Amazing Rhythm Aces

A mainstream country-rock band similar in execution (if not commercial success) to <a href="spotify:artist:0ECwFtbIWEVNwjlrfc6xoL">the Eagles</a>, the Amazing Rhythm Aces were formed in Memphis in 1974 by bassist Jeff Davis and drummer Butch McDade, who had earlier recorded and toured with the great singer/songwriter <a href="spotify:artist:0LQrsY8CFvCyUAqAtiiVxw">Jesse Winchester</a>. After striking out on their own, Davis and McDade enlisted vocalist/guitarist <a href="spotify:artist:7Lhd8Y0648BE67Xl4wSRnX">Russell Smith</a>, keyboardist Billy Earheart, Dobro player Barry Burton, and pianist <a href="spotify:artist:5Yc4qGwFymlw8vW0PMMVcI">James Hooker</a> to develop a sound composed of equal parts pop, country, and blue-eyed soul.

Stacked Deck, the Amazing Rhythm Aces' debut album, appeared in 1975; it produced two significant crossover hits, "Third Rate Romance" and "Amazing Grace (Used to Be Her Favorite Song)," the group's lone Top Ten country single. A year later, the hit "The End Is Not in Sight (The Cowboy Tune)," from the LP Too Stuffed to Jump, won the Aces a Grammy for Country Vocal Performance by a Group. Following the release of 1977's Toucan Do It Too, Burton left the group, and was replaced by Duncan Cameron.

In 1978, the Aces released Burning the Ballroom Down, followed a year later by a self-titled effort featuring cameos by <a href="spotify:artist:1EevBGfUh3RSQSGpluxgBm">Joan Baez</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:41D1NBo5Ib5aJ7Aavt3cWS">Tracy Nelson</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3Baza08TPsvJRZaRgp2A6M">the Muscle Shoals Horns</a>; both were met with critical approval, but sold poorly. They released one final record, How the Hell Do You Spell Rhythum?, before disbanding. While <a href="spotify:artist:7Lhd8Y0648BE67Xl4wSRnX">Smith</a> went on to become a successful songwriter, Earheart joined <a href="spotify:artist:2dyeCWctcFRt3Pha76ONgb">Hank Williams, Jr.</a>'s Bama Band, and Cameron joined <a href="spotify:artist:50hFWG3MaUUX5phNrrVc97">Sawyer Brown</a> -- a group that, ironically enough, would find significant chart success in the 1980s with a sound similar to what the Amazing Rhythm Aces had created a decade earlier.

After a hiatus of some 15 years, the Amazing Rhythm Aces re-formed in 1994. The Aces, now comprised of <a href="spotify:artist:7Lhd8Y0648BE67Xl4wSRnX">Smith</a>, Davis, McDade, Earheart, <a href="spotify:artist:5Yc4qGwFymlw8vW0PMMVcI">Hooker</a>, and new guitarist/mandolinist <a href="spotify:artist:3sFtNPbkDtOCwO7U7GkPMt">Danny Parks</a>, marked their return to duty by releasing Ride Again, a collection of newly recorded renditions of their biggest hits. In addition, they also began composing new songs for a projected comeback album; although McDade's cancer-related death on November 29, 1998, temporarily halted that plan, Chock Full of Country Goodness finally appeared in mid-1999. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi