1. No Reply This song was our first attempt at recording with a 2 track reel-to-reel recorder. It features Les on lead vocals/rhythm and lead guitar/drums, Jon Sheffield on bass/backing vocals. The recording process was new to both les and I on this one, we put the drum track on after the guitar track which proved to make tempo harder to sync. (this is the only recording we did this way). Les also had to do many tries at the first track guitar and lead vocals where you can hear him almost start laughing where he makes a mistake in the second to last verse of the song. For this new mix I added an ambience track giving Les's vocals a stereo sound, added effects and digitally lowered my vocals from the second track. 4:32
  2. Ballad of John & Yoko recorded by Jon & Les circa 1987 3:18
  3. Twist & Shout Recorded 1987 with Jon Sheffield on vocals after many takes, his voice is in shreds. Les on Drums 2:43
  4. The Reason Why Jon & Les 2:50
  5. Summer Rains This quickly recorded song features Les on drums/lead guitar, Jon on acoustic rhythm/lead and backing vocals, Brett Schultz on bass guitar and Rick Warsing on drums. For this new mix I added an ambience vocal track and effects. 2:15
  6. You'll See Original Song Written 1986 by Jon Sheffield, recorded by Jon & Les with Rick Warsing on Guitar 3:12
  7. I should have Known Better Featuring Les on Lead Vocals & Jon on Backup Vocals, recorded in 1987 2:44
  8. I'll Be Back Again Recorded in 1987 by Jon & Les 2:19
  9. Marikesh Express Jon & Les 2:54
  10. Outside My Window Jon & Les 3:20
  11. Painted Wagon Painted Wagon by Cream sung by Les recorded by Jon & Les 1987 3:21
  12. What's New Original Song by Les Soltescz recorded by Jon & Les 1987 3:31
  13. The Spirit is One With Les's creative mind fueled by his incessant intake of marijuana in those days, this original song was spontaneously produced. Les was inspired by a circus poster he saw about the American Indian when he wrote this song. This song features Les on lead vocals and all guitar work, Jonathan Sheffield on drums, tambourine and maracas. 3:49
  14. Kaley Found on the Reel to Reel tape at the end, this strange and funny clip of one of Les's friends sound testing the reverb on the mixing board and having some fun. 2:13
  15. youl-see-jon-les 2:36

Story

Jonathan Sheffield and Les Soltescz wrote songs together and recorded them and some cover songs in a makeshift studio in his parents detached garage I called Hollenbeck Studio after the name of the street nearby. The recordings were made circa 1985-87 on 2 track reel-to-reel connected to an old style 12 channel mixing board.  Jon met Les thru Steve Hendrickson who I had played with in the Allies Band, at a party where Les was playing piano and singing Beatles songs.  In the mid 80’s meeting a fellow Beatles fan was rare.  After visiting Les at his parents house where he was living at the time, we discussed 60’s-70’s music, played albums from his huge LP collection that was meticulously sorted and filed on his shelves and talked about recording originals and covers.  I had been experimenting with using a Sony Reel-to Reel tape machine for live recording as cassette recordings would distort.  We recorded using 2 track technology.  On the first track one of us would play drums while the other sang and played the song on guitar.  on the second track we would listen to the first track and add bass, backup vocals, guitar and if another person (Bret Shultz or Rick Warsing) was available add tambourine, bass, lead or something else.  By todays standards it was an archaic way of recording but produced better sound quality than anything we had used before.  On some tracks I would play drums while Les played guitar and sang and on others Les would play drums while I did the guitar and vocals,  typically depended on who picked the song or who’s original song we were recording.  Les, Bret and Steve went on to form the Inspectors band while I went on to startup the Reflection Band.

Jon & Les Recordings

These songs were taken from reel-to-reel 2 track recordings made circa 1986-1987. The tracks include covers and some original music by both Jon and Les. It was during this time that Shine the Light and Thats My Girl were written and first recorded by Jon Sheffield.

Jonathan Sheffield: Bass Guitar, Guitar, Drums, Vocals
Les Soltescz: Guitar, Drums, Vocals

Also heard on these recordings:
Rick Warsing: Lead Guitar, Drums.
Bret Schultz: Bass, Vocals