Quah by Jorma Kaukonen

Quah is the first solo album by Jorma Kaukonen of Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane. The album was recorded with Tom Hobson. The initial plan was to have side-A be Kaukonen and side-B be Hobson. However, RCA felt that Hobson's recordings would not be accepted by the public. Initially the record was planned to be released in mid-1973, but because of the issues with Hobson, Kaukonen returned to the studio to record new tracks for side B in May 1974. Only "Blue Prelude" and "Sweet Hawaiian Sunshine" of the original 1974 release feature Hobson's lead vocal, although he also plays guitar on "I'll Let You Know Before I Leave." On the CD reissue, Hobson is featured on all bonus tracks except for "Lord Have Mercy." In 1980, Grunt Records reissued the album with a different cover that used the photographs that were originally used inside the gatefold. In 1987, Relix Records released the album under license from RCA. It was released on vinyl and was one of the first CDs released by an independent record label in the USA. The first Relix version was pressed in Switzerland, then Japan and finally manufactured in the USA. Relix also released a remastered and graphically revised version in the late 1990s with computer improved tracks from the original masters. BMG (incorporating the former RCA) re-released the original album on CD in 2003, along with the bonus tracks featuring Hobson. It was voted number 1 in the All-Time 50 Long Forgotten Gems in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).