Mark Twain once wrote, “Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.” The same is thankfully true for Fantasy Studios, the legendary Berkeley facility that Billboard called the number one Recording Studio in America. Situated in the Zaentz Media Center (formerly the Fantasy Records building) at the corner of 10th and Parker, Fantasy is known for the landmark albums it captured, including work by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Cal Tjader, Robert Cray, En Vogue, Green Day, Chris Isaak, Journey, the Donnas, Kronos Quartet, and Santana. When the building was sold to Wareham Development in 2007, it sent shockwaves through the local recording community. Bay Area studios battered by the rise of cheap digital recording technology had been closing for several years. The loss of Fantasy would have meant the end of an era. People wondering what Wareham planned for the building were relieved when the company announced plans for extensive renovations of the studio to preserve the sound quality that made Fantasy famous.

“We never had plans to close Fantasy,” says Chris Barlow, a partner in Wareham Development. “We saw the Studios as an integral part of the Zaentz Media Center. We’ve put millions of dollars into renovating the building and Fantasy Studios. Studio B has a new soundboard and we’re tweaking the acoustics a bit; it’ll soon be up and running. We’ll continue to do voiceover and film post-production, make records, and work with video game creators and sound engineers. It’s not conventional music, but it’s how we can access the new digital markets. Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, and Monk all recorded there, as well as Green Day, who made Dookie there. The role Fantasy played in American music is incredible. We’re delighted to have purchased the equipment and the rights to use the name.”

Fantasy Studios wouldn’t exist without a little East Bay band from El Cerrito once called the Blue Velvets—John and Tom Fogerty, Doug Clifford, and Stu Cook. They signed with Fantasy Records, a small indie label operating out of a warehouse in Oakland, in 1964. Fantasy was a jazz label, but after pianist Vince Guaraldi’s single “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” became a surprise pop hit, John Fogerty thought they might take a chance on a local rock band. They were signed, and Max Weiss, one of the label’s owners, suggested they change their name to the Golliwogs, which he thought sounded more British. The Golliwogs released seven singles but failed to find a national foothold.

Meanwhile, Weiss and his brother Sol sold Fantasy to Saul Zaentz and his business partners. Zaentz liked the band and suggested another name change. The band chose Creedence Clearwater Revival. The moniker was an amalgamation of the first name of Creedence Nuball, a friend of Tom Fogerty, and “clear water,” a phrase from a popular beer commercial. The band was hoping the new name would revive their flagging career, hence the revival tag. In 1968, the first CCR album spawned a number 11 hit with “Suzie Q”, an old Dale Hawkins song given a swampy remake by the band. Their second album, Bayou Country, cut at RCA Studios in Hollywood in late 1968, included “Proud Mary”, which remains a rock radio staple. It quickly went platinum. CCR’s next five albums were also blockbusters, giving Fantasy the cash they needed to build their headquarters at 10th and Parker. The building had three recording studios, A, B, and C, with Studio C built expressly for CCR, with a separate entrance, exercise room, and sauna.

The money CCR made for Fantasy allowed them to buy the catalogs of Prestige, Milestone, and Pablo, all East Coast labels that had substantial back catalogues of blues, folk, and, most importantly, jazz albums. In 1972, after Riverside’s catalog was purchased by Fantasy, co-founder and legendary jazz producer Orrin Keepnews moved to Berkeley and settled into Fantasy Studios as director of jazz A&R.

One of the things Fantasy offered artists they’d signed was free recording time. The studios were always busy cutting sides on Country Joe McDonald, Cal Tjader, Bola Sete, Sylvester, Cannonball Adderley, Hampton Hawes, Pete and Sheila Escovedo, McCoy Tyner, Ron Carter, Bill Evans, Joe Williams, Flora Purim, and dozens more.

In 1975, Zaentz produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It won five Oscars and provided the money to build a seven-story structure besides the existing Fantasy building. This included the addition of Fantasy Studio D, with state of the art post-production capabilities. In 1980, the studio started accepting outside clients. Fantasy became the studio of choice for acts as diverse as Robert Cray, Sammy Hagar, Bobby McFerrin, Aerosmith, Camper Van Beethoven, and the Counting Crows, to name just a few. Santana recorded his blockbuster Supernatural there. In 2000, Billboard named Fantasy the number one recording Studio in America. In 2004, the Concord Music Group bought the Fantasy label and sold the studios and all their equipment, including a vintage microphone collection, and rights to use the name to Wareham Development in 2007.

“One of the first things we did was take down the wall in front of the building so it’s more open to the public,” Wareham’s Barlow says. (A two story high concrete wall and a formidable automatic iron gate enclosed a small parking lot in front of the building.) We landscaped the property to create an open area for the community to use and enjoy. We have a shuttle that links the building to the nearby BART station. It’s free to tenants and available at a small charge to local people. Zaentz and his partners let us have some famous gold and platinum albums and gave us access to Fantasy’s photo archives. That artwork is on display in the new entryway, which is considerably lighter and brighter than it was.