Artists

It's nearing the end of 1975. The Austin Blues-Rockers is a, well, Austin-based rhythm and bluesey, rock cover band, a cross between Motown and Atlantic "girl groups" of the late '60s and more traditional R&B/blues bands. From December 21, 1975, through January 3, 1976, Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr. produces several nicely-polished tracks with the group, then called Blues-Rock Group. The unit initially records House Rocker (a cover of B.B. King's 1955 single, which bears a close resemblence to King's later Boogie Rock), Snatch It Back And Hold It (Junior Wells' R&B song from the '60s), Chicken Shack (originally a Muddy Waters Blues Band instrumental), and It's Hard To Stop (Doing Something When It's Good To You) (a fond tribute to Betty Wright's original 1973 R&B number). The sessions take place at Sonobeat's Blue Hole Sounds studios on the outskirts of tiny Liberty Hill, 35 miles north of Austin, Texas. The band completes It's Hard To Stop and one take of House Rocker (sometimes listed as Rock House on the session tape boxes) with vocal overdubs, but leaves the other tracks (except Chicken Shack, specifically recorded as an instrumental) unfinished.

In March '76, the group, now referred to as Austin Blues-Rockers, returns to Blue Hole Sounds to cut two more songs: Soulful Dress (a cover of Filipino-American R&B sensation Sugar Pie DeSanto's 1964 version) and Ain't Nobody (Gonna Turn Me Around) (a cover of Aretha Franklin's 1967 hit). These two tracks appear to be intended for release as a Sonobeat stereo single. But 1976 is a financially challenging year for Sonobeat, and if there's no other reason the Austin Blues-Rockers' single is never released on Sonobeat Records, it surely is because Bill's ongoing battle with cancer – diagnosed in 1975 – is diverting most of his financial resources from record releases to chemotherapy treatments.

Bill's notes from the December 21, 1975, session identify the band's personnel as Al Davies, Derick O'Brien, Doke Ford, David (whose last name isn't indicated but who we believe may be Levy), and Frieda Borth. Back in 1969, Frieda is a member of Austin rock group Contraband that records with Sonobeat as a prize for winning the Austin Aqua Festival Battle of the Bands. Whenever Bill's notes add up the times of various tracks, it's a clear indication he's looking to assemble enough material for an album; here, in particular, he notes that It's Hard To Stop, Rock House, and a second take of Snatch It Back And Hold It together have a running time of 15 minutes 35 seconds, a little less than half an album. In the '60s and 70s, typical album running times hover around 40 minutes. Unfortunately, none of the band's material is ever commercially released. Somewhat suprisingly, we find no mentions in The Daily Texan or the Austin American-Statesman newspapers during this time period of Austin Blues-Rockers; no ads for the band's performances at local night clubs, no articles, no photos. This leads us to speculate that, at the time Austin Blues-Rockers records with Sonobeat, the band is just forming and building its set list, but never actually launches. But it's also interesting that the band is musically solid, with Frieda's knock-'em-out vocals backed by gifted musicians, so what happened?