Studio A and the control room
My host, Tony Sylvester, before the protective glass
Studio A's sofa
If this is anything like LSD then I missed out.
Tony in reception
Reception
Reception's tunes...
Turntable...
and preamp.
I'm sure there was plenty of room
The Ladies...Carly Simon, Patti Smith, Bjork, Lily Allen, Ronnie Spector, Hole, Beyonce, Mary Blige, Gwen Stefani, Madonna, Lene Horne, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Erykah Badu, Sheryl Crow...
and the Gents: Chuck Berry, Curtis Mayfield, Peter Frampton, David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, John Lennon, The Clash, The Rolling Stones, Guns N’Roses, Lou Reed, Van Halen, Kiss, The Cars, Foreigner, Prince, Al Green...Jimmy Hendrix bought and built Electric Lady Studio on 52 West 8th Street and less than a half block from Gray's Papaya in Greenwich Village. It's a flashback to the early '70s and everyone who was anyone recorded here. They still do.
If the National Park Service can claim an obscure Vice President's birthplace from the late 19th century as a national monument, then what the Hell would Electric Lady be? Amazing history here can only be trumped by Apple Studios -- Maybe.
37 years ago this month, in Studio A, John Lennon provided back up vocals and lead guitar on David Bowie's cover of Lennon's, Across the Universe in Studio A. A year earlier it was Patti Smith recording her first single, Hey Joe / The Piss Factory. Lately, it's Lily Allen, Radiohead and The Strokes.
No tours. No gift shop. But I'm guessing someday partitions will hold back oggling tourists and the murals will be stabilized behind think glass. I'll be with my grandnephew and park service senior citizen pass complaining about my knees, asking a ranger for the bathroom and remembering the rainy Monday night I was here all those years ago ... before everything got so fucked up.
Posts
