Moving in the wrong direction

As 1975 began, Sonobeat was entering its eighth year of operation. Coming off two important but mostly barren previous years, during which Sonobeat co-founder Bill Josey Sr. spent months outfitting his new recording studio nestled in the Central Texas Hill CountryThe Texas ”Hill Country” is that portion of Central Texas sitting on the Edwards Plateau and featuring beautiful rolling hills and grasslands. The 31,000 square mile region is considered the geographic border between the American Southeast and Southwest., Sonobeat released its first record in almost four years, Arma Harper’s folk single, Just One Too Many Times backed with Plea for Freedom. For Arma’s single, Bill moved vinyl single mastering and pressing away from high-end Sidney J. Wakefield & Company, which Sonobeat had used exclusively since 1968, to less expensive Nashville Records.

While taking as much custom recording work as he could get in 1975, Bill also continued to develop Central Texas artists for potential Sonobeat releases at his Blue Hole Sounds studio in Liberty Hill, Texas. Among the artists Sonobeat recorded in ’75 were country singer-songwriter Tom Penick (who also served as Bill’s sidekick in the studio), punk-rock band Nasty Habit, country artist Rex Sherry, cover band Austin Blues-Rockers, and country-folk artist Larry Boyd and Group.

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Illness strikes

At the beginning of 1975, Bill began to experience medical issues that were soon diagnosed as cancer. Bill’s condition worsened quickly and by spring was often debilitating. Bill’s son Jack moved to Liberty Hill to care for his father. In fall ’75, Bill underwent exploratory surgery and, on returning from the hospital, received a “get well” card from the Liberty Hill Cafe, one of Bill’s favorite hangouts. The card appeared to be signed by almost everyone in the community. Bill’s surgery was followed by chemotherapy treatments that often left him too weak to drive or conduct recording sessions. Tom Penick was extremely helpful to Bill during this period and on into ’76, keeping the studio clean and ready for the few sessions that Bill was able to conduct, setting up mikes, running cables, positioning sound baffles, making sound checks, and preparing the recording equipment. Although better in some ways than 1974, 1975 was an all-around tough year.

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