It is a rare occurrence, especially when you consider that we are writing this in the year 2017, that an unreleased soul/disco album from the 1970s surfaces after 40 years. The Tramp crew first heard about the album while discussing the re-release of Teakwood’s sole 45RPM single release “Can You Dig It” with former band leader and founding member of the group, Fred Forsh. It was in 1972 when two new Berry College freshmen met and realized that they were both music majors which led to an impromptu jam session in the lower level of the student center. This was the beginning of what would soon become Teakwood. “Those two original members, Ralph Moore on saxophone and me on piano, along with five others went into the studio in 1976 and recorded two songs for our first and only single”, remembers Fred Forsh. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Moore and Forsh parted ways but Teakwood continued with four remaining members plus two new ones and with this new lineup, went into the studio in 1977 to record nine songs under the collective title “A Distant Star”. However, for some obscure reason the songs were never released but luckily the reel-to-reel master tapes survived. The tapes were sent to the head quarters of Tramp Records in early 2016. In the end it took several attempts at three different recording studios to transfer them successfully.
