Search - Embers :: Show Must Go on

Not Bad - Just Not the Embers of Old

N.Soulfan | USA | 03/17/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"North Carolina's Embers is a fifty year old institution in the mid-Atlantic playing private parties, nightclubs, and food and beach festivals anywhere from 250 to 300 times a year. In other words, if you have grown up in North Carolina, South Carolina, or Virginia, it is impossible that you have gone through life without your path crossing with the Embers sometime - somewhere. If you are over the age of 55, you'll remember the old blue-eyed soul garage bands of your teen years. Some of them such as Bill Deal and the Rhondels, the Swinging Medallions, and the O'Kaysions actually had their fifteen minutes of fame back in the `60's when nationally distributed record labels would take a chance on regional acts. Out of the bands in the mid-Atlantic, the Embers were the most polished one not to make a dent nationally despite releasing a single in 1969 on MGM records. Perhaps an up-tempo danceable remake of an old Perry Como ballad was not the best choice for potential chart attention during the worst of the Vietnam era. The lack of a national image has most certainly been a frustration to founding member and owner Bobby Tomlinson who has given fifty years of his life to his organization.



The band went through an incredible run during the 1980's when they were regulars in Myrtle Beach at the same time Alabama was first getting its start in that resort city, and they even had a promotional agreement with Anheuser Busch. Their Budweiser songs along with their song promoting North Carolina tourism were heard on the radio from coast to coast - but without any name credit for the group. Their lineup at the time - co-founders Tomlinson and Jackie Gore, Craig Woolard, Johnny Barker, Gerald Davis, and Johnny Hopkins were household names to beach music lovers, and everything was going perfectly for the band and its fans - just no national recognition despite a great bunch of regional recordings. After all, Carolina beach music is still basically a mid-Atlantic phenomenon and will remain that way until the last southeastern baby boomer hits the cemetery face-up and six feet down.



Arguably, from a beach music purist's perspective, the wheel has fallen off of the Embers of late. An aging Tomlinson, still wanting to expand the band's horizons, hooked up with respected New York producer Charles Wallert, and the resulting collaboration took its toll on the group as everyone but Tomlinson left. Fans desiring the "familiar" Embers sound still can hear it with the Craig Woolard Band or Legends of Beach where most of the old members have relocated. The Embers remain with Tomlinson behind the drums, Wallert's production talent, and their name familiarity that is still a draw in the Carolinas - at least for the time being.



For a slick, over-produced piece of the "heart and soul" Philadelphia sound from the seventies - strings and all - this CD could have come right out of Sigma Sound Studios with Thom Bell or Gamble and Huff overseeing the project, and it's really very well done. However, as far as pure beach music is concerned, there is precious little here to raise your beer can and dance to, and after about the fourth or fifth cut, the songs start sounding boringly the same. When all is said and done, it is probably the most expensive recording ever made by a regional beach act, but in the long term, it will only see moderate sales activity during set breaks at the band's live appearances and will likely be more appealing across the pond with the UK Northern Soul scene which is just as selective a music clique as beach music is here. It's a shame the band chose this direction because during their glory years, the Embers really were good at what they did and had a devoted following. However, without a true band partnership among a stable group of loyal musicians as they had during the `80's, the band will be a revolving door of personnel, and a fifty year old institution will go from embers to ashes. To sum it up, if your musical taste centers on the Philly sound of 1975, buy "The Show Must Go On," and enjoy the heck out of it because it is polished and quite good for what it is. If you are a die hard fan of the old Embers, you won't be a happy camper, so stick with Legends of Beach, Craig Woolard, or dust off your old Embers CD's.

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