William Dwight Holford, Sr. (June 12, 1919, Bartlesville, Oklahoma – March 22, 1999, Houston, Texas) was an American recording engineer and record producer. For 44 of those years, from 1948 to 1992, he was the affiliated with ACA Studios (Audio Company of America) in Houston as an owner, partner, and audio engineer.Obituary: Holford, William Dwight "Bill"; 79, Houston Chronicle, March 24, 1999; reprinted in AAFA Action (genealogical journal), Alford American Family Association (Fall 1999), Vol 12, Issue 2, p. 45 House of Hits: The Story of Houston's Gold Star/SugarHill Recording Studios, Andy Bradley and Charles Roger Wood, University of Texas Press (2010) Recording Industry, by Gary S. Hickinbotham (born 1950), Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association Holford also helped build studios for several labels, including Duke/Peacock, Starday, Sarg Records, and Trumpet Records.
ACA Studios ACA was one of the earliest multi-track analog recording studios in the country.
ACA recording artists Johnny Ace Chet Atkins Bobby Bland Bill Blevins Juke Boy Bonner Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Jewel "Teasin'" Brown Goree Carter Harry Choates Arnett Cobb Johnny Copeland David Honeyboy Edwards Five Blind Boys of Mississippi Lefty Frizzell Clarence Garlow Mickey Gilley Rosco Gordon Peppermint Harris Smokey Hogg Lightnin' Hopkins Ivory Joe Hunter Elmore James B.B. King The Kingston Trio Willie Love Frankie Miller Willie Nelson Eddie Noack Junior Parker Webb Pierce Really Red Little Richard Buster Pickens Jimmy Swan B.J. Thomas Big Mama Thornton Mitchell Torok Ernest Tubb and His Texas Troubadours Big Joe Turner T-Bone Walker Tag Williams Sonny Boy Williamson (aka Alex Miller) Hop Wilson Johnny Winter Justin Wilson
Labels that recorded at ACA Starday RecordsThe Starday Story: The House that Country Music Built, by Nathan D. Gibson & Don Pierce, University Press of Mississippi (2011), pg. 44 Mercury Records Peacock Records D Records Macy's Recordings ACA Records Arcadia Arhoolie Ayo Bellaire Records Columbia Cullum Decca De Luxe Delta Records Duke Excelsior FBC Freedom Herald H.M. Crowe Humble Imperial Kessler Martin MGM Natural Opera Record Company Paula Records Phamous RCA Revel Royalty Sarg Records Special Edition Trumpet
Filmography Killing Fields (1984)
ACA audio engineers and staff Kay Holford (Kathleen Assaf Holford, Bill's wife) had significant managerial responsibilities for the entire life of ACA Studios. Hank Lam: 1968–1972; engineer George Holsomback; born 1947, engineer from 1973 – 1974, chief engineer 1974–1978. Andy Bradley (born Andrew M. Bradley; 1951), audio engineer Sonny Ray Stolz (born Rae Roy Stolz; 1946), audio engineer and editor, among other things, helped Holford move from ACA's temporary location at Savoy Drive in Houston into the acquired defunct studios of Jimmy Duncan's Soundville at 8208 Westpark, Houston. Soundville Studios was a division of Jimmy Duncan Productions, Inc. Stolz worked for ACA from the summer of 1972 until early 1973.Oral History snippet, ACA, Sonny Ray Stolz (né Rae Roy Stolz; born 1946), self-published, Houston, August 21, 2013 Bill Holford, jr.
References
External links Tribute to Bill Holford, Shroom Productions Online, Houston, Richard S. Patz (owner)