Winding down

Business at Bill Josey Sr.'s Blue Hole Sounds studio near Liberty Hill, Texas, picked up in '74 and '75, although Sonobeat had only one release on its own label during the entire two year period. Bill Sr. continued to accept custom work (for which he charged hourly studio rental and engineering fees) to pay the bills and to finance sessions with artists he hoped he could release on the Sonobeat label. Some of the artists who recorded potential Sonobeat releases at Blue Hole Sounds were country/western singer/songwriter Tom Penick, rock band Nasty Habit, the Austin Blues-Rockers, country-folk artist Larry Boyd & Group, progressive rock band White Light, and Helmer Dahl. Bill Sr. also recorded a third Sonosong demo album of Herman M. Nelson compositions and circulated copies to record company A&R executives on audio cassettes rather than vinyl LPs.

Early in '75, Bill Sr. began to experience medical problems that were diagnosed as cancer. In spring '75, Bill Sr.'s son Jack moved to Liberty Hill to care for his father. Bill Sr. underwent exploratory surgery in fall '75 and, on returning from the hospital, received a "get well" card from the Liberty Hill Cafe; the card seemed to have been signed by everyone in the community. Bill Sr.'s surgery was followed by chemotherapy treatments that often left Bill Sr. too weak to drive or conduct recording sessions. Tom Penick was extremely helpful to Bill Sr. during this period and on into '76, keeping the studio clean and ready for the few sessions that Bill Sr. did conduct. Penick even assisted with the sessions, setting up mikes and running cables, positioning sound baffles, conducting sound checks, and preparing the recording equipment.

In early '76, with the financial backing of composer/musician David Flack, Mindbender, the David Flack Quorum album that had been "in the can" for several years, was finally released. At a particularly difficult period during chemotherapy in June '76, Bill Sr. received an unusual plea from a "starved" music lover in then-communist Hungary (see above right) who was desperate to hear some American jazz, rock, and country music. Bill Sr. sent the young correspondent a selection of Sonobeat singles and albums. The release of Mindbender and the letter from Hungary perked Bill Sr. up and seemed to give him renewed energy.

Country singer Jeannine Hoke recorded Your Touch Is Like a Whisper and Let's Get to Houston Today at Blue Hole Sounds in early '76. Hers was the last single issued on the Sonobeat label, in spring '76. The last artists to record at the Blue Hole Sounds studio were the Austin Blues-Rockers and Helmer Dahl. Unfortunately, Bill Sr.'s struggle with cancer hospitalized him again and depleted his funds, cutting off his opportunities to release an Austin Blues-Rockers' single and Helmer Dahl's album on the Sonobeat label or shop them to major labels.

"Blue Hole Sounds" exterior

Bill Sr. continued chemotherapy, which fortunately was available through the Veterans' Administration (Bill Sr. had been a Navy officer, serving as a PT boat skipper in the South Pacific during World War II, and it was one of his old Navy colleagues, Dr. Hal Gaddy, who had first diagnosed Bill Sr.'s cancer at Georgetown Hospital). In August '76, Bill Sr. was hospitalized again and this time the prognosis was bad. He was given the okay by his doctor to take a short day trip, so his son Jack took him back to Liberty Hill, Blue Hole Sounds, and his mobile home for a last visit. Jack recalls never seeing his father as serene and content as during that final drive through the Central Texas countryside.

Notice published in the October 30, 1976, issue of Billboard Magazine

There, in Liberty Hill, Texas, Bill Sr. had found what he most needed just when he needed it: a place to live unpretentiously and inexpensively, a peaceful setting, and a community that really cared about him. In September 1976, Bill Josey Sr. succumbed to lymphocarcinoma at the Veterans' Administration hospital in Temple, Texas, leaving family, friends, and the emerging Central Texas music industry at a loss. On the Cold Sun web site, Bill Miller remembers Bill Sr. fondly: "I lost track of Bill Sr. news around the time I began to help Roky [Erickson, of the 13th Floor Elevators] develop his songs ... circa 1974 ... I regret not visiting [him] again. He was a great man, gave a lot to the Texas scene." Songwriter Herman M. Nelson recalls, "Bill was not only a good friend, he was a bright light with a lot of good ideas. His head swam with them. He was a man truly ahead of his time." Paul New wrote "what a wonderful man"; Bob Trenchard called Bill Sr. "ahead of his time--a real pioneer in the Austin music scene." And, concluding his 1977 Sonobeat retrospective in the fanzine Not Fade Away, Doug Hanners wrote, "Success is measured in many ways but in the record business at least, the music speaks for itself."

Next: The story resumes