The Earthquake That Sent “Hotel California” to Miami
“Hotel California” is a song about Los Angeles. The version you have heard your whole life, guitar solo and all, was recorded at a studio in North Miami. The reason is an earthquake.
The Producer’s One Condition
Bill Szymczyk had produced the Eagles’ previous album and was glad to come back for the 1976 sessions, but he wanted them held at Criteria Studios in Miami rather than the band’s usual base at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. A recent earthquake had thrown him out of bed, and he had decided he would rather not live on a fault line. The band compromised and split the record between the two studios, working from March to October 1976.
Three Takes, Two Coasts
The title track was cut with Don Henley on lead vocal three separate times. The Los Angeles attempts did not work. The key that suited the guitars sat too high for Henley to sing, so Don Felder walked it down until they settled on B minor. Henley has said the final track was cut in Miami, in B minor with the choruses going to G major. Szymczyk then built the master from 33 tape edits pulled from five different takes.
The Solo Was Miami Too
The dual guitar coda that closes the song, routinely voted one of the greatest solos ever recorded, was assembled at Criteria over roughly three days. Szymczyk sat at the console with Felder on one side and Joe Walsh on the other, amplifiers miked out in the live room, splicing licks from both players into the harmonized lines that build through the last two minutes.
Down the Hall
Criteria was crowded that summer. Black Sabbath was in a neighboring room cutting Technical Ecstasy, and the Bee Gees were working in the building as well. Tony Iommi has said Sabbath’s volume came straight through the wall into the Eagles’ sessions.
What to Know
Criteria was founded in 1958 by Mack Emerman and still operates at 1755 NE 149th Street in Miami. It is a working commercial studio with seven rooms, not a museum, so there are no public tours. The album cover is a photograph of the Beverly Hills Hotel. The recording is Florida.
