Artists

It's August 1970, and blues-rock group Contraband (which starts its life in 1969 as The Contraband) wins the Austin Aqua Festival Battle of the Bands, competing in a field of ten top regional Texas groups. As one of the top prizes, Contraband is awarded a recording session with Austin's Sonobeat Records, which already has released 19 stereo 45 RPM singles. The idea behind the prize is that the Aqua Festival Battle of the Bands winner could become the next act appearing on the Sonobeat label. Contraband's Sonobeat sessions, which we believe to be held in early September 1970 (the Sonobeat archives aren't clear on the actual recording dates, but Sonobeat co-founder Rim Kelley, who produces and engineers the Contraband session, leaves to attend law school in Houston in mid-September, helping establish the latest time frame in which the sessions are held), yield demos for Try (Just a Little Bit Harder), a spunky cover of Janis Joplin's signature rocker, with a solid lead vocal by Frieda Borth (from Pittsburg, Texas, who at the time Contraband records with Sonobeat is a University of Texas student) backed with dynamite harmony vocals by the whole band, and a cover of British band Free's mini-opus I'll Be Creepin', a cool rocker with an equally cool double-tracked vocal by Frieda. At the time Contraband records with Sonobeat, the band features Frieda, Austin native George Rarey (guitars and bass, who later will join Sirius, formed by founding members of seminal Texas psych band Bubble Puppy), Ralph Gebert (guitars), Steve McDaniels (drums), and Kim Snider (keyboards). Frieda will record again with Sonobeat in 1975 and 1976 as part of the Austin Blues-Rockers.

Contraband goes through several rapid personnel changes, and at various times includes bassist Steve Hansen (at 6'2" and 120 pounds affectionately known as "Fat Steve") and bassist Larry Nye (better known for his lead guitar with Steven Fromholtz's band and who now owns the La-Z-L Recording Studio on Lake LBJ in Kingsland, Texas, a bit over an hour's drive from Austin). Among luminary Austin musicians who will record with Larry at the La-Z-L are Fromholtz and Rusty Wier, who records with Sonobeat in 1967 and 1968 as a member of supergroup Lavender Hill Express.

Contraband kicks around for at least two years, winning in the pop-rock category at The University of Texas Intercollegiate Music Festival held in March 1971 and performing at The University of Texas "East Mall Ball" a month later, sharing the stage with Genesee, Phoenix, Rusty Wier, Shiva's Headband, all Sonobeat recording artists, and other top regional Texas acts.

Contraband is managed by Austin radio station KNOW's drive time deejay and program director Mike Lucas (a friendly rival to Sonobeat co-founder and Contraband session engineer Rim Kelley, who until the end of 1967 deejay's on KAZZ-FM opposite Lucas; Lucas also manages Lavender Hill Express). Although there's no explanation in the Sonobeat archives why Sonobeat never releases Contraband's recordings as a single, one plausible reason is that the length of the tune I'll Be Creepin' (almost seven minutes running time) just won't fit on a 45 RPM record, which has a physical capacity just under five minutes per side. But Sonobeat has solved this problem before (on Lavender Hill Express' seven-and-one-half minute Outside My Window) by simply fading out long tracks when disc capacity is reached. A more likely reason the material isn't released is that Contraband's reorganization immediately following the Sonobeat session makes it difficult to promote the band that actually records the tracks. Nonetheless, Contraband remains a top Austin band right up into April 1972, when it reorganizes still again, this time taking the name Calico and moving toward a country-rock sound. Kim and Larry break off in 1973 to form Brushy Creek, touring for awhile with Michael Murphey, and Steve McDaniels joins Austin country band Freda and the Firedogs (Freda, whose real name is Marsha Ball, is no relation to Frieda). By 1977, core members of the original Contraband/Calico/Brushy Creek groups – Frieda, Larry, George, and Kim – form Back Bone, spending 6 months backing Rusty Wier, who by then has moved on to a successful solo career.