© 2008 Electric Lady Studios

Issue No. 1, Volume MMVIII

David Bowie,

David Live

Recorded at the Tower Theater just outside Philadelphia during a six night run for Diamond Dogs in 1974, David Live catches Bowie in transition from the glam-rock era of his career to the "plastic soul" of Young Americans. This was Bowie’s biggest live show to date with a stage set designed to suggest the post-apocalyptic setting of the album.


Tensions were reportedly high during these shows because of a dispute between the band and management regarding fair compensation. Eventually the situation was resolved and the shows went on as planned.

The original release of David Live was mixed at Electric Lady Studios, and is notable for containing no studio overdubs or rerecording “with the exception of several backing vocals due to loss of theatre mic contact.”



Carly Simon

Recorded early in the studio’s history, and released in February 1971 - Carly Simon’s first record, the self titled Carly Simon, was recorded at Electric Lady Studios and produced by founding Electric Lady engineer Eddie Kramer. The album included her first hit, "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" - a sombre ballad centered on a woman pondering marriage with a sense of both inevitability and entrapment. Simon herself married singer-songwriter James Taylor in November 1972, but this is one song that we can be sure was not written about him — Simon wrote the music but her friend and frequent collaborator Jacob Brackman wrote the lyrics. Later in her career, after leaving Warner Brother for the Epic label, Carly Simon would return to Electric Lady Studios to work on her 12th studio album - 1985’s Spoiled Girl. The album featured production from industry heavyweights like Don Was and Phil Ramone.

Cactus


Cactus, the ‘70s rock supergroup featuring Vanilla Fudge rhythm section Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, Jim McCarty from Mitch Ryder's Detroit Wheels, and Rusty Day from Amboy Dukes, recorded their 1971 record One Way... Or Another at a recently completed Electric Lady Studios in 1970 - 1971. Recorded shortly after the facility’s owner, Jimi Hendrix, passed away, the record was helmed by legendary engineer Eddie Kramer, assisted by Dave Palmer and John Jansen, and featured covers of the Little Richard hit “Long Tall Sally” and Chuck Willis’ “I Feel So Bad.” Released on February 24th, 1971, the inside cover of the original retail packaging features a photo of the group in the womens’ restroom of Electric Lady.

Humble Pie, Rockin' the Fillmore

Recorded in May 1971 at Fillmore East, and was released November 1971. The live double-album reached #21 on the Billboard 200. The hour-long set consisted of only one original song, the other 6 were cover tunes, with a Humble Pie twist to them. The album was the first to become the band's first RIAA gold record, and its popularity helped the band's previous album, Rock On, to reach gold album status as well. There is a story that, during the mixing of the album, the band presented what they thought to be the finished product to their manager, Dee Anthony. Upon listening to it, he made one comment: "Great, but where's the audience?" It turned out that Marriott and drummer Jerry Shirley were stoned and had forgotten to include the sound of the audience in the mix - so it was back to the mixing desk.