The last artist Sonobeat recorded

It was spring in 1976 in rural Liberty Hill, Texas, nestled in the Central Texas Hill CountryThe Texas ”Hill Country” is that portion of Central Texas sitting on the Edwards Plateau and featuring beautiful rolling hills and grasslands. The 31,000 square mile region is considered the geographic border between the American Southeast and Southwest. 30 miles north of Austin. There, at Sonobeat’s Blue Hole Sounds studios, Dripping Springs country singer and songwriter Corrie Jeannine Hoke what would become Sonobeat’s 24th 45 RPM single release. In fact, Jeannine’s was Sonobeat’s final 45 RPM single release. To the best of our knowledge, producer Bill Josey Sr. made no notes for Jeannine’s sessions, but that doesn’t surprise us, since, in 1976, Bill was gravely ill with cancer, and every session was a physical and mental challenge for him. Because Bill left no session notes, we know very little about these sessions and have gleaned much of what we do know about Jeannine from our online research.

Jeannine Hoke’s master tape box

Jeannine Hoke’s Sonobeat single

The “A” side of Jeannine’s single (incorrectly listed on the label as PS-122 B, which seems to indicate it was the “B” side of the single) was Your Touch Is Like a Whisper, a catchy country-folk tune featuring guitars, dobro, harmonica, and double-tracked lead vocal. The backing track was provided by Al & Alec, who Bill Sr. recorded separately in the same time frame – April and May 1976 – that he recorded Jeannine. The true “B” side of Jeannine’s single, Let’s Get to Houston Today (also listed on the label as PS-122 B), is an urgent but hopeful country ballad, featuring similar instrumentation as the “A” side, but adding a recorder in harmony with Jeannine’s vocal. Both songs were Jeannine’s compositions. Although we’re not certain Al & Alec also backed Let’s Get to Houston Today, the instrumentation is so similar to Your Touch that it’s a good bet they did. Unfortunatey, we don’t know the names of the members of Al & Alec’s band.

Jeannine’s was the second of only two Sonobeat releases in which a solo artist was listed only by first name on the record label; the other was Arma Harper on his single, released a year before Jeannine’s. Jeannine’s also is the only Sonobeat single on which a producing credit isn’t given on the label. And, with the release of Jeannine’s Sonobeat single on June 30, 1976, the end of the Sonobeat label’s story was coming to a rapid close. All that was left was Helmer Dahl’s Toe-Tapping Tunes album, which was released a month following Jeannine’s single.

Jeannine Hoke promotional headshot

The Sonobeat archives hold no additional information about Jeannine. However, our online research revealed that in 1982, Jeannine recorded and self-released a gospel album, We’re Making Memories, and, in 2001, a CD, Here’s to the Rest of Your Life, her tribute to breast cancer survivors. In 2013, she self-released her final album, Country Blessings. Jeannine succumbed to breast cancer on February 1, 2017, at age 70.