Singer/songwriter Cody Hubach, who also recorded an unreleased single with Sonobeat in 1969 and an unreleased album with Sonobeat in 1972. Read more and hear sound bites from Cody's unreleased recordings.

Austin rock band Plymouth Rock. The single, Memorandum backed with Just a Start, was Sonobeat's most successful commercial release in 1969. Read more.

Sonobeat made its first experimental recordings in early 1967 with popular Austin band Leo and the Prophets. Only months later, the band had a regional hit single, Tilt-a-Whirl, on the Totem label, urging Sonobeat founders Bill Josey Sr. and Bill Josey Jr. forward with their plans to launch their own record label. Read more.

Depending on how you count, either three or four: The first, on Northeast Drive in Austin, is often overlooked and not counted as a "studio", because only one artist, Roy Headrick, recorded there and because it was a makeshift home studio. The second, and the first truly "permanent" facility Sonobeat had was on Western Hills Drive in northwest Austin. The third was at the KVET radio building on North Lamar in Austin. The fourth and final studio was in an old AME stone church just outside Liberty Hill, Texas.

Base was a studio recording group and began as Sonobeat owner Bill Josey Sr.'s experiment in quadraphonic recording techniques. In 1972, Bill enlisted a group of top Austin musicians for the experiments and probably called the constantly-changing group Base as a double-play on words: first, the group formed a base for Bill's experiments and, second, Bill used three bass players, and in some sessions two bassists performed together on the same tracks. A year later, Bill brought together another group of luminary Austin musicians for a reconstituted version of Base, but this time, Bill intended to produce commercial releases in quad. Nonetheless, none of the Base quad recordings was ever commercially released.

The double-sided black and white sleeve features psychedelic-style artwork and lettering by celebrated Austin illustrator Gilbert Shelton and a truly cool photo by another Austin icon, Belmer Wright. The sleeve reads, in small type appearing in the "OO"s in Conqueroo, "Recorded Live at the Vulcan Gas Co." Although the single indeed was recorded at the Vulcan Gas Company in downtown Austin, it was not recorded before a live audience; Sonobeat frequently rented the Vulcan during hours it was closed to the public for use as a remote recording studio. Read more.

Recording of the classical-jazz fusion album Mindbender by the David Flack Quorum started in 1970, but because of Sonobeat's disruptive studio move in '71 and David's departure shortly thereafter for a 2-year stint in the military, the album wasn't completed until '74. It wasn't released until '76.

Four: The first recorded but last pressed was by singer/songwriter Roy Headrick. The first and third pressed were of Herman M. Nelson's rich catalog of pop, rock, and folk songs. The second pressed was of singer/songwriter Bill Wilson's original songs. Bill Wilson also performed and sang Herman M. Nelson's second song demo album; Jim Chesnut, who also recorded a Sonobeat stereo single, performed and sang Herman's first song demo album. All four song demo albums, which were intended only for distribution to major record company A&R departments in hopes of attracting covers by well-known artists, were pressed in monaural.

Four years. From 1967 to 1971, Sonobeat issued at least one single per year and in 1968 peaked with 11 singles. However, after releasing two singles by the same group in 1971, there were no further Sonobeat releases until 1975. Check out Sonobeat's discography.

Wildfire is the band and Smokin' is the album, consisting of eight songs produced and engineered by Sonobeat owner Bill Josey Sr. in 1970. What made these sessions particularly unusual is that they represent the first time Sonobeat offered its studio and producing services on a "work-for-hire" basis, meaning that the album was not recorded as a potential Sonobeat release but, instead, was commissioned by and belonged to the band.