Blue Ash to Release Never-heard Songs Recorded in ’70s at Peppermint Studio

SHARON, Pa. – Dozens of never-released Blue Ash songs recorded in the 1970s – and some brand-new ones as well – will soon become available for purchase.

The first batch of songs laid down by the legendary power pop band at Youngstown’s Peppermint Studios will see the light of day later this year as a full-length vinyl release.

Titled “Dinner at Mr. Billy’s,” it will be the first of a series of albums featuring selections culled from the more than 200 songs the band recorded between 1971 and 1977 at the South Side studio.

It should be released in October, according to Frank Secich of Hermitage, Pa., a founding member of the band, as well as its primary songwriter and unofficial historian.

Blue Ash will schedule some local performances after the album is released, Secich said.

Formed in Sharon, Pa., in 1969, the band never was able to fully grab the brass ring, but it came close. With a torrent of catchy songs that reflect an era shaped by The Beatles, The Who and even The Beach Boys, the band built a devoted fanbase that extends to several continents and endures to this day.

Blue Ash hooked up with Gary Rhamy, owner and sound engineer of what was to become Peppermint Records, in 1971. With Rhamy as sound engineer, the band recorded demos that attracted interest from several major labels and  eventually signed with Mercury Records. It released its debut Mercury album, “No More, No Less,” in 1972. The album was recorded at Peppermint.

As part of its deal with Peppermint, the band was given studio time two days each month. Over the course of about six years, it recorded 226 songs at the studio, most of which have never been heard by outsiders.

“The songs have been there for ages,” Secich said. “In 2004 and again in 2015, we licensed some of them to [Spanish record label] You Are the Cosmos, who took about 70 songs.”

The first album of material from the Peppermint sessions will include a dozen songs, including “Jazel Jane,” which can be heard in the first episode of the Amazon Prime miniseries “Daisy Jones and the Six,” which was released earlier this year. The miniseries is about a fictional rock band that flirted with fame in the 1970s.

“Jazel Jane’ was recorded in 1974.

The songs from the Peppermint trove show a lot of musical range and may surprise some long-time fans, Secich said. “They show a different side of the band that no one has heard before,” he said.

That original Blue Ash lineup was Secich, vocalist Jim Kendzor, Bill “Cupid” Bartolin and David Evans.

Many Blue Ash songs are based on real people or events, and that’s true of the title cut, “Dinner at Mr. Billy’s.”

The song can be traced to an offhand comment made by “Cupid” Bartolin in their early days. While riding to a gig in Clairton, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh, they went past Mr. Billy’s Restaurant, which had a large sign.

Bartolin pointed to the sign and said, “If we ever get to make an album, we should call it ‘Dinner at Mr. Billy’s.”

Not only did the bandmates get a laugh out of the remark, they wrote a song about it. “Dinner at Mr. Billy’s” was unearthed from the Peppermint recordings, and – in honor of Bartolin, who died in 2009 – was selected for the upcoming album.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Rhamy, of Peppermint Recording Studios, shed more light on those 1970s sessions that are just now coming to light.

“We signed Blue Ash to a production deal and made demo tapes in the studio,” Rhamy said. “We sent those tapes out to record companies and as part of that process, Mercury signed them.”

Paul Nelson, a well-known A&R representative for the label who was also a respected rock writer, came to Youngstown to catch Blue Ash in concert at a local club before signing the band.

“’No More, No Less’ was recorded here as a result, and [Nelson] wanted them to record demos of more songs because they were such prolific writers,” Rhamy said. “So, we did live recording sessions with them and a lot of the stuff on the upcoming album is from those sessions.”

Rhamy, with Dean Anshutz and Anthony LaMarca, are in the early stages of selecting the songs and mastering them.

Anshutz is the drummer for Red Wanting Blue and LaMarca plays guitar and other instruments for The War on Drugs. Both are Youngstown residents who have made it their mission to preserve and release the decades’ worth of rock music that was recorded by dozens of bands at Peppermint.

They released “Rat Race,” the first such compilation album, in 2022. It includes songs by many of the city’s classic rock acts including Glass Harp, LAW, The Human Beinz, Iron Knowledge and yes, Blue Ash.

Meanwhile, Blue Ash – with its current lineup of Secich, Kendzor, John Hlumyk, John Khoury and Pete Drivere – have been working on some new tunes in recent years and will release them as an album some time in 2025.

“We have almost 10 songs done, and will finish it within the next year,” said Secich. The songs were recorded at Ampreon Recorder in Youngstown, which is owned and operated by Drivere. Word of the impending album has drawn interest from recording companies. “A half-dozen labels are interested in releasing it,” Secich said.

Blue Ash remains a beloved act throughout pockets of the United States and other countries. The band reunited for a tour of Spain in 2016 and later played multiple dates in England.

The prolific Secich also released his second book of his personal rock memories late last year. Titled “Not That Way Anymore,” it’s a bookend to his first rock memoir, “Circumstantial Evidence” (2015).

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.