RECORDING ANECDOTES

We had written four songs for Album No. 3 which we released on a jacketed EP. The reviews from trade papers and radio stations were encouraging enough that I kept at it. We did four more originals for another EP which got good play on CBC radio. In fact, my Grandmother Jane Hillman, who lived in Elrose, Saskatchewan, was quite surprised, and I guess a little proud, to hear us on CBK Regina. By now we had eight originals to which we soon added six more to release as an all-original album. This album differed considerably from our previous efforts in that we used no studio sidemen -- Sue-On, Barry and myself did all the instruments, with a little help on keyboards from Kevin Pahl who was about to replace Barry in the group.

I lived and breathed this album for many months and was involved in all stages of its development: words and music to all songs, arrangements, production, all guitars, half the lead vocals, back-up and harmony vocals, photography, album design, pressing and mastering decisions,  promotion, etc. Whew!... got that outa my system. From this album on, Sue-On and I were fully involved in all our albums -- mainly because in those early days of Independent record production there really wasn't anyone to turn to who could offer much in the way of professional advice, so we had to learn as we went along.

This album marked the session debut of Sue-On on drums and as a songwriter. She adapted a Mandarin Chinese poem to an oriental-sounding melody I had written. Sue-On came to Canada when she was 10, and although she speaks fluent Cantonese and Toisanese, she left her Hong Kong schooling before she had mastered the intricacies of Chinese writing. We asked her dad, Soo Choy, to write out the Chinese characters in the brush strokes that appear on the back cover of the album.

I had known Kevin Pahl since he was a kid. His dad, Howard, was the Strathclair Pool Elevator grain buyer, who also flew and sold aircraft as a sideline, while his mom Oretta operated an insurance office in Strathclair. Howard had even been my summertime employer back in my high school and college days. He contracted painting jobs around the area and hired me to use his paint spraying unit to paint barns, elevators, houses, etc. Son Kevin, inherited his dad's love of flying and eventually became a flying instructor and crop duster. Howard is still flying and is one of the chief pilots flying Harvards and other vintage WWII aircraft out of Brandon's Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum. 

Kevin showed a remarkable singing and piano talent at a very early age. By the time he reached my grade 9 class at Strathclair Collegiate, we started to work him into the band as a stand-in for times when Barry couldn't make gigs. The first date he played with us was at the Air Force Base at CFB Portage La Prairie. We did a panic all-day rehearsal at Maple Grove and then drove 130 miles to set up at the Junior Ranks Club. Kevin always looked young for his age and I remember that the audience were quite impressed with this "kid's" performance on Sue-On's Hohner Pianet. It was natural then, that as he became more familiar with stage work and our material, that we would call on him to join in the rehearsal some of our soon-to-be recorded originals. 

An uncredited musician on this session was another young Strathclair musician -- and future band member -- drummer Kerry Morris who dropped by the studio. He helped Sue-On out by adding the crash cymbal to Cajun Child. Not to be outdone, I did the percussion work on Glory Land -- the main backbeat came from my slapping a Fender Malibu guitar case. It's been held together by duct tape ever since.

Most of the photos on the album cover were taken in the new music and games room in our Maple Grove basement. We sat on a full-size snooker table -- a big antique oak effort with thick heavy slates that Sue-On and I had disassembed and dragged down the stairs in pieces. The background is one of our shake-covered walls while the splash of white in front of us is actually the furry back of our Great Pyrenees dog, Mya I. We had brought Mya back with us from our Montana tour the summer before.

The finished albums arrived from Toronto the same day we left for Nashville on one of our summer holiday driving marathons. We had been on Nashville's music row before but we had never had a product to flog. This time we got into all the studio and publishing offices on the row: Chet Atkin's office at RCA, Columbia, Tree, Billy Crash Craddock, Pete Drake, etc. Most were very polite and listened to cuts from the album and many of them showed off their own latest, soon-to-be released records. There were nibbles, words of advice, apologies, address exchanges, etc. Most companies showed some interest -- Chet liked our duet harmonies -- but the concept of a Chinese girl singer and her redhaired husband from Canada obviously didn't fit into the formula of Nashville and America's Southland. 

One company, which boasted a fairly eclectic roster of artists, including Rosemary Clooney, showed quite a bit of excitement -- we even carried on telephone conversations after we returned to Canada -- but nothing seemed promising enough to lure us away from the security of our teaching careers in Canada. The whole experience of knocking on the doors of these houses-converted-to-music-biz offices, exploring the Nashville streets, seeing the stars of the Grand Ole Opry in the old Ryman Auditorium, having drinks at Tootsie's Bar, squeezing into the Ernest Tubb Record Shop for the after-Opry broadcast, going through the Country Music Hall of Fame, and seeing the many other Music City sites was a bit of a dream come true. Sue-On was a bit of novelty in the South... many people assumed that I was a Viet Nam vet and she was a bride I had brought back from Nam, and they proceeded to tell their own stories about their sons' involvement in the Asian war.

Many of the music execs suggested that the album wasn't country enough for the Nashville market. We never guessed that in a year we would be taking the same album around to studios, publishers and promoters in London, England where we would be told that the album was a little too country for their market.

A few years later -- all through the '80s -- we were excited to work with and spend many hours exchanging tall tales with a long line-up of Opry and Country stars featured in the Boggy Creek Mountain Music Festival years. Some of the American acts were Jean Shepard, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jack Greene, Kitty Wells and Johnny Wright, John Anderson, Doc and Merle Watson, Homer and Jethro, The Whites, and more.

BILL AND SUE-ON HILLMAN: The Western Union ~ Maple Grove MGS-1004 Fifteen cuts of contemporary, country standards. "Union" leaders Bill and Sue-On go well doing things their way. Arranged and produced by Bill -- a healthy product of years of experience with folk, rock, country and MOR styles. Total prairie production at Winnipeg's Century 21 Studios.

BILL AND SUE-ON HILLMAN: The Hillman Express ~ Maple Grove MGS-1006 Clever lyrics by Bill Hillman puts him in a class by himself. Most of the production done at Winnipeg's Century 21 studio, however one standout is Down Down Down, which was produced at Gooseberry sound Studios in London, England, where they also cut Farther Away, Shelter, and Walkin' Wreck. Nice blend of vocals and instrument backup. Looing for a contemporary country song? Read some of the verses on the jacket.

Free Spirit ~ MGS 2001 Variety of country, rock and country-rock sounds of a new 6-member group of Bill and Sue-On Hillman. Pianist Al Jones produces with assistance from the experienced Bill Hillman for the strongest LP involving Hillmans to date. Voice of Terry Fleetwood capably leads most cuts, all of which are written by band members. Tracked at Winnipeg's Century 21.

NIGHT BEAT by Jimmy King ~ Winnipeg Free Press - Saturday - August 23, 1975
You don't have to be in the city to associate with good music and musicians. Bill and Sue-On Hillman who are high school teachers in Strathclair, Man., have been known to Canadian audiences for years through their group Western Union. It wasn't until recently that I got the chance to listen to their latest album of 14 original songs. Bill's talent as a song writer is a strong one. There are many cuts on the album that are commendable in MOR (middle of the road) and country-rock styles.

Bill and Sue-On spend their summers working grandstand shows at state and county fairs in the United States as well as Canadian exhibitions. On these tours they have shared billings with country stars such as Jeannie C. Riley, Archie Campbell, The Blackwood Singers, Charlie Louvin, and Joe Maphis. Previous to this, they performed as a back-up band and feature act on the Russ Gurr Federal Grain Train Show.

GENE TELPNER - Entertainment Editor ~ The Winnipeg Tribune - Saturday - February 21, 1976
DISC DATA: Because so many timely records reach this desk it is virtually impossible to mention all of them. But I think it's time the record-buying public knew more about a Manitoba recording artistic team of Bill and Sue-On Hillman. They have several albums on the market on the Maple Grove label, some of the newest are On Stage, Bill and Sue-On Hillman, The Western Union, Free Spirit, and The Hillmans with 14 of their original songs. Bill and Sue-On have been playing around the province for quite awhile, they receive convention bookings, and in the U.S. they have won acclaim at the big audience attended fairs in various states. Their albums have been given good plugs in music publications, but too often they've been ignored right in their home province. Bill and Sue-On are man and wife, they are high school teachers and live in Strathclair, Manitoba. Sue-On was born in China, came to Manitoba at the age of 10 and has lived happily ever after. I hope more people will give a listen to their albums. It will be quite a revelation and most of the recording has been done at the very professional century 21 Studios in Winnipeg. You can reach this dynamic duo through Maple Grove Music, Box 280, Strathclair, Man.

GENE TELPNER - Entertainment Editor ~ The Winnipeg Tribune - Tuesday - March 1, 1977
ENTERTAINMENT BEAT: Bill and Sue-On Hillman of Strathclair, Man., have just recorded their sixth album under the title of The Hillman Express, Track 15. Said Bill, "Much of side one was recorded during our seven-week tour of Britain last summer. Also included on side one is Cajun Stomp, a song which was a winner for us in the American Song Festival in California. We were very pleased with this as there thousands of entries from all over the world. Our entry met pretty stiff competition as it was placed in the professional division." The new album is on the Maple Grove Records label. Both of the Hillmans are teachers during the winter months.