What do Tupac, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Kesha, CSNY, George Clinton, Green Day, Willie Nelson, Santana, Dead Kennedys, the Pointer Sisters and Kanye West have in common?
They’ve all recorded music behind the unassuming door at 245 Hyde Street, aka Hyde Street Studios. From 1969 to 1980, the Tenderloin building was home to Wally Heider Recording, a rule-breaking studio that was instrumental in creating the now-famous San Francisco Sound. In the ’80s and ’90s, Hyde Street — known for a setup that encourages live full-band recording — became a go-to spot for the Bay Area’s punk and hip-hop scenes.
What the studio has rarely been, over the course of 54 years, is open to the public. Which makes the upcoming tour and concert on Nov. 30, the first of what’s being dubbed the Hyde Street Studio Sessions, all the more special. A subset of the Tenderloin Museum’s ongoing Sounds of the Tenderloin program, the evening will feature two sets from Oakland’s Lady Bianca — a veteran, Grammy-nominated blues singer — at its kickoff event.
Hyde Street’s homey feel has always been a major draw for musicians, beginning back in ’69 — especially compared to the cold, corporate LA studios the major labels were using at the time. This series will, accordingly, be intimate, with room for just 20 audience members per performance inside Hyde Street’s flagship recording room, Studio A. (For gear heads, that’s the one with the vintage Neve 8038 console, made in London in the 1970s. It also has a B-3 Hammond organ and a white Yamaha grand piano rumored to have once belonged to Frank Sinatra.)
Regardless of your level of audio nerdery, this evening offers a chance to see (and hear) a piece of San Francisco music history — and to celebrate the Tenderloin’s many cultural contributions at a time when the neighborhood could use some championing.
