Cherry Beat - Recording Sessions (Part Four - The Band's Third Album)

Early - May 1973
So far, the band had released five number one singles, which could hardly be called a failure. Cherry Beat's first album had reached number five in late 1971, and stayed there for three consecutive weeks. Sadly their second album "Show Business" released in 1972 only reached number twenty-five for one week before it fell off the charts.

Cherry Beat's second album by far reached the most negative critical response out of all their albums. Their critics scolded them for covering popular songs by other artists for their albums without bothering to make sure that all the songs they covered fitted comfortably together on their records.

Indeed the band had chosen a diverse selection of covers for their second album. 1950s rock and roll songs "Peggy Sue", "The Girl Can't Help It", and "Clarabella". 1970s hard rock songs "Immigrant Song", and "Smoke on the Water". And a 1970s jazz and soul composition "The Candy Man".

One critic was reported to have said "Songs like The Candy Man, Immigrant Song, and Peggy Sue, don't belong together on the same album, not with rock ballads like The Ballad of Louise Starker". The critical response of their second album eventually pressured the band into splitting up, but their music supervisor and producer Chudley Maron insisted that they wouldn't put the breaks on yet.

"Take a break from recording professionally, and wait at least ten months before you resume recording subsequent albums and singles" he'd say "I personally don't think you need to be releasing covers on your records, you've proven that you're capable of writing your own songs, look at how many number one singles you've already got!"

Chudley's words certainly helped to boost the band's confidence. They took his advice and waited at least ten months before they would start recording tracks for their next album. They would jam together on numerous occasions, but let their professional careers rest in the mean time.

16th May 1973
This was the band's first official recording session for their third album. The band members of Cherry Beat would still record covers, but they were confident that they would not need to release any more covers on their albums. Between June 1972 and May 1973, the band had written enough songs to make at least one album and two singles. Chudley Maron wrote a couple of songs and offered them to the band to record, but the members of the band, particularly Peter and Sam firmly said "We're not recording those songs for our next album, but we'll consider recording them for our fourth album instead".

On this day the band recorded two original compositions. Both of them were rock and roll styled songs, as they were continuing to write and record songs in their rock and roll vein, although they often experimented with blues rock, hard rock and boogie rock. "Nips of Pity" and "Squeeze Me Nice" were both rock and roll songs written solely by Peter McDonald. Both songs would make the band's third album.

23rd May 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original rock and roll compositions. "Tights of Pain" had been written solely by Sam Whitby, while Peter McDonald had helped him to polish off the rough edges of his composition "Shake Those Hips". "Tights of Pain" would be featured on the band's third album, while "Shake Those Hips" became the B-Side of the band's next single.

1st June 1973
Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell add electric piano, acoustic rhythm guitar, and tambourine overdubs to "Nips of Pity", respectively.

4th June 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original rock and roll compositions. "Tunnel Walk" had been written solely by Sam Whitby, while what would subsequently become known as "Dark Power" had been written solely by Peter McDonald.

The band would later be forced to re-record the second of the two songs, and dispose of the original recording, upon discovering that the original title of the song had a meaning that may have taken offence, had it been released. To avoid offence, the track was re-recorded under the new title "Dark Power".

Peter McDonald said that he never intended to write a song with such a title. It was supposed to mean independence while being in the dark as opposed to independence in the light.

5th June 1973
Sam Whitby and Torquil Dohrn add hammond organ and harmonica overdubs to "Tunnel Walk" respectively.

8th June 1973
Peter McDonald records harmony vocal and acoustic rhythm guitar overdubs for "Squeeze Me Nice". He also double tracks his lead and harmony vocals. Sam Whitby also records an electric piano overdub for the song.

11th June 1973
Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add hammond organ, harmonica, and percussion overdubs to "Shake Those Hips".

14th June 1973
Peter McDonald adds an acoustic rhythm guitar overdub to "Tights of Pain". Sam Whitby records harmony vocal, and hammond organ overdubs. Devon O'Connell records a tambourine overdub.

18th June 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Rock and Roll Theme" had been written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Sam Whitby.

"Jeanie-Lee" was primarily written by Torquil Dohrn, with input from Peter McDonald. This made "Jeanie-Lee" the first recorded Torquil Dohrn composition to be commercially released, although the first Dohrn composed song to appear on "Still In Business" was "How Could You?".

23rd June 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, electric piano, and cowbell overdubs to "Rock and Roll Theme".

4th July 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Lil-Emmaline" had been written primarily by Peter McDonald, with input from Torquil Dohrn. "Chaos Symphony" was solely a Peter McDonald composition.

5th July 1973
Sam Whitby and Torquil Dohrn respectively record lowrey organ, and baritone saxophone overdubs for "Jeanie-Lee".

6th July 1973
Torquil Dohrn records a tenor saxophone overdub for "Jeanie-Lee".

9th July 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "How Could You?" was the first song the band recorded to be written solely by Torquil Dohrn, the first Torquil composition to appear on a Cherry Beat record, and the first song Cherry Beat recorded in which Torquil took sole credit as a songwriter.

The band also re-recorded "Dark Power" on this day, after discovering that the song's original title meant something that listeners would take offence, had the original recording been released. It was written solely by Peter McDonald.

13th July 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, lowrey organ, alto saxophone, and cowbell overdubs to "Lil-Emmaline". Session musicians Erich Phong and Bob Brannon respectively add trumpet and oboe overdubs to the song.

17th July 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, Devon O'Connell, and Chudley Maron respectively add cello, keyboard, moog synthesizer, percussion, and celesta overdubs to "Dark Power".

24th July 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, Devon O'Connell, and Chudley Maron respectively add cello, keyboard, moog synthesizer, percussion, and vibraphone overdubs to "Chaos Symphony".

29th July 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, lowrey organ, alto saxophone, and cowbell overdubs to "How Could You?" Session musicians Lacy Gram, and Noel Kontos record alto saxophone overdubs. Darin Askins, Jackie Barb, and Erich Phong record trumpet overdubs. And Horace Voris, Tomas Newkirk, and Dominick Stowell record oboe overdubs.

5th August 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Beethoven Bounce" was a sole composition by Sam Whitby, written in the boogie rock style that the band was currently influenced by. But like most tracks the band were recording at this time, it had mixed rock and roll flavours.

"Bellaroy" was written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Peter McDonald. However the band's drummer Devon O'Connell had been complaining that the other band members weren't giving him enough opportunity to sing lead, harmony, or backing vocals on the band's records. Torquil Dohrn was sympathetic, and so in addition to singing harmony on songs written or co-written by Torquil, he was able to persuade Peter and Sam to let Devon sing lead on "Bellaroy".

8th August 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording another original composition. "Pepperoo" was a sole composition by Torquil Dohrn, making it his second sole composition. However it was rejected from "Still In Business", and thus it would not immediately see the light of a day.

11th August 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, lowrey organ, alto saxophone, and cowbell overdubs to "Pepperoo" Session musicians Lacy Gram, and Noel Kontos record alto saxophone overdubs. Darin Askins, Jackie Barb, and Erich Phong record trumpet overdubs. And Horace Voris, Tomas Newkirk, and Dominick Stowell record oboe overdubs.

15th August 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and Devon O'Connell record cello, lowrey organ, and percussion overdubs for "Beethoven Bounce". Sam also double tracks his vocal for the song.

21st August 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell add handclaps to "Beethoven Bounce".

24th August 1973
Peter McDonald and Sam Whitby double track their vocals on "Rock and Roll Theme".

27th August 1973
Torquil Dohrn and Peter McDonald double track their vocals on "Jeanie-Lee".

31st August 1973
Peter McDonald and Torquil Dohrn double track their vocals on "Lil-Emmaline".

4th September 1973
Peter McDonald double tracks his vocal on "Chaos Symphony".

8th September 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording another original composition. "Shake, Rattle and Die" was a rock and roll song written primarily by Sam Whitby, with input from Peter McDonald. It became the last song recorded by Cherry Beat that would make the album "Still In Business". It also became the band's next number one hit single.

13th September 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, lowrey organ, and cowbell overdubs to "Shake, Rattle and Die".

15th September 1973
Sam Whitby and Peter McDonald double track their vocals on "Shake, Rattle and Die".

17th September 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add cello, lowrey organ, sound effects through brass instruments, and rain-stick overdubs to "Bellaroy".

21st September 1973
Although the band was largely recording their own material at this time, the band members would still occasionally record cover versions of rock and roll songs when business was slow.

On this day, session musicians Ricky Stanbery, Shaun Galloway, and Antony Newcomb respectively add tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, and cowbell overdubs to "Sweet Little Sixteen". A version without these overdubs was released on the Cherry Beat compilation album "Rock and Roll Covers, 1971" in 1988.

The band would also record a cover of Chuck Berry's song "You Can't Catch Me" on this day, with Sam Whitby on lead vocals.

22nd September 1973
Sam Whitby and Devon O'Connell respectively add electric piano and percussion overdubs to "You Can't Catch Me". Session musicians Ricky Stanbery and Shaun Galloway respectively add tenor and baritone saxophone overdubs.

27th September 1973
The band members were in the studio again, recording a cover version of The Beatles' song Thank You Girl, featuring Peter McDonald on lead vocals.

As Peter described it "We were 70's rock musicians rooted with 50's style rock and roll, therefore we were inspired by a lot of rock and roll musicians of the 50's and 60's. And of course, as members of a boy band of rock music, how could we not be inspired by artists like The Beatles?"

Sam Whitby said "The Beatles' original version of the song featured John Lennon on lead vocals, and although we can all reach the notes of John's mid/low tenor range, none of us sound remotely, or otherwise similar to him, although I am capable of producing a rough edged vocal with a slight rasp to it. Out of all the members of Cherry Beat, Peter is probably the one that sounds the most like a Beatle, although he sounds most like Paul McCartney, but Paul did sing harmony on The Beatles' version of the song".

Peter said "I personally think my vocal on our version of "Thank You Girl" sounds more or less similar to Paul's vocal on "Can't Buy Me Love".

29th September 1973
Torquil Dohrn records a harmonica overdub for "Thank You Girl". Peter McDonald, and Torquil also double track their vocals.

2nd October 1973
The band members were in the studio again, recording a cover of an Elvis Presley composition "Don't Be Cruel". Devon O'Connell handled the lead vocals, although the band had considered doing it with Peter McDonald, or Torquil Dohrn singing on lead vocals.

4th October 1973
The band members were in the studio again, recording another Elvis Presley cover, "All Shook Up". Once again Devon O'Connell handled the lead vocals, although the band had considered doing it with Peter McDonald on lead vocals.

7th October 1973
Single Release — Shake, Rattle and Die / Shake Those Hips

10th October 1973
The band members were in the studio again recording two more original compositions. "Cocoa Star Rookies" was written mostly by Sam Whitby, but both he and Peter McDonald have pointed out that Peter did help with a few of the lyrics, and some of the music.

The second composition they recorded on this day was written solely by Sam Whitby. "Sweet Amber, Sweet" was inspired by Amber Stark who was Sam's girlfriend at the time. "Cocoa Star Rookies" was released as the band's next single after "Shake, Rattle and Die", with "Sweet Amber, Sweet" as the B-Side.

11th October 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add electric guitar, electric piano, electric slide guitar, and percussion overdubs to "Cocoa Star Rookies".

12th October 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell respectively add sound effects through brass instruments, six string bass guitar, sound effects, and cowbell overdubs to "Cocoa Star Rookies".

13th October 1973
Torquil Dohrn, and session musicians German Sprinkle, Lacy Gram, and Noel Kontos record alto saxophone overdubs for "Cocoa Star Rookies". Jared Underhill, Darin Askins, Jackie Barb, and Erich Phong record trumpet overdubs. And Bob Brannon, Horace Voris, Tomas Newkirk, and Dominick Stowell record oboe overdubs.

As the band members of Cherry Beat described it, "We literally used all the instruments that were played on The Beatles' song "Helter Skelter", and The Monkees' song "Goin' Down". Except "Cocoa Star Rookies" doesn't feature trombones like "Goin' Down" does. Instead it features oboes".

14th October 1973
Peter McDonald, Sam Whitby, Torquil Dohrn, and Devon O'Connell record cello, lowrey organ, sound effects, and tambourine overdubs for "Sweet Amber, Sweet". Sam also double tracks his lead vocal for the song.

11th November 1973
Album release — Still In Business

4th January 1974
Single release — Cocoa Star Rookies / Sweet Amber, Sweet