Barry Bailey - Guitar
Dean Daughtry - Keyboards
J.R. Cobb - Guitar, Background Vocals
Ronnie Hammond - Vocals, Background Vocals
Robert Nix - Percussion, Drums, Background Vocals
Paul Goddard - Bass

 
 
 
The band attained a new level of critical acclaim and popular appeal with this album released in December 1976. It is another eight song set, including seven originals and a cover of a blues classic previously recorded by the Yardbirds. While a few songs feature shorter arrangements similar to the last album, most of the songs go back to the longer format of previous albums. And while several of the songs rock hard, overall the production returns to the smoother, pop feel the band had used to record in the past. This is another great record-one that seems to be a culmination of all that ARS had done up to this time. The twin signatures of the ARS sound-Ronnie Hammond's voice and Barry Bailey's guitar-have never sounded better, but the record's great strength is the breadth and scope of the songs themselves.

The album opens with a great rock song, Sky High, and the words "Music is a high to me, be a symphony or a three chord rocker, I love music-any kind of music…" The band then proceeds to document that diversity through a couple of mid-tempo songs that lead to the classic life on the road song Georgia Rhythm. It's followed by their first big hit, So Into You, and then the all out rock of Outside Woman Blues. The album closes with two more beautiful songs that further demonstrate how ARS combined quality songwriting and superior musicianship.


Song by Song
       
1. Sky High (Buie/Nix/Daughtry/Hammond)-5:17
        The album opens with a subdued piano introduction that leads into a rocking statement of purpose song that's a classic. The band's trademark shifts in tempo are on display again in the shifts from vocal sections to instrumental breaks. The song structure provides a great framework for the band to demonstrate their unique musical skills in the Southern and Classic Rock worlds of the time..
         
 
2. Hitchhiker's Hero (Buie/Nix)-3:38
        A slower pace is used to start off this song that features striking shifts in tempo and style and builds to a gently rocking close.
         
 
3. Don't Miss The Message (Buie/Cobb/Nix)-3:27
        This subdued but intense rocker reflects on the notion that messages come at us from all directions in the modern world, so it's more important than ever to pay close attention to identify what's truly important. It's a perspective that could be applied to ARS's music within the Southern rock landscape as well.
         
 
4. Georgia Rhythm (Buie/Cobb/Nix)-4:52
        One of ARS' signature songs, this moderately paced acoustic song is another example of their ability to provide a musical background that beautifully reflects the lyrical message of a song-this one about the life of a band on tour rolling down the road.
         
 
5. So Into You (Buie/Nix/Daughtry)-4:20
        This classic tune features a pop feel with vocals layered over guitars and keyboards over a solid rhythm foundation. The passion of the vocals, the steady driving rhythm and some tasty guitar soloing make it obvious why this was a hit.
         
6. Outside Woman Blues (Reynolds)-4:53
        The energy level jumps with this flat out rocker. The playing is tight and intense as the band churns through a classic blues workout, with a raging vocal, a recurring guitar figure and some excellent guitar soloing.
       
 
7. Everybody Gotta Go (Buie/Nix/Daughtry)-4:10
        This tune uses a slower bluesy feel to reflect on the reality of death and all the things people do to ignore or avoid it. It then shifts into an uptempo chorus point to the reality that there's no avoiding what's coming at each of us faster than we want to face.
         
 
8. Neon Nites (Buie/Nix)-3:57
        The closer is a song combining a jazz feel to paint pictures of nights on the town with a country chorus that mourns a lost love. The songs provides a beautiful example of how ARS had musically moved beyond Southern rock, but at the same time was singing about and sounding more like the real heart of the South than any of their contemporaries. The song and album wind down with a low-key, understated guitar and bass workout.
         
 


Primary Works
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4
5
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7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
   
Compilation Discs
1
2
3
4
   
 
 

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