"EUFAULA"
Hailing from the small town of
Doraville, Georgia, the beginning of the Atlanta Rhythm Section
can be traced back to 1970. It was there that a local recording
studio was opened, Studio One, and the remnants of two groups
(the Candymen and the Classics IV), became the studio's house
band. One of the facility's head figures, Buddy Buie, soon began
assembling the session band - singer Rodney Justo, guitarist Barry
Bailey, bassist Paul Goddard, keyboardist Dean Daughtry, and drummer
Robert Nix. After playing on several artists' recordings, it was
decided to take it a step further and make the group of players
a real band, leading to the formation of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Buie soon became an invisible fifth member of the fledgling band,
as he served as their manager and producer, in addition to providing
a major hand in the songwriting department. Finding time between
sessions to record their own original material (which was initially,
entirely instrumental), an early demo wound up landing the band
a record deal. The group's first few albums failed to generate
much chart action (1972's Atlanta Rhythm Section, 1973's Back
Up Against the Wall, 1974's Third Annual Pipe Dream, 1975's Dog
Days, and 1976's Red Tape), but it was during this time that Justo
was replaced with newcomer Ronnie Hammond, which would eventually
pay dividends for the group. Although they had gained quite a
bit of radio airplay down south, their record company began to
put pressure on the quintet to deliver a single that would break
them nationally. The demand worked - the Atlanta Rhythm Section
scored a top ten single, "So Into You," on their next
release, 1976's A Rock n' Roll Alternative, which was the group's
first album to reach gold certification. But this wouldn't be
the group's commercial peak, as they scored the highest charting
album of their career in 1978, the top ten Champagne Jam, which
spawned two hit singles - "I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me
Tonight" and "Imaginary Lover." To keep up their
high profile, the Atlanta Rhythm Section soon became one of the
hardest touring bands of the entire Southern Rock genre (including
a performance at the White House for then-president Jimmy Carter).
But the group's commercial success would be fleeting - it appeared
as soon as mainstream rock fans embraced the Atlanta Rhythm Section,
they just as quickly forgot about them. Each subsequent album
- 1979's Underdog and live set Are You Ready!, 1980's the Boys
from Doraville, and 1981's Quinella - sold less than the previous
one, resulting in the band's split shortly thereafter. In the
wake of their split, the Atlanta Rhythm Section has reunited sporadically
for tours (although only with a few original members would be
present), and issued their first all-new studio album in more
than a decade in 1999, Eufala. Additionally, some of country rock's
biggest names have gone on to record Atlanta Rhythm Section covers
- Travis Tritt, Wynonna Judd, Charlie Daniels, etc.
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1) I'm Not The Only One
2) Who You Gonna Run To
3) Dreamy Alabama
4) Nothing's As Bad As It Seems
5) When
6) You Aint Seen Nothing Yet
7) Fine Day (the Day You Came Back To Me)
8) What Happened To Us
9) Unique
10) How Can You Do This
11) What's Up Wid Dat?
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