HISTORY>>

Introduction

The Early Years
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The Next Step

Turnabout

Unusual Tastes

The Early Years - Page 3

The first San Francisco room completed and put into service by May, 1969 was Studio C. The original staff included Mel Tanner; General Manager, Ginger Mews; booking, Harry Sitam; tech, and Russ Gary, staff engineer. As well as luring bands with up-to-date technology, Heider instructed his staff to do anything needed to make their clients happy. Ginger Mews recalls a day when Heider came in and bellowed, “If they (the clients) come in here and say, 'Lie down, Ginger,' so they can walk on you, you lie down!” Grace Slick reportedly wanted to be surrounded by a ring of light while doing her vocals on Jefferson Airplane tracks. Heider promply installed 12 light canisters on the ceiling of Studio A in the shape of a circle, with different colors at the poles of the compass.

Studio shapes and sizes that have been successful are often used as models for new studios and live chambers, and Wally definitely built on these concepts. Restraints like building shape, hallways and local building codes intersected to create the first incarnation of Studio C. The C dimensions were basically the same as Studio 3 in Hollywood, but the long side of the room was parallel to the control room as opposed to being at the end. At the request of the Grateful Dead, Studio C's entry doors were “covered with airbrushed paintings,” recalls current owner Michael Ward, who bought the studio in 1980. The design avoided perfectly parallel walls, with square “mid-range/diffuser/absorber/gypsum devices--we call them Wheat Chex--everywhere, like some sort of geometric disease,” describes Ward. Studios A and D at the time were still under construction in the summer of 1969 and were not operational until a few months later.

As far as we can ascertain, the first released work out of 245 Hyde and Studio C was the Jefferson Airplane’s “Volunteers”; which also was the band’s first to be recorded in their hometown. Next, Harry Nilsson recorded all his vocal tracks for the brilliant “Nilsson Sings Newman” LP for RCA. Then by August, Creedence’s “Green River” album (following “Willie And The Poor Boys” also cut at Heider’s) was being recorded by Russ Gary in the daytime with Crosby Stills Nash and Young taking the night slot from 7pm to 1-3 am with Bill Halverson mixing and Stephen Barncard assisting on both sessions. Glyn Johns recorded tracks for the Steve Miller Band.

Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded more than four albums in Studio C between 1969 and 1970, from Green River through Cosmo's Factory and part of Pendulum. In fact, Cosmo's Factory was named for Studio C, the hit factory that had been so kind to them. Ironically, CCR's label, Fantasy Records, used its share of CCR profits to build a world-class studio across the bay from Heider's in Berkeley, the competition from which may have been partially responsible for Heider's eventual drop in business and later sale of the studio.