I remember working with Greg Freeman [Tape Op #1] on a record, and he mentioned recording in a studio in L.A. that featured a console with a built-in cocaine mirror and rooms down the hall for shagging groupies or such. When your band’s making a record for $15 an hour, this not only sounds disgusting, but it’s also plain inconceivable. This book, subtitled “Inside the Record Plant Studios,” covers the history of Record Plant – beginning with NYC, then L.A., and later Sausalito, CA, plus several mobile trucks. The Plants were prime examples of an age that thrived on ridiculous major label budgets that allowed studios to bill for drugs and charge when the clients weren’t there while presenting extravagant (or kinda gross) surroundings.
Founded primarily by Gary Kellgren (an amazingly talented engineer) and Chris Stone (who’d worked at Revlon and handled the business end), the Record Plant hosted important clients in their heyday, such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Frank Zappa, Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Sly Stone, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and so many others. The book offers up a fairly linear history of the studios, but for you Tape Op nerds, it rarely delves much into explaining how Gary got such great sounds or what was in the mic locker. Much of the book calls faders “sliders,” so you know something’s missing. Instead, it covers a lot of the business shenanigans and focuses heavily on drugs, partying, and crazy stories. It’s a pretty salacious read, and I found myself horrified at times yet laughing my ass off at others. Knowing that Gary brought a pet raccoon to coke-fueled parties is baffling, but finding out that he passed away at 38 is tragic.
My final thought? Maybe this book was written to be optioned for some crazy biopic film. There will never be another era like the one in which the Record Plant hosted most of its sessions, and maybe that’s okay for music and for people’s sanity.