When the Greenwich Village nightclub The Generation closed its doors, it opened a space for Jimi Hendrix and the future home of Electric Lady Studios.
Hendrix and his manager Michael Jeffery purchased the building in 1968. Two years later, Hendrix hosted the grand opening.
Writing in her memoir Just Kids, Patti Smith said, “I put on my straw hat and walked downtown, but when I got there, I couldn’t bring myself to go in. By chance, Jimi Hendrix came up the stairs and found me sitting there like some hick wallflower and grinned.”
Hendrix explained his vision for the studio to Smith. “He dreamed of amassing musicians from all over the world in Woodstock and they would sit in a field in a circle and play and play.” The guitarist told her the key and temp and melody didn’t matter. Instead, he envisioned musicians communicating in an abstract language. Something universal.
He said, “The language of peace. You dig?” Smith said she did.
Now dig this, four iconic songs recorded at Electric Lady Studios.
“Lover” by Taylor Swift from Lover (2019)
Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff recorded this hazy anthem at Electric Lady. They chased a timeless sound, and Swift mentioned wanting something that could have been a wedding song from another time. Echoing Mazzy Star, the sparse instrumentation includes a snare drum drowned in reverb, Antonoff’s walking bass line, and a lonely-sounding piano. Swift’s dreamy waltz is a wistful story of domestic love and the intimate beauty of ordinary romance.
“Dolly Dagger” by Jimi Hendrix from Rainbow Bridge (1971)
“Dolly Dagger” is one of only a few songs Jimi Hendrix recorded at Electric Lady. On July 19, 1970, Hendrix, with producer and engineer Eddie Kramer, recorded this funk-rock jam alongside “Night Bird Flying,” “Straight Ahead,” “Astro Man,” and “Freedom.” The guitarist returned in August for more work on “Dolly Dagger.” Kramer said the track was born from a jam session inside Studio A. The next month, Hendrix was gone.
“Fame” by David Bowie from Young Americans (1975)
While John Lennon was in the midst of his “lost weekend,” he met David Bowie in Los Angeles. They decided to record together and in 1975, recorded a version of The Beatles’ “Across the Universe” and a new song, “Fame.” Lennon received a writing credit on Bowie’s funky single and crooned his familiar nasally falsetto in the track’s background. On Young Americans, Bowie traded glam rock for what he called “plastic soul.”
“Superstition” by Stevie Wonder from Talking Book (1972)
Electric Lady’s Studio A freed Jimi Hendrix to improvise and explore a free jam like “Dolly Dagger.” It also provided Stevie Wonder a space of independence from Berry Gordy and the Motown machine. Wonder moved around the room, playing a variety of instruments including a Clavinet, synthesizer, and acoustic and electric pianos. “Superstition” layers multiple Clavinet parts, while Wonder warns of the dangers of delusion.
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