Quadrafonic Sound Studio Established by session musicians
David Briggs and
Norbert Putnam as Quadrafonic Sound Studio in 1971, the studio immediately became the home of many major recording sessions including
Neil Young's
Harvest album which included the single "
Heart of Gold".
Kris Kristofferson brought
Joan Baez to the studio in 1971 to record her album
Blessed Are..., including her hit recording of "
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", and
Dan Fogelberg recorded his debut studio album
Home Free the following year. Other artists recording at Quadrafonic in its early years included
Grand Funk Railroad,
The Jackson Five,
The Pointer Sisters,
Joe Walsh and
The James Gang,
Pousette-Dart Band, and
Dobie Gray, who recorded his R&B classic "
Drift Away" at Quad Studios in 1972. A notable album from 1975 by Iguana entitled "The Winds of Alamar" was recorded at the studios with Gene Eichelberger engineering. This was possibly the first album purposefully recorded in the quadraphonic format, bypassing the more common stereo release. The album was later released with some changes in the song lineup by United Artists in 1976. In 1976,
Jimmy Buffett recorded his biggest hit, "
Margaritaville" from his best selling album
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes at the studio, and Buffett later donated a stained-glass window for the studio's upstairs bathroom. The studios originally featured a Quad Eight
mixing console and 16-track Ampex MM1100 two-inch tape recorder. In 1975, the owners replaced the Quad Eight with an
MCI 500-series mixing console. ==References==