May 10, 1981
I remember this project like it was yesterday. I was the bass player for the Horicon Horn Band (HHB) (January 1979 - May 1981). Our keyboardist, Kevin died November 26, 1980, just as we were getting ready to begin this studio project. His passing was an incredible shock to the entire school - especially to his HHB band mates. Kevin was very much the heartbeat of the band. He made everyone in the band sound better than they actually were. Suddenly, we were without our heartbeat. I remember that it was an overwhelmingly unanimous agreement that we carry on and finish the project and do the best with what we had.
I recorded my bass parts for three of the songs: “Sweet home Chicago”, “T.J.’s Boogie” and “One fine morning”. Scotty Urick (R.I.P.), played bass on the other three tracks: “Lovin’ you”, “Billy’s bounce” and “Do that stuff”.
The recording itself was unfortunately, a less than satisfactory result. The tracks were recorded on a four-track reel-to-reel through a small mixing board with almost no outboard audio assistance. They did what they could with what they had. Luckily, someone had the presence of mind to push the record button the day that Kevin went into the band room earlier in the year, and decided to record a few of his classical pieces. For some miraculous reason, they kept all four of those recordings.
As far as the digitizing of this record, I did my best to get the audio levels fixed, and the highs and lows boosted. Hopefully, it will sound good on your playback system.
Horicon Horn Band