1
Positively awful.
And I was in such a good mood driving from Vail to Beaver Creek, listening to John Mayer's channel on SiriusXM. This show bummed me out completely. I wouldn't hire this band to do a Bar Mitzvah, never mind a wedding.
Every single member of the Atlanta Rhythm Section is dead except for the original lead singer, Rodney Justo, who quit the band before you ever heard of them, after they recorded one album for Decca and one album for MCA, two of the worst labels in the business.
And although I was aware of "Third Annual Pipe Dream," (what a title!), I didn't join the fan club until 1975's "Dog Days," I heard the title track on the radio and had to own it.
"The dog days were scorchers
Southern torture"
It's the dog days right now, maybe you should check out this song, which has been lost to the sands of history.
But the real triumph was 1975's "Red Tape," with "Another Man's Woman," every bit the equal of the other southern rock bands, but with a lot less traction.
Yes, the Atlanta Rhythm Section was on Polydor. Not quite as bad as Decca and MCA, but still pretty bad, even worse than RCA, which was a Mickey Mouse label.
The key was the twin guitar interplay between J.R. Cobb and Barry Bailey. These were session cats, they could nail it, in the studio and live.
I know because I saw them, at the Roxy, right after their breakthrough with "A Rock and Roll Alternative" and its single "So Into You."
You used to get rock bands at the Roxy and the Whisky. Not anymore, there's just not enough money in it, rock in general. I'm not talking about metal, what is now called "Active Rock," which is supported by its narrow, yet deep, devoted fans, but regular rock.
There are no more bands. At least that's what the media keeps telling us. Everybody's a solo act. Hell, who wants to split the money? Never mind trying to keep the band together, which is a huge chore, and if there are hits it gets even worse, because then everybody starts arguing about the money.
But back in the seventies, you could go see a band that could barely fit on the Roxy stage, and they'd tear the roof off the joint. And going to the club was a cultural rite, you went often, to hear the up and coming acts. Now a concert is an overpriced show where you go see an act in a barn and shoot selfies. The culture is gone.
And thereafter the Atlanta Rhythm Section had a few hits. The aforementioned "So Into You," "I'm Not Gonna Let It Bother Me Tonight" and their most well-known and successful single, "Imaginary Lover," never mind a remake of "Spooky," whose original version was also produced by Barry Buie, and featured J.R. Cobb.
The Atlanta Rhythm Section is now known for ballads, for soft rock, but boy could that band play. And it was all about the playing, their powerful bass player Paul Goddard looked straight out of math class, with his horn-rimmed glasses, a nerd if there ever was one.
2
So don't think I didn't do research before I went to tonight's show. I knew most of the members were dead, but it turned out Rodney Justo was still alive and touring with the act and that was worth the effort, I'd never seen him, I wondered how he'd do Ronnie Hammond's numbers.
But when the band took the stage...
There was no one that old in evidence, at least on stage, most of the audience was from the era before these players were active, when the band had its original hits.
Well, this is weird. I did research on my phone, everything pointed to Rodney Justo still being in the band. But a recent review, well, from last December, said he'd missed a gig because he was ill and... Has he ever rejoined? After all, he's seventy nine, the road may go on forever, but not everyone can drive it.
Okay, okay. These weren't twentysomething ringers, they were old enough to have experience. And they plugged in and...
Couldn't really play the music. One guitarist approximated the sound, but the act never came together. They had long hair, the look, but their countenances told you they'd rather be anywhere but here. This was a gig for money. They didn't even try to get the original sound down.
And then one of the guitarists stepped up to the mic and sang.
I wouldn't let this guy do lead vocals in a garage band, never mind that he sounded nothing like Ronnie Hammond, NOTHING LIKE HIM!
I'd checked out the set list, and they hewed to it, and one of my other favorite Atlanta Rhythm Section songs, "Doraville," was featured, and that's one reason I went. The original cuts a groove, it powers forward, Ronnie's vocal is sweet, you can see Doraville in your mind's eye. But all I could see when this band of jokers played the song was a turd.
AND THEN IT GOT WORSE!
I'm wondering what the audience is thinking. Are they that starved for entertainment? Then again, the show was free.
I just couldn't stay. And you can count the number of gigs I've left early on one hand. If I go, I'm in for the duration.
But this was offensive.
It was like the owner of the name booked the show and called some blokes who rehearsed once and hoped that the audience wouldn't get angry.
I mean it would be one thing if they were a good cover band, BUT THEY WERE NOT!
3
Just this week, "Rolling Stone" did a story on bands with no original members:
"Zombie Bands Attack! These Touring Groups Don't Have a Single Original Member - From Lynyrd Skynyrd to the Four Tops, our rundown of bands that continue to tour without a single classic-era member"
t.ly/BS_If
Stunningly, this article is not behind a paywall, like most of the magazine's content. And speaking of the magazine, not only did they go monthly from weekly, their summer issue is a double, July and August combined, which means whatever brand value the moniker has, it's not as a magazine. Other than "The New Yorker," which sustains as a result of a stratospheric subscription price, I'm not sure any magazine will exist in a few years. Renew at your peril.
But it doesn't matter what's in "Rolling Stone," whether it be behind a paywall or not. There's just too much information, too many articles, and you realize they're usually written by people who don't write well who know little about the subject, so why bother?
If you want an expert, go online, maybe even to Reddit, the people there are much more knowledgeable than the ones writing for magazines. Even social media experts are usually better than periodical scribes.
All to say that the fact this bogus iteration of Atlanta Rhythm Section is awful won't make any difference. It's not like they're headlining arenas, they're playing soft ticket shows, places that need to fill out their schedules. As for word of mouth, there is none.
And stunningly, this terrible version of the Atlanta Rhythm Section has more gigs lined up. But not a ton, you know these players can't sustain themselves on this impersonation alone, this is just one of the many things they do to stay alive.
But that's how far we've come.
But having said that, the Atlanta Rhythm Section's success is half a century in the rearview mirror. That's right, fifty years. Not quite, but close.
Are all the original members up in heaven, or hell, proud that the name is being carried on?
At first I think yes, but then I think there are people who might see this troupe and believe that the original band sucked, and nothing could be further from the truth.
But nothing lasts forever. Literally nothing, get old enough and you realize this. Even Michelangelo, Renoir, the Beatles are just a blip in time.
Don't take yourself too seriously...
Then again, that's a quote from Todd Rundgren's "Chain Letter," just one of the many classics from "Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren." If only today's songwriters and producers listened to it the hit parade would be much better. But there are even Todd fans who don't know this album, whose original release was on Ampex.
So is it all just grist for the mill?
Well, if you actually saw the original Atlanta Rhythm Section firing on all cylinders, with precision, after Duane Allman was dead and buried, you'd say no.
But that was a long, long time ago.
But I can still remember how it used to be.
And tonight's performance by this ragtag bunch was nothing like it.
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