THE STORY OF THE FIRST ALBUM
How an independent, locally produced 70's grass roots project came to be heard around the world
.....and worth hundreds of dollars on the record collector market
.....and worth hundreds of dollars on the record collector market
In 1976 the Totty Brothers were in a three piece band with drummer George Cooper called Starstream Bodine. They went into Charity Recording Studios in Tulsa, Oklahoma to record six original songs to be used in a band ‘promo package’, which would be sent out to talent booking agents and other music industry people. This was done in order to hopefully book more live appearances, and possibly generate interest from a record label for their original songs.
STARSTREAM BODINE 1975, BYRON TOTTY, DENNIS TOTTY, GEORGE COOPER
Shortly after the six songs were completed, George moved out of state. After a short while, instead of scraping the project, The Totty Brothers decided to add a few more songs to the six songs and make a full album of all original tunes. Needing studio drumming help to record three more songs, they asked drummers Roger Roden, drummer from their old band Cedric, and David Blue, the drummer for the band Bliss, their favorite Oklahoma band, to play on the new sessions . They would not worry about putting together a live act at this time. Basically just finish out recording the full album, and then concentrate on doing promo work by sending out the 9 songs to record companies.
THE BAND CEDRIC, 1973. BYRON AND DENNIS TOTTY WITH DRUMMER ROGER RODEN, RIGHT.
DRUMMER FOR THE BAND BLISS, DAVID BLUE
Once the full album was mixed and completed, the album was pressed on vinyl and 50 copies were
made, with plain white album covers and no artwork. (This wasn’t to copy the Beatles white album. This was strictly a financial decision. This was the least expensive way to get the albums pressed)
This white album, along with lyric sheets, mimeographed photos, and album and contact info, were all enclosed in a clear plastic bag and sealed with a white, circular adhesive tab. This package was created in 1976.
made, with plain white album covers and no artwork. (This wasn’t to copy the Beatles white album. This was strictly a financial decision. This was the least expensive way to get the albums pressed)
This white album, along with lyric sheets, mimeographed photos, and album and contact info, were all enclosed in a clear plastic bag and sealed with a white, circular adhesive tab. This package was created in 1976.
THE TOTTY PROMO PACKAGE. 50 COPIES MADE
After a short while, word-of-mouth about this promo package started to pick up steam in the Oklahoma area. After a couple of radio stations played a song from the package, several local artists stepped up and donated their services in order to turn their ‘promo’ album into a ‘real’ album, with artwork and photography for both covers, plus a lyric sheet insert. Thus, the final version of the Totty album was created. They decided to follow in the footsteps of other independent artists at that time and start their own record and publishing company, and release their album on their own label. In 1977, the first completed Totty album was officially released by Our First Record Company (OFRC-01).
THE FINAL VERSION OF THE FIRST TOTTY ALBUM
They made an appointment one afternoon with Oklahoma City’s largest rock station , KATT, to see if the station would play a song from the album. During the meeting, after listening to 2 songs, the program director said ‘yes, we’ll play this’. That night, on KATT’s album spotlight hour, they played the entire Totty album.
The brothers were soon driving their car around to record stores and radio stations in Oklahoma, trying to get the album into any kind of record store that would sell it. Later, after they had put together an act, they also sold the album at live performances. (They later performed two concerts for KATT radio which were recorded and re-broadcast on air.)
The brothers were soon driving their car around to record stores and radio stations in Oklahoma, trying to get the album into any kind of record store that would sell it. Later, after they had put together an act, they also sold the album at live performances. (They later performed two concerts for KATT radio which were recorded and re-broadcast on air.)
The album was also gaining a word-of-mouth buzz due to the somewhat controversial lyrics that were contained in the album. There were actually some rock radio stations who would not play the album because they felt the album was 'too religious'. At the same time, there were christian radio stations who would not play the album because they felt it was 'too satanic'.
You listen and you be the judge.
You listen and you be the judge.
FLASH FORWARD 25 YEARS
Byron received a call from someone in Ohio wanting to know if he had any old Totty albums for sale. He told him yes, he still had a few left. The man from Ohio offered to pay $25 each for ten of them. ‘Wow, $250 bucks for our old albums, pretty cool’. Sold. A couple of weeks later, someone from New York calls asking the same thing. Hmm, weird,….but sure, ok. Sold.
Now, a third person calls, from Houston, asking the same thing. Ok, something strange is going on here. The guy from Houston asks, don’t you know what going on? Haven’t you heard? Your first album has become a very hot item on the vinyl album collectors market. The guy that bought them off you for $25 each is selling them for $150 each. That’s a piece. $150 per album.
Over the next few years, the value of their first album kept rising, and eventually, asking prices reached the $350-$400 range. This price was only for ‘original, sealed’ copies. Opened copies, in excellent condition, had their value drop to around $150 a copy. Unfortunately, being 25 years later, the Totty Brothers had very few copies of the album remaining. And the demand was only for original run copies, not any new issues. By then, the album was being bootlegged on vinyl and cd, and the songs were already on the internet where people could listen to and download them.
It was said collectors called every name listed on the back of the album, and every used record store in Oklahoma trying to find copies of the album.
It has been seen listed on vinyl record collector websites for as much as $1000 for original run sealed copies. (1977)
Byron received a call from someone in Ohio wanting to know if he had any old Totty albums for sale. He told him yes, he still had a few left. The man from Ohio offered to pay $25 each for ten of them. ‘Wow, $250 bucks for our old albums, pretty cool’. Sold. A couple of weeks later, someone from New York calls asking the same thing. Hmm, weird,….but sure, ok. Sold.
Now, a third person calls, from Houston, asking the same thing. Ok, something strange is going on here. The guy from Houston asks, don’t you know what going on? Haven’t you heard? Your first album has become a very hot item on the vinyl album collectors market. The guy that bought them off you for $25 each is selling them for $150 each. That’s a piece. $150 per album.
Over the next few years, the value of their first album kept rising, and eventually, asking prices reached the $350-$400 range. This price was only for ‘original, sealed’ copies. Opened copies, in excellent condition, had their value drop to around $150 a copy. Unfortunately, being 25 years later, the Totty Brothers had very few copies of the album remaining. And the demand was only for original run copies, not any new issues. By then, the album was being bootlegged on vinyl and cd, and the songs were already on the internet where people could listen to and download them.
It was said collectors called every name listed on the back of the album, and every used record store in Oklahoma trying to find copies of the album.
It has been seen listed on vinyl record collector websites for as much as $1000 for original run sealed copies. (1977)
TOTTY ALBUM FOR $400
Recorded in 1976 at Charity Recording Studios, Tulsa, Oklahoma
DENNIS TOTTY: Guitars, vocals, piano and synth keyboard on Thus Saith The Lord
BYRON TOTTY: Bass guitar, backing vocals, synth keyboard on T-Town Teasers and Somebody Help Me
GEORGE COOPER: Drums; Thus Saith the Lord, T-Town Teasers, Crack In the Cosmic Egg, Done Made Up My Mind, Tryin To Forget You
DAVID BLUE: Drums; Wicked Truth, Somebody Help Me
ROGER RODEN: Drums; Love Down By One Share
DAVID SMALLWOOD: Recording and Mixing Engineer
MIKE BOLLINGER: Assistant Engineer
DAVID WINFREY: Assistant Engineer
JOHNNY FRENCH: Wolf Whistle on T-Town Teasers
THE CHARITY CHOIR: Somebody Help Me
MARTY AND JON NICHOLAS: Instrument Support
DAVID SMALLWOOD
BARBARA WORRELL - Album Insert Design and Layout
Moye’A: Cover Oil Painting (Nick Moyers)
ZACHARIAH: Black and White Photography On Back Cover and Lyric Insert
DALE ROWE: Copy Work Photography of Oil Painting
D L EDGINGTON: Album Cover Layout Design
SIDE ONE
1 THUS SAITH THE LORD 1:30
2 T-TOWN TEASERS 2:41
3 CRACK IN THE COSMIC EGG 5:04
4 LOVE DOWN BY ONE SHARE / LOVE SONG TO A WHORE 4:57
5 I’VE DONE MADE UP MY MIND 5:40
SIDE TWO
1 WICKED TRUTH 4:09
2 TRYIN TO FORGET YOU 3:47
3 TAKE ME AWAY JESUS 4:48
4 SOMEBODY HELP ME 8:27
