Fifty-five years ago, St. Louis high schooler Tom Hartman had a dream: to record original music with his band, the Aerovons, at the same place his beloved Beatles did.
鈥淚 just wanted to get over there and be in that same environment with the top engineers and the oddness of the sound of their studio, which stuck out over other records at the time,鈥� he said.
His dream came true when he and his bandmates got the chance to lay down tracks at EMI Recording Studios in London 鈥� in the studio adjacent to where the Beatles were recording "Abbey Road."
鈥淕oing from your living room in 1964 and watching them on Ed Sullivan to being in London and meeting them was otherworldly,鈥� Hartman said.
But the Aerovons never got their due. Their recordings went unreleased after band members parted ways and the studio made questionable promotional decisions. The Aerovons legend, however, continued to grow. Bootleg CD copies of their songs were passed around by Beatles devotees across Europe by the turn of the century.
The 12-track album they recorded in 1969 never made it to vinyl 鈥� until now. A remastered version of on April 20.
Hartman is looking forward to the album being released as an LP.
鈥淚t is finally going to be heard the way it was meant to be heard,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t isn't a modern recording meant to sound like it was recorded a week ago on high-end CD [or] Pro Tools. It's meant to sound like its era, and so this will be the biggest thing.鈥�
Tom Hartman joined St. Louis on the Air to talk about the Aerovons鈥� decades-long road to this achievement and what it means to have their work recognized now. Listen on , or by clicking the play button below.
鈥�鈥� brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, , , , and . Roshae Hemmings is our production assistant. The audio engineer is .
