Caribou Ranch

Caribou Ranch was a recording studio built by producer James William Guercio in 1972 in a converted barn on ranch property in the Rocky Mountains near Nederland, Colorado, on the road that leads to the ghost town of Caribou. The studio was in operation until it was damaged in a fire in March 1985.

History

Guercio purchased Caribou Ranch, more than 4,000 acres (16 km²) in the Rocky Mountains, in 1971.

In 1972, Joe Walsh and Bill Szymczyk were starting work on "Barnstorm" at Walsh's home in Colorado when a mixer blew out on the first day. Szymczyk knew Guercio was building a new studio, visited the in-progress barn conversion at the ranch, and concluded that it would work for their project. They used the new studio to finish "Barnstorm". Szymczyk next made Rick Derringer's "All American Boy" and the hit single "Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo" there. Elton John's 1974 album "Caribou" was named after the ranch where it was recorded.The group Chicago, managed by Guercio, recorded five studio albums there; "Chicago VI", "Chicago VII", "Chicago VIII", "Chicago X", and "Chicago XI".

The studio complex was shut down and never used again after a March 1985 fire destroyed the control room and caused about US$3 million in damage. According to the Nederland Fire Chief, while the fire department was doing overhaul on the fire to make sure it was out, several Gold Record plaques awarded to Guercio's group Chicago that were hanging on the wall of the studio, were damaged by a chain saw.

The old studio was occupied by Software Guru Rob Savoye of GNU/Cygnus fame after comercial studio operations ceased until it was sold off in the 2000 time frame. A picture of him standing in front of the old ranch can be found on his website [http://welcomehome.org/rob/cisco-ad/0414_e.html] .

Guercio's interests had shifted away from music. In 1996 and 2001 transactions he sold 2,180 acres (8.8 km²) of the ranch to Boulder County and the City of Boulder, and another 1,489 acres (6 km²) were placed under conservation easement. A housing development by Guercio's Caribou Companies takes up much of the remainder.

Artists

Some of the artists who have recorded at Caribou:
*Blood, Sweat and Tears
*America
*Badfinger
*The Beach Boys
*Jeff Beck
*Mike Brewer
*David Cassidy
*Chicago, starting with "Chicago VI"
*Phil Collins
*Chick Corea
*Deep Purple
*Rick Derringer
*Al Di Meola
*Dio
*Earth, Wind & Fire
*Emerson, Lake & Palmer
*Sheena Easton
*Dan Fogelberg
*Peter Frampton
*Gerard
*Jerry Goodman
*Jan Hammer
*Amy Grant, starting with "Age to Age"
*Waylon Jennings
*Billy Joel
*Elton John, notably the 1974 "Caribou" album
*Carole King
*Kris Kristofferson
*Robert Lamm
*John Lennon
*Jerry Lee Lewis
*Pat McJimsey, "I Dig Girls" album
*Jac Murphy
*Michael Murphey
*Stevie Nicks
*Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
*Tony Orlando
*Ozark Mountain Daredevils
*Tom Petty
*Eddie Rabbitt
*Rainbow Canyon
*Bruce Roberts
*Sailor
*David Sancious
*Tom Scott and the L.A. Express
*Billy Joe Shaver
*Shooting Star (band)
*Sons of Champlin
*Souther Hillman Furay Band
*Rod Stewart
*Stephen Stills
*Supertramp
*Ali Thomson
*Len Trout
*U2
*James Vincent [ [http://www.jamesvincent.net James Vincent - Guitarist Extraordinaire ] at www.jamesvincent.net]
*Joe Walsh
*War
*Tony Williams
*Carl Wilson
*Frank Zappa

See also

*Caribou Records

References

*James William Guercio
*"Sound on Sound" magazine (2004). [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/nov04/articles/szymczyk.htm Bill Szymczyk] . Retrieved January 25 2006.
*cite news | last=Weiser | first=Scott | title=Homes on the range: Mountain development gets a free pass | date=21 April 2001 | publisher=Boulder Weekly | url=http://www.boulderweekly.com/archive/040501/coverstory.html

External links

* [http://www.co.boulder.co.us/openspace/recreating/public_parks/caribou_ranch.htm Boulder County Parks: Caribou Ranch]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=39.9972,-105.5143+(Caribou+Ranch+Recording+Studio)&ie=UTF8&ll=39.997112,-105.514069&spn=0.002071,0.005407&t=h Aerial view of studio]
* [http://www.rockymountainnews.com/special-reports/the-legend-of-caribou/ The Legend of Caribou] Articles, video, and photo slide shows about the ranch and touring the ranch
* [http://www.kbdi.org/on_demand/video_player.cfm?video=8 Colorado Public Television] Denver PBS interview special with Guercio and others involved in the ranch