After getting those first 15 Haywire tracks mix-mastered and uploaded I decided to take another look in the bag of tapes and I found one that was a partial reel and rather loosely wound, with no label on the reel and just these words written on the box “Gary and Elmer October, 1976”. I got excited. I sent it off to get digitized. And it turns out to be a truly precious gem! There were no guarantees that this reel actually contained what the box said it did, but it did. 

October 1976 was just a few months before we got Haywire off the ground. I’d gone to Redwood City in September for a visit and Gary convinced me to move my family there and start Haywire. He and Elmer had been talking about it and Gary was sure Tom would be on board. So while I went back up to Oregon to talk Judy into moving back to Redwood City (we’d lived there in ’73-’74) Gary and Elmer started exploring pulling the band repertoire together. I think these sessions in this playlist mark the beginning of that effort. Of the 14 songs in this playlist, I remember playing 4 in the band — That’s How Strong My Love Is, In The Meantime, Dark Eyes, and Hangman. 

There are 14 tracks in this playlist. The first 10 tracks seem to have been one session while the last for are clearly from another session, as you can hear kids in the background and Gary and Elmer have switched sides, with Gary on the right and Elmer on the left. In the first 10 tracks Gary is on the left and Elmer is on the right. 

The lovely thing about these recordings is that, as acoustic recordings, you really get to hear each guy’s guitar playing and singing. The harmonizing is really nice and the guitar playing is beautiful. You also get to hear Elmer singing lead on several songs, something he didn’t do much of in the electric band. And since both Gary and Elmer are no longer with us, these tracks are just precious.

- Paul Fifield 4/30/2024

The Son Of Hickory Holler's Tramp (Dallas Frazier)

Haywire 1978