(Rolling Truck Stones)

The Rolling Stones' mobile recording studio is to be restored for use at a future music venue in Calgary, Canada.

An entire recording studio console contained in the back of British Lorry, it dates back to 1968, when the English band wanted to record in Mick Jagger’s country home, Stargroves.

Put together by Stones’ pianist and road manager Ian Stewart, the Mobile allowed the Stones to set up and play in any building they wanted, with cables running to the studio outside. Ian "Stu" hired various engineers and producers to construct the console in order to fit in the back of a van.

It proved to be a massive success in convenience and sound, and soon other top acts were borrowing the lorry for their projects.

Aside from Stones' albums 'Sticky Fingers' and 'Exile On Main Street', the mobile studio was used to record Led Zeppelin's 'III', 'IV', 'Houses Of The Holy' and 'Physical Graffiti', Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry' and Deep Purple's 'Smoke On The Water'. Lou Reed, Queen, The Damned, Frank Zappa, Iron Maiden, Wings, Wishbone Ash, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits, Miles Davis, Status Quo, Ten Years After and Santana are among other artists to have recorded using the Mobile.

After falling into disrepair, the studio was purchased by the National Music Centre in Canada in 2000 but has remained in storage since then.

Under the direction of John Leimseider, the National Music Centre's electronics technician, the Mobile will be completely restored. Most of the analog technology dates back to the early ´70s.

"It's spectacular - some of the most important albums of our musical lives were done on that. This is a piece of major history that has to be protected to death, so my plan is a very conservative restoration. There are people who will take consoles and rewire everything — we're not changing anything, and the plan is to clean it up and make it work perfectly.” said Leimseider.
The new National Music Centre is expected to open in 2015