Cherry Beat - Recording Sessions (Part Five - The Band's Fourth Album)

Mid - Late January 1974
After the overwhelming success of the band's third album, and their two recent hit singles "Shake Rattle and Die", and "Cocoa Star Rookies", the band continued to record new songs in their rock and roll vein, sometimes mixing their music style with blues rock, hard rock, boogie rock, pop rock, and power pop.

The band's intention was for their next album to take most of the year to record, and then release it as a double album. Since they were planning to release their next album in December, the plan was that their next album would be a Christmas one, so the last few songs the band would record for their fourth album would be Christmas themed.

17th January 1974
This was the band's first official recording session for their fourth album. The band members of Cherry Beat would use their music supervisor and producer Chudley Maron as a spare musician to a greater extent than on their third album in which the band played nearly all the instruments themselves. They would employ session musicians to a greater extent for this album so they would have fewer overdubs to record.

On this day the band recorded two original compositions. "The Caravan Song" and "Can't Stop the Jive" were both early 60's american styled rock and roll songs written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Sam Whitby. Both songs would be released as a double single, marking the first time a composition primarily by Peter McDonald would be released as an A-Side. Up until then, all the A-Sides were written solely or predominantly by Sam Whitby, since he was proven to have been the stronger half of the McDonald-Whitby partnership in the band's early years.

Both of these songs were not recorded inside the studio. Instead they were recorded outside on the deck of the back of studio. As the back of the building had a large deck, it was perfect for the band to record their rockier numbers. However "The Caravan Song" and "Can't Stop the Jive" were two of the few songs Cherry Beat recorded outside, that weren't recorded live. As Peter described it "We wanted these two songs to sound as if they were recorded live, which is why we decided to record them outside. We did however record earlier takes of these songs in the studio, since we didn't want to accidentally repeat the same event that The Beatles had done back in January 1969".

1st February 1974
The band members were in the studio recording two more compositions. "Back on Top" was one of two compositions the band's music supervisor and producer Chudley Maron had written for the group to record. The band refused to record it for their third album, because they wanted their third album to be composed entirely of their own songs. However the band members were pleased to have been offered new compositions by their producer, and agreed to record it for their fourth album. "Bright and Cherry" was a Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby composition, which had been written primarily by Peter.

12th February 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Mary-Anne" was a composition written solely by Peter McDonald, while "Sexy Young Hips" was a composition written solely by Sam Whitby.

13th February 1974
Peter McDonald records a harmony vocal overdub for "Mary-Anne". He also double tracks his lead vocal for the song.

Sam Whitby records a backing vocal overdub for "Sexy Young Hips". He also double tracks his lead vocal for the song.

9th March 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more compositions. "Diamonds and Cherries" was a Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby composition, which had been written primarily by Peter.

"Back Together" was the second of the two compositions the band's music supervisor and producer Chudley Maron had written for the group to record. The band refused to record it for their third album, because they wanted their third album to be composed entirely of their own songs. However the band members were pleased to have been offered new compositions by their producer, and agreed to record it for their fourth album.

10th March 1974
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell record handclaps for "Diamonds and Cherries".

Peter McDonald records handclaps for "Back Together".

8th April 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Great Lips" was a composition written primarily by Devon O'Connell, with input from Torquil Dohrn.

"Great Lips" became the first Devon O'Connell song to be commercially released. "Takin' a Ride for Money" was written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Sam Whitby.

9th April 1974
Peter McDonald records and adds tape loops to "Takin' a Ride for Money".

Devon O'Connell records and adds cowbell overdubs to "Great Lips".

14th May 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Sweet Little Suzie" was a composition written solely by Sam Whitby, while "She's Really Fun" was written solely by Torquil Dohrn.

15th May 1974
Sam Whitby double tracks his vocal on "Sweet Little Suzie".

6th June 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Don't Listen to Her" was a composition written solely by Torquil Dohrn, while "Her" was written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Peter McDonald.

7th June 1974
Torquil Dohrn records a moog synthesizer overdub for "Don't Listen to Her".

15th June 1974
Single Release — Can't Stop the Jive / The Caravan Song

19th July 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Shakin' Up the Seventies" was a composition written by Sam Whitby, while "Nancy" was written by Peter McDonald.

20th July 1974
Sam Whitby double tracks his vocal on "Shakin' Up the Seventies".

11th August 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions written by Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby. "Sweet Sunshine" was a composition written primarily by Peter McDonald, while "Really Hot" was written primarily by Sam Whitby.

12th August 1974
Sam Whitby double tracks his vocal on "Really Hot".

22nd August 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Pixie" was a composition written by Peter McDonald, while "Brown Haired Gorgeous Girl" was written by Sam Whitby.

23rd August 1974
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell record handclaps for "Pixie".

11th September 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "You're Rather Gorgeous Today" was a composition written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Torquil Dohrn, while "Iced Tea" was written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Torquil Dohrn.

29th October 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Charlotte Wood" was a composition written primarily by Torquil Dohrn, with input from Peter McDonald. The song was inspired by Torquil's girlfriend at the time, Charlotte Henderson. Peter McDonald got the idea to name the title of the song "Charlotte Wood", since he thought it sounded more interesting than naming the song "Charlotte Henderson". Torquil agreed.

The band also recorded their first Christmas song for their 1974 double album which was intended to be a Christmas album. "Happy Christmas" which was a joint effort between Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby.

30th October 1974
Peter McDonald double tracks his vocal on "Happy Christmas".

6th November 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Snowman" was a composition written by Sam Whitby, which he had written while thinking about "Happy Christmas" which they'd recorded several days earlier.

"Phoenix" was a psychedelic folk song written by Torquil Dohrn.

7th November 1974
Sam Whitby records and adds harmony and backing vocals to "Snowman". He also double tracks his lead, harmony, and backing vocals on the track.

Torquil Dohrn double tracks his lead vocal on "Phoenix".

8th November 1974
Session musician Riley Ganz records sleigh bell overdubs for "Bright and Cherry", "Mary-Anne", "Diamonds and Cherries", "Takin' a Ride for Money", "She's Really Fun", "Don't Listen to Her", "Her", "Nancy", "Sweet Sunshine", "Really Hot", "Pixie", "Brown Haired Gorgeous Girl", "You're Rather Gorgeous Today", "Iced Tea", and "Charlotte Wood".

The sleigh bell overdubs were added to the majority of the songs that would be released on Cherry Beat's 1974 Christmas album, to give the album a more Christmas feel. Note that the overdubs that were recorded on this day were not included on these songs when they were released on singles, or other albums.

2nd December 1974
The band members were in the studio again recording one last composition for their 1974 Christmas album. "A Christmas Tale" was written primarily by Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby, with input from Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell. The musicians that participated in the track's creation were the same ones that participated in the recording of "Happy Christmas".

2nd December 1974
Session musicians Ellsworth Hutchins and Ricky Stanbery were called into the studio to record overdubs for two songs that Cherry Beat had covered back in 1971 on this day.

Ellsworth would record a violin overdub for the band's cover of "Soldier of Love (Lay Down Your Arms)". While Ricky would record a tenor saxophone overdub for the band's cover of "The Twist".

The mixes of both songs without the overdubs recorded during this session were released on the Cherry Beat compilation album "Rock and Roll Covers, 1971" in 1988.

5th December 1974
The band recorded a new composition on this day. "I've Been Pinched" was written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Peter McDonald. Although it was written and recorded during the sessions for the band's 1974 Christmas album, it was not intended to be released on that album. It was not intended to be released on the band's next album either, come to that.

21st December 1974
Album Release — Merry Christmas