Artists

OK, we're leveling with you here: we have no idea who these artists are. They show up in the Sonobeat archives, a tape here, a tape there, with little or no labeling. And what labeling there is, is almost no help at all. We've listened to these tapes, and we've had a clue or two but nothing conclusive. Maybe you can help?

Unidentified female singer

Ladies first: in an unmarked box we find two tracks by a female vocalist who's accompanied by acoustic guitar. Our best guess is that this is Karol Phelan, who sings with Jim Chesnut on the first Herman Nelson song demo album for Sonobeat's sister company, Sonosong Music. But this is just an educated guess.

One of the two songs by this unidentified female vocalist may be Red River Valley, but we can't even guess at the title of the second song.

Unidentified male singer

We also find three head-scratching tracks on a quarter-inch tape featuring a solo artist accompanied by acoustic guitar. The tape box is labeled "John" and bears an October 30, 1969, recording date. It sounds like a mono mix-down from a two- or four-track master we haven't yet located in the vault. Sonobeat hasn't recorded many Johns, and we're having a hard time placing the voice with any of the Johns we have recorded, so we begin checking with friends of Sonobeat. First we check with John Inmon (South Canadian Overflow and Plymouth Rock), but he says "Not me". How about Johnny Richardson (Georgetown Medical Band and Fast Cotton)? Nope, our sources say not him either. Johnny Schwertner (Lavender Hill Express and Plymouth Rock)? Just doesn't sound like him at all. Johnny Winter? Uh, not even close!

Still, there's a very familiar quality to the voice on this tape, and we recognize one track as a cover of the Flatt and Scruggs tune One Too Many Mornings. Perhaps these are lost Jim Chesnut or Bill Wilson tracks in a mislabeled box?

Conclusion? Either the tape has been packed away in the wrong box or there's another "John" out there somewhere who Sonobeat has recorded but who we just can't recall.

Unidentified duet

OK, we thought the unidentified singers were stumpers, but here's one that's just a complete head scratcher. In an unmarked tape box, we find this charming country-flavored track, just a male and female duet (which in some harmony parts sounds a little like a trio) with a simple standard guitar backing. The male singer intros the song as You'll Never Make Me Blue, but from there on, we're lost. We don't know what more to say.

Unidentified band

This mysterious quarter-inch tape shows up in an unmarked box. The tape features four songs in early '70s Central Texas country-rock style (reminiscent of songs on the first Eagles album) and appears to have been recorded at 7-1/2 IPS on a quarter-inch 4-track machine. Sonobeat customarily records its masters at 15 IPS and doesn't start using a quarter-inch 4-track tape deck until 1974, so these tracks are probably recorded between mid-'74 and early 1976 at Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr.'s Blue Hole Sounds studios on the outskirts of Liberty Hill, Texas, 35 miles north of Austin. Beyond that, there's nothing more to go on...

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