The band adopted the name 'Heather Merryweather' after the title of one of the songs they recorded with lyrics by band friend, June Nelson. Nelson was Mo Ostin's secretary at Warner Bros. Records for many years. She was also responsible for pushing the band to go to Los Angeles. After they arrived in the summer of 1968 the boys in the band were welcomed into the home of Linda Stevens in Topanga Canyon. Stevens was a folk singer and songwriter and friend of Buffalo Springfield. She offered not only a place to stay but allowed the band to rehearse in the house. Heather Merryweather's first gig was to be at the Topanga Coral but the night before they were to play the Coral burned down. The Coral owners quickly rented a store on Ventura Blvd and opened the new club as Big Pink. Heather Merryweather were the first band to play the club. During their performances the band noticed that Jimmy Livingston seemed to change and his performance fell short of what was expected. Jimmy chose to party rather than play, and he and the band parted ways. Merryweather took over the vocals and began writing new material. Heather Merryweather soon found themselves sharing the bill with Chicago Transit Authority at the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood. From that performance they were signed by the new A&R rep John Gross. Gross became the band's producer. The band decided to shorten their name to 'Merryweather' after the album was completed. Merryweather was at Capitol Records one day to oversee the final cover art and ran into Linda Ronstadt. Both being newly signed to Capitol they began a chat while sitting on the front steps of the Capitol Tower. Merryweather told her about the band and she was excited about her Capitol deal and was waiting to meet up with her Stone Poneys' producer Nick Venet. When Venet arrived she jumped up and turned to Merryweather and said "it was great meeting you Neil Merryweather!" Merryweather liking what Linda had called him immediately ran back upstairs to see the album's cover designer Robert Lockart and had the name Neil Merryweather added to the album credits. He legally changed his name and began a long recording career as Neil Merryweather.