Atlanta Rhythm Section | |
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Atlanta Rhythm Section in 1977. From left to right: J.R. Cobb, Ronnie Hammond, Barry Bailey, Paul Goddard, Robert Nix, Dean Daughtry.
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Background information | |
Origin | Doraville, Georgia, U.S. |
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Years active | 1971 | –present
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Website | atlantarhythmsection |
Members |
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Past members |
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Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band, formed in 1971. The band's current lineup consists of founding members keyboardist Dean Daughtry and vocalist Rodney Justo, along with newer members, guitarists David Anderson and Steve Stone, bassist Justin Senker and drummer Rodger Stephan.
The band was formed in January 1971 by musicians who were former members of the Candymen (Rodney Justo, Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix) and the Classics IV (Daughtry and James B. Cobb, Jr.) that had become the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, near Atlanta, in the spring of 1970. After playing on other artists' recordings, they decided to become a true band in their own right. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Justo, guitarist Barry Bailey, bassist Paul Goddard, keyboardist Daughtry, drummer Nix and second guitarist Cobb.
The band was signed by Decca Records and released their first album, simply titled Atlanta Rhythm Section, in January 1972. But its failure to find an audience prompted Justo to leave the band to relocate to NYC to pursue a career as a sessions singer and he was replaced by Ronnie Hammond, the assistant to Studio One's engineer Rodney Mills. Buddy Buie, the band's manager and producer and 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), also failed to sell and Decca dumped ARS from their roster.