"…Georgia Rhythm…"
Arising out of the ashes of
Roy Orbison's Candymen and Sixties hit makers The Classics IV (Keyboard player
Dean Daughtry and Drummer Robert Nix) - Atlanta Rhythm Section hailed out of
Doraville in Georgia. In the early days they were a Country Rock act with
strains of Lynyrd Skynyrd moving quickly into more commercial Chicago Funky
Rock territory in the mid to late Seventies. This superb-sounding CD gathers
together two albums from 1974 and 1977 - with "A Rock And Roll
Alternative" featuring the huge Radio smash "So In To You" - a
number 7 in the USA and a regular on oldies playlists to this day. Here are the
details...
UK released August 2009 - "Third Annual Pipe Dream/A Rock And Roll Alternative" by ATLANTA RHYTHM SECTION on Beat Goes On BGOCD 877 (Barcode 5017261208774) offers 2LPs Remastered onto 1CD and breaks down as follows (69:36
minutes):
1. Doraville
2. Jesus Hearted People
3. Close The Door
4. Blues In Maude's Flat
5. Join The Race (To Inner
Space)
6. Angel (What In The World's
Come Over Us) [Side 2]
7. Get Your Head Out Of Your
Heart
8. The War is Over
9. Help Yourself (You Gotta Help Yourself)
10. Who You Gonna Run To
(When You're Thru Walkin' On Me)
Tracks 1 to 10 are their 3rd
album "Third Annual Pipe Dream" - released September 1974 in the USA
on Polydor PD-6027 and February 1975 in the UK on Polydor 2391 136
11. Sky High
12. Hitch-Hikers' Hero
13. Don't Miss The Message
14. Georgia Rhythm
15. So In To You [Side 2]
16. Outside Woman Blues
17. Everybody Gotta Go
18. Neon Nites
Tracks 11 to 18 are their
sixth album "A Rock And Roll Alternative" - released January 1977 in
the USA on Polydor PD-1-6080 and March 1977 in the UK on Polydor 2391 255
There's an outer card
slipcase, an 8-page inlay with DARYL EASLEA liner notes and the remaster is by
ANDREW THOMPSON at Sound Performance. The sound is superb - well-recorded
albums (Bobby Buie Productions) now given a chance to shine. The clarity is great.
The commercial Country Rock
opener "Doraville" with "Who You Gonna Run To" on its flip
was put out a US single in late 1974 on Polydor PD 14248 and January 1975 in
the UK on Polydor 2066 488. It did no business in the UK but managed a chart
placing of 35 in the States in November 1974. Polydor tried again with
"Get Your Head Out Of Your Heart" and "Angel (What In The
World's Come Over Us)" on both sides of the pond (Polydor PD 14273 in the
USA, May 1975 in the UK on Polydor 2058 560) but neither side of the water took
to it. A cool funky Rock tune is "Help Yourself (You Gotta Help
Yourself") which I've put on many 70's FEST compilations.
1977's "A Rock And Roll
Alternative" still sees Ronnie Hammond on Lead Vocals and their sound is
Funky Boogie Rock exemplified by "Don't Miss The Message" and the
rocking Skynyrd vibe of "Outside Woman Blues". But the album is
dominated by the huge hit "So In To You" - the kind of Boz Scaggs
commercial song that would make you double take if you heard it even now coming
out of a radio - asking - who's that?
"Neon Nites" tries to get close to its sound and succeeds with its
plucked guitars and slinky beat.
Atlanta Rhythm Section's
brand of Country Rock won't be everyone's cup of Horlicks nowadays and a lot of
it feels lightweight with the passing of time (they had neither the integrity
of Skynyrd or the sheer balls-to-the-wall Blues Boogie of Foghat) - but those
slinky moments in between are worth the purchase (and that top audio quality).
"...Captured by your
style..." Hammond sings on "So In To You". You may feel the
same...
