Artists
People
Austin, Texas
Records with Sonobeat in 1973
No commercial releases on Sonobeat Records
Almost nothing is known about the January 1973 session that Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr. conducts with Gary Willard York and Evelyn (whose last name is not listed in the Sonobeat archives). The entire output of the session, recorded at Sonobeat Studios at 705 North Lamar in Austin, is a monaural demo of Gary's original song People. When we catch up with Gary in 2008, he remembers little about the session or even writing the song. However, he does recall spending a lot of time around the Sonobeat studios, assisting Bill with microphone set-ups and "learning the ropes". During that era, Gary's studying radio-TV-film and music at The University of Texas.
Personnel on the demo include then 21-year-old Gary, Evelyn (the vocalist), and back-up musicians Russ, Ken, and Rex. Gary recalls that when the recording is made, Evelyn is a divinity student at Concordia College in Austin. He also recalls that Russ, Ken, and Rex (whose last names are not listed in the Sonobeat archives) are also in an Austin-based blues band Rocking Horse. We feel fairly certain that Rocking Horse's Rex, who plays on Gary's Sonobeat session, is Rex Sherry, who later records as a solo act with Sonobeat. Gary York moves on and years later builds and operates Mellow Morning Music Productions in Tyler, Texas, but eventually ends up in Longview, Texas, where he succumbs on June 20, 2016, to congestive heart failure.
There's nothing more in the Sonobeat archives about the mysterious session with Gary and Evelyn or what Bill does with the demo. It seems clear, however, that he doesn't intend to release a single by the duo, since he records only one song – well, at least we find only one recording by Gary and Evelyn in the Sonobeat archives.
Gary York: acoustic guitar and vocals
Evelyn (last name unknown): vocals
Ken (last name unknown): bass
Rex (last name unknown): organ
Russ (last name unknown): electric guitar
People
Produced and engineered by Bill Josey Sr.
Recorded at Sonobeat Studios, 705 North Lamar, Austin, Texas, in January 1973
Recording equipment: ElectroVoice Slimair 636 microphones, Sony ECM22 electret condenser microphones, Scully 280 half-inch 4-track tape deck, Ampex AG350 tape deck, custom 16-channel 4-bus mixing console, custom steel plate stereo reverb, 3M (Scotch) 202 tape stock
