BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Turns out, the soundtrack of our lives was recorded right here in the Rocky Mountains.
For more than 12 years in the 1970s and 1980s, Caribou Ranch near Nederland in Boulder County was one of the hottest places on the planet to make a record. Among the huge hits recorded there, “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” by Elton John, “Just You ‘n’ Me,” by Chicago and “Shining Star,” by Earth Wind and Fire.
Now, rock relics from the ranch can be yours.
“When you listen to the radio on the classic rock channel you’re gonna hear music that came from Caribou Ranch, and everything that’s here was there when that music was made,” said Joe Passarelli, a bass guitarist who recorded with artists like Joe Walsh at Caribou Ranch.
A fire shut down the recording studio nearly three decades ago, but the owners have held on to mementos like guitars and gold records ever since. Now, they’re downsizing.
“We just didn’t realize how much we have,” said Caribou founder and famed music producer James William Guercio. “It’s just too much stuff.”
Hundreds of items from the ranch, from furniture to music equipment, will be auctioned off Saturday at 3 p.m. at Denver Design Center. The items are on display to the public until then.
Want the piano used by Elton John to write “Philadelphia Freedom?” It’s for sale. So is a parka and all-terrain vehicle used by Michael Jackson when he visited the ranch in 1984, at the height of his worldwide fame. As you can imagine, there is a lot of interest in the items. Auctioneers say they’ve had interest from people in 30 states and nine different countries.
To browse through the items up for auction, click here.