CBS Studio Building | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | Office |
Location | 49 East 52nd Street, Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States 10022 |
Coordinates | 40°45′33″N73°58′27″W / 40.759164°N 73.974123°W |
Completed | 1908 |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 7 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Warren & Wetmore |
The CBS Studio Building is a seven-story office building at 49 East 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It has had various uses at different times, including serving as a Vanderbilt family guest house, the first graduate school of the Juilliard School, CBS Radio studios, and Columbia Records studio.
It is currently owned by the Fisher Brothers, who converted it to an office building in conjunction with construction of the 45-story Park Avenue Plaza to its east.
It was built in 1908 as a guest house for the Vanderbilts who had a home a block away at Fifth Avenue and 52nd. It was designed by Warren and Wetmore. [1]
In 1924 the Vanderbilts sold it to the Juilliard Musical Foundation where it became Juilliard's first graduate school. [2]
In 1939, CBS, which had its corporate headquarters around the corner at 485 Madison Avenue, bought the building at 49 East 52nd Street, to move its radio operations, except for the main network newsroom.
Architects Fellheimer & Wagner extensively renovated the building—including eliminating the earlier Vanderbilt ornate external features and eliminating windows for soundproofing—and carved up the building into seven studios, including one which could accommodate audiences of 300 as well as symphony orchestras that could broadcast. Arthur Godfrey broadcast from Studio 21 in the building and had his main office there. [1]
With the advent of television, large radio studios that could accommodate audiences were no longer needed. Radio operations moved to the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th Street. [3] By 1966 the facility had become recording studios for Columbia Records. [4] Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Leonard Cohen, Laura Nyro, [5] Bob Dylan (in spring 1970 for part of his New Morning album), [6] Paul Simon, Paul McCartney and Mahavishnu Orchestra (Birds Of Fire) recorded music there. [1]
The facility contained Columbia's "Studio B" on the second floor and "Studio E" on the sixth floor. [7] From 1974 until 1982, CBS Radio Mystery Theatre was recorded in Studio 27, renamed Studio G in honor of Arthur Godfrey.
In 1979 the Fisher Brothers acquired the land under the building in conjunction with construction of the Park Avenue Plaza building to its east. However, CBS retained ownership of the building itself. In 1988 the building was leased to Sony, which had purchased CBS Records, [8] and a Duane Reade store opened on the ground level and second floor. For several years CBS used studio space as offices. [1] CBS eventually sold the building to Fisher Brothers in 1993, [9] and in 1996 Fisher Brothers undid the 1930s Art Moderne style, replacing the windows and replicating the original Vanderbilt appearance. [8]
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the first performer awarded an EGOT.
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52nd Street is a 1.9-mile-long (3.1 km) one-way street traveling west to east across Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. A short section of it was known as the city's center of jazz performance from the 1930s to the 1950s.
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Jimmy Maelen was an American percussionist from the 1960s to 1980s, who worked with many artists including Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, Dire Straits, Barry Manilow, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Madonna, Bryan Adams, Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and John Lennon. He also played on hit records by Bob James, Duran Duran, Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Yoko Ono, Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, BJ Thomas, and many others.
The Barbra Streisand Album is the debut album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released February 25, 1963, on Columbia Records, catalogue CL 2007 in mono and CS 8807 in stereo. It peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Top LPs, and has been certified a gold album by the RIAA. By 1966, the album had sold over one million copies worldwide.
My Name Is Barbra is the first of two studio album tie-ins by Barbra Streisand for her debut television special of the same name, which aired April 28, 1965, on CBS-TV. Boosted by the critical acclaim for the broadcast, the album was certified gold and peaked at #2 on the US charts; by 1966, the album sold over one million copies worldwide.
The CBS Building, also known as Black Rock and 51W52, is a 38-story, 491-foot-tall (150 m) tower at 51 West 52nd Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is the headquarters of the CBS broadcasting network. The building was constructed from 1961 to 1964 and was the only skyscraper designed by Eero Saarinen, who referred to the building as the "simplest skyscraper statement in New York". The interior spaces and furnishings were designed by Saarinen, then Florence Knoll Bassett after the former's death. The building was also the headquarters of CBS Records before the early 1990s.
Aladdin is a 1958 musical fantasy television film, with a book by S.J. Perelman and music and lyrics by Cole Porter, telecast in color on the DuPont Show of the Month by CBS. It was Porter's last musical score. Columbia Records issued both monophonic and stereophonic recordings of the original TV cast: Cyril Ritchard, Dennis King, Basil Rathbone, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Geoffrey Holder, Sal Mineo, and Una Merkel.
Simply Streisand (1967) is the ninth studio album released by American singer Barbra Streisand. The album was released simultaneously with A Christmas Album and was Streisand's first that failed to chart in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 when it peaked at #12. Simply Streisand was recorded March 14, 15 and 20th, 1967. The album sold 250,000 in its first week in the market. It was certified Gold by RIAA on April 24, 2002.
Stoney End is the twelfth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand. Released in 1971 and produced by Richard Perry, it was a conscious change in direction for Streisand, having a more upbeat, contemporary pop/rock sound. It included cover versions of several songs by contemporary singer-songwriters, including Laura Nyro, Randy Newman and Joni Mitchell.
My Name Is Barbra is a 1965 black-and-white television special, the first for singer and actress Barbra Streisand. Broadcast in conjunction with the release of Streisand's studio album of the same name, the special aired April 28, 1965 on CBS.
The Cartier Building, also 653 Fifth Avenue, is a commercial building on the southeast corner of 52nd Street and Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building serves as the flagship store of Cartier in New York City. It consists of two conjoined residences completed in 1905: the Morton F. Plant residence at 651–653 Fifth Avenue, designed by Robert W. Gibson, and the Edward Holbrook residence at 4 East 52nd Street, designed by C. P. H. Gilbert.
Fisher Brothers is a real estate firm in New York City. It was formed by Martin Fisher in 1915, and later joined by his brothers Larry and Zachary. The Fisher family has substantial real estate holdings in New York City and elsewhere and are considered one of the "royal families" of New York real estate, alongside the Dursts, Roses, Rudins, and Tishmans.
A & R Recording Inc. was a major American independent studio recording company founded in 1958 by Jack Arnold and Phil Ramone.
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647 Fifth Avenue, originally known as the George W. Vanderbilt Residence, is a commercial building in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is along the east side of Fifth Avenue between 51st Street and 52nd Street. The building was designed by Hunt & Hunt as one of the "Marble Twins", a pair of houses at 645 and 647 Fifth Avenue. The houses were constructed between 1902 and 1905 as Vanderbilt family residences. Number 645 was occupied by William B. Osgood Field, while number 647 was owned by George W. Vanderbilt and rented to Robert Wilson Goelet; both were part of the Vanderbilt family by marriage.
BARBRA STREISAND and CBS/Columbia Group president Goddard Lieberson bid farewell to Columbia's Recording Studios at 799 Seventh Avenue, New York. Miss Streisand's recording session on Oct. 14 marked the studio's last use. In the future, Columbia artists will use the new facilities located at 49 East 52d Street.
Fisher Brothers acquired the land under the Vanderbilt building, but not the building itself, in 1979 as part of the site assemblage for the Park Avenue Plaza office tower, using its air rights to build the 44-story tower that flanks the smaller building on two sides.
The nine-floor, 58,000-square-foot building, at 49 East 52d Street, was bought for an undisclosed sum by Park Avenue Plaza Company, an affiliate of Fisher Brothers, a Manhattan real estate company.