Longtime manager John Carsello reflects on an iconic but inconspicuous Colorado music studio

By Jay McKinney

What do Elton John, Michael Jackson and Stephen Stills have in common? Yes, they are all legendary musicians who’ve sold millions of records and produced timeless hits that still flood radio airwaves, but they’re also among the many iconic artists that found refuge in the remote wilderness outside of a little town that nobody had ever heard of. That is, they all recorded music at the Caribou Ranch Recording Studio just north of Nederland.

It’s probably easier to list the great musicians who didn’t record at the Caribou Ranch versus those who did. During its heyday, the destination recording studio became a haven for some of the most popular artists, as it provided a breath of fresh mountain air that couldn’t be found in Los Angeles or New York.

While the fast-paced coastal cities were the dominant hubs for the recording industry, one industry vet sought a different environment. That man was Jim Guercio, a talented musician and producer who grew tired of union restrictions in the coastal cities. He wanted to create a studio off the beaten path, where artists could focus on their craft without the typical distractions of show business.

There were multiple factors that contributed to the lure of Caribou. The forested mountains were beautiful, of course. There were luxurious amenities, including a private chef and staff of waiters, cozy log cabins equipped with brass beds and baby grand pianos, and an abundance of activities to consume one’s downtime such as horseback riding, snowmobiling, skiing and more. Most importantly a state-of-the-art recording studio occupied an old Arabian horse barn on the property. Everything about the place was special.

Managing the Studio

After purchasing the property in 1971 and pouring millions of dollars into the ranch, Guercio asked John Carsello if he would be interested in managing the mountain studio. Carsello agreed and served as the studio manager from its official opening in 1973 to 1985.

Producer Jim Guercio and Michael Jackson

As the manager, he had numerous responsibilities to ensure it ran smoothly. In the studio, Carsello hired the engineers and assisted with the daily task of aligning the machinery and tuning the studio for sound.

Just after taking the job, Carsello was there to witness the first band to use the recording studio, which was Joe Walsh and his band Barnstorm. They were living in Colorado at the time and recorded their hit song “Rocky Mountain Way” in the converted barn at Caribou. Rick Derringer was one of the next artists to record an album at the ranch, recording the number one single “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.” From that point forward, word really began to spread about the greatness of the magical mountain getaway.

“The studio was incredible,” Carsello says. “It was huge, there were three floors with the control room and the studio on the second floor. The kitchen, tape vaults and equipment were on the first floor. The third floor had movies and a pool table, a pinball machine, and a lot of games.”

In the studio’s construction, rooms on the second floor were built with six inches of foam surrounding the floor, walls, and ceiling to create a perfectly silent atmosphere. Raging winter blizzards with strong winds would rattle the third floor, but in the studio you could hear a pin drop, Carsello says.

As the studio’s reputation continued to build, more and more artists began booking time, including some of the biggest stars of the day. Overwhelmed by the paparazzi and fans bombarding them, musicians fell in love with Caribou because it allowed them to escape that lifestyle and unwind. Living and spending time together also afforded bands with creative benefits that other studios couldn’t.

“I remember Eddie Rabbit when he was up there and the band was all eating together and discussing different things, saying ‘oh yeah, we’ll try that after dinner’, and that just didn’t happen when you were in Los Angeles or New York,” Carsello says. “It was so unique for the early ’70s. Artists were blown away by it.”

Sir Elton John was notably one of the biggest stars to book Caribou Ranch and he recorded three albums there, the first of which is titled “Caribou.” While the English legend had recorded his album “Honky Château” at another destination studio called the Château d’Hérouville in France, he claimed that Caribou beat it by a mile.

During a 2019 National Public Radio Fresh Air interview with Terry Gross, John said he snorted his first-ever line of cocaine at Caribou. Calling the drug “fool’s gold,” John said that introduction to the drug led to a “love-hate relationship” over a 16-year period.

John Carsello at the Caribou Ranch mess hall

After the initial recording session, Carsello became friendly with John and his bandmates in their subsequent visits. In a prime example of the power stardom carries, Carsello remembers the time John wanted to see the highly anticipated but unreleased movie “Jaws.”

“We had two 35 mm cameras and a 16 mm camera, and we used to be able to run movies in the studio with a screen that would electronically come down,” Carsello says. “Elton called up Universal Pictures and said, ‘I want that movie,’ so we went and picked it up. We saw it a few days before it was released into theaters. All the ranch employees and Elton’s band just laying around on the studio floor watching “Jaws.’”

During one of John’s recording sessions, John Lennon paid him a visit. Despite frequently being around some of the best musicians of the day, Carsello admits to being a little bit starstruck when he walked into the mess hall at 8 a.m., and found Lennon sitting all alone by the fireplace.

“I asked myself, am I dreaming?” Carsello says. “We shook hands and talked about the ranch, and he said the studio is great.”

Lennon was living in New York at the time, and Carsello asked him about a recent Denver Post article mentioning the possibility of his deportation because he didn’t have a green card. “Lennon said ‘yeah I hope they let me stay, I love New York because it reminds me of home.’”

With the ranch’s reputation well-established, famous people would sometimes stop by without formally booking it to record an album. Musicians like Stephen Stills, who lived nearby, would regularly hang out. Other times, the ranch was visited by actors, including Michael Douglas, Al Pacino and Jane Fonda.

While Michael Jackson never recorded a complete album at the ranch, he did record some music and also cherished his time on the ranch. He visited while on his famous Victory Tour in 1984, and instructed his bodyguards to go back to Denver, saying he didn’t need them.

“He put on Levis and a cowboy hat and went horseback riding, and just hung out,” Carsello says. “He was really cool. I remember we gave him a toy yo-yo and we were teaching him tricks with it. People like that would sometimes just come by. It was great.”

*John McEuen of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band*

Despite Jackson using his time on the ranch to unwind, Carsello called the pop star a workhorse, and recalls the makeshift dance floor the staff constructed for Jackson with pieces of plywood and linoleum so he could practice his dancing in the studio.

Off the ranch, it wasn’t uncommon to walk into Nederland’s local watering hole, the Pioneer Inn, and see Chicago’s Terry Kath jamming with a local band. For a brief period, Kath lived on the ranch and frequented the Pioneer Inn, along with other musicians who lived in the area including Stills and Dan Fogelberg.

Before the Caribou Ranch, the Pioneer Inn was a stereotypical cowboy bar. But after the ranch had put Nederland on the map, many talented bands moved to the area and would regularly play in the bar with hopes of getting noticed by the right people. Carsello remembers bringing Supertramp, Three Dog Night, and others to the bar to jam, but he was blown away by the local talent.

“You would not believe how talented some of the musicians who lived in the area were,” Carsello says. “That place had the best musicians in the world. One time Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys said, ‘I could just sign the band in here and they could be my band.’”

Outside of rock ‘n’ roll royalty, the ranch saw many other talented musicians from other genres. Country legends like Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (who had members living in Aspen) visited the ranch and recorded music. Jazz musician Chick Corea and Christian music artists also used the studio. While anyone could rent the ranch to record, it will certainly be remembered for its role in rock ‘n’ roll history.

*Chicago’s Terry Kath and David Hawk Wolinski*

In 1985 a fire caused by a space heater damaged the recording studio and marked the end of an era. Guercio chose to not repair the damage and instead retired from the industry to raise his family. He eventually sold the property, which still contains the original buildings. The property is located near the Caribou Ranch Open Space, a popular Boulder County hiking area.

While it was only operational for 13 years, the studio and all of the hit music recorded within its walls will forever be a part of Colorado’s music history. It wasn’t the only destination recording studio, but the ranch had a profound influence on all who visited.

Musicians worshiped by crowds at sold-out stadiums across the world found an artistic home outside of that little Colorado town that few had ever heard of. They let their guard down, cherished the peaceful atmosphere and focused on their craft in a way that no big city studio could ever allow.

“That’s just the way Caribou was. When the bands got up there, they left their egos out,” Carsello says. “They were just regular people, going for walks or going cross-country skiing. It was a different vibe than when you saw them backstage at a concert or when you saw them in Hollywood. Everybody was always in a great mood.”

Jay McKinney grew up in Sedalia and graduated from the Metropolitan State University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in communications. During his free time, he enjoys playing golf, shooting pool and hiking throughout Colorado and Utah.