Exile (American band)
Exile is an American band founded in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1963. Originally known as the Exiles, the band played cover songs and local events in the state of Kentucky for a number of years before becoming a backing band on the touring revue Caravan of Stars. After a series of failed singles, Exile achieved mainstream success in 1978 with "Kiss You All Over", a number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. This iteration of the band mostly played soft rock and pop music, with Jimmy Stokley handling most of the lead vocals alongside lead guitarist J.P. Pennington.
This article is about the American band. For the Japanese boy band, see Exile (Japanese band).
Exile
The Exiles, Jimmy Stokley and the Exiles
Richmond, Kentucky, U.S.
1963–1995, 2005–present
- Monument
- Date
- Columbia
- Wooden Nickel
- Atco
- Warner
- Curb
- Epic
- Arista Nashville
- Intersound
- Clearwater
- J.P. Pennington
- Marlon Hargis
- Steve Goetzman
- Sonny LeMaire
- Les Taylor
See List of members
After Stokley was fired due to his declining health, Mark Gray and Les Taylor joined as vocalists, although Gray departed after only three years to begin a solo career. Exile began a transition to country music in the beginning of the 1980s with Pennington and Taylor as both lead vocalists and guitarists alongside Sonny LeMaire (bass guitar, harmony vocals), Marlon Hargis (keyboards), and Steve Goetzman (drums). This lineup was featured on their 1983 album Exile, their first as a country band and their first on Epic Records. Between then and 1987, Exile had ten number-one singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, as well as a number-one country album with Kentucky Hearts in 1984.
Hargis, Pennington, and Taylor left the band between 1987 and 1989, with LeMaire and multi-instrumentalist Paul Martin alternating on lead vocals for two albums on Arista Nashville between 1990 and 1991. During the early 1990s, both Pennington and Taylor recorded as solo artists. Exile disbanded in 1995; LeMaire later founded the band Burnin' Daylight before writing songs for other artists. Individual members of Exile played a number of informal shows between the late 1990s and the beginning of the 21st century, but the early-1980s lineup of Pennington, Taylor, LeMaire, Hargis, and Goetzman did not re-establish until 2008. Exile has continued to tour and record under this lineup ever since.
Exile's sound is defined by vocal harmony with rock and pop influences, and the band is noted for their successful transition from rock to country. Many of their country music releases were co-written by Taylor and Pennington. Songs of theirs have also been covered by Alabama, Huey Lewis and the News, Dave & Sugar, and the Forester Sisters.
History[edit]
Exile was founded in Richmond, Kentucky, in 1963 as the Exiles,[2][3] by a group of students attending Madison High School. Randy Westbrook, in the book 50 Years of Exile: The Story of a Band in Transition, describes the band's origins as "murky" due to conflicting accounts among early members.[4] According to him, founding drummer Mack Davenport began playing as a teenager in a band called The Kings of Rhythm, which performed at local high school dances. Davenport recalled this band consisting of Paul Smith Jr. on bass guitar, Doug Jones on lead guitar, Ronnie Hall on vocals, Doug Begley on saxophone, and Billy Luxon on trumpet.[5] They played jazz, soul, and blues. After an unknown number of performances, this group became The Fascinations, which consisted of Davenport, Smith, Luxon, Jones, and percussionist Eddie Rhodus, with Hall and Jimmy Stokley both providing vocals. Rhodus died in a car accident and Jones departed in 1963, at which point (according to Westbrook) the five remaining members dissolved that band and founded the Exiles.[2][6] They entered a local contest with a recording session as its grand prize. The Exiles lost to a band called the Digits, although after the competition, Jones left for undisclosed reasons and the other members recruited the Digits's guitarist Mike Howard to take his place.[7] The name "the Exiles" was inspired by the Cuban exodus or exile of Cubans to the United States following the Cuban Revolution.[8]
Originally, Stokley and Hall alternated as lead vocalists.[9] However, the other band members thought Stokley was "much more dynamic" and fired Hall in 1964.[10] J.P. Pennington joined soon after, having previously played in a local band called the Le Sabers. This band's lead singer was Leroy Pullins, later known for his 1966 novelty hit "I'm a Nut". The other members of the Exiles persuaded Pennington to play bass guitar despite his unfamiliarity with the instrument, allowing Smith to switch to rhythm guitar.[11] Westbrook refers to the band's lineup in 1964—Howard, Smith, Davenport, Pennington, Luxon, and Stokley—as the "core" of the Exiles.[12] They performed publicly for the first time in 1964 at Irvine-McDowell Park in Richmond. Most of their other early performances were at sock hops and high school dances,[13] where they covered artists such as the Temptations and James Brown.[14]
Stokley wanted to incorporate keyboards into the band and selected Buzz Cornelison (who had briefly played with the Kings of Rhythm).[15] Cornelison initially played an electric organ which Stokley had bought at Sears, but after realizing the instrument's technical limitations, purchased a Farfisa electric organ.[16] As Cornelison was the only member with formal music training, he taught the others the melodies to cover songs using a melodica.[17] They spent most of the early-mid 1960s performing local gigs throughout Kentucky. According to Pennington, the other band members often felt unsafe when staying at hotels, as they were all teenagers at the time and were often ridiculed by other patrons for their long hair.[18]
One of the band's recurring gigs was at a youth center in Martin, Kentucky, whose owner David Grigsby would accompany on tenor saxophone and offer advice on performing. Grigsby encouraged the Exiles to submit a demo to Nashville radio station WLAC disc jockey John Richbourg (who used the name John R. Grigsby on air). Richbourg arranged for the band to record their first single in 1965: "The Answer to Her Prayers", a song which Smith wrote. Despite Cornelison criticizing the lyrics as misogynistic, the song received local attention.[19] After performing a number of times at Speck's, a nightclub near Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, they became that club's house band.[20] As Luxon, Pennington, Cornelison, and Howard all contributed backing vocals, the Exiles began incorporating cover songs with more vocal harmony such as the Young Rascals and the Beach Boys.[21] Pennington quit the Exiles in 1965, as he was only 16 at the time and his parents thought he was too young to be in a band.[22] Following Pennington's departure, Smith reverted to bassist, creating a six-piece lineup with Howard, Davenport, Luxon, Stokley, and Cornelison. Grigsby encouraged the band to keep recording soul music, as Stokley had a "raspy voice" which Westbrook compared to Wilson Pickett.[23]
Pop music career[edit]
1972–1975: Wooden Nickel Records[edit]
In 1972, the band was offered a recording contract by Chicago-based Wooden Nickel Records. As they thought "the Exiles" sounded "dated", the band shortened its name to Exile. Their first Wooden Nickel album, the self-titled Exile, was released in 1973. Wooden Nickel co-owner Bill Traut served as producer. He allowed the band to perform all of the instruments and vocals by themselves; except for some vocal overdubbing, the entire album was recorded in only one take. Despite this, Traut selected most of the material, which included covers of Seals and Crofts, Van Morrison, and Todd Rundgren, and he wanted the band to perform in a blue-eyed soul style. The album included only two original songs: Pennington wrote "Do What You Think You Should", while he, Stokley, and Traut co-wrote "Hold Tight, Woman".[47] Wooden Nickel released a second album in late 1973 titled Stage Pass. It included two songs written by Pennington and one by Johns, while the rest was once more composed of cover songs. Among the covers was one of the Beatles's "We Can Work It Out" arranged by Cornelison. Also included was a live recording of Jeff Beck's "New Ways/Train Train", which featured a number of solos from all members. Both of the Wooden Nickel albums were unsuccessful commercially, and the label dropped the band by year's end.[48]
Following their departure from Wooden Nickel, the band lost three members in quick succession. Faulkner left in late 1973, due to disillusionment over the failure of the Wooden Nickel releases and began working at Lemco Studios, a recording studio in Lexington, Kentucky.[49] He also released one single in 1983 as a member the country music band Hazard.[50] Weir left at an unknown point prior to late 1974; according to Westbrook, neither Cornelison nor Pennington could remember why Weir exited the band.[51] Soon after departing Exile, Weir died in a car accident. Danny Williams replaced Weir on bass guitar in 1974.[51] Luxon quit around the time Williams joined, citing the lack of horn parts on the Wooden Nickel albums. He went on to own a nightclub in Richmond until he sold it in 1993.[52] Taking Faulkner's place on keyboards was Marlon Hargis, a native of Somerset, Kentucky. He had become acquainted with Exile through his work as a keyboardist in Lemco Studios, where members of Exile had joined in on recording commercials, demos, and country music albums by local artists.[53]
Early-mid 1990s: Solo careers, 30-year anniversary, and hiatus[edit]
Both Taylor and Pennington began their solo careers during Exile's tenure on Arista Nashville. Taylor released two albums for Epic as a solo artist: That Old Desire in 1990 and Blue Kentucky Wind a year later.[143] These albums charted a combined three singles, and the latter included a song written with early Exile member Bernie Faulkner titled "The Porchlight".[132] Pennington's only solo album, Whatever It Takes, was also released in 1991 on MCA Nashville. Produced by Barry Beckett, the album included two singles in its title track and "You Gotta Get Serious".[131] Pennington performed two shows in Lexington, Kentucky to promote the album, both of which included BonDurant as guitarist.[144] Meanwhile, LeMaire and Beeson wrote Restless Heart's 1992 hit "When She Cries".[145]
Taylor thought that the band members' solo albums were unsuccessful due to radio backlash against Exile in the intervening years.[132] Relatedly, the members of Exile attributed the failure of their Arista albums to the lack of Pennington and Taylor, as well as a perception that Arista had begun to focus more heavily on Diamond Rio after that band reached number one in 1991 with their debut single "Meet in the Middle".[146] Exile ended their contract with Arista and focused on touring while in search of another recording contract. They played an average of 150 shows a year between 1991 and 1993.[147] They held a 30-year anniversary concert in 1993, which also included Cornelison, Pennington, Luxon, and Davenport.[148] Despite this, the band's tour bus was robbed after a concert in 1993, which they took as a sign to retire from touring. Jones, Martin, and LeMaire did one show in 1994 at Dollywood, while they, Carroll, and Goetzman recorded Latest and Greatest for Intersound Records that same year. The album included a mix of original content and re-recordings of previous hit singles. One such re-recording was of "Super Love", which included several keyboard and synthesizer parts played by Martin. He also received his only writing credit for the band on the new song "L-O-V-E Spells Trouble".[149]
After this album, Exile officially disbanded in 1995.[150] Both Jones and Goetzman became artist managers, the former working with Pat Green and the latter with Steve Wariner.[151] In 1997, LeMaire and Beeson joined former Southern Pacific member Kurt Howell in the group Burnin' Daylight, which released one album on Curb Records.[145] Martin chose to pursue a solo career, but after proving unsuccessful in this regard he found work as a backing musician for Kathy Mattea. Later on, he became bassist in Marty Stuart's touring band, the Fabulous Superlatives, before touring with his wife and four children as the Martin Family Circus.[152] Carroll joined his brother in franchising a number of Papa John's pizza restaurants in Pennsylvania.[153]
Musical styles[edit]
Exile is noted for their successful transition from pop and rock music to country music.[3] Writing for AllMusic, Steve Huey stated that "Among rock listeners, Exile is remembered as the one-hit wonder responsible for 1978's number one smash 'Kiss You All Over.' However, in the early '80s, the Kentucky-bred band reinvented itself as a country outfit—and a hugely successful one at that."[2] Author Randy Westbrook, in 50 Years of Exile: The Story of a Band in Transition, found hard rock influences in the band's Warner albums, particularly in the gruffness of original lead singer Jimmy Stokley's voice as well as the guitars, drums, and synthesizers present on tracks from All There Is.[76] Huey stated that Taylor "spearheaded" the band's transition to country music,[2] while Westbrook noted that the success of "The Closer You Get" and "Take Me Down" in their subsequent covers by Alabama was also integral in the shift of Exile's sound.[62] Westbrook also thought that Taylor and Pennington both had Southern accents conducive to singing country.[165] Hargis told Cashbox in 1984, "It originally started as a rhythm and blues group. When I joined it had developed into a rock 'n' roll band. I suppose because it was the thing to do at the time, even though we all grew up with country music; it wasn't the thing to do, to be in a country band."[166]
Most of the band's sound is defined by the songwriting, composition, and singing of Pennington and LeMaire. Westbrook noted Pennington's sense of melody, such as the use of Lydian mode on the title track of All There Is, as well as the Southern gospel chord progressions of "Woke Up in Love" and the Hang On to Your Heart album track "Promises, Promises".[167] Additionally, Westbrook found influences of Western swing and boogie-woogie on tracks such as "I've Never Seen Anything", "Proud to Be Her Man", and "Keep It in the Middle of the Road".[168] Also present on the albums with Epic were three-part vocal harmonies among Pennington, Taylor, and LeMaire.[103][115] Pennington usually handled lead vocal duties on the Epic albums, including almost all the singles, although Taylor sang "It'll Be Me" and "She's Too Good to Be True". Of these songs, Westbrook wrote that their success "started a new streak" and "proved that Les' voice could prove as popular on country radio as J.P.'s."[169] Most of the early Epic albums were dominated by collaborative songwriting between Pennington and LeMaire. Of their songwriting relationship, they both said they usually wrote together at the piano, and would start coming up with lyrics after one of them provided a title.[103] Tom Carter of the Lexington Herald-Leader thought that the band's vocal harmonies and "often contrasting rhythms playing against the tone of the song" were notable elements of the band's overall sound.[108] Hargis noted that Exile was one of the first country bands to play all the instruments on their own albums instead of using session musicians,[160] an observation also made by Pennington.[170] Similarly, Walter Tunis thought in a review of Hang On to Your Heart that the album's lack of studio musicians such as a string section, as well as Pennington and LeMaire's dominance as songwriters on the album, would help the band stand out among their contemporaries.[115] Ellen Creager of the Detroit Free Press wrote in a review of Kentucky Hearts that both Pennington and Taylor "have husky voices any girl could fall in love with." She also noted that the album, unlike most other country albums at the time, largely consisted of up-tempo material.[171]
List of current and former members of Exile, in alphabetical order