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Alabama Music Hall of Fame Achiever
C. ED BOUTWELL
Instruments: Engineer, Studio Owner
Date of Birth: 1937
Place of Birth: Birmingham, Alabama
1991
Music Industry
Award
Parlaying a life-long interest in electronics into an engineering position with WAPI radio during the mid-50s, C. Ed Boutwell went on to establish the first recording studio in Birmingham.
During the 50s, there were no facilities to record commercials in the city, and the radio station was required to record the jingles before they could be aired. Boutwell soon became the most proficient at the task, and in 1960 formed the first independent studio in the area.
In 1961 he resigned his position with the radio station to pursue his interest in recording.
In addition to recording most of the commercial jingles recorded in the city during the 60s, Boutwell worked with aspiring musicians wanting to make a "hit record". Among those were the Allman Joys, who later recorded as the Allman Brothers, the Candymen, who became the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Paul Hornsby and Barry Beckett.
In 1975, he won three Clios for his Southern Airline jingle and was included in the Clio Hall of Fame. He has written over 850 jingles during his career, and his invention of the "Rolling Punch", an electronic editing process, has made modern multi-track overdubbing less difficult.