In the summer of 1977, British rocker Ian Drury issued “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll,” a catchy, little single that codified a motto and mantra for an entire generation. Across the Atlantic, in New York, Los Angeles, and Sausalito, the trio of Record Plant studios served as the home base for 1977’s three historically mega-selling albums: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, and The Eagles’ Hotel California. Claims soon emerged that L.A.’s Record Plant was the inspiration for the dark and decadent indulgence immortalized in the titular “Hotel California,” with the trinity of studios cast as ground zero for the music industry’s billion-dollar boom, and–in a reverberating echo of Drury’s ditty–the undisputed home of sex, drugs, and rock & roll.

Authors Porter and Goggin center their 365-page effort–essentially covering the decade of the Record Plants’ heyday, 1967-1977–around its tragic hero, co-founder Gary Kellgren. As one of rock’s more esteemed recording engineers, Kellgren gained and retained the trust of its elite; Jimi Hendrix, Frank Zappa, John Lennon, and on and on, demanded and received Kellgren’s golden ears. More so, stamping Record Plant’s legend status was Kellgren’s broader vision–motivated, in part, by the financial benefit, and, in part, by basic hedonism–to create a studio space where, literally and figuratively, the artist would check-in, but never leave.

The holy three Record Plants, starting in New York, then moving west, became places of endless workdays, suggestively-themed bedrooms and secret hideaways, a constant flow of any illicit substance of choice, and, most importantly, massive success. Hit albums spilled out, one after another. And Kellgren’s vision grew, eventually capping at a proposal to expand his own Hollywood Hills mansion into the ultimate Record Plant compound. That was until, in that fateful summer of ‘77, Kellgren drowned in his pool.

It’s all here, told by ones who lived it, with Porter and Goggin collecting and categorizing the history- cleverly marking the chapters by the tapes that captured the magic. Because, in the end, more than the sex, more than the drugs, even if the building is on fire, or the cops are at the door, or the mob is on the take, it’s the rock & roll that matters most. After all, as the three Record Plants dovetailed to their respective deaths, it’s the music that survives.