The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (also known as the RSM) is a mobile
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 enou ...
inside a DAF F1600 Turbo truck, once owned by the English
rock band
the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically dr ...
. Numerous bands and artists have recorded music using the RSM, including
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
,
Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and per ...
,
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Originally formed as ...
,
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...
,
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...
,
Horslips,
Nazareth
Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...
,
Bad Company
Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...
,
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. ...
,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
,
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...
,
Wishbone Ash
Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular albums included '' Wishbone Ash'' (1970), ''Pilgrimage'' (1971), '' Argus'' (1972), '' Wishbone Four'' (1973), ''There's the Rub'' (1974), and ...
,
Motorhead and the Rolling Stones themselves. Today, the RSM resides at the
National Music Centre
The National Music Centre (NMC; french: Centre nationale de musique) is a non-profit museum and performance venue located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The centre's permanent building, branded Studio Bell, is located at 850 4th Street S.E. in Dow ...
in Calgary.
History
The concept for the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio came about in 1968 when the Rolling Stones, tired of the 9-to-5 limitations of commercial recording studios and being billed for studio time sometimes spent rehearsing or composing, decided to find a way to record at
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...
's new
Stargroves country estate. Since recording at this residential location would require all of the necessary recording equipment to be transported to Jagger's house, the band's road manager and pianist
Ian Stewart introduced the idea of building a recording studio control room within a truck.
Under Stewart's guidance, a number of top engineers and producers, including
Glyn Johns
Glyn Thomas Johns (born 15 February 1942) is an English musician, recording engineer and record producer.
Biography
Early history
Johns was born in Epsom, Surrey, England. He had three siblings, two older sisters and a younger brother, Andy ...
, were consulted in the project's creation, which was then taken to Dick Swettenham's company
Helios Electronics. Known for making mixing consoles for some of the most exclusive studios of the time, the company then produced the first working version of the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
Originally only intended for use by the Rolling Stones, the RSM soon gained popularity with other rock bands, such as
the Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
,
the Faces, and
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...
. Several classic albums were recorded with the Mobile Studio, including most of Led Zeppelin's ''
Led Zeppelin III
''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling Stones Mobil ...
'' (1970) and ''
Led Zeppelin IV
The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV'', was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and F ...
'' (1971), much of the Rolling Stones' ''
Sticky Fingers'' (1971) and ''
Exile on Main St.'' (1972), as well as the Stones' 1969 Hyde Park concert. The unit was used in a large variety of locations, everywhere from halls to barns to castles and the
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...
at
Montreux
Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approxima ...
, Switzerland. During the making of the sixth Deep Purple album, ''
Machine Head
A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...
'', the Mobile nearly caught fire as it stood next to the casino, which was set ablaze during a
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...
concert. This incident became the inspiration behind Deep Purple's most famous song, "
Smoke on the Water
"Smoke on the Water" is a song by English rock band Deep Purple, first released from the band's sixth studio album ''Machine Head'' (1972), which chronicles the 1971 fire at Montreux Casino.
In a 2004 publication by ''Rolling Stone'' magaz ...
", which mentioned the Mobile in the lyrics ("We all came out to Montreux ... to make records with a mobile") and later referred to the Mobile as the "Rolling truck Stones thing".
In Spring 1973,
Tapani Tapanainen
Tapani Talo (born Tapani Tapanainen in 1950) is a Finnish-American architect, who has also worked as an audio engineer. He is best known from Rolling Stones Mobile studio technician in early and mid 1970s.
Career
Born in Lahti, Finland in 1950, ...
was hired as the RSM's permanent assistant sound engineer. During
the Rolling Stones 1973 European Tour, Mick McKenna joined the RSM and, working with Ian Stewart until his death in 1985, undertook the future development of the mobile studio to suit the changing patterns of work. From 1974 to 1975, the RSM was upgraded significantly. The 16-track recorder was upgraded to a 24-track recorder, and 12 new inputs were added to the existing 20, for a total of 32 inputs. Additionally, a large amount of work was done to improve the acoustic sound of the unit.
[
By the 1980s, the pattern of work had shifted towards more broadcast-oriented products, mostly for major UK clients such as ]LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
, BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and others. This prompted the inclusion of a synchronizing computer in 1982. This computer enabled audio and video tapes to be run in perfect time, which allowed the Mobile to record a show and then provide finished audio ready for transmission. This feature made it possible to provide the entire sound for several TV series incorporating such artists as
.
, who in 1987 created the Ambition Invention Motivation Success project (the AIMS project), which was a vehicle to give young bands around the country a chance to work out of the Mobile Studio and produce a top-quality demo. The blue livery and yellow sign writing were applied as the colours of the project's sponsor
. Producers Terry Taylor and Mick McKenna worked on about 60 tracks during the course of the project, which culminated with a final show at the
in February 1988.
The Mobile was subsequently returned to the commercial marketplace, which had become extremely competitive, both financially and technically. It remained in operation until its closure in April 1993. The last recordings made by it were with Mick's brother
.
In 1996 the Mobile, still in its original form, was sold through auction at Bonham’s and taken to the US by
in New York City. After a bit of technical service, it was put into action in the underground music scene in New York, making recordings including live performances of
, and nearly 30 other bands at the Continental for the ''Best of NYC Hardcore'' album.
The unit is currently owned by the
in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Cantos Music Collection acquired it in November 2001).