A while back I was reading up on southern rock bands and there was ARS mentioned on the same page as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, The Outlaws, and even .38 Special (who deserved more love than they got). I thought, "Am I missing something here? Aren't these the "So Into You" and "Imaginary Lover" dudes? That's soft rock." Still, I squirrelled the band away into my mental list of things to watch for because now I was curious.
You may be wondering, "Hey, with all the streaming stuff, or even on YouTube why don't you just look?" My answer is simple. I don't want to. There aren't a lot of surprises out there, and I've got so much stuff in my library already I like discovering stuff, even if it is just new to me. Everyone has too much information, not enough knowledge. Music is the same. It's all there, but sometimes you just need to rummage through the piles to discover things for yourself.
The other day I figured it was time for a little bin diving therapy, so off I went to one of my favourite haunts. The store's dollar bin section has a wonderfully misleading sign labelled "New Arrivals" which is true, but then whoever stocks that section will go along placing things willy-nilly anywhere they want as there is no filing system or order. You want to browse go ahead, but to find stuff you have to look.
I'm picking away, and I find a copy of Champagne Jam which was a later pressing as the jacket graphic was updated to say it includes THE HIT SINGLE. Well, I set it aside and kept digging. In short order another one of their albums popped up and a few bins down the aisle there was yet another. I had found the three albums that were the band's sweet spot and covered their most successful period from 1976 to 1979. The years I had no money and wasn't buying more than maybe one or two albums a year.
Sweet.
The album jackets were in passable shape, one with some spine wear, and none of them had sleeves, who knows what credits there were, but the albums all had pictures and credits so that was a bonus. All of the records had some surface rash, but looked like after a leisurely shit shower and shave they'd be presentable (they were, and none of the light scratches clicked or popped). Since I got them together, and represented an era, I couldn't really separate them so I'll just sit back and let them play and I'll see what happens (yeah, I'm going to try writing in real time, and later edit and see how coherent my thoughts were).
A Rock and Roll Alternative (1976) is short, eight songs and clocks in at just over half an hour. The title is deceptive, this is a rock band, they aren't alternative at all. The great thing about a lot of southern rock is that it doesn't just really adhere to a particular sound, but when you hear it you know it. While these guys aren't like their peers they recorded in the same studio, used the same engineer, the talented Rodney Mills (the guy has a hall of fame resume). So yeah, they were southern rock.
The album is really good, and I think a lot of people, myself included, just dismissed them. Opting to listen to Hotel California over and over. Listening now to "So Into You" it's not the light song I thought it was. The guitar solo by Barry Bailey is awesome, and he's even pulling of little pinch squealies here and there. I wonder if a young Zakk Wylde was influenced by this song.
Champagne Jam (1978) is another solid album. Like it's predecessor, is under thirty five minutes with eight songs. Mixing rockers and softer songs. Heck, "Normal Love" sounds like something Andrew Gold would have written - which isn't a shot. The great thing about the mid 70s in retrospect was the diversity of music and the ability to take bits and pieces from whatever worked and make it your own.
For such a short album the band didn't seem to be in a hurry to rush through their songs. On the aptly named "Champagne Jam" they'd stretch out and show off their chops. Of course the big song here was THE HIT SINGLE, and it was a hit for a reason. It's really good. Commercially this album would be their most successful.
Underdog (1979) is yet another eight song album but not as short. ARS still featured the same core band, which I always find cool. Again the band is doing what it did best. Grooves and jams with radio friendly hooks. Funny how the changing of a decade generally marshalled in a changing of the guard, and with the emergence of new wave there was a migration away from the sounds of the 70s.
Whereas Champagne Jam went platinum, Underdog would go gold but their golden reign was over. The songs were good, and I found my self tapping my foot throughout. "It's Only Music" is one of my favourites from the album, with their version of "Spooky" a close second. Barry really did like his pinch harmonics, but man were his lead breaks tasty. There were line up changes on the horizon and the band would continue making albums but this was the end of the golden age.
Of course now when I'm digging through the cheap bins, my only real limitation is space, and frankly it's going to be an issue soon and I'm going to get a scolding from my wife who warned me in advance not to start collecting records again.
When I was reading through the band's site it mentioned the recent passing of Barry Bailey who played such stellar guitar throughout these albums. Looking deeper, all of the members of the band represented on these records with the exception of keyboard player Dean Daughty have passed away.
Rest in peace boys.
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