Stories from the studio for 25 of the best '70s albums
Stories from the studio for 25 of the best '70s albums
The recording studio's beginning dates back to the 19th century, and came about thanks to early inventors like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell. Studios began popping up in major cities worldwide around the time of World War I. The most well-known studios like Sun Studios, Abbey Road, Muscle Shoals, Electric Lady, Motown, Sunset, and Trident have become as famous as the musicians who have played behind within walls. With every album made inside the studio come stories that are awe-inspiring, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking.
麻豆原创 compiled a list of 25 stories of famous 1970s artists and their albums from inside the recording studio using music news sites like The Guardian and Rolling Stone. Some artists are featured more than once.
Whether stories of studio screw-ups that often proved to be serendipitous happy accidents, haunted happenings, places that became makeshift studios to suit the band or the artistic demands of the album, or in-studio technologies and innovations, these stories from the studio shed new light on the fun and fascinating world of not only the music industry, but also the recording studios that are a major part of that world.
Join 麻豆原创 in a journey into some of the most beloved recording studios鈥攆rom the major players to mobile recording studios to yachts and mansions that have served as studios away from the studio.
1970: 鈥楩un House鈥 by The Stooges
The Stooges鈥 second album, 鈥淔un House,鈥 truly was fun鈥攖o record. After their first self-titled debut album generated little buzz, the pressure was off, and the band was able to return to the studio and get creative. With the help of former Kingsmen keyboardist Don Gallucci, who ran the recording sessions, the band simply played the songs they had written multiple times, and Gallucci sorted through them later to figure out what to use, which was no easy task, though the effort produced a memorable album.
1970: 鈥楨mitt Rhodes鈥 by Emitt Rhodes
Emitt Rhodes鈥 first band, The Merry-Go-Round split up after one successful single. Undeterred, he set up his own studio in his family鈥檚 garage, which was unorthodox and hadn鈥檛 really been done at the time. There the home recording pioneer played and recorded all the instruments onto one track and his vocals onto another using a second-hand Ampex 4-track machine. His home recording studio served him well, and his 1970 self-titled debut album would go on to become a hit and a successful cult classic.
1972: 鈥楳achine Head鈥 by Deep Purple
Deep Purple borrowed The Rolling Stones mobile studio to record its 1972 album, 鈥淢achine Head,鈥 after a Frank Zappa concert in the Casino at Montreux, Switzerland, where a fire broke out after someone in the crowd shot off a flare gun. The incident inspired their hit, 鈥淪moke on the Water,鈥 which they wrote and recorded within days of the incident at a local hotel with help from the mobile studio. Band frontman Ian Gillan , 鈥淲e set the gear up in the hallways and the corridors of the hotel, and the Rolling Stones鈥 mobile truck was out back with very long cables coming up through the windows. We tried to re-create an atmosphere in a technical sense the best we could.鈥
1972: 鈥楨xile on Main Street鈥 by The Rolling Stones
For arguably one of the greatest Stones鈥 albums ever, the cavernous basement of a French mansion served as a recording studio, with a little help from a mobile recording unit. The recording was frenetic with Keith Richards鈥 excessive drug use, the constant parties, and the rumored supernatural events that occurred at the Villa Nellcote, which the band used because they鈥檇 been kicked out of the United Kingdom for tax issues. The three-story basement was covered with shag carpeting to help with sound, and engineer Andy Johns and producer Jimmy Miller ran between the cellar and the mobile unit while played out in the mansion.
1972: 'Trilogy' by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"The Sheriff," a song off Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 1972 album, featured an additional and unexpected lyric. When Palmer accidentally hit his tom-tom rim with a drumstick, during a drum solo, he uttered a brief expletive. The minor mishap was left in and added a bit of levity to the song and album.
You may also like: The best streaming services in 2021
1973: 鈥楧ark Side of the Moon鈥 by Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd鈥檚 epic 1973 album featured an interesting technique where Roger Waters interviewed staffers at Abbey Road, the studio where they were recording. After asking 20 people questions (including Paul McCartney, who Waters as in he tried to be funny, which made his responses unusable), the recorded material was edited and layered onto tracks throughout the album. The studio鈥檚 doorman, Gerry O鈥橠riscoll, contributed one of the album鈥檚 classic lines during his interview, when he was asked, 鈥淲hat is the dark side of the moon?鈥 and he responded 鈥淭here is no dark side of the moon, really. Matter of fact, it鈥檚 all dark. The only thing that makes it look light is the sun.鈥
1973: 鈥楤urnin鈥欌 by Bob Marley and The Wailers
It seems only fitting that an album called 鈥淏urnin鈥欌 has a story from the studio about a marijuana mishap. While piecing together different sections from different takes of 鈥淚 Shot the Sheriff鈥 for the 1973 album, bassist Aston Barrett handed Island Records鈥 engineer Phill Brown a large joint. Brown proceeded to almost ruin the only cut of the song and , 鈥淚 was just about to cut, when the joint fell apart. It melted the tape. Outside the door are Bob Marley and The Wailers: heavy street guys from Trench Town鈥攖hey weren鈥檛 a bunch of kids from Epsom. I don鈥檛 know what would have happened if they had seen it, but I managed to repair it, and no one ever heard about it.鈥
1973: 鈥楽abbath Bloody Sabbath鈥 by Black Sabbath
When Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath鈥檚 songwriter and guitarist, sat down to write the band鈥檚 fifth album 鈥淪abbath Bloody Sabbath鈥 in 1973, he was plagued with a wicked case of writer鈥檚 block. They eventually headed to Clearwell Castle where the band members found themselves setting up equipment in the old castle dungeons, which would serve as their recording studio for the title track of the album. Once there, the block lifted, and the band finished up its time at Clearwell without incident, minus of the castle.
1973: 鈥楤and on the Run鈥 by Wings
Paul McCartney left Britain to record at EMI鈥檚 studio in Lagos, Nigeria, thinking it would be relaxing, but when he arrived with the remaining members of Wings, it was to a poverty-stricken place, under a military dictatorship. The conditions in the studio were no better. In the middle of one session, McCartney had a bronchial spasm from smoking too much and collapsed, and Nigerian musician and activist Fela Kuti accused the former Beatle of exploiting Indigenous music.
1974: 'Second Helping' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Every Skynyrd fan, or person who has ever listened to the radio, is familiar with the opening to mega-hit "Sweet Home Alabama"鈥"Turn it up." What people may not know is that it was actually a studio mishap. The band's frontman Ronnie Van Zant couldn't hear the track when he was laying down vocals, so he asked producer Al Kooper and studio engineer Rodney Mills to turn the volume up and created an unintentional lyric that remained in the song, becoming an epic and well-loved part of the classic rock gem from its 1974 second album.
1974: 鈥楶ussy Cats鈥 by Harry Nilsson
When friends John Lennon and Harry Nilsson decided to head into the studio to record a 1974 album together, which Lennon produced, things got intense. For the drug-addled album, they tried to compete with each other to see who had the loudest voice, which caused Nilsson to blow out his voice and did irreparable damage. The album features an unusual arrangement of songs that make little sense.
1974: 鈥楴ot Fragile鈥 by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Bachman-Turner Overdrive鈥檚 1974 album 鈥淣ot Fragile鈥 featured the Randy Bachman penned hit, 鈥淵ou Ain鈥檛 Seen Nothin鈥 Yet.鈥 While in the studio, Bachman jokingly recorded a track of him stammering the song鈥檚 main line, 鈥淵ou ain鈥檛 seen nothin鈥 yet,鈥 to poke fun at his brother Gary, who had a stammer. While the band never intended to use the track on the album, the record company heard it and insisted, and the song became the band鈥檚 only #1 hit.
1975: 鈥楻ock 鈥檔鈥 Roll鈥 by John Lennon
John Lennon hired Phil Spector to help with his 1975 album 鈥淩ock 鈥檔鈥 Roll,鈥 and Spector鈥檚 wild behavior included shooting a gun in the studio control room inches from Lennon鈥檚 ear to which the singer yelled, 鈥淧hil, if you鈥檙e going to kill me, kill me. But don鈥檛 f**k with my ears. I need 鈥檈m.鈥 Spector also chased Lennon through the studio with a gun while screaming threats and charged Capitol Records $90,000 for the album鈥檚 master tapes that he鈥檇 stolen.
1975: 鈥楾he Original Soundtrack鈥 by 10cc
The third studio album from the British band 10cc featured its hit 鈥淚鈥檓 Not in Love,鈥 which made it onto the Billboard Hot 100. Not only was the song a soaring success, but it featured some interesting techniques in the studio. To create the song鈥檚 unique-sounding background 鈥榗hoir,鈥 a 16-track mixing desk and a chromatic scale were used with each member singing one note, multiple times, on the chromatic scale, which created a 鈥渨all of sound鈥 featuring 256 voices.
1975: 'Toys in the Attic' by Aerosmith
Steven Tyler has a shoddy memory when it comes to recording the band's 1975 album, though it contained some innovative ideas like the band's use of a talk box for its hit "Sweet Emotion," which Joe Perry made after learning how from a Led Zeppelin roadie. Perry also says they put amplifiers out by street dumpsters, which accounts for the traffic sounds that can be heard in the album's title song.
1975: 鈥榃ish You Were Here鈥 by Pink Floyd
For the legendary 1975 album, Pink Floyd was inspired鈥攐n the title track and the psychedelic 鈥淪hine On You Crazy Diamond鈥濃攂y former frontman Syd Barrett. Barrett鈥檚 mental instability and drug issues forced him out of the band, and David Gilmour came in as a replacement. While the band was in the studio, working on 鈥淪hine On You Crazy Diamond,鈥 Barrett showed up with shaved head and eyebrows, almost unrecognizable, looking as lost and distant as his bandmates remembered.
1976: 鈥楽tation to Station鈥 by David Bowie
The musician鈥檚 1976 album was a reflection of the singer鈥檚 dark, drug-fueled days in Los Angeles. The album focuses on an interesting character, The Thin White Duke, a tortured soul into cocaine and the occult and a reflection of Bowie. The interesting thing about the recording of 鈥淪tation to Station鈥 is that despite all the chaos in his life, those who were in the studio with the rock legend said he brought his A-game every single day, though that Bowie remembered little of his time recording the album and has said, 鈥淚 know it was [recorded] in L.A. because I鈥檝e read it was.鈥
1977: 鈥楲ow鈥 by David Bowie
David Bowie left Los Angeles in 1976 after a difficult time with drugs and retreated to Ch芒teau d鈥橦茅rouville in Paris to work on his 1977 album 鈥淟ow.鈥 The rock star both recorded and lived in the opulent chateau that housed some interesting ghostly visitors, which found Bowie refusing to stay in one of the bedrooms due to cold spots and a strange feeling, and producer Brian Eno swearing someone shook his shoulders early in the morning, but no one was there. Bowie was also going through a divorce and a custody battle, and when his ex, Angie, showed up to the studio, Bowie and the new boyfriend she brought along had a fight.
1977: 鈥楻umours鈥 by Fleetwood Mac
The recording of rock band Fleetwood Mac鈥檚 1977 album was a drama-filled, rock soap opera for the ages. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had split, Christine McVie and bassist John McVie were going through a divorce, and Mick Fleetwood and Nicks would begin an affair. While it was a turbulent time for the band, it was also a creative one as well, and the album was filled with the sort of brutally honest lyrics only romance鈥檚 beginnings and endings can bring.
1977: 'Rock 'n' Roll With The Modern Lovers' by The Modern Lovers
For their 1977 album, the band simply couldn't find the sound in the actual studio, so they got creative and moved all the equipment to a more fitting location, the bathroom. Once settled into the men's room at CBS Studios in San Francisco, things still didn't sound right, so they moved to the ladies' room. That didn't work, so they shifted back to the men's room.
1977: 鈥楤at Out of Hell鈥 by Meatloaf
While recording his 1977 album 鈥淏at Out of Hell,鈥 with producer Todd Rundgren and songwriter Jim Steinman, Meatloaf swore he saw ghosts. The apparitions appeared to the musician at the house that was next to the acclaimed New York recording facility, Bearsville Studio, and led Meatloaf to take too many sleeping pills after the spirit became more aggressive and ripped the singer鈥檚 blankets off. He the disturbing incident on the Lifetime series, 鈥淭he Haunting of 鈥 ,鈥 in 2015.
1977: 鈥楧eath of a Ladies鈥 Man鈥 by Leonard Cohen
While it was an unlikely match, Leonard Cohen worked for weeks with Phil Spector on a dozen songs for the 1977 album 鈥淒eath of a Ladies鈥 Man.鈥 Once the two headed into the studio, things went downhill. One evening, Spector pulled a gun on Cohen, shoved it against his neck, and told him he loved him. In response, Cohen pulled the gun away and said, 鈥淚 hope you do, Phil.鈥
1978: 鈥楲ondon Town鈥 by Wings
Most of the band鈥檚 1978 penultimate album was recorded in an interesting makeshift studio on a boat. The luxury yacht cruised through the Virgin Islands, while the band swam and relaxed between recordings, which may have negatively impacted the album that many fans and critics didn鈥檛 consider the band鈥檚 best, though they did have a #1 song, 鈥淲ith a Little Luck.鈥
1979: 鈥楤reakfast in America鈥 by Supertramp
Supertramp鈥檚 album came out in 1979 and featured its mega-hit 鈥淭he Logical Song,鈥 which won an Ivor Novello award for best song musically and lyrically. While the song was based on Supertramp singer and keyboardist Roger Hodgson鈥檚 own life and penned by him, and he spent two weeks in the studio working on the final version, there was also a part of the song that was unplanned, the result of a happy accident. Someone in the studio was playing a Mattel electronic football game and as , 鈥淲e鈥檇 hear that sound over and over, coming from the other room. I think, at some point, we decided: Why don鈥檛 we put the sound on it? And it worked. We were always looking to create new sounds,鈥 which is how the distinctive stutter of 鈥淒-D-D-D-digital鈥 came about.
1979: 'Unknown Pleasures' by Joy Division
"Unknown Pleasures," Joy Division's 1979 album, was recorded in a studio co-owned by two members of the British band 10cc, Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman. Not only was Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, outfitted with a state-of-the-art 24-track setup, but it was also freezing cold. Producer Martin Hannett, who was also a demanding perfectionist, liked to keep the air conditioning up and said it was helpful to Chris Nagle, the engineer, because he had diabetes.
You may also like: The best streaming services for sports in 2021