Sonobeat's only monaural 45 RPM release

On October 1969, Sonobeat co-founder/producer Rim Kelley (Bill Josey Jr.) recorded Austin rock band Plymouth Rock in sessions that yielded Sonobeat's 16th single (R-s114), Memorandum backed with Just a Start. Notably, Plymouth Rock's was the only single commercially released by Sonobeat in monaural rather than stereo, Sonobeat's hallmark. A solid and seasoned group of musicians, Plymouth Rock (not to be confused with the Plymouth Rockers, a '60s Seattle band) was formed by South Canadian Overflow-exes John Inmon (guitar), Donny Dolan (drums), and Bobby Shehorn (bass) and Lavender Hill Express-ex Johnny Schwertner (keyboards). Plymouth Rock was immensely popular with the University of Texas crowd but also played Austin night clubs that catered to the high school crowd. The catchy Memorandum, with its strong guitar intro hook, was written by John Inmon and Just a Start by Johnny Swertner and band manager Paul Harrison (who at the time was also a DJ at Austin's top 40 AM station, KNOW).

Plymouth Rock work tape box

The basic tracks for Plymouth Rock's single were recorded at the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church auditorium in northwest Austin, and additional instrument and vocal overdubs were recorded at Sonobeat's Western Hills Drive studio, also in northwest Austin.

Because of complex overdubbed vocals and instruments -- including John Inmon's intertwining double guitar solo on Memorandum -- Rim focused on creating a balanced monaural radio mix, later experimenting with stereo remixes, but the only released version of Memorandum and Just a Start was the mono mix. Rim's experimental stereo mixes from '69 have been lost, but we're pleased to present stereo versions freshly remixed from the original 4-track masters. Note the short doo-wop vocal during the intro to the stereo remix of Memorandum that was deleted from the single version. We've also provided a "close-up" of that doo-wop by isolating the vocalist's track (although you can hear the instrumental track faintly in the background, probably being leaked to the singer's mike from his headphones). By any standards, in mono or stereo, Memorandum was one of the best crafted rock performances released by Sonobeat.

John Inmon and Donny Dolan went on to join Lavender Hill Express-ex Rusty Wier in Jerry Jeff Walker's Lost Gonzo Band.