1041 Studios Fire Damages Hollywood Venue Where Beatles, Elvis, Beach Boys Recorded

By Dennis Romero Mon., Mar. 5 2012 at 11:49 PM

A studio complex where the Beatles, Elvis and the Beach Boys recorded went up in flames tonight, according to the L.A. Fire Department and reports.

The blaze at 1041 N. Orange Avenue in Hollywood (a.k.a. 1041 Production Studios) was reported about 7 p.m. and was put out in 18 minutes, according to the LAFD's Matt Spence.

He said it took 72 firefighters ...

... 18 minutes to shut down the blaze at the two-story, 100- by 50-foot building.

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ABC7 reported that that address was once the temporary recording home to the likes of ...

... Nat King Cole, The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Beach Boys ...

@GhaziHourani

News footage showed the the building had a special city plaque marking its cultural significance.

One tenant, Alex Lagos of Sable Studios, told ABC7 that "the second floor is gone."

He said firefighters rescued and revived his son's cat, which was found inside. No other injuries were reported.

[Added at 12:06 a.m.]: LA Observed has some history. The place was called Radio Recorders, and it was built by Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor) in 1929.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

Beach Boys, Beatles, Elvis, fire, Hollywood, LAFD, studio

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Recording Studios

Nice to read about this old recording studio as I think there would be old musical instrument and sometimes I surprised that how they record their music without having latest musical instruments.

Gordeedoo

1041 never had a second floor. Radio Recorders is next door at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. So where exactly was the fire? This report is incorrect.

Sewerhead

1041 has two floors, the echo chambers were and still are in this building , I am one of the tenants , I have the Orson Wells Studio now Sable studios. two stories and 1000's of memories

Tomgrid

I'm not surprised that Elvis and the Beach boys recorded here, but when did the Beatles record here?

Sewerhead

almost forgat, since the voices were bounced to the echo chambers from radio recorder ,that's why the big deal

Sewerhead

Thanks Gordeedoo, the second floors were added later to the existing rooms, built around the two echo chambers that are now and had been rented for two decades by Crecendo records, my room has two levels ,and houses my studio (currently under repairs of course) and Keneth, is still here, you see him almost everyday sitting on the front office greeting everybody .

Gordeedoo

Hey! Sewerhead. I was in 1041 N Orange the last half of the 80s. In fact our office was Orson Welles old office. Maybe its where you are now. We built our studio on the left side of the hallway from the ground up from 2 rooms next door to Thorne Nogar (Elvis' engineer)I still can't for the life of me remember a 2nd floor or echo chamber or even a stairway!! But it has been over 20 years since I was inside there. Maybe later additions? Or maybe I'm just getting old. The reports I have read today are a little off. 1041 Orange was NOT where all the greats recorded. That was 7000 Santa Monica on the corner. That was Radio Recorders. In fact Bing Crosby recorded White Christmas there. It later became Studio 56 and then was returned to Radio Recorders I believe Thorne Nogar bought 1041 which was known as The Annexe. I think the whole site went back to La Brea and included the original home of The Record Plant. 1041 housed a series of smaller studios and workshops. Opposite our studio was Dick Bogert who was engineer for The Carpenters, Ray Conniff, The Grateful Dead and many others.Toward the rear of the building was a guy named Mark. Thats all i can remember. He had a studio back there. All the way back was a large room with a cyc where we did a few photo shoots videos and held a couple of wild parties!!The owners of the building back then were Kenny Balser and his mother Alice, two 'unusual' characters. I'd like to share experiences with you. I have '1000s of memories' too and I gave a big part of my heart and soul during my time there.All the very best

Gordeedoo