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Bob Seger sings into a microphone during a recording session at Pampa Studios in Warren.
Photo provided by Tom Weschler
WARREN — Pampa Lanes was once much more than a bowling alley. It used to feature Pampa Studios, a recording studio where Bob Seger laid down some of his early solo tracks.
Tom Weschler, a photographer and former Seger tour manager, said the studio was originally in Pampa’s basement.
“Every time a strike came, they had to re-record what they were doing,” Weschler said about the basement location.
In 1968, the studio was moved to a separate nearby building. This became known as Pampa Studios. Weschler said there were no bowling-related interruptions from this point on.
Jim Bruzzese was the chief engineer at Pampa and Gregg Miller was the studio’s manager. Bruzzese’s family owned the bowling alley, according to Weschler. The studio operated throughout the 1970s, closing sometime in the following decade.
Seger recorded his 1972 “Smokin’ O.P.’s” album at the studio. Weschler said that Seger only used two studios in Michigan between 1968 and 1972. The other was GM Studios in Eastpointe. Seger would also record out of state in Oklahoma and Alabama. Even as he got more famous, he still utilized Pampa, laying down tracks like “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” for his six-times-platinum-selling 1976 album “Night Moves.”
Wescheler remembers The Rockets and Aretha Franklin using the studio at the time.
“It was a well-known studio,” Weschler said. “Bruzzese used to tell us, ‘There’s only two people allowed to smoke in the studio: Aretha Franklin and Bob.’”
Other artists that had work done at Pampa, according to discogs.com, include Jimmy Ruffin, Nasty Black, Whiz Kids, Howard Lemon Singers, Olive Brown and Her Blues Chasers, and Gallery.
