Recording Wally Heider

Will our young hero fall over the edge of the cliff, to be smashed on the rocks and surf below?

Piles of roast beef and horseradish while trying to resolve a touchy legal problem

Wally bought the first 3M 8-track recorder ever delivered – a customized machine for Wally

I first met Wally at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966. But first let me set the stage…

I grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico and attended New Mexico State University. I loved electromechanical gadgets, and I began a lifelong romance with tape recorders when I was in high school. My first recorder was a Masco recorder that I bought from a newspaper ad for $25. I did all kinds of modifications to this machine and my later Concertone 1401 and Magnecord PT-6R. When I was ready to graduate, I interviewed all the normal campus recruiters from the oil and aerospace companies (and the CIA). I also took a wild fling at finding a job in tape recorders, writing letters to Honeywell, 3M and Ampex.

After about two months of working at The Village, I finally got a call there from Wally. “Ah-ah-ah-can-n you come over here right now?!” (laughter) He stuttered a lot. He was really intense, like a speed freak. But a good guy. If you ever want to know what Wally was like, see ‘Monterey Pop’. Wally was the rather large guy running up during The Who’s finale, trying grab his microphones before the band destroyed them . Between them and Hendrix, it’s amazing that he didn’t have a seizure right there! (laughter) That was Wally. A hard guy to work for but I owe him a lot, may he rest in peace.