Sausalito Record Plant [Archive]

View Full Version : Sausalito Record Plant

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 01:08 AM

I visited the Plant in Sausalito yesterday and took some pictures to share with you guys.... plus the drive over the Golden Gate was amazing because the evening San Francisco fog hadn't rolled in too heavily yet, so I got some shots of that, too :)

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1078.jpg

En route to Sausalito

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1080.jpg

The bridge from the Marin County side. This photo looks back over to where I had just come from in San Francisco.

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1085.jpg

The city from across the bay.

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1088.jpg

That is Sausalito. It's a 15 minute drive from downtown San Francisco.

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1089.jpg

THE PLANT!

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1090.jpg

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1113.jpg

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1117.jpg

The parking lot where they must have shattered that sheet of glass :)

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 01:09 AM

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1121.jpg

I was jumping up and down with excitement. Seriously.

brysondt

08-06-2009, 02:05 AM

OMG, I am soooooo very much jealous of you! I live in Utah and my bff and I are taking a trip to San Fran pretty soon and I am def going there. Stay tuned cus I will have some pics as well, haha. Very cool.

And I love that you are a Mac/Stevie fan and young....I'm not alone, even though my friends try and make me feel so weird for liking them, haha.

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 02:27 AM

iamnotafraid

08-06-2009, 03:19 AM

I visited the Plant in Sausalito yesterday and took some pictures to share with you guys....

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1090.jpg

Hey, cool pictures. I'm glad you got a close-up of the door.
Is that a frog playing the cymbals?

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 03:29 AM

From memory, I couldn't tell you-- although I'm keen to believe that you're right and that it is a frog.

FMlex

08-06-2009, 08:25 AM

Beautiful pictures of the San Fran area! And of the RP too :)
How exciting!!!

JeannieKartis

08-06-2009, 08:39 AM

http://i524.photobucket.com/albums/cc326/danielledennis/August%202009/DSCN1121.jpg

I was jumping up and down with excitement. Seriously.

Awesome...and I love S.F., hope to get there again this year...thanks D.

Enchanted_Stevi

08-06-2009, 09:13 AM

SO AWESOME Danielle!!

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 02:25 PM

My next goal is to somehow get inside that thing... it looks like not much has changed sinced 1976.

Erin

08-06-2009, 03:18 PM

My next goal is to somehow get inside that thing... it looks like not much has changed sinced 1976.

There is a movement to try and save it. See the Ken Callait thread in this forum. Here's Mick talking about it:

http://www.oursausalito.com/2009/05/mick-fleetwood-speaks-out-to-save-the-old-record-plant-in-sausalito.html

cbBen

08-06-2009, 05:33 PM

My next goal is to somehow get inside that thing... it looks like not much has changed sinced 1976.

Did you call? I bet that they'd let you take a quick tour.

LikeAWillow

08-06-2009, 05:55 PM

I have to say, the parking lot picture is my favorite. I'm OBSESSED with the shattering glass.

michelej1

08-06-2009, 06:11 PM

Did you call? I bet that they'd let you take a quick tour.

That would be a good way for them to raise money, to allow tours. Of course, they'd do it on a limited basis only, maybe just a couple of days a week.

Michele

Erin

08-06-2009, 06:23 PM

That would be a good way for them to raise money, to allow tours. Of course, they'd do it on a limited basis only, maybe just a couple of days a week.

Michele

Are any bands still recording there? Otherwise I don't see why they couldn't make it open to the public for a fee of course.

louielouie2000

08-06-2009, 06:24 PM

Thank you so much for posting your pictures! I'm SO jealous! I've gotta get out to the SF bay area some day... the whole area just looks gorgeous. I know I'd certainly visit the Plant if they'd open it up for tours... and I live on the complete opposite side of the country! :lol:

cbBen

08-06-2009, 06:27 PM

Are any bands still recording there? Otherwise I don't see why they couldn't make it open to the public for a fee of course.

Yes but there is down time and remember sessions rarely start before noon.

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 07:11 PM

I have to say, the parking lot picture is my favorite. I'm OBSESSED with the shattering glass.

As am I... hence why I needed to take that picture.

But yeah, I'm definitely going to call and weasel myself in there. I need to see it!

cbBen

08-06-2009, 07:22 PM

I have to say, the parking lot picture is my favorite. I'm OBSESSED with the shattering glass.

I hate to break disappointing news, but the overdubs were done at the defunct L.A. Record Plant, so I think the glass was probably shattered there. I could be wrong of course!

Lala

08-06-2009, 07:44 PM

So cool! I am very jealous! Thanks for posting!

LikeAWillow

08-06-2009, 07:57 PM

I hate to break disappointing news, but the overdubs were done at the defunct L.A. Record Plant, so I think the glass was probably shattered there. I could be wrong of course!

It hurts my everything :distress:

cbBen

08-06-2009, 08:27 PM

Well I'm sure plenty of interesting things happened in that parking lot regardless.

Maybe somebody should contact Ken Calliat to ask where the glass was shattered, or we can just assume Sausalito since that's where we now have a picture. I'm checking Cath Carroll's book on the making of Rumours, but even that isn't gospel.

cristochango

08-06-2009, 08:36 PM

ah man danielle thats awesome, but now im gonna feel like an idiot... whats the shattered glass story?

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 08:56 PM

ah man danielle thats awesome, but now im gonna feel like an idiot... whats the shattered glass story?

After recording "Gold Dust Woman", Lindsey still wasn't totally satisfied with the result. Something wasn't quite eerie enough, so he had the idea of recording the sound of a huge sheet of glass shattering and somehow incorporating it into the song.

cristochango

08-06-2009, 08:58 PM

After recording "Gold Dust Woman", Lindsey still wasn't totally satisfied with the result. Something wasn't quite eerie enough, so he had the idea of recording the sound of a huge sheet of glass shattering and somehow incorporating it into the song.

I just went and listened to the song to check that out haha thanks, your really pretty too, I'm jealous you got to go there

cbBen

08-06-2009, 08:59 PM

Musicman408

08-06-2009, 09:12 PM

Very very cool Danielle! San Fran looks like SUCH a beautiful place that I would love to visit in the future!!! How I would love to go inside the plant as well!!

cbBen

08-06-2009, 09:16 PM

After recording "Gold Dust Woman", Lindsey still wasn't totally satisfied with the result...

Do you think Lindsey is ever satisfied with a recording? I guess he looks happy with the immediate results on Walk A Thin Line in the Tusk documentary. I bet That's All For Everyone took more like a year though.

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 09:20 PM

I just went and listened to the song to check that out haha thanks, your really pretty too, I'm jealous you got to go there

Haha well thank you! It was a really cool day and I'm going to go back sometime soon. :)

daniellaaarisen

08-06-2009, 09:23 PM

"The band's roadies were sent out to find six panes of glass, which Fleetwood proceeded to break in the isolation booth of Studio D at the Village Recorder." Aside from all else I guess it would makes sense that the band would record the breaking glass indoors, where a better recording quality could be attained. They went for such a pristine sound on Rumours. I wonder who cleaned up the glass.

Well Danielle I guess now it's down to L.A.: http://www.villagestudios.com/

Carol Ann said in Storms that they did it in a parking lot... although I definitely don't take anything she said in that thing with more than the tiniest grain of salt. Hmmm.

Is that book worth reading? I've read Storms and I'm currently reading Mick's book... but I'm always up for some new Mac knowledge. :)

I'm actually going to LA in a few weeks, strangely enough... More Mac visits!

Lala

08-06-2009, 10:03 PM

I've read Storms and I'm currently reading Mick's book... but I'm always up for some new Mac knowledge. :)

I'm currently re-reading Mick's book for the 4th time. :wavey:

cbBen

08-06-2009, 10:54 PM

Is that book worth reading?

It's enjoyable but after the first 100 pages (which cover the band's backstory, the formation of the Rumours lineup, and the first album they cut together), the book is very close informationally to the Classic Albums documentary. So you won't learn too much if you're familiar with that DVD. One difference that I found interesting though is Lindsey's statement in the documentary that he "politely informed Mick that Stevie and I were a package deal" versus the account in the book of Keith Olsen, producer of Buckingham Nicks and the white Fleetwood Mac album:

"On New Year's Eve, Mick Fleetwood gave me a call.... '[R]emember those two kids, you played their songs for me? Do you think they'd want to join my band? We really want only the guitar player, but they're a duo, aren't they?' And I said, 'Yeah , if you take one you're gonna have to take the other, that's the honest-to-God truth.' So he says, 'Well, can you talk to them and see if they'd want to join my band?' So, I called Stevie and Lindsey. It was New Year's Eve. I had a date and a bottle of cheap champagne, and we went over. I sat upstairs with Lindsey and Stevie and my date, and we stayed there from 9:00 P.M 'til 2:00 A.M, trying to convince them to at least try it."

Maybe Lindsey had already said something to Keith ("if Mick asks he needs to know Stevie and I are a package..."). But, at least per this account, it is Keith who delivered the message and it is Mick who raised the issue in the first place. Lindsey seems to give more of an impression that he is the one who had to broach the subject. I think it's interesting to read that Mick had already realized that they couldn't be separated, that Keith merely confirmed the impression, and that had Mick called asking for Stevie Keith would have told him the same thing. The "package deal" kind of loyalty seems to be mutual rather than one-sided. I think Lindsey still deserves a lot of credit for refusing to jump at the offer without insisting that Stevie go with him, even if he did so via representative rather than directly. But I think Lindsey comes off a lot less martyrly in Keith's account than he does in his own description of events.

fleetwoodtrick

08-06-2009, 11:23 PM

I tried to visit one of the plants that Tusk was recorded at... to find that it wasn't there. D: But my parents thought that these things that appear to be apartments could be what happened to it. I also visited some other Mac sites, but I'll make another thread later. I'm staying at my uncle's house in Malibu and it's like 6 hours away from Sausalito, so I won't be getting to see the plant. D:

I will post the pic tomorrow, it's too big to attach and once again, my wifi card is running out. :/

vivfox

08-07-2009, 12:00 AM

michelej1

08-07-2009, 12:39 AM

"On New Year's Eve, Mick Fleetwood gave me a call.... '[R]emember those two kids, you played their songs for me? Do you think they'd want to join my band? We really want only the guitar player, but they're a duo, aren't they?' And I said, 'Yeah , if you take one you're gonna have to take the other, that's the honest-to-God truth.' So he says, 'Well, can you talk to them and see if they'd want to join my band?' So, I called Stevie and Lindsey. It was New Year's Eve. I had a date and a bottle of cheap champagne, and we went over. I sat upstairs with Lindsey and Stevie and my date, and we stayed there from 9:00 P.M 'til 2:00 A.M, trying to convince them to at least try it."

Stevie mentioned that even when Lindsey was in Fritz, he got an offer and the record company knew that they couldn't get him without her (which was odd, since they supposedly weren't even a couple then). So, maybe based on that history, Keith already knew they were a package deal.

Michele

Gazz

08-07-2009, 03:01 AM

Hi all,

Well I have a Record Plant story from May this year. I combined my US holiday with a few FM concerts on the west coast including SF and LA. I did a ferry trip to Sausalito and found the place on foot. I was about 5 minutes away and saw a limo drive past. Thought nothing of it. When I arrived, there were a couple of limos and some other flash cars outside - see pics (have more but Danielle's are better).

I didn't know the place had closed down and thought some band was inside recording. I didn't have the nerve to go and knock on the door and just took a few photos and happily went on my way.

The next day, Mick's Youtube video went online. This day was also in that free time he mentioned that happened due to their cancelled Sacramento concert. I don't know for sure, but there is a fair chance that it was Mick and his "people" inside, about to shoot that video. I've compared the shadows in my pics with his video and it appears to be a similar time of day.

What bad luck with the timing? I'm sure he would have spoken to a lone Australian tourist who had made all that effort! I would have loved to meet him. Anyway, it's a great story to tell to Mac fans!

cheers, Gazz

CADreaming

08-07-2009, 07:08 AM

It's enjoyable but after the first 100 pages (which cover the band's backstory, the formation of the Rumours lineup, and the first album they cut together), the book is very close informationally to the Classic Albums documentary. So you won't learn too much if you're familiar with that DVD. One difference that I found interesting though is Lindsey's statement in the documentary that he "politely informed Mick that Stevie and I were a package deal" versus the account in the book of Keith Olsen, producer of Buckingham Nicks and the white Fleetwood Mac album:

"On New Year's Eve, Mick Fleetwood gave me a call.... '[R]emember those two kids, you played their songs for me? Do you think they'd want to join my band? We really want only the guitar player, but they're a duo, aren't they?' And I said, 'Yeah , if you take one you're gonna have to take the other, that's the honest-to-God truth.' So he says, 'Well, can you talk to them and see if they'd want to join my band?' So, I called Stevie and Lindsey. It was New Year's Eve. I had a date and a bottle of cheap champagne, and we went over. I sat upstairs with Lindsey and Stevie and my date, and we stayed there from 9:00 P.M 'til 2:00 A.M, trying to convince them to at least try it."

Maybe Lindsey had already said something to Keith ("if Mick asks he needs to know Stevie and I are a package..."). But, at least per this account, it is Keith who delivered the message and it is Mick who raised the issue in the first place. Lindsey seems to give more of an impression that he is the one who had to broach the subject. I think it's interesting to read that Mick had already realized that they couldn't be separated, that Keith merely confirmed the impression, and that had Mick called asking for Stevie Keith would have told him the same thing. The "package deal" kind of loyalty seems to be mutual rather than one-sided. I think Lindsey still deserves a lot of credit for refusing to jump at the offer without insisting that Stevie go with him, even if he did so via representative rather than directly. But I think Lindsey comes off a lot less martyrly in Keith's account than he does in his own description of events.

This is great! I have never heard this story. It is very detailed from Olsen's perspective, giving a little more credence. Of course, I'm not surprised at Stevie's romantic doctoring...

Stevie mentioned that even when Lindsey was in Fritz, he got an offer and the record company knew that they couldn't get him without her (which was odd, since they supposedly weren't even a couple then). So, maybe based on that history, Keith already knew they were a package deal.

Michele

But, Michele, how are they living in a house in Los Gatos, with bed on floor no less, (per Stevie's new Gypsy intros) if they are not together? I mean, come on...

David

08-07-2009, 11:05 AM

Well TUSK was recorded at The Village Recorder in L.A.. You could always take photos of that for us, On the side of the building there used to be/might still be/ a painting of a giant sawed- in half- grand piano.Is that what it is? I always thought it was a mural of the collapsed freeway overpass from the 1971 San Fernando earthquake.

daniellaaarisen

08-07-2009, 03:40 PM

But, Michele, how are they living in a house in Los Gatos, with bed on floor no less, (per Stevie's new Gypsy intros) if they are not together? I mean, come on...

I legitimately live in Los Gatos. Can someone do some major investigating and find an address or something? I live in Los Gatos, they lived in Los Gatos.......

Wow.

michelej1

08-07-2009, 11:27 PM

I legitimately live in Los Gatos. Can someone do some major investigating and find an address or something? I live in Los Gatos, they lived in Los Gatos.......

Wow.

It's a shame. If Stevie had been talking about their little house all along, since the seventies, we'd probably have a pretty good idea where it was by now. But since she just let the cat (or should I say gato) out of the bag this tour, we're all clueless.

Michele

daniellaaarisen

08-07-2009, 11:50 PM

It's a shame. If Stevie had been talking about their little house all along, since the seventies, we'd probably have a pretty good idea where it was by now. But since she just let the cat (or should I say gato) out of the bag this tour, we're all clueless.

Michele

You live in the Bay, right? If we ever get a clue where she lived around here, come see it with me!

Do local libraries hold that type of information? I'm determined!

CADreaming

08-08-2009, 09:14 AM

You live in the Bay, right? If we ever get a clue where she lived around here, come see it with me!

Do local libraries hold that type of information? I'm determined!

Just ask around - someone has got to know or remember. I would think that they were renters though, so any library searching is probably moot.

Los Gatos is near San Jose state, right? Also, just read on the Bio site that she dropped out of college by '68 after her parents moved to Chicago...

It all paints a little different picture than all the stories we've heard.

daniellaaarisen

08-08-2009, 12:18 PM

Just ask around - someone has got to know or remember. I would think that they were renters though, so any library searching is probably moot.

Los Gatos is near San Jose state, right? Also, just read on the Bio site that she dropped out of college by '68 after her parents moved to Chicago...

It all paints a little different picture than all the stories we've heard.

Yeah, SJSU is like, 10 to 15 minutes max. We are also 45 minutes from San Francisco and 25 from Menlo Park and Atherton (to put "Stevie locations" into perspective).

That's another thing-- when the school term starts, I'm going to go dig up some stuff at MA. I was there looking for old yearbooks and things a few days ago but most of the campus is closed all summer do to construction. I'm going to harass a few older teachers there, too!

michelej1

08-08-2009, 01:16 PM

Do local libraries hold that type of information? I'm determined!

I used to work in the archives at the University of Michigan and they had old telephone books there. The phone numbers had addresses with them. I remember looking up a phone number and address for Sonny Bono's dad when Sonny was born (in Detroit) in 1935. These phone books went back 50 years.

Everyone had their phone listed back then and I bet Lindsey probably would, because he was trying to break into the music business, right? If they shopped demos around, they would want people to be able to contact them, if their was interest in their music. So, even though there is no record of property ownership for them, maybe if you found old phone books you could find them. I know Lindsey and Stevie often had other roommates, so maybe the phone would be in someone else's name. But phone books might be the way to go.

That's the thing, if Stevie had mentioned Los Gatos earlier in their career, fans and journalists would have found out where they lived. But now the trail is cold and they probably weren't there for very long either.

Michele

daniellaaarisen

08-10-2009, 04:55 AM

StreetAngel86

08-11-2009, 04:44 AM

Carol Ann said in Storms that they did it in a parking lot... although I definitely don't take anything she said in that thing with more than the tiniest grain of salt. Hmmm.

Is that book worth reading? I've read Storms and I'm currently reading Mick's book... but I'm always up for some new Mac knowledge. :)

I'm actually going to LA in a few weeks, strangely enough... More Mac visits!

:wavey: come visit me
im in the valley
im bored
i'd love to do a 'mac' tour :laugh:

StreetAngel86

08-11-2009, 04:50 AM

So I read in Mick's book that Stevie and Chris rented condos in Sausalito in the harbor, literally walking distance from The Plant. Has anyone ever gotten a more exact location? I am hopefully going to harass the people who own the plant until they let me go inside. The creeper in me needs to see Stevie and Chris' place too!

i love all the stalkerish behavior on this board
makes me feel good
ive never put my 'skills' towards snl or the Mac before
but.......i'll see what i can do to assist :laugh:

daniellaaarisen

08-11-2009, 04:55 AM

I won't be down there this weekend but probably the next. If I do make it down, I'll let you know-- I NEED to see the big Mac spots down there. Plus, I am seriously considering camping out on the streets of Santa Monica and waiting for Stevie to walk by :) I was in Santa Monica when the potential Boa's video appeared and I've taken that as a sign ever since!