June 1999 - the first ever NMS studio recording. Six original ditties recorded on 8-track 1/4" reel-to-reel in the basement of former Mastersounds percussionist Sam Bell's house in Chapel Allerton, Leeds. Intended purely as a notepad to help Bob & Pete learn the tunes that Si and Eddie had already been playing for a couple of years, the recording fell into the hands of London-based DJ and promoter Clive Johnson, who suggested releasing some of the tunes on limited-edition 7" singles on his recently-formed Blow It Hard imprint.

One Note Brown (original Version)

The New Mastersounds are an astonishingly persistent funk/soul-jazz quartet who were founded in Leeds, UK in 1999 by guitarist/producer Eddie Roberts and drummer Simon Allen. They recruited Pete Shand on bass and Bob Birch on organ & piano. Bob left the band in 2007 and was replaced by Joe Tatton.  By the close of 2013 (the time of writing) their discography boasted more than twenty 7" 45rpm singles, 8 studio albums, 2 live albums, 1 remix album and several compilation albums, with one more studio album and another live album already recorded and pegged for release in 2014. The band has toured all over the USA (having visited 38 of the 50 states at last count), Japan, and to a lesser extent in UK & Europe.  Influences include James Brown, Grant Green, Booker T, Lou Donaldson and The Meters, as well as the (mainly) UK-based DJs who exposed the four musicians to the sounds of lesser known funk acts at the vinyl-only club nights of the mid-90's.