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

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ; ) is a city in San Mateo County, California, on the San Francisco Peninsula. About 20 miles (32 km) south of San Francisco, the city borders Burlingame to the north, Hillsborough to the west, San Francisco Bay and Foster C ...

. 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 Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

, the

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

Moby Grape Moby Grape is an American rock band founded in 1966, known for having all five members contribute to singing and songwriting, and who collectively merged elements of folk music, blues, country, and jazz with rock and psychedelic music. They were ...

, 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 is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff as a spin-off of Dalmo-Victor. The name AMPEX is a portmanteau, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence.AbramsoThe History ...

, 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 mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic inst ...

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 ar, الإنبيق, al-inbīq, originating from grc, ἄμβιξ, ambix, 'cup, beaker') is an alchemical still consisting of two vessels connected by a tube, used for distillation of liquids. Description The complete disti ...

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, and ...

recorded their 1968 album, ''

Outsideinside ''Outsideinside'' is the second album by American power 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 the ...

'', 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 ( grc-x-biblical, ἀβραξάς, 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 foun ...

''. The

, who had been recording their third studio album at the similarly-named

Pacific High Recording Pacific High Recording (also referred to as Pacific High Studios) was an independent recording studio in San Francisco. Founded in 1968, the studio was part of the San Francisco sound and the location for recordings by such notable artists as S ...

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 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

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)'' (1972). In 1972,

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he help ...

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 Audio engineer, engineer

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. Invit ...

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 American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded severa ...

''.

References

{{coord missing, San Mateo County, California Recording studios in California Music of the San Francisco Bay Area