Golden State Recorders was a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

recording studio owned by

Leo De Gar Kulka Leo De Gar Kulka (February 17, 1921 – March 17, 1998) was a Czech-born American record producer, recording engineer and educator. Starting in Los Angeles at Autumn Records in the 1960s, he later founded the San Francisco studio Golden State Re ...

. Some of the albums recorded at the studio were Brewer & Shipley's second album ''

Weeds A weed is an unwanted plant of any species. Weed or weeds may also refer to: Places * Weed, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States * Weed, California, a city in the United States * Weed, Kentucky, an unincorporated communit ...

'' in 1969, sessions for

The Beau Brummels The Beau Brummels were an American rock band. Formed in San Francisco in 1964, the band's original lineup included Sal Valentino (lead vocals), Ron Elliott (lead guitar), Ron Meagher (bass guitar), Declan Mulligan (rhythm guitar, bass, harm ...

originally recorded between 1964–1966 and released as ''

San Fran Sessions ''San Fran Sessions'' is a box set compilation which collects 60 demos, outtakes, rarities and unissued performances recorded by The Beau Brummels from 1964 to 1966. The three-disc set, released by Sundazed Music on June 11, 1996, includes alter ...

'' in 1996, and The Grateful Dead's '' Birth of the Dead'', recorded in 1965 and released in 2003.

History

The recording studio was opened by Kulka when he came to San Francisco in 1964. It was located at 665 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA. It has been alleged in a

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

article that The Great Society were doing sessions in Golden State for what would be the release of "Somebody to Love" b/w "Free Advice", it took 286 takes to get it right. The producer was

Sly Stone Sylvester Stewart (March 15, 1943 – June 9, 2025), better known by his stage name Sly Stone, was an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He was the frontman of Sly and the Family Stone, playing a critical role in the development ...

. Some of the artists to come through the studio in the 1960s were

Mike Bloomfield Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrume ...

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American painter and retired musician whose musical career spanned four decades. She was a prominent figure in San Francisco's psychedelic music scene during the mid-1960s to the earl ...

and Sly Stone. In 1966, the Syndicate of Sound recorded their national hit Little Girl (Syndicate of Sound song) at Golden State Recorders In 1967, some of the emerging acts geared towards the modern sound of the day to be recorded at the studio were, Bristol Boxkite, the Incorporates, Living Children, Poor Souls, Rear Exit, Stone Hinge and Ticket Angents. The producers that were working with him on these acts were Marty Cooper, Larry Goldberg, Jim Marino, Hank Levine and Don Ralke. In the mid-1970s, the studio had acquired a Neumann disc mastering facility which according to Kulka was the most advanced in the area. In addition, most of what was taking place at the studio were connected with Kulka's College for the Recording Arts which was being used to teach students the aspects of sound recording. Founder Kulka died on March 17, 1998, at age 77. Chief engineer David Tonelli died on January 14, 2014, aged 65.

Staff

* Leo De Gar Kulka – Owner * Brad Miller – Vice president, general manager *

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

– Receptionist (rumored) * Vance Frost – Assistant engineer 1968, Chief engineer and manager 1971–78 * David Tonelli – Chief Engineer * Rob Masud – ? * Marty Cooper – Producer * Larry Goldberg – Producer * Jim Marino – Producer * Hank Levine – Producer * Don Ralke – Producer

Album highlights

* ''The Love Exchange'' (1968) – The Love Exchange * ''

'' (1969) –

Brewer & Shipley Brewer & Shipley were an American folk rock duo who enjoyed their peak success in the late 1960s through the 1970s. The duo consisted of singer-songwriters Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley. They were known for their intricate guitar work, vocal ha ...

* ''Loosen Up Naturally'', ''The Sons'' (both 1969) –

Sons of Champlin The Sons of Champlin are an American rock band, from Marin County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, formed in 1965. They are fronted by vocalist-keyboardist-guitarist Bill Champlin, who, after leaving the group in 1977, joined the roc ...

Later releases of early recordings

* '' Birth of the Dead'' –

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...

; Autumn Sessions, November 1965 * ''Slyfest Freshest Funkiest Rarest Cuts'' –

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul music, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel music, gospel, and R&B, becam ...

; four tracks recorded in 1966; Michael Briggs was the co-producer; released 1995avxhom
Sly & The Family Stone - Slyest Freshest Funkiest Rarest Cuts (1995)Drums
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'' –

; originally recorded 1964–1966, released 1996 * ''

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

'' –

Vince Guaraldi Vincent Anthony Guaraldi (; birth name, né Dellaglio, July 17, 1928 – February 6, 1976) was an American jazz pianist best known for composing music for animated television adaptations of the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. His compositions for this s ...

; originally recorded March 1971, released 2004

History

Staff

Album highlights

Later releases of early recordings

References

Further reading