This article: With Morton, the New York Dolls recorded Too Much Too Soon in 1974 at A&R Studios in New York City. The album was later mastered at Sterling Sound and Masterdisk. During the sessions, Morton had Johansen record his vocals several times and incorporated sound effects such as gongs, gunshots, and feminine choruses. In a report on the album's progress for Melody Maker, journalist Lenny Kaye wrote that they were taking more time than they had on their first record, "bringing in occasional strings and horns, following Shadow's advice not 'to settle'." Morton and the band shared an affinity for each other, as he found the group's energy in the studio refreshing, while Johansen was fond of Morton and the "looser" feel he provided for their music. "That man is completely unpretentious", Johansen said of the producer. "He doesn't think he ever did a marvellous thing in his life."
The New York Dolls and Morton produced little original material together. To complete the album, they had to record cover songs and re-record some of the band's earlier demos; "Babylon", "Who Are the Mystery Girls?", "It's Too Late" and "Human Being" had been recorded by the band in March 1973 as demos for Mercury before the label signed them. They had also recorded demos of two songs written by guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, "Teenage News" and "Too Much Too Soon", before working with Morton, but neither was considered for the album. Sylvain said he confronted Morton about this decision, recalling he had been in a rush: "He was too quick with me and said that he'd been told only to listen to David Johansen and Johnny Thunders. He didn't want to tell me who had told him that but obviously it was the managers. I just walked out, it was all driving me nuts."According to journalist Tony Fletcher, Morton would have been more productive on Too Much Too Soon had it not been for his alcoholism and the lifestyles of the band members—bassist Arthur Kane was also an alcoholic, while Thunders and drummer Jerry Nolan had heroin addictions. Robert Christgau... contains an answer for the question: What is the full name of the person that stated Morton was an alcoholic?, what is it ?


Tony Fletcher