Beach Boys Studio


Beach Boys Studio, also known as Brother Recording Studio, was a private recording studio owned by the Beach Boys that was located within Brian Wilson's home at 10452 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles, California. Six of the band's albums were recorded there in addition to his "Bedroom Tapes".
The studio was built in 1967 due to various issues Wilson regularly experienced when working at commercial studios, such as being hassled by owners for touching the control board, as well as to eliminate the inconvenience of booking time in advance. Because the other Beach Boys took much of the recording equipment with them when they left for concert tours, Wilson was not typically allowed to use the home studio unless the band was present. Band engineer Stephen Desper said that the studio was funded and intended for use by everyone in the group, not Brian alone, and disputed its characterization as "Brian's studio".
In 1972, the studio was dismantled and later succeeded by Brother Studios in Santa Monica, California.

History

Recording capabilities at Brian Wilson's Los Angeles residence were made possible by The Beach Boys and Stephen Desper in the midst of recording Smiley Smile in mid-1967. For the first few months of operation, the makeshift studio was installed with a Gates Dualux radio broadcasting console as the quick recording of Smiley Smile didn't allow enough time to acquire a conventional mixing board. By the recording of Friends in early 1968, the studio continued to use the Dualux console yet the rest of the chauffeur's quarters had been converted to feature a more permanent set-up. In October 1969, the console was upgraded to a 16-track recorder with quadraphonic capability. From 1967, until its dismantling in late 1972 by Marilyn Wilson, the studio recorded a mix of artists with personal ties to the Beach Boys including American Spring, The Flames, Stephen Kalinich and Charles Manson.

Sessions

Session datesArtistRelease
Mid-1967The Beach BoysSmiley Smile
Late-1967The Beach BoysWild Honey
Early-1968The Beach BoysFriends
Mid-1968Charles MansonUntitled record project
Late-1969Stephen KalinichA World of Peace Must Come
1969/1970The Beach BoysSunflower
1970/1971The Beach BoysSurf's Up
1970The FlamesThe Flame
Late-1971Dennis WilsonPoops/Hubba Hubba
1971/1972American SpringSpring
1971/1972The Beach BoysCarl and the Passions – "So Tough"''