Ok, here's the latest update:
When I posted my comment yesterday, stating "This works"! I immediately went through all of my songs, adding the same automation event (play recording) and then adjusting the timing of that event to be the first event (@ 0.00).
After going through all of the songs in my show (~50) this morning, I have found 2 other songs that were properly playing the recording from within the automation track...so, a total of 3 out of 50?!?! Of those that are working, there's another `interesting' issue. Even though the play recording event is at 0.00, the MIDI patch changes are all hitting slightly late. These were hitting EXACTLY where I needed them when I had the Song Selection Action>Play Recording, enabled. How can a recording start earlier than 0.00, which must be what was happening in the song selection action>play recording enabled?!?!
I've also experienced more crashes than I can count, which makes me wonder how reliable 4.04 is...at least for me. Needless to say, my enthusiasm and confidence in the reliability of this [otherwise] amazing app are deteriorating.