Shangri-La

Shangri-La is a recording studio in Malibu, California, currently owned by record producer Rick Rubin. It is located in the hills above Zuma Beach. Originally a ranch property with a bungalow owned by actress Margo, it was leased by The Band in the 1970s and converted to a recording studio by Rob Fraboni to the precise specifications of Bob Dylan and The Band. Interviews of The Band featured in Martin Scorsese's documentary The Last Waltz were filmed at Shangri-La. The property was purchased by Rick Rubin in 2011. Rubin and Shangri-La were the subject of a four-part documentary series, Shangri-La, which aired on Showtime in 2019.

In 1958, Mexican-American actress Margo bought a 1.73 acre property in the hills above Zuma Beach. A ranch house was built and the site was named Shangri-La Ranch. Margo starred in the film adaptation of James Hilton's 1933 classic novel Lost Horizon, where the fabled paradise "Shangri-La" originated from. The property was an upscale bordello for the 1950s Hollywood elite and a filming site for the TV show Mister Ed in the 1960s. In 1974, the ranch property was leased by Canadian-American roots rock band The Band. The master bedroom was converted to a recording studio by record producer and audio engineer Rob Fraboni and in-house tech Ed Anderson according to the precise specifications of Bob Dylan and The Band. The Band built it while taking time off after concluding the Bob Dylan and the Band 1974 Tour. Drummer Levon Helm later described Shangri-La as "a clubhouse and studio where we and our friends could record albums and cross-pollinate one another's music." They kept the name "Shangri-La" because to them "Malibu felt like a paradise after years of gray Catskill winters" in upstate New York. The house came with a Naugahyde bar and bedrooms with mirrored walls, from Shangri-La's time as a bordello.

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