - Started in 1976 and stayed till it closed in 1987

09:40 - Urban Cowboy craze; Bert recorded some of the soundtrack
-It won a Grammy, but Bert wasn't credited

11:00 - Charles Mann at Jones Studio--"Red Red Wine"

11:45 - 1987 the studio closed
-Mickey started going to Vegas and wanted to tear the club down and rebuild it
-Sherwood wanted to keep it the same because it was doing well
-Mickey sued Sherwood for the name and he won

14:00 - End of the radio show and club; Bert had a mobile home next to the studio
-Tried to buy a house a few times, but stayed in the mobile home

15:45 - He started mixing for Eddie Shuler at Cosimo's, then he followed him to Houston
-He'd bring the tapes and stay in town until Bert mixed them all
-Started mixing for him in 1961; Eddie bought everything Bert needed to mix at Goldband

18:30 - Building a studio for a Latin group in Temple, Texas; Little Joe
21:20 - Freelanced between 1987-1989;
-Worked for a company that did sound and lighting designs for night clubs for almost 3 years

23:00 - Piloting; He had a hot air balloon license for Gilley's hot air balloon
-He flew Gilley around for weekend gigs, but after Urban Cowboy they had to hire a full-time pilot
-They had an airplane, two buses, and an 18-wheeler

27:15 - He and Gilley had a falling out after 21 years

28:05 - Lighting company; Started his own service company
-Joe called him to build the studio, so he moved to Temple
-Building a new studio and redoing the old studio

31:00 - Eddie Shuler; He went through Eddie's tapes to digitize and preserve them
-12,000 songs in the catalog; Master tapes; Working for Eddie

34:20 - He remembers the band from Gilley's: Paul Revere and the Raiders

Media Type: 
Audio
Collection: 
Benicewicz, Larry
Subject: 
Music; Engineer; Audio; New Orleans; Blues; R&B; Country
Creator: 
Larry Benicewicz
Informants: 
Bert Frilot
Publisher: 
Larry Benicewicz
Rights Usage: 
All rights reserved
Language: 
English
Meta Information
Duration: 
00:36:29
Cataloged Date: 
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Digitized Date: 
Monday, October 15, 2007
Original Format: 
Audio--Cassette--90
Digital Format: 
Audio
Bit Depth: 
24 bit
Sampling Rate: 
96 kHz
Storage Location: 
Center for Louisiana Studies