JIM WELTE. Writer. Editor.

Call of the Wild: The Rise & Fall of the Record Plant Studio

On Halloween night in 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono walked into 2200 Bridgeway, in Sausalito, dressed as trees. The occasion was the grand-opening party for what was then called the Record Plant Studio. Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren, who had helped launch the Record Plant’s Los Angeles and New York City outposts, wanted to open one in the Bay Area to serve the region’s fertile music scene and provide a getaway for bands looking to record in a remote spot loaded with amenities. They picked a building near the waterfront, just down the street from where, legend has it, Otis Redding penned the opening lyrics of “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” on a houseboat in 1967. The Record Plant had its own Jacuzzi, guesthouses, organic chefs, a basketball court, and a speedboat docked in the harbor. The conference room had a waterbed floor.