The majority of the recording during the Transition era took place at Doug Fearn’s Veritable Recording Company in Lansdowne, PA, where he had a remarkable facility that he built almost entirely by hand. Doug was a patient and supportive engineer who really knew how to get the most out of his gear and the musicians he was recording. All of the tracks in this collection were intended to be demos for the record companies (who never took the bait) -- not full-fledged master recordings -- and were usually completed in a relatively short amount of time.
The second track is a composition by Bill Koepnick that has thrilled dentists everywhere they have had the chance to hear it. Almost a throwback to ‘40s or ‘50s torchy ballads, it features an inspired vocal by Jimmy in his most theatrical and articulate voice, while Richard plays an incredible piano accompaniment that is some of the most beautiful jazz he ever played with this band. It’s full of word-play, puns, a hummed line from “I’ll Never Smile Again” and whistling -- a true Soup classic.
“The Most Expensive Heartache in Town” is Bicey’s country-style lament that should have topped the Nashville charts. Way ahead of its time.
Songs with GB ( for Granny’s Basement) following the titles -- were the tunes the band self-recorded in Bill’s grandmother’s basement. A Teac 3340 4-track was borrowed, and several reels of expensive low-noise tape were purchased to get the most out of the machine, but the tape started to shed oxide badly after the overdubs were finished. The final mixes were riddled with dropouts (very frustrating). Aside from that, the recordings were pretty impressive for home-made at that time.