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 backed with There's No Tears, was originally scheduled as 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 changed 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 every 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 pop vocalist and pianist Paul New's pop combo perform at the Club Seville at the Sheraton Crest Inn 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 and was promoting Paul's career as a musician at the Club Seville. The Sonobeat sessions, recorded in March 1968 at the Club Seville at the Sheraton Crest Motor Inn on Town Lake (now the Radisson), produced three tracks: the vocal All That's Left Is the Lemon Tree, Balboa, an instrumental inspired by the Southern California beachside resort that Paul frequented as a child, and Johnson City Rag, also an instrumental 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 ranch.

The Paul New 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.

Paul lives in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and even in his 60s still performs.

New Atlantis Hard Rock Band

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 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 June 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 '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 scheduled for release in late '69 but was abandoned for reasons not documented in the Sonobeat archives and no longer recalled. It's a pity, too, because the New Atlantis recordings are examples of a great band composed of imaginative musicians stretching creatively. We're pleased to present sound bites from two New Atlantis power ballads, I Got the Feelin' and I Know You So Well. Both were written by Jim, who also sang lead.

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. Our thanks to Jim and Jay for contributing details about New Atlantis.

Next: 1969