Shiva's Headband

Shiva's Headband test pressing

Sonobeat recorded Shiva's Headband at the Vulcan Gas Company in February 1968. The resulting tracks, Kaleidoscoptic and There's No Tears, were originally to be Sonobeat's third rock release (Rs-103), but the group was unhappy with the recordings because the lead and rhythm guitars and leader Spencer Perkins' amplified violin were "tapped" at their amp outputs and run directly into the mixer rather than miked in front of the amp speakers (a technique now used regularly in recording studios and called "direct injection"). This necessarily altered the sound of those instruments on tape. Sonobeat used the "tapping" technique frequently early in its lifecycle, when it had too few microphones to separately mike the speaker box of every amplified instrument in a band.

Shiva's Headband master tape box

Although producers Bill Josey Sr. and Rim Kelley (Bill Jr.) were pleased with the quality of the Shiva's tracks, Perskins wanted to re-record the songs somewhere other than at the Vulcan Gas Company, which he thought was too boomy. When another session couldn't be scheduled quickly enough, he agreed to reconsidered release of the single, and Bill Sr. sent the master tape off to Houston Records, where a handful of test pressings were manufactured. After the band listened to the test pressing, they reaffirmed their displeasure with the recording, so the release was abandoned and the Conqueroo's single, I've Got Time, moved up to take slot Rs-103. Only a handful of test pressings of the Shiva's single were made, and all were delivered to Sonobeat with blank labels on which Bill Sr. wrote basic information (above right) for archival purposes.

Shiva's Headband (note misspelling of the group's name on the master tape box notes (above left) and the misspelling of Kaleidoscoptic on the test pressing label, above right) was formed in Austin by Perskins and his wife, Susan, and included Shawn Siegel (keyboards), Kenny Parker (guitar), Bob Tom Reed (rhythm guitar), and Jerry Barnett (drums). Shiva's was the official house band of both the Vulcan Gas Company and its successor, Armadillo World Headquarters, and performed on an all-star program at the Texas Pop Festival over Labor Day weekend in 1969.

Paul New

Paul New master tape box

When Sonobeat co-owner Bill Josey Sr. heard vocalist and pianist Paul New's pop combo perform at the Club Seville at the Sheraton Crest Inn (now the Radisson) on Town Lake in Austin, Texas, he arranged a recording session through Club Seville manager Don Dean. Don had worked for Paul's father at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in the '50s, where Paul hung out with luminary Hollywood film and recording stars such as Harry Belefonte, Harry James, and Eddie Fisher. By '68, Don was promoting Paul's combo at the Club Seville.

The Sonobeat sessions with Paul, recorded in March 1968 at the Club Seville, produced three tracks: a cover of Don Ho's hit All That's Left Is the Lemon Tree, an original instrumental inspired by the Southern California beachside resort that Paul frequented as a child called Balboa, and Johnson City Rag, also an original as well as a parody of the pop standard Johnson Rag. At the time Paul wrote Johnson City Rag, Johnson City, about 50 miles west of Austin, was home to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's sprawling ranch.

The recording session was engineered by Rim Kelley (Bill Josey Jr.) on Sonobeat's Ampex 354. Lemon Tree and Balboa were selected for release as stereo single PV-s114/I-s114. Bill Sr. sent the master tape to record pressing plant Sidney J. Wakefield & Co. in Phoenix, where the lacquer masters were cut, plates manufactured, and test pressings made. But the single was never commercially released for reasons now unknown. There is no other information about Paul or his combo in the Sonobeat archives.

Last we heard from Paul, a couple of years ago, he was living in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and even in his 60s still performing.

Allen Damron may have been the most influential folk performer in Austin, Texas, during the '60s and '70s. Sonobeat owners Bill Josey Sr. and Rim Kelley (Bill Josey Jr.) met Allen through KAZZ-FM live remote broadcasts that the Joseys hosted from Austin's seminal folk club, The 11th Door, where Allen regularly performed. Notably, The 11th Door helped launch the careers of Janis Joplin and Jerry Jeff Walker. In 1967, about the same time the Joseys formed Sonobeat Recording Company, Allen began managing Austin's most famous folk venue, The Checquered Flag, which was owned by Kerrville Folk Festival founder Rod Kennedy, who also served as the first station manager of KAZZ-FM when it went on-air in 1958.

We were completely surprised to recently find recordings by Allen in the Sonobeat archives. We don't recall the sessions, which the master tape box dates in late April 1968 and in which Allen recorded some of his signature tunes, including Nancy Whiskey and Requiem for a Balloon (a/k/a The Balloon Song). The recordings are simple and intimate -- just Allen singing, accompanied by acoustic guitar -- but, sadly, all are distorted, leading us to believe the recordings were made as tests and were not intended for release. Indeed, none were ever released.

Allen was a Texas native, growing up near Raymondville, near the Texas Gulf Coast and the Texas-Mexico border, but he came to Austin to attend the University of Texas, taking a degree in philosophy. He was among performers who inaugurated the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1972, and he continued to perform at that annual event for 30 years. He recorded commercial releases for several record labels, both before and after recording with Sonobeat, made a local hit of Nancy Whiskey in a 1966 duet with popular Texas folk singer Carolyn Hester, and attracted well-deserved national attention when he toured the U.S. as part of the 1968 Celebrate Texas Concert Tour. Allen passed away at age 66 in August 2005. The 2006 Kerrville Folk Festival celebrated Allen's memory and legacy.

New Atlantis work tape box

New Atlantis Hard Rock Band may have taken its name from Francis Bacon's classic 1627 utopian tale, but more likely the inspiration was a "New Atlantis Exhibit" on display at the University of Texas in 1966; the exhibit showcased letters, clippings, and ephemera from the Leicester Hemingway collection documenting the tiny and short-lived island republic off the coast of Jamaica that Leicester (Ernest Hemingway's brother) founded in 1964. Whatever the inspiration, New Atlantis (which often added "Hard Rock Band" to its name) was one of the most progressive and impressive bands on the Austin scene in the late '60s. Indeed, its original members -- Jim Mings (an Austin guitar legend), Mike Reid (piano and Hammond B2; he also contributed to Sonobeat's Base sessions), Jay Meade (drums; he, too, contributed to Sonobeat's Base sessions), and Danny Galindo (bass; formerly of the 13th Floor Elevators) -- were assembled from among the best Austin progressive bands of the mid-'60s.

New Atlantis master tape box

New Atlantis recorded half a dozen tracks with Sonobeat, beginning in October 1968 at the Vulcan Gas Company in downtown Austin and continuing through August 1969. The later sessions were conducted at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church's auditorium in northwest Austin; vocal and guitar overdubs were recorded at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio, also in northwest Austin. The resulting tracks were a cut above Sonobeat's previous recordings.

New Atlantis' original song, The Shadow Knows, recorded in '68, set the stage for the band's spectacular cover of Fire, recorded in early '69, on which producer Rim Kelley used his homemade "Black Box" to personify Jim's scorching lead guitar. A single, with New Atlantis' original I Got the Feelin' as the "A" side and Fire as the "B" side, was proposed for Sonbobeat's 1969 release schedule but was abandoned for reasons not documented in the Sonobeat archives and no longer recalled.

New Atlantis II on stage at the 1969 Austin Aquafestival Battle of the Bands

A second incarnation of New Atlantis (we'll call it New Atlantis II for convenience) returned to record with Sonobeat in August 1969, about the same time the band took second place in the '69 Austin Aqua Festival Battle of the Bands (Shepherds Bush took first place that year). The New Atlantis II session lineup featured lead guitarist Donnie Erickson (13th Floor Elevators front man Roky Erickson's brother) and guitarist Bob Galindo (Danny Galindo's brother), replacing Jim Mings and Mike Reid, respectively, Jay Meade, and Danny Galindo. The New Atlantis II sessions yielded She's a Country Girl and World in a Jug. Bob Galindo recalls that New Atlantis II also recorded versions of If I Were a Carpenter and Red Balloon, but we haven't found those two tracks in the Sonobeat archives.

It's a pity none of the New Atlantis recordings were released because they're examples of a great band composed -- not once, but twice -- of imaginative musicians stretching creatively. We're pleased to present sound bites from two power ballads, I Got the Feelin' and I Know You So Well, from the first New Atlantis' Sonobeat sessions. Both songs were written by Jim Mings, who also sang lead. We were disappointed to find the 1968 stereo master tape of New Atlantis II's upbeat She's a Country Girl, on which Donnie Erickson sings lead, has deteriorated to the point that it's no longer playable, but we were thrilled to find the original 4-track, half-inch session master from which the stereo master was mixed. As an A-B comparison, we offer sound bites from the damaged stereo master and our 2008 remix from the 4-track session master.

Jim Mings presently is a member of the Jazz Guitar Summit in Columbia, South Carolina. Jay Meade lives in Harlingen where he owns an ad agency. Mike Reid still lives in Austin where he teaches in the Austin Independent School District. Danny Galindo suffered a fatal illness in 2001. Bob Galindo is a Project Manager with the Austin Community College. Our thanks to Jim, Jay, and Bob for sharing their recollections of New Atlantis, and to Bob for the photo of New Atlantis II.

Next: 1969