thumb|The former Trident Studios building at St Anne's Court, Soho, London, 2018, with the David Bowie blue plaque
thumb|right|alt=Trident Studios Logo.|Trident Studios logo
right|270px|thumb|alt=Trident Studios London showing Interior Mixing Desk.|Trident Studios interior circa 1975
Trident Studios was a British recording facility, located at 17 St Anne's Court in London's Soho district between 1968 and 1981. It was constructed in 1967 by Norman Sheffield, drummer of the 1960s group the Hunters, and his brother Barry Sheffield.
"My Name is Jack" by Manfred Mann was recorded at Trident in March 1968, and helped launch the studio's reputation. Later that year, the Beatles recorded their song "Hey Jude" there and part of their self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). Other well-known albums and songs recorded at Trident include Elton John's eponymous second album, including the single "Your Song", David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Lou Reed's Transformer, Carly Simon's No Secrets, and Queen's albums Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack and A Night at the Opera.
Other artists recorded at Trident included the Bee Gees, Chris de Burgh, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Badfinger, Brand X, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, Joe Cocker, Golden Earring, Harry Nilsson, Kiss, Indian Summer, Tygers of Pan Tang, Peter Gabriel, The Iveys, Marc Almond, Marc and the Mambas, Smack, Soft Cell, Rick Springfield, Rush, Free, Thin Lizzy, Tina Turner, T. Rex, Van der Graaf Generator, Yes, Black Sabbath and John Entwistle.
The Sheffield brothers had a relaxed working attitude, but also emphasised high standards of audio engineering. The studio's state-of-the-art recording equipment helped attract many major artists to record there.
The original recording facility ceased operations in 1981 and is now used as office space.
The Beatles and Apple Records
In mid-1968, Trident Studios was the first in the UK to use Dolby noise reduction, and employ an eight-track reel-to-reel recording deck.
While Abbey Road Studios still used only four-track at the time, Trident's Ampex eight-track machine drew the Beatles on 31 July 1968 to record their song "Hey Jude". Paul McCartney later said about recording the track at Trident: "Words cannot describe the pleasure of listening back to the final mix of 'Hey Jude' on four giant Lockwood / Tannoy speakers which dwarfed everything else in the room ..." John Lennon and Yoko Ono later returned with the Plastic Ono Band to record "Cold Turkey" featuring Eric Clapton on lead guitar.
Many of the Beatles' Apple Records artists used Trident Studios, including Badfinger, Billy Preston, Mary Hopkin, Jackie Lomax and James Taylor. Part of George Harrison's triple album All Things Must Pass, containing the hit "My Sweet Lord", and Ringo Starr's "It Don't Come Easy", were also recorded there. Harry Nilsson recorded "Without You" at Trident, and portions of several of his 1970s albums.
Queen
The history of the Sheffield brothers and Trident Studios is also linked to the early discovery and success of the rock band Smile, later known as Queen. In 1972, Trident Studios started two record production companies, one of which (Neptune Productions) initially signed three artists, Mark Ashton, Eugene Wallace and Queen. The agreements with the artists were for recording and publishing, but Queen had no management, so they insisted that Trident also take on that responsibility. Trident, initially reluctant, eventually agreed and Queen signed an agreement with Trident Recording, Publishing and Management, on 1 November 1972.
The management at the time claimed the deal allowed the band full access to the studio's cutting edge facilities, and supported them by providing the best producers and engineers - so long as the foundations of the band's first album Queen were recorded 'off peak'. Roger Taylor later quoted these early off-peak studio hours as "gold dust".
Studio piano
Trident also gained a reputation for the sound of its piano, which can be heard on the Beatles' "Hey Jude", Elton John's "Your Song", Carly Simon's "The Right Thing To Do", Queen's "Killer Queen" and many other tracks. It was a handmade C. Bechstein concert-sized instrument that was over one hundred years old. but failed to sell.
Lockwood Tannoy monitoring speakers
From 1968 until 1974, Trident used four large monitoring loudspeakers in the control room. These speakers were mentioned by Paul McCartney: