Song’s Over for Storied Rock Studio

The music dies today at the Record Plant in Hollywood, one of the world’s premier recording studios since 1969 and a home away from home for the elite of rock music--sometimes for months at a time.

Roll a few credits, please: “Hotel California” was recorded there by the Eagles. Likewise “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder, “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac, “Nick of Time” by Bonnie Raitt, portions of “Rock ‘n’ Roll” by John Lennon. And so on.

But the musicians who booked recording time for next week, Bruce Springsteen among them, have been turned away as a result of an unexpected decision last month by the studio’s owner, London-based Chrysalis Group PLC, to sell the Record Plant.

Chrysalis says some buyers have expressed interest. But Record Plant executives say that nothing short of a miracle will save the studio.

“We’re losing a little piece of history here,” said Rose Mann, studio manager for the last 14 years. “We’re losing a good clubhouse too. No one could go by the Record Plant without stopping in. And they liked to hang out here.”

Did they ever. Over the years, “they” included Lennon and the other members of the Beatles after the group split up; the Rolling Stones; Springsteen; Rod Stewart; Elton John; Neil Diamond; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and even Debbie Reynolds, Mann said.

It was the studio’s first-rate sound equipment and its round-the-clock attentiveness to clients that kept them coming back. The Record Plant’s original location, at 3rd Street and La Cienega Boulevard until six years ago, was the first studio to include a Jacuzzi, bedrooms and lounges, staff members said. The current location, at 1032 N. Sycamore Ave., lacks the bedrooms and Jacuzzi, but has plenty of opulent lounge areas and other amenities.

Over the years, staff members went to extraordinary lengths to cater to the wants, needs and whims of some of the industry’s most inflated egos. Some five-member combos wanted dinner brought in from five separate restaurants. One big-name musician was in the habit of spray-painting sexual crudities on the walls every day; rather than tell him to desist, studio staffers simply cleaned them off daily.

Stewart liked the place so much he stayed for 18 months once while cutting an album, said studio vice president Dave Ellman. Crosby, Stills & Nash liked to have palm trees brought in when they recorded. Singer Axl Rose rolled a bed and an exercise bike into one $200-an-hour studio recently and made it his home for six weeks. Rose’s band, Guns N’ Roses, is occupying the main studio during this final week, and has moved in three pinball machines and a punching bag.

In the early years, bands roamed between recording rooms, jamming with each other and cavorting at all hours of the day and night.

“The studio was like a nervous breakdown waiting to happen, it was so busy,” Mann said. “The energy was incredible; it was like a natural drug. Of course, there were plenty of other kinds around too.”

What really made the studio a first-class operation was the technology. It houses 300 microphones and the best consoles and recording gear money can buy, Ellman said.

“They were always at the cutting edge, always getting new gear,” said engineer/producer Ed Cherney. “And that made for good results.”

Cherney should know, having mixed Raitt’s “Nick of Time” album at the Record Plant in 1989. The album won four Grammy awards, including record of the year.

“It is quite a loss,” he said of the studio’s impending demise. “It was really a wonderful place.”

Record Plant executives cite several reasons why the studio is expected to close. Its $4.5-million asking price, which does not include the leases for some major equipment, is considerable, particularly during a recession, Ellman said. Many musicians, seeking privacy and convenience, now buy their own recording and mixing equipment. “Nobody,” Ellman said, “is going to lay out that kind of money to save a piece of history.”

Curiously, the decision to close comes as the studio’s business is booming. Indeed, when Chrysalis announced late last month the Record Plant was no longer “an integral part of our group strategy in the U.S. market,” the staff was stunned.

Joe Kiener, vice chairman of Chrysalis USA in New York, said increased competition has made it necessary for studios to be either huge and backed by corporate financing, or so small that they can run on a shoestring, like the many “basement” studios popping up around Los Angeles. Chrysalis, he said, wants to concentrate on expanding its massive London studio.

“The business has changed a lot for all of us,” added Terry Williams, president of the Hollywood Assn. of Recording Professionals. He said studios, even a “monument” to success such as the Record Plant, must contend with the basement operations, whose costs are far less, and the ever-increasing profit demands of the large corporations now running the music business.

Earlier this week, as the Record Plant staff took time to reflect on the past 22 years, Guns N’ Roses was busy recording in one of the two main studios. In the other, one of the biggest performers in the business--who insisted on anonymity--was setting up for one last session.

“We’re definitely going out in style,” said Ellman.

THE RECORD PLANT’S GREATEST HITS

Here are some of the successful albums recorded at the Record Plant in Hollywood, in chronological order: “Kiss”--Kiss, 1974

“Rock ‘n’ Roll”--John Lennon, 1975

“Hotel California”--Eagles, 1976

“Songs in the Key of Life”--Stevie Wonder, 1976

“Rumours”--Fleetwood Mac, 1977

“Even in the Quietest Moments”--Supertramp, 1977

“Let It Flow”--Dave Mason, 1977

“Octave”--Moody Blues, 1978

“Foolish Behavior”--Rod Stewart, 1980

“The Jazz Singer”--Neil Diamond, 1980

“17”--Chicago, 1984

“Heart”--Heart, 1985

“Theatre of Pain”--Motley Crue, 1985

“Nick of Time”--Bonnie Raitt, 1989

Many other artists, who recorded albums over a period of time and at several studios, did not disclose which songs came out of Record Plant recording sessions, which are private. Among them: Bruce Springsteen, the former members of the Beatles, Elton John, members of the Who and the Rolling Stones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Diana Ross. The Record Plant also has elaborate mobile recording facilities, including two large trucks, that have been used in the taping or production of other noted albums. One such album was the famous “Concert for Bangladesh” benefit in 1972 at Madison Square Garden in New York, featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and many others.