Sonobeat Artists
Whistler
Austin to Haight-Ashbury and back
Spring 1970 also is when Whistler came to record with Sonobeat co-founder and producer Bill Josey Sr. Although the Sonobeat archives are silent on the location of Whistler’s recording sessions, we’re reasonably certain that they were held at Sonobeat’s intimate home-based Western Hills Drive studio in northwest Austin. The sessions produced two tracks – Jean Harlow and We Crossed the Line, both composed by the band’s guitarist and lead vocalist, Roy Robinson. We’ve been unable to locate the original half-inch 4-track session masters, which the archives refer to, but we did find monaural mix-downs of the two songs, both of which are solidly performed. We assume that Bill Sr. intended to release the songs as a Sonobeat single during summer 1970. But Whistler’s single never was released, and we think we know why: the band abruptly moved to San Francisco in late spring, shortly after completing its Sonobeat sessions. That made the band’s personal appearances in Central Texas – Sonobeat’s primary market – to promote the single impossible, thus assuring a Sonobeat regional release would be a commercial failure.
The band moved to California in hopes of capitalizing on the folk-rock hippie movement that coalesced during 1967’s Summer of Love in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district, and, indeed, Whistler played gigs at The Family Dog and Fillmore West, both iconic Bay Area hippie venues, and briefly toured with Santana. But the band returned to Austin in August and immediately booked regular weeknight gigs at The New Orleans Old World Nightclub and The Chequered Flag, both in downtown Austin. Whistler was one of only three acts selected to play the grand opening – August 7, 1970 – at The Vulcan Gas Company’s successor, Armadillo World Headquarters. The band’s return to Austin rekindled Sonobeat’s interest in releasing the single, but only weeks after Whistler’s Armadillo grand opening performance, the unit fell apart. Core members reformed in September ’70 as country-boogie trio Cross Country, performing frequently at the Armadillo as well as at The Chequered Flag, but with the trio sporting a new name and new sound, once again Sonobeat abandoned plans to release Jean Harlow and We Crossed the Line, this time permanently shelving the tracks.
The Whistler unit that Sonobeat recorded in spring 1970 featured Roy Robinson (professionally known today as Amos Staggs), Linda Robinson (Roy’s wife), Jenkins Garrett, and Bill Dorman. In 1973, after a three year hiatus, Whistler regrouped, this time with a line-up featuring Bill Dorman, Roy and Linda Robinson, Richard “Red” Schulz (pedal steel and dobro), and George Smid (drums). This new incarnation of Whistler opened and then continued to play regular gigs at Austin’s Soap Creek Saloon, Castle Creek, and River City Inn (where the band held down a regular Sunday night spot for months). On April 18, 1973, an Austin Statesman newspaper feature by Mary Pat O’Malley warmly captured Whistler’s “homey country rock” return to Austin on the occasion of the band’s “whing-ding” performance with Willie Nelson at Armadillo World Headquarters. In 1974, the band took its final bow. Roy, taking the stage name Amos Staggs, continues a long-running career touring the U.S. with dozens of country and pop music icons and writing dozens of hit songs.
As noted above, we haven’t found Whistler’s 4-track session masters, so in 2023, to demonstrate the band’s excellent harmonies, we used AI audio tools to extract the vocals and offer below an excerpt from We Crossed the Line.
The band
- Bill Dorman (bass)
- Jenkins Garrett (guitar)
- Linda Robinson (piano and vocals)
- Roy Robinson (guitar and lead vocals)
- Uncredited musician (drums)
Recording details
Unreleased recordings
- Jean Harlow (Roy Robinson) • 3:13
- We Crossed the Line (Roy Robinson) • 1:54
Produced by Bill Josey Sr.
Engineered by Rim Kelley
Recorded at Sonobeat’s Western Hills Drive studio, Austin, Texas, in early spring 1970
Recorded using...
- ElectroVoice 665 dynamic, ElectroVoice Slimair 636 dynamic, and Sony ECM-22 electret condenser microphones
- Scully 280 half-inch 4-track and Ampex AG-350 quarter-inch 2-track tape decks
- Custom 16-channel 4-bus mixing console
- Fairchild Lumiten 663ST stereo optical compressor
- Blonder-Tongue Audio Baton 9-band graphic equalizer
- Custom steel plate stereo reverb
- Ampex 681 tape stock
Listen!
Our thanks to Jerri Lynn Robinson for providing the names of the members of Whistler and details of the band’s background.
Trivia
As unlikely as it may seem for as folksy a folk-rock band as was Whistler, from 1967 to 1970, the group frequently played gigs at Austin’s legendary psychedelic music hall, The Vulcan Gas Company. Then, in August 1970, Whistler was the opening act at the Vulcan’s successor, Armadillo World Headquarters, and became such a regular there that it was considered a ’Dillo house band. Sometime around 1970, a singer/songwriter on the verge of starting the outlaw country movement opened for Whistler: his name, Willie Nelson. Whistler went on to open honky tonk venue Soap Creek Saloon in 1973.