"At the end of the Mutual Contract I was anxious to get started with First National, but we had no studio. I decided to buy land in Hollywood and build one. The site was the corner of Sunset and La Brea and had a very fine ten-room house and five acres of lemon, orange and peach trees. We built a perfect unit, complete with developing plant, cutting room and offices."

Text Reprinted from Charles Chaplin: My Autobiography, Simon and Shuster, 1964. Photos from the A&M Archives. Thanks to Mary Lou Dudas.

If Hollywood is the dream factory, then it's safe to say the dream began in 1917 when Charlie Chaplin bought a five acre orchard on the corner of Sunset Blvd. and La Brea Ave., turning it into one of the city's true creative centers. Now a charming 12-acre collection of Tudor-style offices, cozy California bungalows, and modern recording studios, Chaplin's lot has been the point of origin for some of the most celebrated film, TV, and music entertainment of this century. Since 1966, it has been the home of A&M Records, not only one of the world's leading music companies, but also a wise steward of the historical site on which it was built.

Countless Hollywood memories echo across the A&M lot today. The offices were used first as Chaplin's guest house and the concrete footprints of the Little Tramp can still be found in front of Sound Stage #3, now the recording studio entrance. Under Chaplin's direction, the entire lot was developed into a fully functioning movie studio, complete with film developing plant, editing rooms, and administrative offices.

Among the immortal Chaplin films produced on the lot are "A Dog's Life" (1918), "Shoulder Arms" (1918), "Pay Day" (1922), "The Pilgrim" (1923), "The Circus" (1928), and one of his last motion pictures,"Limelight" (1953).

From 1952 to 1957, the famed "Superman" television series starring George Reeves was filmed on the sound stage. Some parts of the old sets remain today in dusty corners of the old stages. In 1958, five years after Chaplin sold the property to a real estate firm, comedian Red Skelton bought it, spending millions on improvements and filming his classic CBS-TV series there. Eventually, Skelton sold the studio to CBS, which in 1962 used the facility to produce "Perry Mason." Star Raymond Burr even lived on the lot during filming.

On November 6, 1966, A&M Records moved in with a staff of 32 people, converting 2 of the sound stages and Chaplin's old swimming pool into state-of-the-art recording studios. Over the next thirty years, A&M emerged as a leading music label, having enjoyed worldwide success with such artists as Sting, Sheryl Crow, Bryan Adams, Soundgarden, Suzanne Vega, Blues Traveler, Joe Cocker, Aaron Neville, Cat Stevens, Joe Jackson, the Carpenters, Peter Frampton, and A&M co-founder Herb Alpert. The recording studio has been used by many major artists, inctuding Bruce Springsteen and the Ro11ing Stones. It was also ground zero for one of the most memorable events in the history of pop music: the recording of "We Are The World" in 1985, which brought together the royalty of pop in one unforgettable performance, all staged to aid the hungry in Africa through USA for Africa. In 1992, A&M Records was aquired by Polygram, Inc.

Today, on the elegant brickwork of the Main Entrance hangs a plaque declaring the site as an historical cultural monument in the City of Los Angeles. There, the legacy of an enchanted Hollywood era lives on as A&M Records continues to be a source of creativity and lasting cultural achievement.