Jim Mooney

US recording engineer (March 30, 1934 - May 4, 2015). Born in Kansas City, MO but raised in Los Angeles from 1939 on. He married his high school sweetheart LaVerne in 1953. He and LaVerne purchased the home he grew up in located in San Gabriel, CA. He worked for Pacific Bell telephone company and soon moved with their three children to a new home in Burbank, CA. In his spare time, James played trumpet in various jazz venues throughout the Los Angeles area. He had also played trumpet in the Air Force band while he was enlisted. Over time, he developed an interest in recording and built a recording studio off the back of his garage and would record his friends for free as he learned the trade. The most notable figure to be recorded in the garage studio was Ravi Shankar. While working at Western Electric, he also took a job working at Sage & Sand Studios on Selma Avenue owned by Woodie O. Fleener. In late 1969, Fleener and a co-worker were stabbed in a robbery attempt. Fleener was paralyzed and confined to a wheel chair. As the lease was about to expire, Fleener told Jim to find another spot and outfit it for a studio including a wide enough hallway for Fleener's wheel chair access. Mooney found a place on Gordon Avenue in Hollywood and built the recording studio himself along with his son Don during the summer of 1970. After Fleener died, his wife asked Mooney if he wanted to purchase the studio or the publishing company or both. He decided on the recording studio and sold his house to get the money for the purchase which included the studio title and the masters. He renamed it Sage & Sound and spent the next 30 years recording many jazz artists, movie scores, television show theme songs, local high school & college groups and more. In 1998, he retired to Temecula, CA where he and his wife enjoyed playing golf and going to yard sales. Often credited with Sage & Sound studios in Hollywood, California. Also credited at Sage & Sand Studios in Hollywood while he worked there under Woodie Fleener.