Britt Dean and Clay Spurz had gone to the same college in St. Pete--it was called Flordia Presbyterian College at the time. And on drives between Florida and Princeton in the early 1970s, Spurz had stopped in Atlanta for long night jams with the large group of FPC pals that had gravitated there. There’d be 20 or 30 people singing along to “This Could Be the Last Time,” “Tracks of My Tears,” “Long Black Veil”—a grand chorale of folk, pop, and R&B. Britt had “the prettiest voice I’ve ever heard,” says Spurz, and he improvised gorgeous harmonies. So Spurz for years had in his head a band with Buddy Miller (see Nov. 19 post) playing guitar and singing lead; Britt singing ultra tenor, and himself writing and adding a third part.
Britt’s brother, bassist T. Wesley Dean, was doing studio work at Studio One in Doraville, Ga., for a producer named Steve Clark. Clark had been in charge of sales at VeeJay Records in Chicago, and he pitched the first U.S. Beatles singles when the company acquired the rights for the then unknown (in the U.S.) Fab Four in 1963. He then went to LA and was involved with The Association and other acts before ending up in Atlanta.
Through his brother, Britt got Spurz's song “What You Think You Gonna Find in Texas” a hearing from Steve Clark, who offered to produce a demo. So in the summer of 1976 Spurz went to Atlanta, where Britt had recruited pianist John Healey, another FPC grad, and Mark Ford, guitarist, for the session. Clark asked about other songs, and Spurz sang him “Need You So,” a duet built around Britt’s soaring range. T. Wesley Dean played bass, and Charles Wolff--his partner in the rhythm section of Thermos Greenwood and the Colored People--played drums. Hank Bruns added pedal steel and Clark asked Joe South’s sister, Barbara, to sing another layer of high harmony.
The result was these two demo tracks:
Britt’s brother, bassist T. Wesley Dean, was doing studio work at Studio One in Doraville, Ga., for a producer named Steve Clark. Clark had been in charge of sales at VeeJay Records in Chicago, and he pitched the first U.S. Beatles singles when the company acquired the rights for the then unknown (in the U.S.) Fab Four in 1963. He then went to LA and was involved with The Association and other acts before ending up in Atlanta.
Through his brother, Britt got Spurz's song “What You Think You Gonna Find in Texas” a hearing from Steve Clark, who offered to produce a demo. So in the summer of 1976 Spurz went to Atlanta, where Britt had recruited pianist John Healey, another FPC grad, and Mark Ford, guitarist, for the session. Clark asked about other songs, and Spurz sang him “Need You So,” a duet built around Britt’s soaring range. T. Wesley Dean played bass, and Charles Wolff--his partner in the rhythm section of Thermos Greenwood and the Colored People--played drums. Hank Bruns added pedal steel and Clark asked Joe South’s sister, Barbara, to sing another layer of high harmony.
The result was these two demo tracks:
All music, lyrics, and other content Ⓒ 1976-2016 by Larry J. Schulz
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