Little Mountain Sound Studios was a music recording facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia. In its day, it was the most successful recording studio in Western Canada and was the home for many years to producers Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock. Little Mountain recorded albums by Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Metallica, Bryan Adams, Mötley Crüe, David Lee Roth, Loverboy and the Cult among many others.
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Little Mountain Sound Studios was started in 1972 as a 50/50 partnership between Western Broadcasting (CKNW radio) and Griffiths, Gibson Productions (GGP). Geoff Turner, an unnamed partner with GGP, designed, built and managed the studio. Turner was a long-time audio engineer and studio designer from England by way of New York. CKNW required large recording spaces to record radio jingles, sometimes with a full orchestra. Geoff designed a facility with two large recording studios, and several small recording and production spaces.
In 1974, Geoff left Little Mountain to found and operate Pinewood Studios, an audio post production facility named after the famous English recording stages. It is said that his departure was due to a personality conflict between him and the partners of GGP. Turner would also go on to design and build several other music recording studios including Crosstown Studios, Profile Studios, and London Bridge Studios.
After Turner's departure, Bob Brooks was hired to manage Little Mountain. Brooks was an independent producer working out of an office at CKWX after having left Homer Street Studios. In 1977, Western Broadcasting bought out GGP to become sole owner. In 1982, Western Broadcasting sold the studio to Bob Brooks. Brooks owned Little Mountain until the sale in 1992 to the Levens.
Bruce Fairbairn started recording at Little Mountain Sound Studios with Prism, a band in which he played trumpet. Bruce Fairbairn would go on to do the bulk of his work there as an independent producer. Bob Rock worked for Little Mountain and engineered for Bruce Fairbairn for several years before becoming a major music producer himself.
In addition to the high profile music clients, Little Mountain did a significant amount of other audio recording. Through the 1970s and 1980s the facility was an equal balance of music and audio post clients. Little Mountain was home to GGRP, a major Vancouver based jingle house. The studio also did film work.
In 1985, Vancouver's then municipal transportation company, BC Transit, recorded the distinctive three-tone chime and original voice announcement system for the then-newly built advanced light rapid transit system, SkyTrain.
The Levens brothers purchased Little Mountain during this time and continue to own the company to this day. The first day of management for the Levens saw the bailiff hauling out the leather couches, with a Jimmy Page guitar on board. Days later, SSL sent in their rep under the guise of doing console work; he tried unsuccessfully to remove the channel strips into his vehicle. The financial problems were ultimately resolved during the next couple of years.
The late 1980s and early 1990s were creative and sales high points for both Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock. In 1991 they were considered 2 of the 5 best music producers in the world. Bob Rock recorded the most successful albums of both Metallica (the Black Album) and Motley Crue (Dr. Feelgood) during this time. Bruce Fairbairn also recorded Aerosmith's top seller Get a Grip.
In 1993 the 20-year lease expired and the landlord was looking to double the rent. Little Mountain chose not to renew the lease and moved out the equipment and extensive gold record collection. The facility remained empty for several years. The Little Mountain facility has since been subdivided and is now the home of Vancouver Rockspace, The Factory Studios and Audio Post Production space.
The studio facility itself can be seen and figures prominently in the Aerosmith DVD "The Making of Pump" (1990).
Other notable international clients include AC/DC, Kingdom Come, Whitesnake, Cher, Poison, Scorpions, David Lee Roth, Skid Row, Krokus, Dan Reed Network, David Bowie, Bay City Rollers, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Little Caesar, Julio Iglesias, Jeff Healey, Warrant, Van Halen, Nazareth, Blue Murder, Electric Boys and Gorky Park.
Many Canadian artists also recorded highly successful albums including Sweeney Todd, Hometown Band, The Tragically Hip, Honeymoon Suite, Prism, Colin James and the Little Big Band, Payola$, The Cheer, The Grapes of Wrath, Images In Vogue, Quickflight, Chilliwack, Skinny Puppy, Kim Mitchell, Paul Janz, Valdy and The Lowest of the Low.
Little Mountain Sound Studios was the home to some of the top audio people in the world. Many of the top audio people in Western Canada got their start and built their career at the studio.
Randy Staub started working as Bob Rock's engineer, while at A&M studios in Hollywood, and is now one of the top music mixers in the world. Roger Monk, Mike Fraser, Ron Obvious, Ken Lomas, Pat Glover, Laura Bacon, Mike Plotnikoff, Jeff Long and Brian Dobbs were all audio engineers.
The three studio operators each achieved significant success during their tenure. Little Mountain founder Geoff Turner was one of the fore fathers of the recording industry in Vancouver. He moved from Little Mountain to Pinewood Studios which he owned and operated with his wife Jean for many years. Bob Brooks built upon the success of Geoff Turner. He took the music side of the business to the pinnacle of audio recording while at the helm. Bruce and Roger Levens continued the tradition of excellence. The Levens also founded and operated Vancouver Studios and Greenhouse Studios. The three studios they owned have now recorded over 1,200 music projects of which more than 100 have received gold, platinum or diamond recognition around the world. John Vrtacic was the Technical Director of Little Mountain for many years. He is credited with maintaining and improving upon the original Geoff Turner design. John Vrtacic was a top audio technician and had been involved in the design and technical operation of many of the top music studios in Western Canada along with Metallica's home studio and Bob Rock's home studio. He was also an equipment designer.