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Record Plant Studios

Record Plant was a chain of three recording studios operating on the east and west coasts of the US. The inaugural branch was opened on West 44th Street, New York on 13 March 1968, by recording engineer Gary Kellgren and creative-enabler Chris Stone. Record Plant’s first client was Jimi Hendrix, who booked it to record Electric Ladyland. John Lennon tragically spent the last night of his life recording at their New York studio in 1980. Record Plant’s new way of working reshaped the recording industry. To attract artists on the Californian coast, Record Plant established its second location, in Los Angeles on 4 December 1969. This was followed by a third studio, opened in the Bay Area in Sausalito on 28 October 1972. Occupying a wooden building at 2200 Bridgeway, the Sausalito facility lay a mere ten minutes’ drive outside San Francisco. Record Plant made its name for offering clientele relaxed and comfortable atmospheres, and their living room style approach provided far less formal working environments than other studios. Offering billiard tables and even a jacuzzi, the chain soon became the go-to studios for big-name artists, welcoming the likes of Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen.

If you wanted your own way of doing things, you shouldn’t be working for Prince

Originally intending to record the debut album at Sound 80, its technical limitations required an alternative studio and Record Plant Sausalito was settled on for its quiet location and far enough away from LA to not be a distraction to young Prince. Record Plant Sausalito comprised of two studios, A and B. Its opening party was a legendary affair, with A-list guests headed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono dressed as trees. Bob Marley recorded there in 1973 and in 1976 was the location where Fleetwood Mac laid down Rumours and become the Sausalito studio’s most iconic album. Sly Stone likewise recorded here, and was one of the factors why Owen Husney booked the studio for Prince to lay down For You. It was here Prince met Sly when it was his turn at the studio in 1977, as well as Carlos Santana.

Prince had recorded demos of most of his tracks at Sound 80 in Minneapolis in 1976, and reworked no fewer than twenty entirely in lengthy sessions at Sausalito between 1 October to 22 December 1977, having been flown to San Francisco to lay down his debut album For You. Chaperoned by Owen Husney, the man who got Prince signed to Warner Bros Records in June 1977, and chosen to record at Sausalito, Husney, his wife and Prince lived at a home rented out by Warner in the hills of Corte Madera, one hour north from the studio.

Signed to Warner Bros on 25 June 1977 at the age of just 18, Prince threw himself into work at the studio, recording six days a week in long sessions that routinely began at 1pm and continued well into the next morning. As Warner had assigned an engineer, Tommy Vicari, to executive produce the album, they worked together, with Prince extracting and absorbing has much knowledge of the recording process he could from Vicari’s experienced mind. Prince played a staggering 27 instruments on the album and sang every note, even layered 46 vocal tracks into the intro of the opening song. Prince was intent to use all 24-tracks the console could handle. The ten tracks they recorded were pared down to nine for the album, which once finished, Prince admitted the three-month stint at Sausalito left him exhausted. Indeed, his final bill for the sessions ran vastly over budget to the cost of $170,500 – smashing not only the $60,000 budget for the production of the record but nearly also the entire $180,000 allocation Warner set aside to produce all three albums in their 1977 deal.

Although he did not return again to the Sausalito studio, Prince hired Record Plant’s LA facility briefly during 1991 to record Race for Come and do the mixing for Carmen Electra. Kirsty Ally recorded her segues for Love Symbol Album here in 1992, and in 1993 Record Plant Los Angeles featured in skits in two segues on the NPG’s first solo project GoldNigga.

The company additionally rented out mobile studios under Record Plant Remote, known as black trucks. Prince twice rented studio trucks from the New York office, firstly to track the live First Avenue benefit show recordings of 3 August 1983 which ended up in the configuration of the Purple Rain album, with engineer David Rivkin operating the console. And on 24 December 1984, while on Purple Rain tour the truck was parked outside the Saint Paul Civic Center Arena for Prince to mix the finishing touches for the Around The World In A Day album.

The New York studio closed in 1987 and Sausalito followed in 2008. The LA facility was sold in 2016 but remains in operation to this day under new ownership.

Albums recorded at various Record Plant studios