Spooky atlanta rhythm section wikipedia biography

1979 studio album by Atlanta Rhythm Section

Underdog is an album by the Atlanta Rhythm Section, released in 1979 by Polydor Records. It is their last album with drummer Robert Nix who left the band near the end of 1979.

The album reached number 26 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart, and was certified gold by the RIAA in June 1979. The album contained two songs which reached the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, "Do It or Die" and "Spooky". The latter was a re-recording of the 1968 number three hit for Classics IV, a pop rock group whose line up included members who later joined Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Track listing

Personnel

Chart performance

Album

Singles

Certifications

References

American rock band

Atlanta Rhythm Section (or ARS) is an American Southern rock band formed in 1970 by Rodney Justo (singer), Barry Bailey (guitar), Paul Goddard (bass), Dean Daughtry (keyboards), Robert Nix (drums) and J. R. Cobb (guitar). The band experienced its greatest chart success with Ronnie Hammond as lead singer 1972–1982. Hammond returned again 1988–2001. The band's current lineup consists of Justo, along with guitarists David Anderson and Steve Stone, keyboardist Lee Shealy, bassist Justin Senker and drummer Rodger Stephan.

Early career

In the spring of 1970, former members of the Candymen (Rodney Justo, Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix) and the Classics IV (Daughtry and James B. Cobb Jr.) became the session band for the newly opened Studio One recording studio in Doraville, Georgia, near Atlanta.

After playing on other artists' recordings, the Atlanta Rhythm Section was christened in May 1970, with Justo (singer), Barry Bailey (guitar), Paul Goddard (bass), Daughtry (keyboards), Nix (drums) and Cobb (guitar). Bailey and Goddard had played together in several groups and, like the Candymen, had also backed up Roy Orbison. The group's name was thought up by Studio One's owner Buddy Buie and his two partners in the venture, Cobb and Bill Lowery.

Signed by Decca Records, the band released their first album, Atlanta Rhythm Section, in January 1972. Due to the record's limited commercial success, Justo quit the band, relocating to New York City as a session singer. He was replaced by Ronnie Hammond, assistant to Studio One's engineer, Rodney Mills. Mills also later worked as the band's road manager and sound man and Buie, also the band's manager and producer as well as co-owner of Studio One, is listed first on almost all of their songwriting credits. With Hammond on board, the band's second release, Back Up Against the Wall (February 1973)

American guitarist and songwriter (1944–2019)

Musical artist

James Barney Cobb Jr. (February 5, 1944 – May 4, 2019) was an American guitarist and songwriter, most notable for co-writing "Spooky", "Stormy" and "Traces", among others, as a member of the Classics IV, plus "Champagne Jam" and "Do It Or Die", among others, as a member of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Life and career

Cobb was born to Rose Hutchins and James Cobb, Sr. in Birmingham, Alabama, on February 5, 1944. His family later moved to Jacksonville, Florida. In 1953, at the age of nine, he and his two siblings were placed in the Baptist Children's Home in Jacksonville after his father left the family and his mother needed assistance. Cobb called the experience "the best and worst thing that could have happened to me. The best thing, because we would not have had anything at the time. The worst, it was scary not being a family anymore." He regarded the experience as providing him with a strong work ethic and he remained in the home until the age of 16, graduating from Paxon High School in Jacksonville. One of Cobb's fellow graduates was drummer Robert Nix, who later would join with Cobb in forming the Atlanta Rhythm Section.

Following graduation from high school, Cobb became a welder. Jacksonville guitarist Jimmy Amerson, still a Paxon High student, was working on starting a band called the Emeralds and invited Cobb to join the group. After a year or so, Cobb left to join Walter Eaton's group, the Classics, which later became the Classics

1967 song originally performed by Mike Sharpe

"Spooky" is originally an instrumental song performed by saxophonist Mike Sharpe (Shapiro), written by Shapiro and Harry Middlebrooks Jr, which first charted in 1967 hitting No. 57 on the US pop charts and No. 55 on the Canadian charts. Its best-known version was created by James Cobb and producer Buddy Buie for the group Classics IV when they added lyrics about a "spooky little girl". The vocalist was Dennis Yost. The song is noted for its eerie whistling sound effect depicting the spooky woman. It has become a Halloween favorite. In 1968, the vocal version reached No. 3 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 in Canada, and No. 46 in the UK.

Charts

Atlanta Rhythm Section version

J.R. Cobb and bandmate Dean Daughtry later became part of the Atlanta Rhythm Section and re-recorded "Spooky" in 1979, also produced by Buie. It was the second of two singles released from their Underdog LP.

ARS's version hit No. 17 in the US on Billboard and No. 15 on Cash Box. It also charted minorly internationally.

Charts

Other versions

• A version of "Spooky" was recorded by Dusty Springfield in 1968, released as a single worldwide except in the US. This gender-flipped version was featured prominently in the Guy Ritchie film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Springfield's version was certified gold by BPI in 2024.
• Lydia Lunch released her version of the song on her 1980 album Queen of Siam. The lyrics are addressed to "a spooky little boy".
• Another gender-flipped version was recorded by Martha Reeves and released on the album In the Midnight Hour in 1986. In this version, the line "spooky little girl like you" is changed to "spooky old lady like me".

References