Sweetarts completed tracks master tape box and Sonobeat single

In summer 1967, Austin-based Sonobeat Records recorded and released its first 45 rpm single (in stereo), A Picture of Me backed with Without You by the Sweetarts, a high-energy and highly-popular Austin band with a strong University of Texas fraternity following. The Sweetarts came to producer Rim Kelley's attention for a third and decisive time on Rim's KAZZ-FM live remote broadcast from the Club Saracen in downtown Austin. In '66, Rim had played the Sweetarts' Vandan single, So Many Times, on his KAZZ rock 'n' roll program, and the song had remained on KAZZ's play list for weeks. And the 'Tarts had won the '66 Austin Aqua Festival Battle of the Bands, raising their awareness level still again. The Sweetarts were an impressive, talented group that played their original material with as much aplomb as they played a familiar Beatles or Otis Redding cover. Their performance of band co-founder Ernie Gammage's original tune, Without You, on the Club Saracen live broadcast was enough to convince Rim to offer to record the group. The Sweetarts were Ernie Gammage (co-founder; guitar and lead vocals), Pat Whitefield (bass), Mike Galbraith (vocals), Tom Van Zandt (keyboards), and Dwight Dow (co-founder; drums).

Sweetarts basic tracks tape box

The basic instrumental tracks for the Sweetarts' Sonobeat single were recorded at the Swingers Club in North Austin on July 18, 1967, and the vocal, tambourine, and shaker tracks were overdubbed a few days later, late at night, at KAZZ-FM. KAZZ's studios were on the 10th floor of the Perry-Brooks Building in downtown Austin. The 10th floor was divided by a long, tunnel-like hallway. KAZZ occupied one side of the hall and classical music station KMFA-FM was directly opposite. Rim set up the vocal mike at one end of the hall and a second mike at the opposite end to capture the hall's natural reverberation, then coordinated with KAZZ's DJ (KMFA did not broadcast late at night during its early years of operation) to avoid recording when he had his microphone open. Note misspelling of "Sweet-Tarts" on the basic tracks tape box and Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr.'s handwritten instructions on the master tape box for the lacquer mastering engineer at Houston Records, where Sonobeat's 45s were pressed.

From left, Pat Whitefield, Mike Galbraith, Tom Van Zandt, Ernie Gammage, and Dwight Dow

Ernie Gammage's A Picture of Me is an innovative and well-crafted pop tune by any standard, with a lot going for it: thoughtful lyrics and Ernie's solid lead vocal, infectious beat, unusual four bar break -- no doubt influenced by the Beatles' We Can Work It Out -- and terrific backup harmonies that dramatically end the song on a minor chord. Without You, also a Gammage tune, is an equally impressive and solid rock romp with a good bit of country influence, punctuated by Tom's Farfisa organ riffs, Pat's clever bass break, and a neat little hi-hat trick courtesy of Dwight. As good as both songs were, though, there was never any doubt in Rim's mind that A Picture of Me would be the single's "A" side.

Although not the first Sonobeat single recorded (the Lee Arlano Trio's There Will Never Be Another You holds that distinction but was held back in order to kick off the label with a single that would have broader sales potential), A Picture of Me was the first released by Sonobeat as well as the first monaural-compatible stereo single released and promoted as such in the U.S. The Sweetarts' single also established Sonobeat's pattern of packaging its major single releases in a picture sleeve.

Sweetarts 1969 master tape box, sporting a Liberty Recorders label

The Joseys had an abiding fondness for the group and its individual members, so, not surprisingly, the Sweetarts returned in 1969 to record what might have been the group's second Sonobeat single, Summer Sunshine and Lady. The '69 sessions marked a musical turning point for the Sweetarts, who only months later reformed -- with some personnel changes and additions -- as Fast Cotton and re-recorded Lady. The '69 Sweetarts sessions, recorded at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio, were technically superior to the 1967 sessions; by 1969 Sonobeat had acquired a top of the line half-inch 4-track Scully 280 recorder and Sony condenser microphones and the Joseys had built a custom solid state recording console and steel plate reverb. In December 1968, the Joseys had delivered the Johnny Winter master tapes to Liberty Records in Los Angeles and had visited Liberty's Hollywood recording studios, where Rim grabbed a stash of Liberty Recorders tape box labels. He used one to document the Sweetarts' '69 sessions (see image, left), perhaps indicating that the Joseys hoped to sell this master to Liberty as they had the Winter album. It seems likely, however, that the second Sonobeat single wasn't released because of the imminent change of personnel and name of the group, which is probably one reason Fast Cotton re-recorded Lady as a slower, solo ballad.

A thorough history of the Sweetarts, beginning with the group's roots as the Fabulous Chevelles and continuing through its reincarnation as Fast Cotton, and audio clips from the KAZZ-FM broadcast of the Sweetarts from the Club Saracen, is presented at the Sweetarts retrospective site.

The Sweetarts' Sonobeat single, A Picture of Me, set many notable milestones, both for Sonobeat as a fledgling company and the record industry in general.