⛳ Image Caption: Hitmen on the Green — Donald “Duck” Dunn, Jim Rissmiller, Steve Cropper, and Lenny Berman at the 1977 Doobie Brothers 1st Annual Golf Classic. Hosted at the Calabasas Park Country Club & Century Plaza Hotel in L.A., the celebrity tournament was organized to benefit the United Way and sponsored by the Southern California concert promoting duo, Steve Wolf & Jim Rissmiller. At the time of the tournament, soul/R&B group Booker T. & the M.G.'s were in town tracking their album Universal Language at Clover Studios. Taking a break from intense tracking sessions, they hit the fairways together for a great cause.

🎶 Image Caption: Clover Talent Magnet — Clover Recorders owner Lee Houskeeper during a candid moment, steering business development and big-name artist relations at Clover.

🎧  Image Caption: Clover's Sonic Architect — Chief recording engineer Toby Scott at Clover Studios, standing next to a promotional poster for a Manhattan Transfer live broadcast mixed directly from the Clover console, circa 1977. Scott launched his illustrious recording career at Clover, engineering alongside esteemed producers like Steve Cropper, Tom Dowd, Ron Nevison, and Chuck Plotkin for Bette Midler, Robert Palmer, Bob Dylan, The Manhattan Transfer, and other luminaries. Plotkin tapped Scott to mix Bruce Springsteen’s The River, initiating a 35-year working relationship with Springsteen. Following the monumental success of Born in the U.S.A. and the Live 1975–85 box set, Springsteen pivoted his sonic direction for Tunnel of Love, relying on Scott to engineer the record’s distinct electronic and acoustic textures.

🌀Image Caption: Clover Studio Synergies — Clover’s chief recording engineer Toby Scott, with studio coordinator and production assistant Carol Weinstein. Vital to the studio's success, their professional, creative and technical synergies helped keep the facility running smoothly during an era of marathon recording sessions. Following Carol's foundational years facilitating studio operations and building vast networks at independent recording facilities, Carol enjoyed a highly successful career in Hollywood management and industry circles.

📋 Image Caption: Logistics —  A powerhouse of personality and administrative force, Dorothy Tiano Melvin served as the business director and controller at Clover Studios during the 1970s, working in tandem with Clover leadership including Chuck Plotkin, Lee Houskeeper, Lenny Berman, Carol Weinstein, and other staff. Her formidable logistical talents later took her to executive stints at Capitol Records, Motown Records, and Casablanca Records, culminating in 1979 when she became the personal assistant and subsequent manager for comic Joan Rivers. 

🎹 Image Caption: Tracking a Masterpiece — Stax Records band leader Booker T. Jones mans the organ alongside Clover producer Chuck Plotkin inside Clover Studios for Booker T. & the M.G.'s reunion (Universal Language , 1977).

🎸 Image Caption: Making Rock History at Clover — Famed Stax Records guitarist/songwriter/producer Steve Cropper and his lifetime musical partner, bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn, recording Booker T. & the M.G.'s reunion album, Universal Language (1977) at Clover Recorders (Clover Studios) in Hollywood. The album was self-produced by Booker T. & the M.G.'s alongside esteemed producer Tom Dowd.

🎼Image Caption: Reunion at Clover — Stax Records bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn recording the Booker T. & the M.G.'s reunion album, Universal Language (1977) at Clover.

🥁 Image Caption: Holding Down the Throne — Stax Records legend Willie Hall taking a break between drumming sessions at Clover during the recording of Universal Language (1977) — the final album from Booker T. & the M.G.'s original era. Hall’s presence in the lineup came under tragic circumstances. The band’s original drummer, Al Jackson Jr., was murdered in 1975. When surviving members Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, and Donald "Duck" Dunn ultimately decided to reunite, they tapped Hall to fill the monumental void on the percussion throne. Outside of his work with the M.G.'s, Hall is famed for his drumming with Isaac Hayes (including the "Theme from Shaft") and his later role as a member of The Blues Brothers band.

🎸 Image Caption: Rock History at Clover — Back cover of Booker T. & the M.G.'s reunion album, "Universal Language" 1977, recorded at Clover  • Steve Cropper (Guitarist, left) • Booker T. Jones (Keyboards/Organ, center-left) • Willie Hall (Drums, center-right background) • Donald "Duck" Dunn (Bassist, right). Bottom of cover: the album is "Dedicated to Al Jackson" in memory of the band's original drummer Al Jackson Jr. Willie Hall (formerly of the Bar-Kays and Isaac Hayes' band) was brought in to fill his place for these sessions.

🎤 Image Caption: As Good as Gold  —  Singer-songwriter and virtuosic multi-instrumentalist Andrew Gold during the mid-1970s at Clover Recorders, where he practically lived while orchestrating his take on the era's definitive West Coast sound. Brought to the studio by producer Chuck Plotkin, he recorded his self-titled 1975 debut solo album at Clover. Gold spent months in a creative frenzy tracking an enormous catalog of early solo demos that ultimately won him his contract with Asylum Records. While his signature solo radio hits like "Lonely Boy" were later finalized over at The Sound Factory, his tireless multi-instrumental work and arrangements at Clover laid the groundwork for his multi-platinum run alongside Linda Ronstadt and the 1970s Southern California rock elite. Clover is credited on the back cover of Heart Like a Wheel (1974). The tracking sessions for that massive album—including Ronstadt’s #1 hit "You're No Good"— were split between The Sound Factory and Clover.

Industry directories such as Billboard’s International Recording Equipment & Studio Directory reveal Lenny Berman’s footprint across several landmark albums in the '70s. His work seamlessly bridged studio management with logistical support. As Clover’s manager, Lenny coordinated the tracking, mixing schedules, and complex studio needs for a powerhouse roster of talent. A few noteworthy projects in Lenny's portfolio included: 

• Carly Simon — Another Passenger (1976): Produced by Clover co-founder Chuck Plotkin, this album brought an incredible lineup of guest stars through the studio doors. Members of The Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, and Jackson Browne all recorded their guest parts at Clover for this specific project.

• Robert Palmer — Some People Can Do What They Like (1976): This critical album relied heavily on the studio's impeccable acoustics and isolation booths to blend Palmer's soulful British rock aesthetic with a polished L.A. sound, laying the groundwork for his landmark late-'70s chart success. 

• John Prine and Warren Zevon Sessions: While their specific 1976 and 1978 breakthrough LPs were anchored in other key rooms, both songwriters often relied on Clover Recorders as a primary L.A. tracking destination for overdubbing, mixing, and specialized sessions managed directly by Lenny.

☮ Image Caption: Easter Eggs for Rock Stars — Jerry Gold, Ron Wood, and Lenny Berman sharing a moment at José Feliciano's Los Angeles residence on Easter Sunday, 1975. Gold — a well-known diamond and gold merchant — was close within Lenny Berman’s circle during their vibrant years together in L.A. Their bond stood the test of distance; when Lenny later landed in the Nashville area, Jerry — along with several of their mutual L.A. friends — trekked cross country to be with Lenny and Victoria during their multi-day wedding celebration.

🎶 Image Caption: Folk-Rock Titans — Happy gathering of folk-rock titans, studio masters and friends captured inside the wood-paneled walls of Clover Studios in Hollywood during the late 1970s.  Pictured Left to Right: 

• Man 1 & Man 2: Unidentified studio guests or musicians  

• John Prine: Beloved country-folk storyteller singer/songwriter 

• Man 3: Unidentified session musician or friend

• Lenny Berman: Clover studio manager, producer and publisher

• Steve Goodman: Chicago-born, Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter and close friend of Prine

• Man far right foreground: Unidentified studio professional

🔊  Image Caption: Acoustic Icons — Steve Cropper shares laughs with folksingers John Prine and Phil Ochs at José Feliciano's L.A. home on Easter Sunday, 1975. This photo by Lenny Berman was published in a Phil Ochs memoir.

While living with Lenny in L.A., Victoria gradually discovered this fast-lane life in Hollywood was no place for her children. Among many memories, she vividly recalls: 

• All night recording sessions that often lasted through the wee morning hours and defined their "ships passing the night" relationship at that time. After her workday at a Beverly Hills law firm, Victoria bussed home to Lenny's Hollywood Hills bungalow just as he was heading to the studio — often returning in the early morning hours as she was leaving for work. Fired up from production euphoria with prolific artists, Lenny would chatter excitedly about the night's events — the personalities involved, tracks they'd recorded, the power of the music, and indelible memories they made during those sessions.

• Playing pinball with singer Andrew Gold and producer Peter Asher between sets at Clover, and later dozing off on a sofa in the control room while admiring the designs of soundproofing quilts handmade by Annie Lockhart — daughter of Lassie matriarch June Lockhart. 

• Being backstage with Lenny during a Frampton Comes Alive! performance at The Forum in Inglewood, and blushing at the sight of Peter in those tight, shiny pink satin pants that the music machine made him wear for record sales and live concert mania. 

• At a Hollywood dinner with Lenny, producer/engineer Chris Kimsey and wife Kristi, Victoria recalls their raised eyebrows when she showed them a gold coke spoon pendant necklace shaped like a musical note that Lenny bought for her 24th birthday, along with Ram Dass' Be Here Now  — which launched Victoria's spiritual journey. 

• After leaving the Hollywood Hills for Nashville’s country, Victoria reunited with Lenny in Memphis when he flew from L.A. to provide record publishing support as John Prine recorded Pink Cadillac in 1979. (Victoria obliged when Lenny asked her to bring along her portable record player and albums, so they could listen to music at the hotel.) For days, they hung with producers Knox Phillips and Jerry Phillips, along with Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who came out of retirement to produce two of the tracks ("How Lucky" and "Saigon"). 

• As Lenny resettled in the Nashville suburbs to marry Victoria and adopt her children, John Prine likewise relocated to Nashville, where he invited the family to private dinners and local performances. During one meal, when an embarrassed seven-year-old Alecia spilled her Shirley Temple on John's jeans, John made her laugh by smearing a tab of butter on his nose. Five-year old Keith did the same, prompting other "adults at the table" to dot their own noses with butter. And then there was the intimate John Prine performance at Nashville's Exit Inn, where Victoria tripped while twirling during a drunken dance with her sister. And for Lenny’s memorial service in Maryland, John sent an elaborate, five-foot tall flower arrangement that touched our hearts.

Billboard International Recording Equipment & Studio Directory (1977–1978)
Official industry directory verifying Clover Recorders' status as an esteemed Los Angeles sound facility during Lenny Berman’s tenure as studio manager.

Discogs Studio Profile — Clover Recorders
Historical discography registry of Clover releases and other information.

Facebook Music Community Archive — Rewind Playback Thread
Industry retrospective preserving professional accounts of Clover’s custom engineering layout and classic session eras.

Sessiondays Album Logs — Jerry Lynn Williams: Gone (1979)
Archival session database confirming Lenny Berman's credit as Production Manager for the 1979 Gone tracking sessions held at Clover.

Visit the memorial website for Leonard (“Lenny”) Robert Berman via tinyurl.com/AlmostFamousLennyBerman