In compiling the Chairmen of the Board's career- defining 30-song collection, bandleader General Johnson -- the singer, songwriter and producer behind many R&B hits of the last four decades -- led a daunting task. For the Beach Music Anthology to be a comprehensive release, essential Johnson-penned hits such as "It Will Stand" -- a song he originally recorded with the Showmen in 1961 - would coexist alongside new millennium fan faves such as the Chairmen's "It Ain't What You Do (It's The Way That You Do It).” Further, because of licensing issues, several early songs recut as hopefully undetectable recreations of original recordings.

The project was wholly but not surprisingly a success, thanks to a superb-sounding catalogue and Johnson's discriminating ear. According to Tim Eaton -- owner and chief engineer of Studioeast Recording in Charlotte, North Carolina -- each of Johnson's skills, developed through years of Detroit-based studio work and relentless touring through- out the South, is a part of the Chairmen's supreme reign over the enduringly popular East Coast Beach Music scene. "General knows what he wants and he gets it, no matter what it takes," explains Eaton, who has regularly worked with Johnson and the rest of the Chairmen -- saxophonist/vocalist Ken Knox and vocalist Danny Woods -- for over 25 years.

The Beach Music Anthology's undisputed single -- an ode to Southern beach-dwelling beauties entitled "Carolina Girls" -may have been originally recorded in 1980, but its classic, warm, yet pristine production and an impeccable remastering job by Studioeast's Mark Stallings contributes to the song's timelessness. "Carolina Girls" was recorded via an MCI JH-600 Series console and incorporated musicians from both Detroit and Charlotte. A fervent and self-defined "head arranger," Johnson directed the band with no sheet music whatsoever.

For Johnson's distinctive lead vocal, a Neumann U 87 microphone through a Universal Audio 610 mic preamp and Teletronix LA-2A limiter comprised the chain to a Studer A80 24-track machine.