I recollect we did demos for Mercury and Columbia before the eventual Elektra signing. It must have been common for record companies to allow potential acts to get some time in their studios to see if there was something worth singing.
Loved the Freudian slip at the end - but, just as a matter of interest, here's a copy and paste of my notes - as they currently stand - regarding what I understand to be SWU/SF(G)'s recording history - needless to say,
any corrections/amendments would be gratefully received:
01: Mercury - Demos
Date: Unknown
Who produced, when, where and what might have recorded is unknown. Were they pre-Les or post-Les? - dunno that either...
02: Columbia - Demos [with David Rubinson]
Date: Unknown [but maybe around April 68 (time of Generation gigs)]
Dunno what was recorded. Assumption is (if date is right) that they were WITH Les...
03: Jerry Ragovoy Session [Atlantic Records NY]
Date: Best guess:Early Aug 1968
What was recorded here and why - I dunno...
04: Score Jingle Session [Small 3 track studio on Long Island]
Date: Unknown - dunno if it came before or after the Ragovoy session...
SWU made a Score hair cream commercial... dunno if anything else was recorded...
05: Elektra - Demos with Pete Siegel [Elektra Records, NY]
Date: Nov 1968
06: Albert's Tom Paxton Session with Pete Siegel [A&R Studios NY]
Date: Unknown but presumably around the time of the SWU sessions
AB played on one track: "Bishop Cody's Last Request"
07: Elektra - SWU LP Sessions with Pete Siegel [Elektra Records, NY]
Date: Approx Feb 1969
Quandary: When Les left in May 69, if Eric went into the studio to try and re-record some of the tracks for Elektra, then that'd be "#08". Otherwise:
08: Columbia Demos Session #1 with Jay Lee / Bob Devere [CBS Studio B, NY]
Date: 21 Jul 1969Presumably with no Les, Sandy was trying to get SWU a deal elsewhere...
09: Columbia Demos Session #2 with Jay Lee / Bob Devere [CBS Studio B, NY]
Date: 11 Sep 1969
10: Oaxaca Demo Sessions Presumably with Jay Lee ? [NY]
Date: Nov-Dec 1969 (?)Albert says these were done with Jay Lee for Columbia, and NOT Elektra... if so, it looks like Elektra were maybe re-thinking SWU's potentiality...?
11: Elektra - Stalk Forest LP Sessions with Dennis Murphy/Peter Siegel [Elektra CA]
Date: Feb 1970It looks like Elektra had now got over the fact that there no East Coast Morrison singing for the SWU anymore...
12: Elektra - "I'm on the Lamb" session with Dennis Murphy [Elektra, NY]
Date: approx March 1970Presumably there was a problem with the version that had been recorded in CA...
If you can see any obvious errors, or I'm missing something, or I've got events in the wrong order etc, please let me know...