In February 1973, the Huggetts returned to Air Studios to complete their first album with George Martin. Andrew recalls, "We arrived at Air Monday morning at 10. George had booked a bass player, Tony Bennett's drummer, Kenny Clare, and a 13-piece string section under the direction of string arranger Lew Warburton. The first song we laid down was one we'd done many times in concert, Dad and mine's "Love to Share," with me on guitar and lead vocals. Lew counted us in, and we all started. The effect of playing with so many extra musicians was both thrilling and, at the same time, totally overwhelming. Our sound up to this point had always been dictated by how much sound the six of us could make playing relatively quiet acoustic instruments. This felt huge and foreign. We did a run-through for levels and recorded the song on the second take. There was no time for pickups or retakes. We only had the orchestra for three hours, which was expensive, and Mom also had several songs to do. The process felt rushed, and many of the tempos ended up being too fast. However, we were all thrilled by what we heard at the time. Lew's string arrangements were beautiful, and the players were the best in London. However, when I look back, I think these new forces often overshadowed the Huggett Family's unique sound. In my opinion, as much as I loved it at the time, a little more restraint in the use of the orchestra would have achieved a more authentic result." 

 

Titled "The Huggett Family," the album was released on the Pye label in England in April 1973 and the following August on the Daffodil label in Canada. In London, a significant publicity campaign was planned, including a concert at London's Wigmore Hall and a press reception at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on the Mall, the red paved road, and ceremonial access to the gates of Buckingham Palace.

 

A public relations company was engaged to promote the release in print and on TV. At the time, there were only 3 TV stations in England, BBC 1 & 2 and ITV. BBC 1 and 2 shared the same 6 o'clock news show and had sent a camera crew to Dorset to interview and film the Huggetts riding horses on the downs in slow motion, under which they planned to play Greensleeves. There was a tense moment when Fiona was thrown from her horse during the shoot. Fortunately, she was unhurt. There was further excitement when the interview was played on the National BBC 6 o'clock news. The horses weren't the only thing being played in slow motion. Greensleeves was also at half-speed, making it sound like it was sung by a chorus of slow-witted tenors! Leslie was apoplectic and immediately demanded that the BBC issue an apology and replay the spot with the music at the correct speed, which the BBC did the next day. By sheer coincidence, the next day, ITV also played their interview with the Huggetts on their 6 pm news at precisely the same time as the BBC rerun. Thus, for three minutes on April 1st (of all days) 1973, the Huggetts monopolized primetime TV across all of England.

 

The Wigmore Concert was a sold-out success, as was the reception on the Mall, with George Martin saying many gracious things about the Huggetts and their first record at both events.