Gary Kellgren

Gary Kellgren (April 7, 1939 – July 20, 1977) was an American audio engineer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios, along with businessman Chris Stone.

Career

Engineering Kellgren was a successful and well respected audio engineer (and occasional record producer) during the 1960s and 1970s. He began working at Apostolic Studios, Scepter Studios, and Mayfair Studios with musicians including Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, and Wes Farrell. "Mayfair Studios were the best in New York, and Kellgren was the king of the advanced eight-track board."

Kellgren was an early user of "phasing", a studio technique which simulates the sound of a jet engine. He is also credited with pioneering other "psychedelic" sound effects, such as "flanging", a sound which is sometimes confused with automatic double tracking (ADT).

He worked with musicians including John Lennon, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Mick Jagger, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman, Jimi Hendrix, B. B. King, Bobby Goldsboro, the Animals, Stevie Wonder, Carole King, Frank Zappa, Sly and the Family Stone, The Velvet Underground, CSNY, Rod Stewart, Ravi Shankar, Keith Moon, Barbra Streisand, and Neil Diamond. He also worked with producers such as Wes Farrell, Tom Wilson, Chas Chandler, Jack Douglas, Robert Margouleff, Phil Spector, and Bill Szymczyk.

He conceived of, and was responsible for, all the "Live at the Record Plant" recording sessions as well as the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour; was sought out by George Harrison to record the Concert For Bangladesh which was later ranked as being No. 9 of the 50 Greatest Moments at Madison Square Garden; he also did the remote concert recording starring James Brown for the Muhammad Ali/George Foreman fight, "Rumble in the Jungle", in Zaire in 1974. He contributed spoken dialog to the Mothers of Invention's 1968 album We're Only in It for the Money, which he engineered as well. "I was there when he recorded Barbra Streisand, Paul Anka", said his business partner, Chris Stone: He recorded Anka for years. Everything he touched in the studio was a hit. Gary is remarkable in the studio. He really is ... He has engineered and produced records for Ron Wood and Bill Wyman. Even if he had done nothing else in his life, Kellgren would be famous among musicians for a jam he produced in March 1975, a never-released song called "Too Many Cooks". Present for the session were John Lennon, Stevie Wonder, Billy Preston, Mick Jagger, Al Wilson, Harry Nilsson, Jim Keltner, Ringo Starr, and Danny Kootch. The song was aptly titled. And when Kellgren and his partner Chris Stone opened the Record Plant, it was Kellgren's concept to bring color, artistic design, hotel-like comforts and services to the world of recording studios along with state-of-the-art technology and acoustical design.

In an interview for Mix magazine, Stone stated:

"There are tales told by the campfire, where rock mythology is discussed, that say the atmosphere created in that first studio and the ones to follow was so close to a good home and a fine hotel that songs were written to immortalize that special state of mind ... It is safe to surmise that no other 'facility' has ever lent so much of a creative edge to the works of art at hand."

Record Plant In 1967, Kellgren and Stone built the first of the three Record Plant Recording Studios in Manhattan. Kellgren was the creative and recording side, Stone the business side, and their third partner, Ancky Johnson, Revlon heiress, provided the financial backing. Kellgren had already been working with many of the top artists of the day, like Hendrix, so when he opened the Record Plant, they followed. Mitch Mitchell: "We went there [the Record Plant NY] because Gary Kellgren, who we'd worked with at Mayfair, had raised the money with a partner and managed to start the Record Plant." The NY Record Plant was booked solid for three months in advance at the time of the opening.

The first album to come out of there was Electric Ladyland by Jimi Hendrix. Stone later said in an interview that Gary, having worked all night, would very often be out cold on the couch, with Jimi still in the studio glaring through the haze at the speakers. They would sometimes go three and four days without stopping. Out of those sessions came Electric Ladyland, the Record Plant's first record. Other people have taken credit for the record, but about ninety percent of it was done in Studio A in New York with Gary and Jimi. The incident was called "a double accidental drowning" by the police. Two days later, an investigator told reporters that there was no indication of "foul play".

Discography

Albums 1967: Chelsea Girl (Nico) – Engineer 1967: Down To Middle Earth (The Hobbits) – Engineer 1967: The Eyes of the Beacon Street Union (Beacon Street Union) – Engineer 1967: San Franciscan Nights (Eric Burdon & the Animals) – Engineer 1967: Winds of Change (Eric Burdon & the Animals) – Remixing 1967: The Velvet Underground & Nico (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer, Mixing 1968: The Twain Shall Meet (Eric Burdon & the Animals) – Remixing 1968: The Clown Died in Marvin Gardens (Beacon Street Union) – Engineer 1968: New Grass (Albert Ayler) – Engineer 1968: I Could Have Danced All Night (Central Nervous System) – Engineer 1968: Fraternity of Man (Fraternity of Man) – Remixing 1968: Harumi (Harumi) – Engineer, Remixing 1968: Electric Ladyland (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer 1968: Cristo Redentor (Harvey Mandel) – Engineer 1968: We're Only in It for the Money (The Mothers of Invention) – Engineer, Whisper 1968: Lumpy Gravy (Frank Zappa) – Engineer 1968: High Flyin' Bird (Ill Wind) – Remixing 1968: Trout (Trout) – Engineer 1968: White Light/White Heat (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer 1968: The Soft Machine (album) (Soft Machine) – Engineer 1969: Street Giveth... And the Street Taketh Away (Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys) – Engineer 1969: Sunrise (Eire Apparent) – Engineer 1969: Mothermania (The Mothers of Invention) – Engineer 1970: We Got To Live Together (Buddy Miles) – Engineer 1970: A Message to the People (Buddy Miles) – Producer, Engineer 1970: Evolution (Hedge & Donna) – Engineer 1970: Indianola Mississippi Seeds (B. B. King) – Engineer 1970: Country Funk (Country Funk) – Engineer 1970: A Bad Donato (João Donato) – Mixing, Engineer 1970: False Start (Love) – Engineer 1970: Purpose (Purpose) – Engineer 1971: Dave Mason & Cass Elliot (Dave Mason & Cass Elliot) – Engineer 1971: Band of Angels (Alan Parker) – Engineer 1971: Stoneground (Stoneground) – Engineer 1971: We've Only Just Begun (Claudine Longet) – Engineer 1972: Let's Spend the Night Together (Claudine Longet) – Engineer 1972: Peter Anders (Family LP) (Peter Anders) – Engineer 1973: Reevaluations: The Impulse Years (Albert Ayler) – Engineer 1973: Best of B.B. King (MCA) (B. B. King) – Engineer 1973: Kracker Brand (Kracker) – Engineer 1973: Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners (Rod Stewart/Faces) – Engineer 1974: Live and in Color (Ballin' Jack) – Producer, Engineer 1974: Second Helping (Lynyrd Skynyrd) – Engineer 1974: I've Got My Own Album to Do (Ron Wood) – Producer 1975: Early Bird Cafe (Serfs) – Engineer 1975: Two Sides of the Moon (Keith Moon) – Engineer 1975: Lazy Afternoon (Barbra Streisand) – Engineer 1976: Nine On A Ten Scale (Sammy Hagar) – Engineer 1976: Stone Alone (Bill Wyman) – Engineer 1977: Where Did All the Money Go (Soundtrack) – Engineer

Later releases of recordings made before his death 1985: VU (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer (Recorded in 1969 by Kellgren, but not released until 1985) 1991: Crosby, Stills & Nash (Box Set) (Crosby, Stills & Nash) – Engineer 1993: What Goes On (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer 1995: Love Story 1966-1972 (Love) – Engineer 1995: Peel Slowly and See (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer 1995: In Celebration (Ravi Shankar) – Remastering 1996: The Lost Episodes (Frank Zappa) – Engineer 1997: South Saturn Delta (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer 1997: Best of Buddy Miles (Buddy Miles) – Assistant Producer 2001: Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer 2002: Voodoo Child: The Jimi Hendrix Collection (UK Bonus Track) (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer 2003: Street Giveth...And the Street Taketh Away (Bonus Tracks) (Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys) – Engineer 2003: Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Jimi Hendrix (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer 2004: The Twain Shall Meet (Bonus Tracks) (The Animals) – Remixing 2004: Five Guys Walk into a Bar... (Faces) – Engineer, Mixing 2004: The Experience Sessions (Noel Redding) – Engineer 2005: Retrospective (The Animals) – Remixing 2005: Gold (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer, Mixing 2005: Chronicles (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer 2005: Concert for Bangladesh (Bonus Track) (George Harrison) – Engineer 2005: Concert for Bangladesh (DVD)(Deluxe Edition) (George Harrison) – Engineer 2005: Concert for Bangladesh (DVD) (George Harrison) – Engineer 2006: The Velvet Underground Story (The Velvet Underground) – Engineer 2006: Two Sides of the Moon (Expanded) (Keith Moon) – Engineer

2008: Electric Ladyland (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (CD/DVD) (Jimi Hendrix) – Engineer

Concerts 1971: Concert For Bangladesh – Engineer 1973: Coast to Coast: Overture and Beginners – Engineer 1974: Rumble in the Jungle – Engineer