Sound Plus

[Dave Moore]

Question...

Can someone confirm that the Sound Plus label out of Nashville that reissued a lot of the Sound Stage Seven catalogue was owned by the same guy who owned Sound Plus Studios on Harbison Ave in Philadelphia?

Any help appreciated guys.

Regards,

Dave

[Guest Dave Turner]

Dave, no connection. Sound Stage 7 was owned by Fred Foster (Monument) with Nashville WLAC DJ John Richbourg (John R) producing much of the material.

Richbourg went on to set up his own Sound Plus and Seventy Seven labels.

Philly's Sound Plus Studios was bought by Joe Tarsia in 1969 who then renamed it Sigma Sound but before and after that it had no connection with Richbourg.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Dave Turner

[Dave Moore]

Dave, no connection. Sound Stage 7 was owned by Fred Foster (Monument) with Nashville WLAC DJ John Richbourg (John R) producing much of the material.

Richbourg went on to set up his own Sound Plus and Seventy Seven labels.

Philly's Sound Plus Studios was bought by Joe Tarsia in 1969 who then renamed it Sigma Sound but before and after that it had no connection with Richbourg.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply

Are you 100% sure though? Joe bought the place on 12th Street (the old Reco Arts studio), and renamed it Sigma, that's correct. Sound Plus at one stage though was based on Harbison Avenue, I believe that's where the majority of their output originated from, via Bendinelli and Lovett and before a short lived move to the Reco-Art location. Joe Tarsia bought Reco-Arts so I'm thinking that Sound Plus didn't even make a dent in the city's concienceness.

I know Richbourg had no connection with the Philly location but Richbourg's partner in Sound Plus (Nashville) was Tony Luisi, the exact same name as the owner of Sound Plus in Philly. The Sound Plus label was focused mainly on reissuing the Sound Stage Seven catalogue, so I'm wondering there's any provenance that maybe links Luisi who I believe sold out his business to a Texan couple with the reissue label?

So, Same name of owner, same name of label. Coincidence? It might well be but it's an odd if so eh? Exact same names.

Is there a CD of the Sound Stage Seven/Sound Plus releases?

Regards,

Dave

[Guest Dave Turner]

Dave,

As you say, it's odd if that's the case and one hell of a coincidence. I've never heard of or read of any connection between Richbourg and Luisi apart from it being mentioned in the Sound Plus discography of Soulsides. Is there any evidence of this ? ... or is someone putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5, I mean has someone made an error with Luisi being connected to the Richbourg Sound Plus just from the "Sound Plus" connection.

There is a 3CD box set "The Sound Stage 7 Story" which is all originally SS7 or 77 with just Willie Hobbs "Judge of Hearts" as an original Sound Plus release.

Edited June 5, 2012 by Dave Turner

[Dave Moore]

Dave,

As you say, it's odd if that's the case and one hell of a coincidence. I've never heard of or read of any connection between Richbourg and Luisi apart from it being mentioned in the Sound Plus discography of Soulsides. Is there any evidence of this ? ... or is someone putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5, I mean has someone made an error with Luisi being connected to the Richbourg Sound Plus just from the "Sound Plus" connection.

There is a 3CD box set "The Sound Stage 7 Story" which is all originally SS7 or 77 with just Willie Hobbs "Judge of Hearts" as an original Sound Plus release.

Hi Dave,

Exactly. I'm not convinced of any connection either, hence my request for info. I'm not very clued up on the Nashville stuff so I'm hoping someone can confirm/deny the facts. Thanks for the info on the SS7 material, I'll get onto getting one.

Meanwhile, if anyone has any info on Tony Luisi after his Sound Plus days, I'd be grateful for a shout.

Regards,

Dave