Background Albert Grossman, who was the manager of
Bob Dylan and
Peter, Paul and Mary, first arrived in Bearsville in 1964 with his future wife,
Sally, and Dylan via Dylan's station wagon, and went to work creating a retreat for the community of artists with whom he worked. The Bearsville recording studios would be just one component of the complex that would eventually include
Bearsville Records, Turtle Creek Barn and Apartments, Location Recorders, the Bearsville Theatre, and multiple restaurants. The two-hour drive from
New York City, a "retreat" for some artists, combined with residences owned by Albert Grossman, amplified this value.
1969-1979 Bearsville's first recording studio, Studio B, was completed in 1969. Studio B was initially designed by Robert Hansen and later re-designed and modified by
John Storyk of the
Walters-Storyk Design Group and acoustician George Augspurger. The larger Studio A featured a large 2,400 square foot tracking room with a 35-foot high ceiling. Originally intended as a project studio for
Robbie Robertson and
Garth Hudson of
the Band, Turtle Creek Barn and Apartments offered recording facilities combined with a private living space.
Todd Rundgren began working at Bearsville Studios as a staff
engineer and
producer, and recorded his first three studio albums at Bearsville. Beginning in 1975,
Meat Loaf and composer
Jim Steinman recorded
Bat Out of Hell at Bearsville, which became one of
the best-selling albums of all time. Other artists recording at Bearsville in the 1970s included
The Isley Brothers,
NRBQ,
Patti Smith Group, and
Foghat. Additionally,
the Rolling Stones rehearsed at Bearsville from May 27 until June 8, 1978, for their
US Tour 1978, with the recordings of these rehearsals later released as the
Complete Woodstock Tapes 4-disc set.
1980s In 1980, Grossman built Rundgren's Utopia Video Studio, which would later house radio station
WDST. In 1986, Grossman's wife Sally assumed directorship of Bearsville following his death. From 1986 to 1989, Bearsville hosted recording sessions for
The Pretenders,
Marshall Crenshaw,
Suzanne Vega,
Joe Jackson, and others, and
Tesla recorded their first two studio albums at the studios. In 1988,
The Replacements had a 10-day recording session at Bearsville during which they trashed the recording studio and living quarters and played a game they called "dodge knife" that was like
dodgeball but using
knives. The recordings, originally intended for the band's album ''
Don't Tell a Soul were not included on the album. They were eventually released in 2019 as part of the Dead Man's Pop'' box set.
R.E.M. recorded significant portions of three successive albums at Bearsville, beginning with
Green (1988). The music historian
Barney Hoskyns, in his 2016 book about Woodstock,
Small Town Talk, wrote that the band's presence "was certainly a highwater mark in the studio's life." In 1989 a barn was converted to create the Bearsville Theater, with space for rehearsals and live performances.
1990s In the early 1990s, Bearsville hosted sessions to record albums for
Living Colour and
the Connells. In late 1993 and early 1994,
Jeff Buckley recorded his only studio album,
Grace at Bearsville.
Blues Traveler recorded their breakthrough 1994 album
Four (Blues Traveler album) at the studio.
Dave Matthews Band recorded its debut studio album
Under the Table and Dreaming (1994) at Bearsville with producer
Steve Lillywhite, as well as its follow-up,
Crash (Dave Matthews Band album) (1996). The studio was the location for the recording of
Natalie Merchant's debut solo album
Tigerlily (1995), as well as albums by
Rush,
Phish,
Fear Factory,
Faith No More, and
Branford Marsalis Quartet.
2000s In the early 2000s, Bearsville hosted recording sessions for artists including
Harvey Danger,
Matchbox Twenty,
The Derek Trucks Band, In 2005, the building that housed the original Bearsville Studios A and B was sold, with Sally Grossman utilizing components from the former studios to repurpose the Turtle Creek Barn into a new studio named Bearsville at Turtle Creek. By 2007, Sally Grossman had sold all Bearsville complex properties, including the Turtle Creek Barn, the Bearsville Theater, two restaurants, and the Utopia soundstage. ==Bearsville Center (2019-present)==