James Polk and the Brothers' master tape box and Sonobeat stereo single

In August 1969, Sonobeat recorded its first soul/rhythm and blues group, James Polk and the Brothers. The sessions were among the first recorded entirely at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio in northwest Austin and produced two solid original songs that were released as Sonobeat stereo single R-s115. The tracks were produced by Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr. and engineered by co-founder Rim Kelley (Bill Josey Jr.). With a positive message, the gospel-influenced "A" side, Stick-To-It-Tive-Ness, was written by Yvonne Joseph, who also sang lead vocal with backing vocals by Imogene Polk and Teresa Maxwell. Although no photos of the session are known to exist, Rim recalls that the tiny studio -- which also housed the mixing console -- was so crowded that the musicians were practically falling over each other, requiring extremely close miking and several overdubs to get acceptable stereo separation.

The single's "B" side, The Robot, is a slow, jazz-influenced instrumental written by Polk and might have started a dance craze if it had been the "A" side instead of the "B". The personnel on the single were James Polk (organ), Reginald Caldwell (sax), Donald Jennings (trumpet), Tim Pickard (guitar), John Taylor (drums), and Yvonne Joseph (vocals).

James Polk album session tape box

Polk returned to record an album for Sonobeat in 1970 or '71, but the archives are unclear as to when or where the sessions were recorded or who the session players were. It's a good bet, however, that the sessions were recorded at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio, where the Polk single was recorded. The resulting 45 minute untitled album featured five tracks on side 1 and two tracks, one weighing in at a hefty 13 minutes, on side 2. The 4-track master tape box indicates that Bill Sr., who both produced and engineered the sessions, covered the drum kit with 3 mikes, tapped the guitar amp speaker directly into the mixer, and placed 1 mike on each of the organ and sax. The album contains a mix of cover versions of pop tunes, such as On a Clear Day, and Polk originals, including the fun and funky Polk Chops.

A formally trained music theorist, classical and jazz pianist, and prolific composer who spent eight years touring with the Ray Charles orchestra starting in the late '70s, Polk holds an honorary doctorate from Huston-Tillotson College and remains an active and influential member of the Austin music community. Dr. Polk recently retired from his posts as Associate Professor and Associate Director of Jazz Studies at Texas State University in San Marcos.

Here are sound bites from the James Polk Sonobeat single and from his unreleased album. Poor Butterfly is a cover of a pop classic dating from 1916 and popularized in the 1940s by Benny Goodman's big band. There are no stereo mixes of the Polk album in the Sonobeat archives, so we've created a new mix of Poor Butterfly from the original 4-track master.