During the '70s decade we were Canada's most prolific "Indie" recording act.

We recorded 12 albums and many charted singles on our Maple Grove label and worked on many other recording and video projects -- over half of this material was recorded in three English studios during our three tours of the UK. 

Here are 26 of them. 

We share many of our adventures from our UK tours and recording sessions 
in the Gig Notes section of our book: A 50-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY

www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs

TRACK 1: YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1101YouLightUpMyLife.mp3
Our lead-off song we recorded at Guardian Studios near Durham, England.
This love song had been a huge hit by Pat Boone's daughter, Debbie.
Sue-On sang the vocal and played drums on this ballad and Bill played guitar.
The many layers of strings and horns were provided by Alan Clark, keyboard player for Mark Knopfler's Dire Straits band.
Our buddy, Mick Sandbrook of the UK band Desperado, played bass.

TRACK 2: PROMISED LAND
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1102PromisedLand.mp3 
Bill sang the lead on this Chuck Berry rocker.
We had scoured the local music stores to find a clavinet which we brought to the studio for the session.
Ironically, in our first tour of England, we couldn't find a Fender Rhodes piano and Kevin had to make do with a clavinet keyboard for the whole tour.
"Promised Land" was written by Chuck Berry to the melody of "Wabash Cannonball", an American folk song.
In the lyrics, the singer (who refers to himself as "the poor boy") tells of his journey
from Norfolk, Virginia to the "Promised Land", Los Angeles, California,
mentioning various cities of the American South that he encountered along his journey.

TRACK 3: BLUE EYES CRYING IN THE RAIN
 http://www.erbzine.com/cd/1103BlueEyesCryingInTheRain.mp3
This is Sue-On's version of the country classic. "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" was written by Fred Rose and originally performed by Roy Acuff and Hank Williams.
Through the years it has been recorded by a long line of artists, including Willie Nelson who had a major hit with it.

TRACK 4: NEEDLES AND PINS
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1103BlueEyesCryingInTheRain.mp3 
A duet by Bill and Sue-On with back-up vocals by Desperado.
"Needles and Pins" was written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono.
It was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon followed by many others including The Searchers who had the biggest hit with it.
*** We shared a funny Searchers story in our Gig Notes:
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html#searchers

TRACK 5: SUMMERTIME
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1105Summertime.mp3 
Gershwin's "Summertime" from the opera Porgy and Bess is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music, with more than 33,000 covers by groups and solo performers. Sue-On has been added to the list.
It's been one of our favourite stage songs over the years. The problem with playing countless performances live on stage is that so much becomes lost in the mists of time . . . we're so glad that we have our albums and many recorded TV shows to help keep these memories alive for us.

TRACK 6: TAKE IT EASY
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1106TakeItEasy.mp3 
This first hit by The Eagles has been one of Bill's favourite stage songs through the years.
Our recording features fine harmony backing by Sue-On and Desperado. A distinctive sound on the Eagles original was Bernie Leadon's 5-string banjo. Alas, there weren't many Scrugg wannabes in England.
But since Alan Clark was a whiz at creating a multitude of computer sounds I had him program a banjo sound and showed how to do a 5-string roll with a droning "G" note. T'weren't the real thing, but it was fun. A few years later while travelling Route 66 from California we had a chance to stop at a corner in Winslow, Arizona - a town made famous by the Eagles' line from "Take It Easy": "Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. . . .." The thing I remember most about the recording of the song was the startling appearance of a ghost which interrupted the taping.
Gig Notes Ref: "The Studio Ghost. . . She's Back!?!"
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html#ghost
*** Road Photos Ref:  www.erbzine.com/mag45/4537.html

TRACK 7: I REALLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1107IReallyDontWantToKnow.mp3 
Sue-On has a fondness for ballads in waltz time -- and this one by the great Don Robertson is one of our favourites. Les Paul and Mary Ford, Eddy Arnold, and Elvis have all done great versions. Not many people know that it was Don Robertson's "slip note" piano style that was borrowed and made famous by Nashville studio musician, Floyd Cramer.

TRACK 8: JOHNNY B. GOODE / ROLL OVER, BEETHOVEN
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1108JohnnyBGoode.mp3 
Bill loves old-time rock 'n' roll and has created many long medleys to keep our audiences rockin'. Featured here is a medley of two of Chuck Berry's best rockers.

TRACK 9: I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1109ICantStopLovingYou.mp3 
This ballad was a major country hit for composer, Don Gibson, and an even bigger pop hit for Ray Charles. Sue-On is one of a handful of girl singers who have recorded the song.
The accompanying photo was taken back home in Canada 30 years after she recorded the song.

TRACK 10: JOKER
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1110Joker.mp3 
This is the last of the songs from our Guardian Studio sessions from our third tour of England. The other seven songs from this session are featured on our all-original CD10. :"Joker" is a Desperado song that Bill had fun with. It was the last song of the sessions - a last-minute 3 am effort. Since we had recorded enough material for two albums, we left this song and a few other tracks off vinyl album No. 9. These songs were eventually released  years later on our CD compilations.

II. Impulse Studio at Newcastle (Wallsend), England
Excerpts from Ch. 5 of our Gig Notes series:
 www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html TRACK 11: PAPER ROSES / RAMBLIN' ROSE
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1111PaperRosesRamblingRose.mp3 
The tracks which follow on this CD were recorded at Dave Wood's Impulse Studios at Wallsend (Newcastle-On-Tyne). It was a small 8-track studio on the third floor above a theatre and bingo hall in a large heritage building that had showcased countless shows and famous entertainers over the decades. In fact, local star-to-be, Stan Laurel, had honed his comedic chops here before heading to Hollywood. Impulse studios has recorded a respectable lineup of acts, from folk (Lindisfarne) to a multitude of rock and heavy metal bands from the North East (Sting, Last Exit, etc.) -- and Dave also claimed to have recorded The Chieftains. 
The side 1 of the album we recorded in Newcastle featured songs by Sue-On. The opening medley consists of two "rose songs". The previous best-known versions were by Marie Osmond and Nat King Cole. 

TRACK 12: SILVER THREADS AND GOLDEN NEEDLES
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1112SilverThreadsAndGoldenNeedles.mp3 
Since its first release by Wanda Jackson in 1956,  this song was recorded by a long line of country and country rock artists. . . our favourite was by Linda Ronstadt. Sue-On recorded this on our rather primitive first album back in 1969.  We were glad to have the chance to record it again in a decent studio. 

TRACK 13: TAMMY
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1113Tammy.mp3
Another song from this session - one that Bill wrote: "One Night Stand" - did well on the charts and played a part in our winning the Manitoba Entertainers of the Year Award. It was one of the two songs we performed  on the Canadian Country Music Association Awards network TV show on CBC. The accompanying photo is of Sue-On with one of the CMA trophies and a newspaper clipping. This rather pensive duet is about performing many years of one-night gigs. When we perform it today though, we have to change the words "15 years. .. " to "50 years..."

TRACK 14: PLEASE RELEASE ME
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1114PleaseReleaseMe.mp3 
When planning our albums, Bill's originals made up half the sessions -- originals were important to get airplay, nods from the critics, and royalties. To promote the album from off-stage, mail order, and in the record racks, half of each album featured well-known crowd pleasers. "Please Release Me" by Sue-On fell in the latter category. The song was a cross-over favourite among both pop and country fans. 

TRACK 15: SONG SUNG BLUE
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1115SongSungBlue.mp3 
We do a number of Neil Diamond songs, but chose this one for the recording session. Royalty rights weren't administered by BMI/PRO at that time so we had to contact Neil Diamond directly to get clearances to record it. He said, "OK but you have to send me a copy of the album. I display albums of all the artists who record my songs on the walls of my Nashville office."

TRACK 16: BOOGIE WOOGIE BAND
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1116BoogieWoogieBand.mp3 
This song was written for Bill to sing by our longtime music buddy, Alan Jones. Alan joined us for many of the gigs on our first tour of England. Al took his physiotherapy training in a London school for the blind and he brought in music buddies from that school to play on the recording. The accompanying photo shows Bill rocking at a wild Bar-B-Q barn dance just outside a British military base - hence the camouflague netting used as a backdrop.

TRACK 17: TINY BUBBLES / PEARLY SHELLS
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1117TinyBubblesPearlyShells.mp3 
Another of Sue-On's medleys -- this time with sort of a Hawaiian theme -- complete with sound effects. 

TRACK 18: OUTLAW RAMBLIN' BAND
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1118OutlawRamblingBand.mp3 
Bill leads us through some memories of our first tour of England, playing 30 one-nighters in clubs in the NE. At the end of the club tour we drove down to London to record five original songs in a Soho studio.
*** We shared tall tales from this adventure in Chapter 5 of our Gig Notes book:  www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html

---

OUTLAW RAMBLIN' BAND
(Written in Bromley, Kent and London, England)

We're a travellin' ramblin' outlaw band
Kevie, me and Suzy we travel the land
We kinda got our minds a-set on leaving the West
This prairie-land rebel band a-flyin' the nest
Took a 747, ride to heaven by jet
The closest that the most of us is ever gonna get
Heathrow, luggage slow -- we fuss and we fret
Sue, she's in the loo - she's trying to get her face wet.

Chorus
'Cause we're outlaws -- an outlaw ramblin' band
Outlaws -- Outlaw ramblin' band

Tea time, cars in line on Westminster Bridge
It's scarey for a prairie boy from Bunclody Ridge
Ride the M-5 -- still alive -- we're steaming up north
Workin' for the workin' man to show our worth
We bring on Lonnie Donegan -- they clap and they stomp
And we singa little song about an ole Cajun swamp
We rant about Canada - we pick and we sing
They can't understand 'American' -- "What's he sayin'?"

We're with the crowd -- singing loud -- yeh, we're starting to rock
When Housey Man, up on the stand, says, "I say Chaps - Stop!"
It's dour hour, holy hour -- time to unwind
Bingo is the single thing they got on their minds
Thirty nights of flashing lights -- the end of the grind
Heading down  to London town for studio time
Suzy drums, Willie strums in old Soho
Kevin just a revin' up the piano
Yeh, we're a transported, imported semi-deported, genuine, certified
Outlaw Ramblin' Band.

TRACK 19: WHY ME, LORD?
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1119WhyMeLord.mp3
This is the second Kris Kristoferson song that Sue-On has recorded. As she has done with many of her vocals she sings harmony with herself thanks to overdubbing. The recording industry owes a great debt to innovator Les Paul who was a pioneer in developing this technology. It was a real thrill when we met the 90-year-old guitar legend at one of his shows in the Iridium Club on Broadway.
*** Meeting Les Paul in NYC:
www.erbzine.com/mag16/1673a.html
The owner of the Newcastle studio was quite impressed with our version of the song and disappeared with a dub of it right after we did the mix. He took it down to the local radio station where the DJ played it three times on his show.
*** The full story in our Gig Notes at:
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html#sue-on

TRACK 20: SWAMP ROMP
 www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1120SwampRomp.mp3
This original by Bill was a bit of a strange choice for an English session. It was mainly autobiographical but was influenced by some of the Louisiana "swamp music" we were lilstening to at the time. We added some weird synth sounds to it.

HILLMAN CD Vol. 11: THE ENGLAND SESSIONS
TRACK 21: IN LOVE AGAIN
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1121InLoveAgain.mp3 
Our friend Alan Jones wrote this for our "Free Spirit" album project. Al and Bill had worked together in a rock 'n' roll band back in the early '60s. Alan had just moved to Brandon from England and his talents on piano and sax were a welcome addition to the guitar band. We met up with Alan ten years later when we worked together on an all original album. This ballad by Sue-On is one of the songs from that project. She was suffering from  pleurisy when she sang this song in the studio. She could only sing one line at a time due to the pain in her lungs. She completed the song and was rushed to the hospital ER. 

TRACK 22: DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
Gooseberry Studios ~ London, England
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1122DownDownDown.mp3 
Bill recorded this at London's Gooseberry Studio at the end of our first tour of England. Kevin Pahl played keys and we hired a local musician to play bass - Joe Fagin   Years later we were surprised to learn that he sang the theme song in the Judy Dench sitcom that was a regular on PBS-TV.
We described the studio in our Gig Notes Ch. 5
*** Following the Sex Pistols into the Depths 
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html#album6

TRACK 23: WALKIN' WRECK
Gooseberry Studios ~ London, England
www.hillmanweb.com/cd/1123WalkingWreck.mp3 
We closed this CD with another of the originals that Bill recorded in London. Recounted the events surrounding this session in Ch. 5 of our Gig Notes book:
*** Gooseberry: Cavern Studio Below and Tong Wars Above 
www.hillmanweb.com/book/gigs/05.html#gooseberry