electromagnets - Austin, TX 1973 - FutureClick here for merchandise!Click here for Art and Pics!Click here for Bio information!Click here to hear Recordings!Click here to see Reviews!

The Record, CD Reissue and Videos

The new CD cover for the Electromagnets on Rhino Records!

The CD

The CD has been remastered and issued on Rhino Records! It is the original Electromagnets album with two extra live bonus tracks. The CD was brilliantly and digitally remixed by Richard Mullen (Eric Johnson, Alien Love Child, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Omar and the Howlers). Max Crace created a beautiful new cover to grace the reissue and give it a distinctive tone.

Want to hear a sample? Click here for a sample of Black Hole as an MP3.

Check our album page for info on the making of the album. Each are 2 meg clip (about 2 minutes of music). music. Need to find out about playing mp3s? Go here. Check our links page for links to several great new reviews of the band.

Try here for a sample of the live version of Hawaiian Punch.

 

electromagnets 2

There is now a second Electromagnets CD available, along with the first, on the Eric Johnson store page.

The Album and the Story Behind It - We had decided to try to cut some tapes to either interest a major label or to self release to help get better bookings. We started on it at Pecan Street Studios in late March, 1974 with Jay Podolnik and John Ingle engineering. Except for one song added later, the album took three days to record and one day to mix. I'm sure this may not be believable to Eric Johnson fans, but it is the truth so help me. It was actually done in a five day stretch, recording for three days, a gig in Corpus Christi opening for Mahogany Rush, and then mixing the next day.

"One of my main memories is when one of the channels in the board quit, the studio manager came down and beat it with a hammer until it worked. I was astonished at this sophisticated electronics repair technique." - Park Street/Manager, Electromagnets

After unsuccessfully shopping the album to major labels in LA, I returned and we decided to put the album out ourselves. We had hired a graphic designer to do the album cover and had put off to the very end checking on his progress. After everything else was done and we were set to press the album, we made an appointment with him and all converged for his presentation of the album design. When he showed it to us there was dead silence.

The front of the first cover.....
and the back of the first cover.

The front was a strange looking amoeba like design that wasn't too bad, but the back was orange on black which made the photos of the group look like a Halloween comic book. It was too late to really do anything about it, so we bit on bullets, sent it off and had a thousand copies pressed in Dallas. After we had sold out of the first covers,we decided to repackage the album and this time did it ourselves with the help of some friends. This time we pressed three thousand copies.

The front of the 2nd cover...
and the back of the second cover.

We had three friends of the band come in and play on the album: Tomas Ramirez did the great sax work on "Minus Mufflers", John Traynor contributed percussion work, particularly the carrot and egg squeaky toy sounds on "Minus", Chris Geppert, later to become Christopher Cross did the fine vocals on "Motion".

For you fans and vinyl collectors, there are a very few sealed copies of the second cover still available. To order Click Here.

For more information on the Electromagnets, contact Park Street/Manager - Electromagnets at park@parkstreets.com.

The Video

In 1975, the 'Magnets performed on Playback, an Atlanta music program produced by WPBA, the Atlanta PBS station. The tape we were given was sent to a friend for use in promotion, and was lost for over 20 years. Miracles do happen and one day it was returned. The tape is a 30 minute show consisting of four complete songs, two short interviews, and a snippet of another song as the credits roll.

The Video Lost for over 20 years and the only TV performance of the Electromagnets is now available. For some examples of the rave reviews the video has been receiving, look at our review page. This video is now sold out.

To take a look at a QuickTime sample of the video*, go here.
*It is compressed for the Internet and the actual video looks much better.