R.I.P.: Mack Emerman Founder Of Criteria Recording Studios

Mack Emerman

Mack Emerman, a jazz lover whose hobby recording bands at nightclubs led him to found Criteria Recording Studios in Miami, where dozens of celebrated pop and rock records were made, died on May 17 in Miami Beach.

He was 89, according to a NY Times obit.

Some of the most well-known albums of the 1970s were recorded at Criteria, either entirely or in part, among them “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs” by Eric Clapton’s band Derek and the Dominos, “Eat a Peach” by the Allman Brothers, “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac and the soundtrack to “Saturday Night Fever,” featuring the Bee Gees.

Criteria was a quixotic enterprise when it opened in 1958; most recording studios were in New York and Los Angeles at the time. But as Criteria established a reputation for up-to-date technology and quality engineering, it became a recording option for musicians on tour and those on the East Coast who simply preferred warm weather.

By 1965 the studio had its first gold record, James Brown’s funky hit “I Got You (I Feel Good).”

Hired by other labels, Criteria was also used by the Count Basie Orchestra, Jimmy Buffett, Wilson Pickett, KC and the Sunshine Band, Abba, Aerosmith, Delaney and Bonnie, John Cougar Mellencamp, the Eagles, and Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

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