Pacific Recorders (also referred to as Pacific Recording) was an independent

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

. Founded in 1968, the studio was the location for recordings by such notable artists as

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...

, the

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 ...

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966. Part of San Francisco's psychedelic music scene, the band merged elements of rock and roll, folk music, pop, blues, and country. They were one of the few groups of which all members were lea ...

, and Taj Majal.

History

Pacific Recorders was founded in 1968 by guitarist and Mojo Men co-founder Paul Curcio, with equipment assembled by Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor of the

's sound crew. The studio was located at 1737 South El Camino Real in San Mateo, California. The studio's chief engineer, Ron Wickersham, was also a design engineer at nearby

Ampex Ampex Data Systems Corporation is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name ''AMPEX'' is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excell ...

, and Pacific Recording obtained the first Ampex MM-1000 16-track recorder in the Bay Area (and only the second in the U.S.). Wickersham designed and built a

mixing console A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for Audio mixing (recorded music), mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals fro ...

to accommodate the 16 tracks, making Pacific the first 16-track studio in the Bay Area. Wickersham left after less than a year to join the Grateful Dead's sound team and co-found

Alembic An alembic (from , originating from , 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids. Description The complete distilling apparatus consists of three parts: * the "" ...

with wife and company CEO Susan Wickersham, who he met at the studio.

Blue Cheer Blue Cheer was an American rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009. Based in San Francisco, Blue Cheer played in a psychedelic blues rock or acid rock style. The ...

recorded their 1968 album, ''

Outsideinside ''Outsideinside'' is the second album by American rock trio Blue Cheer. Philips Records released the album in August 1968, only seven months after their debut LP, '' Vincebus Eruptum''. The album was recorded both outdoors and indoors—hence th ...

'', at Pacific, and

recorded their eponymous debut studio album at the studio the following year, and returned in 1970 to record portions of its follow-up, ''

Abraxas Abraxas (, variant form romanized: ) is a word of mystic meaning in the system of the Gnostic Basilides, being there applied to the "Great Archon" (), the princeps of the 365 spheres (). The word is found in Gnostic texts such as the '' Holy ...

''. The

, who had been recording their third studio album at the similarly-named Pacific High Recording in San Francisco, was so interested in exploring the possibilities of 16-track recording that they moved to Pacific Recorders and re-recorded the entire album. In 1970,

the Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five decades, with their greate ...

recorded their eponymous debut album at Pacific Other albums recorded at the studio included

's '' 20 Granite Creek'' (1971), Taj Mahal's '' Happy Just to Be Like I Am'' (1971), and Crazy Horse's ''

Loose (Crazy Horse album) ''Loose'' is a 1972 album by the rock band Crazy Horse (band), Crazy Horse, the follow-up to their self-titled debut. It marked the departure of founding guitarist Danny Whitten, as well as Jack Nitzsche and Nils Lofgren. In their place for this ...

'' (1972). In 1972,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

recorded '' Crossings'' at the studio. From 1969 through 1973, producer

David Rubinson David Rubinson (born August 7, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York)Internet Movie DatabaseMini-Biography of David Rubinson Retrieved 2012-06-05.as of 2017 it's 1962? is an American recording engineer and music producer, who was particularly involved in music ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Fred Catero Fred Catero (February 4, 1933 – October 6, 2022) was an American record producer and engineer. Catero was originally from New York City, where he worked for CBS Records/Columbia, recording artists such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. In ...

utilized Pacific Recording for numerous Fillmore Records and San Francisco Records projects. Curcio left Pacific in 1978 and founded Arrow Recording Studios. He would go on to found Music America Studios in 1982, where he produced Metallica's debut studio album, ''

Kill 'Em All ''Kill 'Em All'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los A ...

''.

References

{{Coord, 37.55154, -122.31302, display=title Recording studios in California Music of the San Francisco Bay Area