Legendary CARIBOU RANCH Recording Studio

interesting

 

The experience and technical skill of the remastering engineer is a big factor in the sound quality of the re-issues. I wish they will give the remastering job to the likes of Steve Hoffman, Doug Sax, Ted Jensen, Vic Anesini or Mark Wilder. The majority of Hoffmanites are not happy with the Rhino remasters of Chicago Columbia catalog.

Going back to the original topic, I'm glad to know that Jim Guercio has renewed his interest to revive the former glory of the Caribou Ranch Studio.

 

Let me give this some thought and review my interview tapes and repost in the morning. I can tell you that Jim Guercio has no greater interest than having the music he produced and helped create be put out there in the best of sonic quality -- he's hardly an MP3 guy.

I can also tell you -- no surprise -- that while he is consulted he has absolutely no say in what finally goes out there. Or who remasters it.

With the industry dying, do they finally come around and let the guy who recorded and produced the platinum-selling sounds have the final say in how these things are released to the public and what they ultimately sound like?

Sadly, I think you all know the answer to that.

 

Do you have any information if someone found some unreleased tapes in the Caribou Ranch vault?
I'm aware that before Terry Kath died, he recorded some solo demos and outtakes intended for his planned solo album.

 

I saw various labels on unreleased tapes. Did not hear them, so I don't know if what I saw is reality. I hope to elaborate in the future.

I will say this, because James Guercio told me this on the record, with tape rolling: He would love to do a Terry Kath retrospective to highlight the man's songwriting and (my words: criminally underrated) guitar work, but those who own the master tapes have not allowed it. Yet.

 

Who do you think own those unreleased tapes they found in Caribou Ranch vault? Does Jim Guercio has the ownership of anything that lies within the Caribou Ranch perimeter?
If Guercio is planning to do a Terry Kath retrospective, that's great news for Terry Kath and the fans of the original Chicago alike.
For the best interest of everybody including the music loving fans, the surviving members of original Chicago and Guercio should settle their differences in order to make this planned projects come to fruition.

 

not to thread crap but Chuck Morris here in Denver has some awesome tapes too. from many of his venues. What's cool is he's been workinking on get them released. Here's a link on some of the releases http://www.kcuvradio.com/main2.asp I think it's really awesome that Colorado has a lot of great musical connections. Caribou Ranch is one of many.

 

i was at nederland this past summer,my family has lived in colorado for years,we drove from boulder to nederland (very near caribou ranch) and then to denver, just a gorgeous drive.

i guess the first i was ever really connected to caribou ranch was thru joe walsh and dan fogelberg recordings,but it is a great story all of the superb records done there and just the feel of the area is incredible,imo (still to this day)..

 

<<Who do you think own those unreleased tapes they found in Caribou Ranch vault? Does Jim Guercio has the ownership of anything that lies within the Caribou Ranch perimeter?>>

Guercio owns the physical tapes, but I assume you're talking about who owns the rights to release them. Many of these were made while artists were signed to labels that no longer exist or have been swallowed by bigger companies. So that's a tangle right there. Then there's the rights that the artists themselves have to the tapes. It's a mess.

 

Fantastic story Mark!

I first noticed the Carabou Ranch credit on Billy Joel's 'Turnstiles' album, one of my favorite records. How could such a New York-sounding record be recorded in Colorado, I thought.

Several years ago I was curious enough to drive up to Nederland to look for the studio and I did talk to a couple of residents who remembered Elton John having drinks at the local bar and stuff like that. I went up to the gates of the ranch and looked at it but that's all. There was surprisingly little information on the web about Carabou back then.

I was also living in Denver when that whole frozen dead guy thing was going down in Nederland in the mid 90s. Weird weird stuff.

Anyway, thanks for telling the story. Great work as usual by the photography and web design staff as well.

dan c

 

I can't wait to be there but I'm not sure if I could get there inside to spend a night or two.
I hope Guercio would turn it into a museum and at the same time an operating modern studio so that everybody could have a chance to see the legendary wooden structures and its memorabilias.
The rooms, cabins and the surrounding areas shown on the video narrated by Mark Brown have reminded me of the album covers and photos of the major recording artists of the 70's who actually stayed there to record their music and these recording artists include America, Elton John, Chicago, Supertramp, Dan Fogelberg, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Some of the album covers you are familiar with were actually taken at the legendary studio ranch:
America's album cover of "Hideaway" (1976)
Elton John's album cover of "Caribou" (1974)
Supertramp's album cover of "Even In The Quietest Moments..." (1977)
Earth, Wind & Fire's album cover of "Open Our Eyes" (1974)
Chicago's albums from Chicago VI (1973) to Chicago XI (1977) were recorded there. Chicago VII (1974) shows a photo of the band showing a snow-covered area of the Caribou Ranch. Chicago VIII (1975), Chicago X (1976) and Chicago XI (1977) show different photos of the band being chased by policemen. I believe these photos were also taken at the Caribou Ranch area.
The Chicago box set "Group Portrait" shows nice black-and-white photos of the band members taken at the front porch of the isolated studio.

Dan Fogelberg's album title "Nether Lands" is a play on the Caribou Ranch studio location near Nederland, Colorado.

 

Close -- the cover of Caribou is actually in a photo studio somewhere. The cover of Rock of the Westies, however, is taken at the ranch. If you look at the group picture on the back cover, that shot is taken on the front porch of the main lodge, the place where Guercio, Kenny Passarelli and John Carsello are seen in the video. All the interior photos on Rock of the Westies are also taken at the ranch.

 

hmmm, joe walsh 'the smoker you drink the player you get' was partially recorded and was entirely mixed at caribou by bill szymczyk, do you folks find it bright?

and yes,on one of my audio systems at home i finally had to add an eq to compensate for certain recordings

 

Amy Grant's "Unguarded" is also a bit bright sounding recording but a great production while "Age To Age" is just a timeless production and well recorded. The cover of her first Christmas album was taken at the ranch as well.

 

Their claim (partially addressed in the story) is that the high altitude made the highs higher, the lows lower and allowed singers to hit higher notes. Most of that got cut from the final edition. Guercio says he believes (and Tom Dowd and other producers there agreed) that the thin air at that altitude made them unable to properly hear the higher highs and lower lows. People would record there and overcompensate on the highs and lows, then get the tapes to, say, sea-level air in Los Angeles to mix and be blasted low by the kick drum and the high end. Some experts I consulted said this is impossible; others weren't so sure. I'd love your take on the issue and frankly if I'd been thinking I would have PMed you this question while I was doing the article.

Have you worked with Caribou master tapes? A couple of years ago I talked with Elton remixer/producer Greg Penny and he said (unasked) that the tapes from Caribou were the most sonically perfect in Elton's catalog (another quote, alas, that got cut from the final product).

My concert-blasted ears, unfortunately, are turning lower sounds into mud these days and I appreciate a good bit of treble, so I can't make an assessment myself.

 

My experience spending time at 14,000 feet is that you hear more top-end if anything......

Maybe it was just the Caribou control room - all those lovely rough wood surfaces and soft furnishings could have deadened the sound somewhat. Furthermore, recording studios are normally fairly solid structures - I imagine a wood cabin structure would have a different acoustic to a more solid one which could account for the distinct frequency profile for music mixed at Caribou.

I imagine in a wood cabin bass energy just goes straight through the walls and treble energy is probably absorbed more readily too......

 

The people I asked said yeah, maybe sounds are different at the top of Everest, but thought 9,000 feet wasn't high enough to make a significant difference.

 

wow, i'll get out my vinyl copy of caribou and give it a listen.

 

Mark, how about the idea of introducing our host Steve Hoffman to record producer James William Guercio?
This could be the first step for Steve to get his hands to the session tapes found in the Caribou Ranch vault and remaster them for audiophile releases.
Just my idea.

 

Greg was definitely talking about the multi-tracks; that's what he worked from.

PS: You worked there? Holy crap, PM me. A pox on me for not knowing that... and we have a lot to talk about.

 

And a brilliant one.

 

Thanks!
I just remember what you have told me about Columbia record producer Jim Guercio that he has no greater interest than having the music he produced and helped create be put out there in the best of sonic quality and he's hardly an MP3 guy.