Record Plant - Los Angeles - Jim Keltner Fan Club

Jim Keltner Fan Club

In March 1973 when a third studio—Studio C—was installed at Third Street, Kellgren initiated a series of Sunday night jam sessions hosted by the Record Plant, featuring well-known studio drummer Jim Keltner, a good friend of Kellgren's. The jams were known as the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour, and famous musicians would show up to play along with Keltner. Pete Townshend, Ronnie Wood, Billy Preston, Mick Jagger and George Harrison were among those who came and jammed. Harrison jokingly referred to the sessions on the back cover of his album Living in the Material World. As a jab at Paul McCartney's self-promotion on the back of the album Red Rose Speedway where it said "for more information on the Wings' Fun Club send a stamped self-addressed envelope...", Harrison wrote on his own album regarding the "Jim Keltner Fun Club", "send a stamped undressed elephant..." Drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith said that there were regular jam sessions of famous musicians at Clover Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard near Vine Street in Hollywood, but that the increasing number of musicians outgrew the place and the group moved to the Record Plant for more space. Smith was a regular at the Studio C jams, but one Sunday he couldn't make it and he sent his friend David Foster to play keyboards. Foster was so well received by other musicians that he and three others—Paul Stallworth on bass, Danny Kortchmar on guitar, and Keltner on drums—formed the band, Attitudes.

One of the Keltner jam sessions in late December 1973 became known later as "Too Many Cooks". Under the leadership of John Lennon, an all-star lineup performed an extended version of the blues song "Too Many Cooks (Spoil the Soup)", with Mick Jagger on lead vocals, Keltner on drums, Kortchmar and Jesse Ed Davis on guitars, Al Kooper on keyboards, Bobby Keys playing tenor saxophone, Trevor Lawrence on baritone saxophone, Jack Bruce on bass and Harry Nilsson singing background vocals. Jagger was uncomfortable stretching to reach the top of his vocal range, and he grew unhappy with the progress being made on the song. Journalist Lucian K. Truscott IV wrote in 1977 that Kellgren told Jagger to "sit on it", ending the complaints. After Lennon's personal assistant and lover May Pang brought the master tapes to light, the track "Too Many Cooks" was released in 2007 on Mick Jagger's album Very Best Of.... Musician and journalist Steven Van Zandt described Jagger's vocals as "ragged but still in control", and the song as "amazing", with "a painful soulfulness hits you and stays with you".

In March 1974 to celebrate the first anniversary of the Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour jam series, Ringo Starr and Moose Johnson joined Keltner on drums, and on guitar were Lennon, Marc Benno and Davis. Ric Grech played bass, Keys played sax, Gene Clark vocalized, Joe Vitale played flute, and Mal Evans supported the large group on percussion. During this time at the Record Plant, Keltner was working on a solo project by Jack Bruce, formerly of Cream, laying down tracks for Out of the Storm under the direction of engineer and producer Andy Johns; Steve Hunter played guitar. Also in the building was Stevie Wonder shaping the mixes for Fulfillingness' First Finale, using Studio B which was built specifically for him. Jack Bruce first met drummer Bruce Gary (later of The Knack fame) when he showed up at one of the jams, hanging around, hoping to play. Jack Bruce described the youngster as a "wannabe drummer", but befriended him and hired him when they were both back in England. At Burbank Studios on March 28, 1974, a few weeks after the anniversary jam, some of those celebrating at the Record Plant came together again for another jam, also called "The Jim Keltner Fan Club Hour", though it was not hosted or organized by Kellgren, nor did it have Keltner in attendance. Lennon played with Keys, Davis and Wonder, among others, and McCartney joined in part way through. The raw recordings with their uneven performances were issued as a bootleg album called A Toot and a Snore in '74; the final time that Lennon played with McCartney.