ALPHA PRODUCTIONS The Gathering was a day-long event that resulted in one of the Twin Cities most sought-after albums. All of the bands were clients of Alpha Productions, and was organized by Ralph Ortiz, the head of the agency, to showcase the clients in his stable. It was originally seen as a promotional item, to be sold at the shows of the bands on the record. If a school booked one of the bands, it could sell the records at $1 profit each. The liner notes say that 1,400 people stopped by the Depot that day to hear some of the best bands in the area. Eleven of these bands appeared on the album, although more played that day. PRODUCER The Producer of the album was Frank Marino. For you equipment buffs, Frank reported that the recording was made with Scully 8 track equipment and the mastering was done on a computer-controlled Neuman VMS 70 Mastering System (the first of its kind in the country). Amplifiers were provided by Suburban Music Center in Burnsville. MUSIC COORDINATOR Jeanette Arithson was a 21-year old booking agent for Alpha Productions.

LOCATION RECORDING Recording was done by Sound 80, engineered by Sound 80’s Chief Recording Engineer, Tom Jung.

ARTWORK The front and back artwork was done by photographer Darrell Brand.

In addition to the people above, special thanks were given to Alan Fingerhut and Danny Stevens of the Depot. THE JOCKS Given the number of disk jockeys in attendance from the big rock stations, it was the place to be. That big honkin’ microphone in the photo below suggests that they might have been doing a remote broadcast as well. Endorsements were provided on the album by John Pete of KQRS, True Don Bleu of KDWB, and Jimmy Reed of WDGY. All were the top Disc Jockeys of their stations.

THE BANDS The participating bands varied between those listed on the poster and those that appeared on the resulting album. These are not in the order of the album but start with ones I have pictures for. Pepper Fog: On poster and album (“Celebration”, written by Gregg Inhofer)

The Litter: On poster and album (“Ungrateful Peg,” written by M. Gallagher and J.S. Jones) A note from the Litter’s drummer Tom Murray in 2020:

“Ungrateful Pig” was the title of our original song that The Litter recorded for that album. When it was released, the title was changed without The Litter’s permission to “Ungrateful Peg!!” It was wrong for whoever made that decision to change a copyrighted song title to their title that they wanted for the album!! It still irritates me today for what they did!

But the “Gathering at the Depot” album, with all the bands that were on this record, is a great tribute to Minnesota’s music Royalty! Proud I was a part of it!

Crockett: On album only (“Dear Landlord,” written by Bob Dylan)

Thundertree: On album only (“16 Tons,” written by Merle Tillis)

Free and Easy: On album only (“It’s for You” (written by Lennon & McCartney) / “Wake up Sunshine,” written by Robert Camm ). Original members pictured below were, left to right, Tom Behr,Tony Tuccitto, Pat Dee, Dave Vigoren, Tom Mulkern and (unseen in the back), Bobby Gomez on drums.

White Lightning was on the poster but their performance didn’t make it to the album.

• Danny’s Reasons: On poster and album (“With One Eye Closed,” written by Paul Hanson)
• Grizzly: On poster and album (“Get Out of my Life Woman,” written by Paul Butterfield)
• Deadeye: On album only (“Silly Song,” written by Sylvester Stewart)
• Chesterfield Gathering: On album only (“Take Me to the Sunrise,” written by Blues Image)
• System: On album only (“Smiling Eyes,” written by Michael Holm)
• Kiwani: On album only (“Better Days,” written by Wayne Fish)
• Cricket: On poster only. Cricket had been a horn band, but got bumped when they lost their horns, according to Tim Emerson.
• Lemon Pepper: On poster only
• Dave Mark Syndicate: On poster only

SAD NEWS I’ve had an email from Ralph Ortiz’s daughter, who says that after hauling them around from move to move after her father died, she ended up tossing several boxes of these precious albums away! I paid an arm and a leg for mine! I just noticed that the sleeve on mine had the previous owner’s song reviews on it. One thing he did say was that “This baby got touched up big time in studio.” BUT ENJOY! Nevertheless, find one of these if you can, and follow Ralph’s advice:

Progressive Rock, hard rock, rhythm and blues, top 40 rock, or just plain down home funk rock. It’s all part of the “Minneapolis sound” that’s being recognized everywhere in the country. This LP was recorded loud to be played loud. Darken your room, turn your streo on high, sit between your speakers and let the music vibrations turn you on to the sounds of today.

On September 15, 1970, Pat Lindquist of the Skyway News wrote this scathing review of what she called “The Only Sock Hop in Town:”

You all must recall thost hot, clammy after school dances in the gymnasium, where boy had some of his first close experiences with girl and nervous perspiration was the order of the day. The ventilation, if any, was provided by those mile high windows on one side of the gym. Now you can relive all those wonderful memories at the Depot where you can drink and smoke, too. We stopped in with a group one hot Saturday night a few weeks ago and found the air pollution at a disaster level. It’s great to see a crowd but it’s criminal when a place that large seems more like a cattle barn at the state fair than a cool, pleasant club.