Cherry Beat - Recording Sessions (Part Three - The Band's Second Album)

25th October 1971
Ten days after the all the songs for the band's debut album were finished, the group were in the studio again, recording tracks for their second album called "Show Business". This session saw the creation of two compositions that Sam Whitby has recently written. Sam had written "Club Knight" entirely on his own, while Peter McDonald helped contribute some of the lyrics for "Shake Little Baby".

26th October 1971
The band members were in the studio again, recording two more tracks for "Show Business". Both of them were rock and roll covers. Bobby Troup's "The Girl Can't Help It" which was originally intended to be recorded for their first album but was pushed back in favour of "Please No More", and Buddy Holly's "Peggy Sue".

27th October 1971
The band members were in the studio again, recording another track for "Show Business". Another rock and roll cover - "Clarabella" - written by Frank Pingatore. It was the version by Billy Preston that had brought the song to the band's attention.

28th October 1971
Sam Whitby double tracks his lead vocal on Club Knight. The band members and Chudley Maron record and add handclaps to the song.

Peter McDonald digitally enhances the volume of his backing vocal for Shake Little Baby, changing it to a harmony vocal. The band members and Chudley Maron record and add handclaps to the song.

29th October 1971
Sam Whitby records a hammond organ overdub for Club Knight.

3rd November 1971
Two more original compositions were started on this day. "Clarabelle", a boogie rock composition which was written, according to Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby, 60% by Sam, and 40% by Peter. Despite the similarity of the title, it was unrelated to the Frank Pingatore song "Clarabella".

"Goldhood", another boogie rock song was a joint effort between Peter and Sam, although both of them agreed that it seemed more like a Peter song than a Sam one. Unfortunately the track's efforts were largely rejected out of hand at the time by critics. The song's composers were never given a proper explanation as to the reason why.

4th November 1971
Torquil Dohrn adds a backing vocal to Goldhood, while Devon O'Connell and Chudley Maron respectively add tambourine and maraca overdubs to the track.

Torquil Dohrn adds a backing vocal to Clarabelle, while Sam Whitby adds a grand piano overdub.

9th November 1971
Album release — Cherry Beat

15th November 1971
Single Release — Club Knight / Shake Little Baby

27th November 1971
Although the majority of the songs Cherry Beat were recording at the time were either rock, pop, or rock and roll, the members of the band also wanted to record some heavier songs. Peter McDonald really loved the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, and made sure the band recorded a cover version for "Show Business"

13th December 1971
Two more original compositions were started on this day. "Love is the Power" and "The Ballad of Louise Starker" were both ballads, and both sole compositions. "Love is the Power" was written solely by Peter McDonald, while "The Ballad of Louise Starker" was written solely by Sam Whitby.

14th December 1971
Torquil Dohrn adds glockenspiel overdubs to Love is the Power. Peter McDonald adds bass guitar overdubs, Devon O'Connell adds maraca overdubs, and Chudley Maron adds harp overdubs.

Torquil Dohrn adds glockenspiel overdubs to The Ballad of Louise Starker. Peter McDonald adds bass guitar overdubs, Devon O'Connell adds maraca overdubs, and Chudley Maron adds harp overdubs.

15th December 1971
Session musician Chester Glade adds cello overdubs to Love is the Power. Female session vocalists Elisha Bedsole, Patricia Cockrill, and Tracey Lessma overdub backing vocals on to the track.

Session musician Chester Glade adds cello overdubs to The Ballad of Louise Starker. Female session vocalists Elisha Bedsole, Patricia Cockrill, and Tracey Lessma overdub backing vocals on to the track.

14th January 1972
Single Release — The Ballad of Louise Starker / Love is the Power

22nd January 1972
The band recorded two more covers on this day. A cover of "Angelina" which had originally been recorded by Harry Belafonte.

And a cover of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black". Sadly neither of these songs were considered for "Show Business"

11th February 1972
The band recorded two new compositions on this day, neither of which would make the band's second album. Peter McDonald had written a sole composition "Kitty in a Tank", and although the band did record it on this day, none of the other band members had the interest or patience to work with it.

His next composition "Salt 'n' Pepper Suite" was written mostly by Peter himself, with lyrical contributions from Sam Whitby. While the band did express interest in the song, they decided that it's Music hall style wasn't quite right for the band's second album. The song's title was inspired by The Beatles' song Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

14th March 1972
The band recorded another two new compositions on this day, but like "Kitty in a Tank" and "Salt 'n' Pepper Suite", neither of these two tracks were considered for the band's second album. The first track recorded on this day - "Tropical Beach Hearts" - was a Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby composition, primarily written by Peter. The other composition, "Pineapple Heart" was written by Torquil Dohrn, making it the first time Torquil had ever contributed a song for the band to record.

Torquil later admitted that Sam had helped him to polish off the rough edges, since he wasn't the best songwriter in the world at the time, but Peter and Sam later agreed that Torquil's songwriting skills had improved considerably, since. When "Pineapple Heart" was rejected from "Show Business", Torquil wasn't worried, as it was his first composition. He could always work on his songwriting skills for future records.

Both "Tropical Beach Hearts" and "Pineapple Heart" contain the word heart in their song-titles, and they were both written around the same time. "Tropical Beach Hearts" primarily written by Peter, "Pineapple Heart" primarily written by Torquil. Torquil admits that he got the idea to call his first song "Pineapple Heart" from the lyrics of The Beatles' 1968 song Savoy Truffle, as well as being inspired to write it at the time when Peter and Sam were writing "Tropical Beach Hearts".

15th March 1972
Overdubs were recorded for "Tropical Beach Hearts" and "Pineapple Heart" on this day. For "Tropical Beach Hearts", the band recorded handclaps, while their producer Chudley Maron recorded maraca overdubs.

For "Pineapple Heart", session musician Wiley Stancill recorded a baritone saxophone overdub, Ricky Stanbery and Ernesto Selby recorded tenor saxophone overdubs, and German Sprinkle, Lacy Gram, and Noel Kontos recorded alto saxophone overdubs. Torquil double tracked his lead vocal, and Devon and Chudley recorded tambourine overdubs.

16th March 1972
Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby added the finishing touches to "Tropical Beach Hearts" on this day. Peter recorded additional maracas, while Sam recorded a piano overdub.

19th March 1972
The band recorded a cover of Vivian Stanshall and Neil Innes' song "Death Cab for Cutie" on this day. However it was not considered for the band's second album.

5th May 1972
The band recorded their last two covers for "Show Business" on this day. A cover of Deep Purple's hard rock song "Smoke on the Water" was chosen by the band to record, as a worthy companion for their cover of "Immigrant Song". Deep Purple's original version would be re-released as a single a year later.

The last song the band recorded which made the album was a cover of "The Candy Man" which originally appeared in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but it became best known as a cover by Sammy Davis Jr.

While both covers did receive mixed to positive reviews from critics, they along with the band's cover of "Immigrant Song" were the most likely causes of the band's second album not doing nearly as well as their debut album.

6th May 1972
The backing track for "The Candy Man" was recorded. Orchestral overdubs and additional backing vocals were added to the track - 3 Alto Saxophones, 3 Trumpets, 2 Trombones, 3 Violins, 2 Violas, 1 Cello, and 8 Backing Vocalists.

Although the band members of Cherry Beat didn't really interact with the session musicians and vocalists much, if at all, there was one vocalist - Elodia Torian - that Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby particularly liked.

13th June 1972
Album release — Show Business