How We Did It 

In the summer of 1969, none of us had any idea how to make a record, but we didn't let that detail get 
in the way. Our friend and technical adviser, Bruce Kuehl  had figured out a way to 
record the band and overdub vocals using two consumer-grade Sony tape decks, two modified Sony 
mixers, and a pile of adapters.  Click here to see Bruce's explanation.  We were all in.

Another friend, Steve Brounell, offered us the use of the basement of his parent's house to use as our studio, 
and we were off. Our approach was to get a band take with as few mistakes as possible and then have 
Don record the vocals and harmonica parts. The band was recorded with one dynamic microphone 
per instrument. Bruce got a workable blend and we went for it. Every track, vocal and instrumental, 
was a complete take. There was no editing between takes and since this was live to two track, no 
punching in to fix mistakes or change parts. The piano was recorded back stage in the auditorium of 
the high school we attended. Bruce brought his rig, and despite the fact that the piano needed to be 
tuned, Ken did a couple of takes and we were out of there. 

The only time we encountered an audio professional who could have steered us in the right direction 
was at the mastering session. The final master was recorded in consumer format on both sides of a 
1/4" 1/4 track tape, and the mastering engineer let us know that this was a big mistake on our part. 
 

This was the moment when the project could have either been elevated by a good mastering job or 
crashed and burned. Unfortunately, the engineer chose the second option. He told us that the only 
solution was for him to transfer our tape to the correct format, which at his studio meant playing our 
stereo tape on a two-track tape deck and recording it onto a second machine which happened to be 
single track monaural. Due to the DIY nature of the recording process, this created some serious 
problems audio-wise. Not knowing any better, we agreed and the resulting LP was a disappointment 
to everyone involved. 

Fortunately, the master tape still exists. The album was remastered in 2021, and we present it here 
for the first time in stereo and high-resolution audio. 

In the entertainment world, a demo or demonstration tape is used to get the attention of those 
further up the food chain, be it a record label, management, or a producer who thinks they can turn a 
profit with the act. That and creating a souvenir for our fan base was our intent. We never dreamed 
that the record would be released internationally.