Buzz Me In : Inside the Record Plant studios

David Goggin

ISBN 10: 0500028699 / ISBN 13: 9780500028698

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd Jun 2025, 2025

About this Item

Neuware - 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. Strap yourself in and take a helter-skelter ride through more than a decade's worth of high drama, hedonism, high tech and musical genius as told by the insiders at the heart of Record Plant studios, one of the most prolific recording factories of all time, founded in 1968 by charismatic audio engineer Gary Kellgren and ace businessman Chris Stone. In the 1970s, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, the studios produced three No. 1 albums: Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life, The Eagles' Hotel California and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Based on the memoirs and archives of Chris Stone, as well as interviews with over 100 studio employees, music producers and recording artists, Buzz Me In tells the incredible story of Record Plant's evolution and the making of more than a decade's worth of Gold and Platinum albums, tape by tape. Illustrated throughout with behind-the-scenes images, archive photos of artists recording and performing live and album cover art, this revelatory and extensively researched book explores and celebrates the way the studios were designed to cater to every rock'n'roller's fancy. From the living-room-style studio in New York, where Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland was recorded and where John Lennon later encamped, to the VIP clubhouse studio in Los Angeles where Stevie Wonder produced his classic hits, and the destination recording venue in Sausalito where Sly Stone, Bob Marley and Fleetwood Mac holed up, each studio location had its own inherent character - but all showcased the founders' proven formula of combining state-of-the-art audio, fantasy bedrooms and group Jacuzzis with sex, drugs and celebrity jams. Was Record Plant 'the real Hotel California'.

Seller Inventory # 9780500028698

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Buzz Me In : Inside the Record Plant studios
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd Jun 2025
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500028699
• ISBN 13: 9780500028698
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 239W x 162H x 40D millimeters 239 millimeters width by 162 millimeters height by 40 millimeters depth
• Weight: 1182 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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 seventies, Record Plant studios was at the heart of the largest boom in record production in music history. With studios in New York, Los Angeles, and Sausalito, and a fleet of remote recording trucks, Record Plant was everywhere there was music. In 1976 alone, three #1 albums―Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life, the Eagles' Hotel California, and Fleetwood Mac's Rumours―were all recorded in Record Plant studios.

Based on the memoirs and archives of studio cofounder Chris Stone, and interviews with over one hundred studio employees, music producers, and recording artists, Buzz Me In narrates this previously untold story of classic rock 'n' roll as the authors received it from industry insiders working behind the iconic studio’s locked doors, alongside the great rock stars of the twentieth century.

This fast-paced and engrossing book, written by two seasoned music journalists, tells the incredible story of the evolution of Record Plant Studios, tape by tape, and of the hits that were manufactured there. Starting on New York's West Side 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 on 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.

266 illustrations, 189 in color

About the Authors

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.