Cherry Beat - Recording Sessions (Part Two - The Band's First Album)

8th May 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record the band's first original composition. An electric blues rocker called 'Missile Line 01-1-10'.

7th July 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record two new compositions. 'Midnight Parade' and 'Festival'.

9th July 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to begin work on a new composition.

A psychedelic rock song 'Rainballs', which was Peter's attempt at doing the same sort of music had done on their 1966 album .

Of course, there was absolutely no way a song like that would be recorded and completed using basic equipment. A couple more sessions at least would be necessary in order to complete the song.

11th July 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to begin work on a new composition. A hard rock song called 'Rock It!'

13th July 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record a new composition. An acoustic ballad called 'Magpie'.

14th July 1971
Sam Whitby double tracks his lead vocal on 'Midnight Parade'. Devon O'Connell records tambourine overdubs for the track.

Peter McDonald double tracks his lead vocal on 'Festival'. Devon O'Connell records tambourine overdubs for the track.

15th July 1971
Torquil Dohrn, Peter McDonald, Devon O'Connell, and Sam Whitby record electric slide guitar, electric guitar, cowbell, and Fender VI bass guitar overdubs for 'Rock It!', respectively.

Sam Whitby records Hammond organ overdubs for 'Missile Line 01-1-10'.

16th July 1971
Torquil Dohrn records a bassline on fender telecaster, and Peter McDonald records a harmony vocal and an acoustic rhythm guitar overdub for 'Magpie'.

17th July 1971
Torquil Dohrn turns his lead guitar around for 'Rainballs', so that it plays backwards. Peter McDonald records an acoustic guitar overdub for the song. Devon O'Connell records a tambourine overdub, Sam Whitby, a Hammond organ overdub, and Chudley Maron, a rainstick overdub. Two more sessions were proven necessary in order to complete the song, making it more complex than any previous recording.

18th July 1971
Torquil Dohrn, Devon O'Connell, and Sam Whitby record sitar, tabla, and tambura overdubs respectively to 'Rainballs'.

19th July 1971
Torquil Dohrn, Peter McDonald, Devon O'Connell, and Sam Whitby record tape loops and add them to 'Rainballs'. The song was now completed.

20th July 1971
Peter McDonald records tape loops of a male singing at his home and adds them to 'Magpie'.

21st July 1971
Torquil Dohrn adds a trumpet overdub to 'Rock It!', Peter McDonald adds sound effects through a tenor saxophone mouthpiece, and Sam Whitby adds sound effects.

8th August 1971
Single Release — Midnight Parade / Festival

9th September 1971
Single Release — Rock It! / Missile Line 01-1-10

11th September 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record rock and roll covers of , , and ''.

26th September 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record rock and roll covers of , , and ''. However none of these three songs would make the album.

29th September 1971
The four band members - Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell - together with their producer - Chudley Maron - gathered in the studio to record rock and roll covers of , ' (Lay Down Your Arms)', and .

However none of these three songs would be immediately released, with 'Soldier of Love' and 'The Twist' needing overdubs. The two songs would receive the respective overdubs of a violin and tenor saxophone in late 1974.

11th October 1971
Single Release — Magpie / Rainballs

13th October 1971
Sam Whitby double tracks his lead vocal on 'Roll over Beethoven'. Torquil Dohrn, Peter McDonald, Devon O'Connell, and Sam Whitby also record and add handclaps to the song. Later that day, the group begin work on a new composition called 'Please No More' which was Peter McDonald's attempt at imitating the boogie rock style of.

The band also recorded a third song on this day, ' (I've Just Begun to Care)', a song that  had written before he became a member of. He also recorded a version of the song in 1968 before he left The Monkees. The Monkees' version was eventually released on .

14th October 1971
Peter McDonald double tracks his lead vocal on 'Please No More'.

Torquil Dohrn double tracks his lead vocal on 'Propinquity'.

15th October 1971
The group records two more rock and roll covers for their first album. One of them was a song '' that had originally been recorded by. The other was a song ' (and Let 'Em Roll)' which had previously been recorded by The Monkees.