
Buzz Me In
Inside the Record Plant studios
Thames & Hudson Ltd (Publisher)
Published on 17. June 2025
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-0-500-02869-8 (ISBN)
Description
The inside story of Record Plant studios - the real 'Hotel California' - that reveals how the greatest music of the seventies was recorded and why the artists checked out but rarely left.
In the 1970s, Record Plant Studios was ground zero for the largest boom in record production in music history. With complexes in New York, Los Angeles and Sausalito, and a fleet of remote recording trucks, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, the studio produced three number-one albums: Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, the Eagles' Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
Written by two veteran music journalists, this engrossing book tells the incredible story of the evolution of Record Plant Studios tape by tape. Starting on the westside of New York in 1968 with the recording of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Record Plant expanded to LA, where Stevie Wonder produced his greatest hits, and then to Sausalito where Sly Stone, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac encamped; John Lennon made New York his post-Beatles home, and the Eagles conceived Hotel California while working in LA. Each location showcased the founders' proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms and group jacuzzis, with sex, drugs and celebrity jams.
Largely based on the memoirs and archives of studio co-founder Chris Stone, and supplemented by interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, this is the untold story, in all its brazen glory, of the recording of classic rock'n'roll as told by the insiders who gladly toiled behind the locked doors of the most prolific recording factory of all time.
In the 1970s, Record Plant Studios was ground zero for the largest boom in record production in music history. With complexes in New York, Los Angeles and Sausalito, and a fleet of remote recording trucks, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, the studio produced three number-one albums: Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, the Eagles' Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
Written by two veteran music journalists, this engrossing book tells the incredible story of the evolution of Record Plant Studios tape by tape. Starting on the westside of New York in 1968 with the recording of Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland, Record Plant expanded to LA, where Stevie Wonder produced his greatest hits, and then to Sausalito where Sly Stone, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac encamped; John Lennon made New York his post-Beatles home, and the Eagles conceived Hotel California while working in LA. Each location showcased the founders' proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms and group jacuzzis, with sex, drugs and celebrity jams.
Largely based on the memoirs and archives of studio co-founder Chris Stone, and supplemented by interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, this is the untold story, in all its brazen glory, of the recording of classic rock'n'roll as told by the insiders who gladly toiled behind the locked doors of the most prolific recording factory of all time.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
77 Illustrations, black and white; 189 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 239 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 40 mm
Weight
1182 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-500-02869-8 (9780500028698)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Martin Porter is an author, journalist and publisher who began his career as a technology writer/reporter in the mid-1970s for Rolling Stone, GQ and Premiere magazines. As editor and publisher of Pro Sound News, EQ, Guitar Player and Surround magazines, he has been one of the leading chroniclers of this golden period in music and audio technology. David Goggin, aka Mr Bonzai, is an award-winning author, photographer and music journalist. Together the authors manage the popular Record Plant Diaries Facebook page.
Content
Introduction
1. Living Room Studio (1967-1970)
2. Master Control (1970-1972)
3. Second Home (1972-1974)
4. VIP Clubhouse (1974-1975)
5. Hotel California (1975-1977)
6. Sanctuary of Sound (1977-1980)
1. Living Room Studio (1967-1970)
2. Master Control (1970-1972)
3. Second Home (1972-1974)
4. VIP Clubhouse (1974-1975)
5. Hotel California (1975-1977)
6. Sanctuary of Sound (1977-1980)