Record Plant

In 1967, Gary Kellgren was a recording engineer working at several New York City studios, including Mayfair Studios on 701 Seventh Avenue at the edge of Times Square, a drab upstairs office, a single room which held the only professional 8-track recording system in New York. There, Kellgren worked with artists such as the Velvet Underground, who recorded "Sunday Morning" in November 1966; Frank Zappa; and Jimi Hendrix, engineering their recordings and also sweeping the floors. In late 1967, Chris Stone was introduced to Kellgren because Kellgren's wife, Marta, was seven months pregnant and scared of the upcoming birth and Stone's wife, Gloria, had just given birth. Mutual friends thought that the two couples could talk about being parents and ease Marta's worry. Though they were "diametrically opposed" in nature (with Stone all business and Kellgren very creative), the two quickly became friends. Seeing him at work, Stone determined that Kellgren was not making full use of his genius for making recordings. Stone noticed that the small studio was charging its clients $5,000 per week, but Kellgren was making $200 per week. Stone suggested Kellgren ask for a raise and soon he was making $1,000 per week. When the Jimi Hendrix Experience arrived at the studio, Kellgren engineered the first few dates until Eddie Kramer, the band's familiar engineer, flew in from London. During the production of Electric Ladyland the studio added a new 16-track machine. In 1969, Kellgren and Stone sold the New York operation to TeleVision Communications (TVC), a cable television company that was broadening its portfolio. The purpose of the sale was to gain cash for expansion into Los Angeles with a second studio. The next big mixing assignment that the studio accepted was to mix the tracks recorded at the Woodstock Festival. In 1970, Studio A became the first recording studio designed for mixing quadraphonic sound. The song "Walk This Way" was written after Douglas and the band, without Steven Tyler, went out to see the film Young Frankenstein and were struck by a humorous line spoken by Marty Feldman playing a hunchback. They returned to the studio to tell Tyler what the song's title must be, and Tyler wrote the words on the walls of the stairwell at the Record Plant. In 1978, David Hewitt (Dir. of Remote Recording) and crew of John Venable, Phil Gitomer, Robert "Kooster" McAllister and Dave "DB" Brown built the Black Truck, a state of the art mobile studio. They recorded everyone from Aretha Franklin to Frank Zappa, also expanding the Record Plant's client list in live radio, television and films. Among these recorded performances were the first live MTV concert, the Tony Awards, the Grammy Awards, Live from the Met Opera and the films ''Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll'', the Rolling Stones' ''Let's Spend the Night Together'', Neil Young's Rust Never Sleeps, No Nukes and Queen Rock Montreal. John Lennon was recording "Walking on Thin Ice" at the Record Plant on December 8, 1980, the day he was shot and killed. Willie Nile was also recording Golden Down at the Record Plant the night Lennon was killed. American pop singer Cyndi Lauper recorded her debut studio album ''She's So Unusual'', one of the most iconic pop albums of the 1980s, at the Record Plant between December 1, 1982, and June 30, 1983. In 1987, the New York studio was sold to George Martin and closed soon afterward. ==Los Angeles==

, investors Ben Johnson and Ancky Johnson (cutting cake), founders Chris Stone and Gary Kellgren. Seeing the early success of the New York studio, Kellgren and Stone decided to move to the West Coast and open another studio in Los Angeles. To design the studio, they contracted with Tom Hidley, who had built TTG Studios in 1965 and was becoming known in L.A. for answering the high-decibel needs of rock music. Hidley was brought on board as the "third musketeer", according to Stone. One of the first employees of this studio was Chris Stone's nephew, Mike D. Stone, who would also work as a recording engineer. On December 4, 1969, the new studio opened its doors on 8456 West Third Street near La Cienega Boulevard. Sometimes known as "Record Plant West", the new studio held a 16-track recorder, larger than the 12-track system in New York (occasionally called "Record Plant East"), and studio time was 20 to 25 percent less expensive than typical studios in New York. Keyboardist William "Smitty" Smith said that there were regular jam sessions of musicians at Clover Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard near Vine Street in Hollywood, but that the increasing number of musicians outgrew the place and the group moved to the Record Plant for more space. Smith was a regular at the Studio C jams, but one Sunday he could not make it and he sent his friend, David Foster, to play keyboards. Foster was so well received by other musicians that he and three others—Paul Stallworth on bass, Danny Kortchmar on guitar and Keltner on drums—formed the band Attitudes. One of the Keltner jam sessions in late December 1973 became known later as "Too Many Cooks". Under the leadership of John Lennon, an all-star lineup performed an extended version of the blues song "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)", with Mick Jagger on lead vocals, Keltner on drums, Kortchmar and Jesse Ed Davis on guitars, Al Kooper on keyboards, Bobby Keys playing tenor saxophone, Trevor Lawrence on baritone saxophone, Jack Bruce on bass and Harry Nilsson singing background vocals. Jagger was uncomfortable stretching to reach the top of his vocal range and he grew unhappy with the progress being made on the song. Journalist Lucian Truscott IV wrote in 1977 that Kellgren told Jagger to "sit on it", ending the complaints. Keltner was working on a solo project by Jack Bruce, formerly of Cream, laying down tracks for Out of the Storm under the direction of engineer and producer Andy Johns; Steve Hunter played guitar. At Burbank Studios on March 28, 1974, a few weeks after the anniversary jam, some of those celebrating at the Record Plant came together again for another jam, also called "the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour", though it was not hosted or organized by Kellgren, nor was Keltner in attendance. Lennon played with Keys, Davis and Wonder, among others, and McCartney joined in part way through. The raw recordings with their uneven performances were issued as a bootleg album called ''A Toot and a Snore in '74'', the final time that Lennon played with McCartney. 1977 and beyond In July 1977, Kellgren drowned in the swimming pool at his Hollywood home. A business associate of Kellgren was in the house at the time; he called police and reported that Kellgren had recently been in surgery and that he had been swimming in the deep end of the pool. Kellgren's girlfriend and secretary, Kristianne Gaines, also drowned. Gaines, 34, a resident of Los Angeles, was last seen alive sitting on a raft in the pool because she could not swim. Guitarist Ronnie Wood wrote that Kellgren probably died of electric shock while trying to fix some underwater speakers in his pool and that Gaines drowned trying to help him. The loss of his friend and business partner hit Stone hard. Stone was suddenly responsible for keeping all three studios operating, but he concentrated his attention on Los Angeles and slowly began to lose interest in the Sausalito location. During the next 13 months, Studio C was rebuilt and fitted with radical new gear. In February 1979, Stephen Stills became the first major-label American artist to record on digital recording and mastering equipment, a 3M system installed to replace the previous analog system. With engineer Michael Braunstein at the controls, Stills recorded a new version of the song "Cherokee", previously released on his first solo album Stephen Stills. The L.A. operation expanded further in the early 1980s by equipping more remote recording trucks. In 1982, Stone leased sound stages M and L at the Paramount Pictures studio lot for film sound recordings. Soundtracks that the Record Plant tracked and mixed there included Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Annie, 48 Hrs., and An Officer and a Gentleman. The studio was outgrowing its Third Street location. In January 1986, the Record Plant reopened at 1032 Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood in the former Radio Recorders "Annex", a historic studio where Elvis Presley and Louis Armstrong recorded. In 2006, American artist Beyoncé recorded the songs "Green Light" and "Kitty Kat", in addition to parts of the song "Déjà Vu", from her second album ''B'Day at the Plant. In 2010, Beyoncé recorded parts of her 4 album at Record Plant. In 2013, although no songs recorded at Record Plant made it onto her self-titled album, she recorded the song "7/11" at the Plant, which she later released on Beyoncé: Platinum Edition. In 2015, Beyoncé recorded parts of her Lemonade'' album at Record Plant, including the songs "Hold Up" (which she later released as the album's third single) and "6 Inch" featuring the Weeknd. In July 2024, it was reported that the studio would shut down. ==Sausalito==

On October 28, 1972, Kellgren and Stone opened the Northern California location in Sausalito, throwing a Halloween party to celebrate Studio A going online. Ginger Mews, ex-manager of Wally Heider Studios, was named studio manager of Record Plant, and construction continued on the similarly equipped Studio B with completion expected in February 1973. The legal corporation was named Sausalito Music Factory, doing business in Los Angeles and Sausalito as the Record Plant. Kellgren worked with Hidley to design Studio A and Studio B to have the same size and the same "dead" acoustics and both were fitted with Hidley-designed Westlake monitors. The first recording was under producer Al Schmitt, who brought in Mike Finnigan and Jerry Wood as Finnigan & Wood, recording the album Crazed Hipsters. Miles and Donahue promised that their recording business would go to the new studio and that it would be promoted with a live radio show. "Live From the Plant", the resulting radio show, was broadcast on Donahue's album-oriented rock station KSAN from time to time over the next two years, primarily on Sunday nights, and featured various artists such as the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, the Tubes, Peter Frampton, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Pablo Cruise, Rory Gallagher, the Marshall Tucker Band, Jimmy Buffett, Bonnie Raitt, Link Wray, Linda Ronstadt and Fleetwood Mac. KSAN, known as "Jive 95", was the most popular radio station for Bay Area listeners from 18 to 34 years old and the Record Plant broadcasts were widely heard. Donahue died in April 1975 after which fewer concerts were broadcast. A notable later radio show was by Nils Lofgren and his band with a guest appearance by Al Kooper; they performed at the Record Plant's Halloween party in 1975. The Record Plant in Sausalito soon became known as one of the top four recording studios in the San Francisco Bay Area, the other three being the CBS/Automatt (now defunct), Wally Heider Studios (now Hyde Street Studios) and Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. In the first year, the studio worked on projects by Buddy Miles, the Grateful Dead (who booked the whole building in August 1973 to record Wake of the Flood), and on Gregg Allman's first solo album, Laid Back. The quirkiness of the studio extended in many directions. For transporting musicians, Stone owned a limousine with the custom license plate DEDUCT, while Kellgren kept a purple Rolls-Royce displaying GREED on the license plate. The Grateful Dead and their engineer, Dan Healy, reportedly made use of this feature. Al Kooper said "it looked like something out of Thunderdome." The separation between engineer and musician frustrated Stone and he recorded as much as possible down in the actual pit next to the engineers, lowering a Hammond B3 organ into the pit for his own use or positioning the members of a horn section there. Wyman laid down his vocal tracks from a lying-down position, a bottle of brandy in his hand. Most band members complained about the windowless studio and wanted to record at their homes, but Mick Fleetwood blocked this. The band used Studio B with its 3M 24-track tape machine, various studio microphones and an API mixing console with 550A equalizers. Although Caillat was impressed with the setup, he felt that the room lacked ambiance because of its "very dead speakers" and large amounts of soundproofing. In late 1977, 19-year-old Prince recorded his debut album, For You, in Record Plant Sausalito while renting a home nearby. He performed every instrument, every track and produced the album. He spent three times his allotted budget to make this first record, and responded defensively when more experienced producers made suggestions in the studio. At the Record Plant, he met Stone, Chaka Khan and Carlos Santana, three musicians he greatly admired. For You was criticized as over-produced and did not sell well. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours went platinum in 1977. The band Pablo Cruise recorded two platinum-certified albums at the Record Plant, A Place in the Sun (1977) and Worlds Away (1978). Cory Lerios, keyboardist and vocalist for Pablo Cruise, said that in recording "the better part of four albums" at the Record Plant, drug use enabled jam sessions that could last up to 36 hours. "It was a great time, no question," Lerios said. Another platinum album that came out of Record Plant Sausalito in 1978 was Dan Fogelberg's Twin Sons of Different Mothers, a collaboration with Tim Weisberg on flute. 1980s Singer, composer and producer Rick James became a fixture at the Record Plant beginning in mid-1981. He recorded all of Street Songs in Studios A and B and it went multiple platinum, driven by its hit songs "Super Freak" and "Give It to Me Baby". Stone said of the sale, "she bought Record Plant Sausalito because if she owned the studio she could go backstage at concerts." The studio business became known as "The Plant Studios" or simply "The Plant". In 1982, Necochea funded two new Trident TSM mixing consoles for Studios A and B. In order to accommodate the hard rock band 707, studio manager and chief technician Terry Delsing redesigned and ordered extensive acoustic modifications to Studio A. This included adding louvered ceiling panels to control the reverberation characteristics. Studio B's control room was enlarged from and a new studio monitoring system was installed, the Meyer Sound Laboratories ACD, John Meyer's first loudspeaker product. Necochea died a year later at age 23. Jacox selected Jim Gaines as general manager; Gaines was a Stax/Volt veteran and a past manager of the Automatt. After Jacox's arrest, the Record Plant Sausalito studio was owned by the federal government, who ran it with a skeleton crew for 14 months. Some observers jokingly called it "Club Fed" during this time, effective on the first day of 1987. In 1988, Skye recruited recording engineer Arne Frager as a partner and Frager bought him out in late 1993. Frager remodeled Studio A for Metallica and producer Bob Rock in 1993–1995, raising the roof from high for a bigger drum sound. The remodeling included the installation of an SSL 4000 G series console. He gave Studio B a vintage desk, a Neve 8068 with 64 inputs and GML Automation, purchased from the L.A. Record Plant. The former Pit/Studio C, renamed Mix 1, was given an SSL 8000 G series board for stereo and surround sound mixes. The sunken control area that had been created for the Pit was fitted with custom subwoofers. Mix 1 was eventually renamed "the Garden", an oval-shaped mix room designed by Frager and Manny LaCarruba. The Garden was a reverse-design studio where the larger tracking room was the new control room and the old control room was used for overdubs. Metallica's S&M was mixed in the Garden. Recording artists who worked at the Plant during this period include Sammy Hagar, Kenny G, Mariah Carey, Michael Bolton, Luther Vandross, Jerry Harrison, Chris Isaak, the Dave Matthews Band, Papa Wheelie, Deftones and Booker T. Jones. Santana's huge comeback album, Supernatural, was made at the Plant and released in 1999. In 2007, Journey returned to the Plant with a new singer, Arnel Pineda, to create Revelation, their biggest album in over two decades. In 2005, vintage guitar collector Michael Indelicato bought the building, with Frager continuing to run the studios, but large recording studios were no longer profiting from 1970s- and 1980s-era recording budgets. Bob Welch once observed, "You had to have a major-label budget to afford places like the Record Plant, with all of the perks – the Jacuzzi, the decor, the psychedelic atmosphere". By the 2000s, bands were using their smaller budgets to buy their own recording equipment. Metallica, formerly an important client, built their own recording studio and did not book any time at the Plant. Frager asked Indelicato to invest in what he saw as a much-needed rejuvenation of the building, but Indelicato was overextended in his finances and could not help. Indelicato shut the doors in March 2008 after the Fray finished recording in studio B. Shortly thereafter, Indelicato's $5.5 million home in Tiburon was reclaimed by his mortgage company and he used the Plant as his residence. ==Sausalito facility reopening, and legal action regarding historic name==

In March 2020, the Record Plant, Sausalito was purchased by a group of investors, spearheaded by Ken Caillat, the co-producer of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours at the Record Plant. On June 19, 2021, the Record Plant Sausalito's soft launch, its name was officially changed to the Record Factory. Following court claims by a legal entity purporting to represent the mark holders for Record Plant Sausalito, in 2024 the site opened for business rebranded under the name "2200 Studios". ==Selected list of albums recorded at Record Plant New York (by year)==

• Soft Machine: The Soft Machine – 1968 • The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Electric Ladyland – 1968 • NRBQ: NRBQ – 1968 • James Gang: James Gang Rides Again – 1970 • Mountain: Climbing! – 1970 • Sly and the Family Stone: ''There's a Riot Goin' On'' – 1971 • Don McLean: American Pie – 1971 • Alice Cooper: ''School's Out'' – 1972 • Flo & Eddie: Flo & Eddie – 1972 • Return to Forever: Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy – 1973 • New York Dolls: New York Dolls – 1973 • Elliott Murphy: Aquashow – 1973 • The Allman Brothers Band: Brothers and Sisters – 1973 • The Isley Brothers: 3 + 3 – 1973 • Jonathan Edwards: Have a Good Time for Me – 1973 • Stevie Wonder: Innervisions – 1973 • Kansas: Kansas – 1973 • Aerosmith: Get Your Wings – 1974 • Three Dog Night: Hard Labor – 1974 • Lou Reed: ''Rock 'n' Roll Animal'' – 1974 (live remote recording) • Return to Forever: No Mystery – 1975 • Bruce Springsteen: Born to Run – 1975 • Artful Dodger: Honor Among Thieves – 1975 • Aerosmith: Toys in the Attic – 1975 • Outlaws: Outlaws – 1975 • Eric Clapton: EC Was Here – 1975 (live remote recording) • Kiss: Destroyer – 1976 • Patti Smith Group: Radio Ethiopia – 1976 • Johnny Hartman: Johnny Hartman, Johnny Hartman – 1976 • Moxy: ''Ridin' High'' – 1977 • Cheap Trick: Cheap Trick – 1977 • Kiss: Love Gun – 1977 • Blue Öyster Cult: Spectres – 1977 • Jackson Browne: Running on Empty – 1977 (live remote recording) • Patti Smith Group: Easter – 1977 • Bruce Springsteen: Darkness on the Edge of Town – 1978 • Blondie: Parallel Lines – 1978 • Prince: For You – 1978 (debut album) • After the Fire: Laser Love – 1979 • Jefferson Starship: Freedom at Point Zero – 1979 • Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps – 1979 • Garland Jeffreys: American Boy & Girl – 1979 • David Bowie: Lodger – 1979 • Kiss: Dynasty – 1979 • Talking Heads: Fear of Music – 1979 • Joan Armatrading: Me Myself I – 1980 • Holly and the Italians: The Right to Be Italian – 1980 • Kiss: Unmasked – 1980 • John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy – 1980 • Iggy Pop: Soldier – 1980 (mixing) • Jim Steinman: Bad for Good – 1981 • Simon & Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park – 1981 (live remote recording) • The Rolling Stones: Still Life – 1981 (live remote recording) • Jefferson Starship: Modern Times – 1981 • After the Fire: Batteries Not Included – 1982 • After the Fire: "Der Kommissar" – 1982 (single) • Cyndi Lauper: ''She's So Unusual'' – 1983 • Jefferson Starship: Nuclear Furniture – 1984 • Prince: Purple Rain – 1984 (live remote recording) • Cock Robin: Cock Robin – 1985 • Journey: Raised on Radio – 1986 • U2: Rattle and Hum – 1988 (live remote recording) • Raging Slab: Raging Slab – 1989 • Beastie Boys: ''Paul's Boutique'' – 1989 • Neil Young: Freedom – 1989 • Guns N' Roses: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II – 1991 • Guns N' Roses: "The Spaghetti Incident?" – 1993 ==Producers and engineers associated with Record Plant New York==

• Tony Bongiovi (house engineer) • Roy Cicala (house engineer) • Ray Colcord (producer) • Jack Douglas (producer) • Lillian Davis Douma (a.k.a. Llyllianne Douma; house engineer, New York/Los Angeles) • Sam Ginsberg (house engineer) • Phil Gitomer (remote truck engineer) • David Hewitt (remote engineer, director of remote recording, 1972–1985) • Jimmy Iovine (engineer, producer) • Gary Kellgren (co-founder, producer, engineer) • Harry Maslin (record producer, house engineer) • Norman Mershon (remote truck engineer) • Jay Messina (engineer) • Ron Nevison (senior staff engineer, 1974–1977; producer – Los Angeles/Sausalito) • Tommy Ramone (engineer) • Jimmy Robinson (producer, engineer) • Carmine Rubino (lead engineer) • Mike D. Stone (engineer, New York/Los Angeles; Chris Stone's nephew) • Sandy Stone (house engineer, maintenance) • John L. Venable (remote truck engineer) • Shelly Yakus (house engineer) • Stan Vincent (producer / engineer) ==Selected list of albums recorded at Record Plant Los Angeles (by year)==

• James Gang: James Gang Rides Again – 1970 • B.B. King: Indianola Mississippi Seeds – 1970 • Mountain: Flowers of Evil – 1971 • Black Sabbath: Black Sabbath Vol. 4 – 1972 • America: Homecoming – 1972 • The Isley Brothers: 3 + 3 – 1973 • Bee Gees: Life in a Tin Can – 1973 • America: Hat Trick – 1973 • Billy Joel: Piano Man – 1973 • Deep Purple: Stormbringer – 1974 • Eagles: On the Border – 1974 • Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping – 1974 • Joe Walsh: So What – 1974 • Frank Zappa: One Size Fits All – 1974 • Frank Zappa: Bongo Fury – 1974 • Frank Zappa: Studio Tan – 1974 • Tom Waits: Nighthawks at the Diner – 1975 • The Tubes: The Tubes – 1975 • The Allman Brothers Band: Win, Lose or Draw – 1975 • Paris: Paris – 1976 (Recorded in Studio "C" in Los Angeles and the "Pit" in Sausalito) • Boston: Boston – 1976 • Fleetwood Mac: Rumours – 1976 • Eagles: Hotel California – 1976 • Dave Mason: Let It Flow – 1977 • Supertramp: Even in the Quietest Moments... – 1977 • Peter Criss: Peter Criss – 1978 • Paul Stanley: Paul Stanley – 1978 • Cheap Trick: Heaven Tonight – 1978 • Moody Blues: Octave – 1978 • REO Speedwagon: ''You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish'' – 1978 • Cheap Trick: Dream Police – 1979 • Blue Öyster Cult: Mirrors – 1979 • Jefferson Starship: Freedom at Point Zero – 1979 • Devo: Freedom of Choice – 1980 • Survivor: Survivor – 1980 • Ozark Mountain Daredevils: Ozark Mountain Daredevils – 1980 • Chicago: Chicago XIV – 1980 • Rod Stewart: Foolish Behaviour – 1980 • Rod Stewart: ''Tonight I'm Yours'' – 1981 • Black Sabbath: Mob Rules – 1981 • Jefferson Starship: Modern Times – 1981 • Quarterflash: Quarterflash – 1981 • Village People: Renaissance - 1981 • Devo: New Traditionalists – 1981 • Kiss: Killers – 1982 • Fleetwood Mac: Mirage – 1982 • Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Long After Dark – 1982 • Kiss: Creatures of the Night – 1982 • Rod Stewart: Body Wishes – 1983 • Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project – 1983 • Queen: The Works – 1984 • Devo: Shout – 1984 • Survivor: Vital Signs – 1984 • Yngwie J. Malmsteen: Rising Force – 1984 • Rough Cutt: Rough Cutt – 1984 • Heart: Heart – 1985 (also in Sausalito) • Twisted Sister: Come Out and Play – 1985 • Iron Maiden: Live After Death – 1985 (live remote recording, LA shows only, Long Beach Arena) • Autograph: ''That's the Stuff'' – 1985 • Judas Priest: Turbo – 1986 • Andy Taylor: Thunder – 1987 • Suicidal Tendencies: Join the Army – 1987 • Guns N' Roses: Appetite for Destruction – 1987 • Rod Stewart: Out of Order – 1988 • Jefferson Airplane: Jefferson Airplane – 1989 • Beastie Boys: ''Paul's Boutique'' – 1989 • Whitesnake: Slip of the Tongue – 1989 • Crosby, Stills & Nash: Live It Up – 1990 • Stephen Stills: Stills Alone – 1991 • Danzig: Danzig III: How the Gods Kill – 1992 • Damn Yankees: ''Don't Tread'' – 1992 • Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral – 1994 • Luis Miguel: Segundo Romance – 1994 • Tears for Fears: Raoul and the Kings of Spain – 1994 • Marilyn Manson: Portrait of an American Family – 1994 • Luis Miguel: Nada Es Igual – 1996 • Hole: Celebrity Skin – 1998 • Elton John & Tim Rice: The Road to El Dorado (soundtrack) – 2000 • Mushroomhead: XX – 2001 • Robbie Williams: Escapology – 2002 • Brandy: Afrodisiac – 2004 • Vanessa Carlton: Harmonium – 2004 • Kanye West: The College Dropout – 2004 • Kanye West: Late Registration – 2005 • Evanescence: The Open Door – 2006 • Ayumi Hamasaki: Secret – 2006 • Christina Aguilera: Back to Basics – 2006 • Beyoncé: ''B'Day'' – 2006 • Kanye West: Graduation – 2007 • will.i.am: Songs About Girls – 2007 • Ayumi Hamasaki: Guilty – 2008 • Lady Gaga: The Fame – 2008 • Ayumi Hamasaki: Next Level – 2009 • Amerie: In Love & War – 2009 • Lady Gaga: The Fame Monster – 2009 • Mos Def: The Ecstatic – 2009 • Britney Spears: Femme Fatale – 2011 • Beyoncé: 4 – 2011 • The Offspring: Days Go By – 2012 • Lady Gaga: ARTPOP – 2013 • Justin Bieber: Purpose – 2015 • Travis Scott: Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight – 2016 • Beyoncé: Lemonade – 2016 • Ariana Grande: Thank U, Next – 2019 ==Selected list of albums recorded at Record Plant Sausalito (by year)==

Some notable albums recorded and/or mixed at the Plant Studios include: • Pharoah Sanders: Thembi – 1971 • New Riders of the Purple Sage: The Adventures of Panama Red – 1972 • Sly and the Family Stone: Fresh – 1973 • The Wailers: ''Talkin' Blues'' – 1973 • Grateful Dead: Wake of the Flood – 1973 • America: Hearts – 1975 • Paris: Paris – 1976 • Fleetwood Mac: Rumours – 1976 (finished at Wally Heider Studios, Sound City Studios, Los Angeles, California) • Skyhooks: Straight in a Gay Gay World – 1976 • Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life – 1976 • Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg: Twin Sons of Different Mothers – 1978 • Prince: For You – 1978 • Rick James: Fire It Up – 1979 • Rick James: Garden of Love – 1980 • Rick James: Street Songs – 1981 (also Motown/Hitsville U.S.A., Hollywood, California) • Maze: Joy and Pain – 1980 • Marty Balin: Balin – 1981 • Huey Lewis and the News: Sports – 1983 (also Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California and the Automatt, San Francisco, California) • The Mary Jane Girls: Mary Jane Girls – 1983 • Grace Slick: Software – 1984 • Jefferson Starship: Nuclear Furniture – 1984 • Heart: Heart – 1985 (also Los Angeles) • John Fogerty: Centerfield – 1985 • Huey Lewis and the News: Fore! – 1986 • Todd Rundgren: Nearly Human – 1989 • Queen Ida: ''Cookin' with Queen Ida'' – 1989 • Mother Love Bone: Apple – 1990 • Mariah Carey: Emotions – 1991 • Mariah Carey: Music Box – 1993 • The Verve Pipe: Villains – 1996 • Metallica: Load – 1996 • Metallica: ReLoad – 1997 • Joe Satriani: Crystal Planet – 1998 • Dave Matthews Band: Before These Crowded Streets – 1998 • Guster: Lost and Gone Forever – 1999 • Carlos Santana: Supernatural – 1999 (also Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California) • Third Eye Blind: Blue – 1999 • Deftones: White Pony – 2000 • Dave Matthews Band: Busted Stuff – 2002 • Papa Wheelie: Live Lycanthropy – 2002 • The Fray: The Fray – 2009 ==References==