This was my first paying job as a guitarist. A drummer I was working with turned me onto the gig. I met with Stan; he gave me charts and a cassette.  We probably rehearsed the songs one day and recorded another. We recorded the basic tracks live in the living room of his girlfriend’s house in Camp Meeker, California. She lived at the top of a series of small winding roads deep in the Northern California coastal redwoods. Rosemont Reese and her teenage daughters were milling about as we recorded onto Stan’s 4-track Teac reel-to-reel recorder. Stan played keyboard bass with his left hand and piano / synth with his left. Ron Castro was considered one of the best drummers in the area. I distinctly remember hearing Gina (one of Rosemond’s daughters) use the word “dude”, the first time I heard it use as slang. I shrugged it off as local teenage vernacular…

Although the record was released in 1982, the recordings were from 1980, maybe 1981.

Stan took the basic tracks to Phil Hirsch’s Hacienda Studios in Forestville, CA. Phil mixed the basics to his 8-track recorder and we overdubbed guitar and vocal parts and maybe some drums. Kriss O’Neill (not her real last name…) was lead singer in a cover band I was in. Stan ask her to ad backup vocals and harmonies at Hacienda Studios.

I just noticed Paul Stubblebine mastered the disk, which explains a lot. Paul is a world-renowned engineer and master mixer. … Even the greats have to pay the rent. I know Paul and we’re worked on a couple of project over the years.

I miss having lyric sheets for the songs. I appreciate what I can make out.

I have no idea what compelled Stan to make this record. It was not easy to make records at this time and seemed somewhat futile as a career move, especially in the Northern California Redwoods.

I don’t know where the other players are now. Phil Hirsh hired me for Felix Culpa after this one; I went on to a career in music in San Francisco. Hard to believe this record surfaced 30 years later. Funny, after all that time and countless rehearsals, performances, and recording sessions I still find the some of the words and melodies move thru my mind. “There are four things that will make you happy… and the last is to have no ambition”.

Gear -- Gibson Les Paul, Mesa Boogie MarkIIb amp, Distortion+ fuzz, Morley Wha, MXR rack mount analog harmonizer. Ibanez rackmount analog delay.

Sundance -- Straight blues progression, Stan channeling his Chicago roots to set the mood. Sounds better loud. Seemed a little simple-minded to me at the time, so I used the harmonizer to make it a little more interesting.

Joe and Gina -- Gina was Rosemond’s daughter, hanging out in Occidental, CA. Joe Negri’s family owned most  of the town, “he looked so gruff…”   “let’s twist one up…”,  some things never change. “make some poetry, man,” Kriss on backing vocal  makes it nicer… Lead guitar overdubbed at Hacienda studios. Sounds better than I remembered… I was striving and on an upward arc.

Lets Go on Back to Camp -- a song about the night Stan and Rosemond met, love at first sight. Not sure what the bridge lead was about but we took an analog delay to it and twisted a nice one.

Young St Augustine -- Saint Augustine said, “The best preparation for the life a saint is the life of a hedonist” or something like that... Wish I had all the words for this one.

Juggernaut -- instrumental. Garcia-ish guitar noodlings set the mood. I have no idea what Stan was thinking with this one. I was thinking how am to weave a story into the instrumental. Phil Hirsh produced the overdubs and mixing and I just trusted his direction.

The Best Man For Some Jobs is a Woman -- What the f**k are they singing? Stan was very generous with the extended guitar solo… noodling evolves into sheets of shattered crystal avalanches, what chutzpah for a little putz. Love the last note.

Golden Rose -- four things will make you happy: live in the country, find someone who loves you, do art, and the last is to have no ambition. Dude was a genius.

Crystal -- Good and bad go down the road… calling each other liar. If good always tells the truth and bad always lies what is the one question you can ask either of them to know who is good and who is bad?  Would be better without the guitar solos.

Seems Like It’s a Rich Man’s World, ever since I can remember. -- Some things never change. I’d like to hear a fresh cover of this song. “I’ll just sail on. I’ll just play on. “Remember!”. Well, I’m still sailing and playing. Guitar gets very aggressive as the song builds. Background vocals set the mood. The last two solos still kill me, that Mesa Boogie loved getting spanked by my Les Paul. The solos were done in a couple of takes. Once again Phil facilitated the muse’s use of my hands and ears. The shape of things to come for me. “Remember!” hmmm remember what?

Phil Hirsh -- Great engineer and producer. Great musician. Great person. Living in Mendocino County. Produced and recorded Felix Culpa along with many other projects. Married Jane Oliver a comic book artist who wrote and  published the “Gerry the Vampire” comic series that combined her Beatles infatuation with her love for vampires. Way ahead of the curve.

Stan Hubbs -- the enigma. I last saw Stan in Bodega Bay in the late 80’s early 90’s? I ran into him on the pier.

Kriss O’Neill -- Stage name for Kristen Sethne who was a Sonoma County singer/songwriter. She sang in a cover band named “Osprey”. I played guitar. Kris was in the studio during overdubs. Stan heard her voice and asked her to overdub some parts.

Ron Castro -- His dad owned a sign painting company in Sebastopol, CA. He read the charts and was paid for the sessions.

The photo (band photo on the back of the LP jacket and third image down on this page) was taken at Ragle Park in Sebastopol, CA.

-- Larry Doyle 2/23/10 San Francisco, CA

...go back to first Stan Hubbs page...