16/07/2024
Say Goodbye To Hollywood!
The Record Plant Where a 1001 Hit Records Were Recorded Is Shutting It's Doors!
Writer Stef Lach for www.loudersound.com has the story!
The revered Record Plant studio in Los Angeles is set to close after 55 years, reports stated.
An iconic Los Angeles recording studio used by everyone from Black Sabbath to Guns N' Roses is set to close its doors after 55 years of making rock and metal history.
The groundbreaking facility – one of the first to feature a "living room" environment for artists instead of lab-like conditions – has been a key part of rock history since in opened in 1969. But commentators suggested it had become a victim of technological changes in the music industry.
Record Plant Recording Studios in Hollywood has been in operation since 1972. The original New York Record Plant opened in 1968 and closed in 1987, while the Sausalito branch opened in 1972 and closed in 2008, then reopened under new management in the 2020s.
The LA location is where the Eagles recorded Hotel California and Guns N' Roses made Appetite For Destruction. Fleetwood Mac recorded Rumours at the Record Plant and others including Sabbath, Judas Priest, Kiss, Nine Inch Nails, Whitesnake, Queen and Deep Purple also worked at the studio.
It was the second of three such studios opened by Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren, who’d set out to offer musicians a more comfortable environment to work in – a concept that became almost universal in the industry. Since its revamp upon moving to 1032 N. Sycamore Ave in 1985, the complex also included extensive VIP luxuries.
“It was a hedonistic playland open 24 hours a day and catering to a star's every whim," LA Mag reported last week. "The facility provided a steambath environment for Bill Withers, pinball machines for the Eagles, and expert engineers at two a.m. for Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones...The studio provided hotel suites for artists, a hot tub for 'wives, girlfriends and groupies,' along with waterbeds, fishtanks, bo***ge gear and mirrored ceilings."
The magazine quotes studio engineer Gary Myerberg as saying: "There is no money in the recording music business. That’s basically like a flyer for your show. I don’t think there’s much hope for the recording industry in LA.
"If you want to go to the studio and spend $2000 a day, just take that and buy a laptop and a sample library or tell AI what song you want to make and it’ll make it."
Guitar technician Jesse McInturff adds: "The need for a big room is pretty minor at this point. There are less and less rock bands and you could record Taylor Swift in a vocal booth the size of a closet."
According to the Record Plant website, "more hits and Grammy award-winning music is made at Record Plant than at any other studio in the world".
