DESCRIPTION:
After the dissolution of Mike & The Ravens in 1963, Mike Brassard was signed by Bob Devere to a personal management contract. Devere was grooming Brassard to replace Dion at Laurie after the latter moved to Columbia in late 1962. A demo was recorded at WPTR in Albany, NY in March 1963 by Doug Cole for use to convince the powers that be at Laurie that Brassard was a solo artist with potential. All that survives of the recording is a tape cassette, which was transferred from a reel-to-reel back in the '70s. Despite the low audio fidelity, the historical content is of interest.

Brassard learned "Waterboy," a traditional song, from an early '60s appearance by Odetta at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. Brassard explained.

"I heard this big booming voice and it was this black lady singing out behind a tent... I was drawn to her she was very nice and didn't ask me to go away. She just kept practicing. She was leaning against this fence. I didn't know anything about her at the time. It was before she went onstage. So, that's how I learned the song," he said.