Cosimo Matassa Biography

Fast Facts

• J&M Studio was named a historic American rock and roll landmark by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010
• Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 and given the Award for Musical Excellence
• Studied chemistry at Tulane University, but dropped out to pursue a music career
• Started out as a jukebox salesman at J&M Services, which he later bought and turned into J&M Studio in 1945
• Quote: "It's a party sound․ New Orleans was a partying town because it wasn't a very wealthy town․ The ethnic makeup of New Orleans was such that music was part of everybody's lives․"
• Quote: "I always tried to capture the dynamics of a live performance․․․We didn't have any gimmicks - no overdubbing, no reverb․․․Those guys played with a lot of excitement; and I felt if I couldn't put it in the groove, people weren't going to move․"
• Best known as a recording engineer and owner of the J&M Recording Studio and the Cosimo Recording Studio
• Recorded more than 250 national hit singles in his studio, including Fats Domino's "The Fat Man" and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti․"
• Started his own label called Dover Records in the 1960s and continued working in the music business until the 1980s, when he went back to work at his family's grocery store
• The original J&M Studio was located in a small room at the back of his J&M Appliance Store and Record Shop