Heather was a pretty amazing group. The "core four" of our little band of merry musicians (from left-to-right, Ron Sachs, moi, Jim Gaines, and Ron Baumgartner) played together from 1971 to 1977. Over the years, a number of other folks...several of whom (including De Stewart, far-right in this picture) can be heard on the various songs in this collection...rotated in and out as the fifth member of what was, in essence, a five-member country-rock band.
The operative word in the previous paragraph is "together". For those six years...between practice, live gigs, touring and the recording studio...we were almost inseparable. This closeness came through in the music and, even today...four decades later...we remain friends. We were also very fortunate in that Heather spent a lot of time in the aforementioned recording studio - often backing other artists but, occasionally, recording our own, original material.
I recently set about restoring some of these vintage Heather recordings. Working off old albums, singles, acetates and demo tapes, I was able to pull together a pretty representative sample of our musical efforts, through the years.
This Heather "Chronography" includes material from our first trek into a recording studio to cut a three-song demo tape (1973), through our last studio session together ("Baby Blue" - 1976). Sandwiched in-between are both sides of our 1974 country single ("Monday Morning Truckstop" and "Country Rain, Kentucky Farm"), as well as nine tracks from our 1975 LP, "Ride on the Music".
Given the age and condition of the original recordings, some of these restorations are slightly less-than-perfect. The music, however, still holds up pretty darn well, even after all these years...well, decades.
To hear a specific song, click on its title. Or, select the Play button at the top of the player, relax, drift back in time, and listen to the entire collection. Enjoy...
Jack N.
Jim Gaines: guitar, pedal steel, vocals
Ron Sachs: guitar, vocals
Ron Baumgartner: drums, vocals
Jack Nimersheim: guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals
And our fifth members who, at various times, completed Heather, along with the "core four" listed above:
Dale Miller: guitar, vocals ("Three O'Clock", "And, Again", "Country Song")
Timothy Hawkins: guitar, vocals
De Stewart: bass ("See Me Laugh", "The Way")
John Vester: guitar, vocals ("Baby Blue")
I'd like to thank the various "sidemen" who also contributed musically to some of the songs in this collection. I'd like to but, unfortunately, most of their names have been lost to antiquity...meaning, my aging dentrites. (Hey! What do you expect? All these sessions occurred more than 35 years ago!!!) I do remember that Geoff Nimmo, a popular WEBN on-air personality at the time, played the flute part on "Sing You a Lullabye" and Pure Prairie League members John Call and George Ed Powell played pedal steel guitar and keyboards, respectively, on "Same Old Country Song" and "Monday Morning Truckstop"...um...I think. *g*
Original recordings restored by Jack Nimersheim
All songs © Heather, except:
"Three O'Clock in the Afternoon" "And, Again",
"Same Old Country Song" © David Howe & Finch Carroll
"Crazy Gypsy" © Ron Sachs & Finch Carroll
|
