Classics IV
Encyclopedia
The Classics IV were a band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...

 formed in Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, in 1965, given credit for beginning the "soft
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...

 southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

" sound. The band and its lead singer Dennis Yost are principally known for the hits "Spooky", "Stormy", and "Traces", released in 1967 to 1969, which have become cover standards.

Early days

The group began as a Jacksonville cover
Cover
- Science and technology :* A covering, usually one that completely closes the object** Lid** Mechanical seal* The outside of an object, not necessarily enclosing the object** Album cover** Book cover, or magazine cover** CD and DVD packaging...

 band consisting of guitarists Buddy Buie, J.R. Cobb
J.R. Cobb
James Barney Cobb, Jr. is an American guitarist who has played with the Classics IV, who had a #3 US/#46 UK hit with "Spooky" in 1968. He joined the Atlanta Rhythm Section in early 1972. They had a #7 US hit with "So Into You" in 1977...

, Walter Eaton, keyboardist Joe Wilson, and singer Dennis Yost (Buie and Cobb would later form The Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....

 with Candymen drummer Robert Nix, also from Jacksonville). Yost had previously been a member of The Echoes. The name "The Classics" came from the Classic drum set Yost owned. He was known in the Georgia/Florida area as the "stand-up drummer" because he played standing up. The Classics played Ventures
The Ventures
The Ventures is an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 in Tacoma, Washington. Founded by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle, the group in its various incarnations has had an enduring impact on the development of music worldwide. With over 100 million records sold, the group is the best-selling...

 covers, instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 versions of "Misty
Misty (song)
"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by the pianist Erroll Garner.Originally composed as an instrumental following the traditional 32-bar format, the tune later had lyrics by Johnny Burke and became the signature song of Johnny Mathis, reaching #12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart in 1959...

" and "Summertime
Summertime (song)
"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP....

." People started requesting vocals, so Dennis would say "I can sing that," and that was the beginning of the group's new direction. The group began performing vocal hits such as "Sherry
Sherry (song)
"Sherry" is a song written by Bob Gaudio and originally recorded by The Four Seasons. It was their first nationally-released single and also their first number one hit, initially reaching the top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on September 15, 1962...

" by The Four Seasons
The Four Seasons (group)
The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...

.

The band was discovered performing in Daytona Beach by a booking agent who worked for Bill Lowery's operation in Atlanta. Lowery urged the band to relocate to Atlanta and quickly snagged the group a singles deal with Capitol. The Classics' debut single was "Pollyanna," a song written by another Lowery client, Joe South
Joe South
Joe South is a multi-talented American singer-songwriter and guitarist.-Career:...

. Its style was starkly similar to that of the Four Seasons. Shortly after they received a letter informing them that there was already a recording act named The Classics," who had a single titled "Till Then." In an effort to differentiate themselves, Yost and company added "IV" to the name because there were (at that time) four members.

After the Capitol single flopped, Lowery got the group another deal with Imperial Records
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is a United States based label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd and reactivated in 2006 by label owner EMI.- The independent and Liberty Records years :...

. Guitarists Cobb and Buie added lyrics to a jazz instrumental titled "Spooky," a regional hit for Atlanta saxophonist Mike Sharpe. The single made it to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 in the U.S. and #46 in the UK. It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...

.

Drummer Kim Venable was brought in so Yost could move freely out front (Nix had been the drummer on their studio recordings). Wilson was replaced by Candymen keyboardist Dean Daughtry (who also landed in the Atlanta Rhythm Section). The band changed its name to "The Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost" and enjoyed two more top-10 hits, "Stormy" (1968, No. 5) and "Traces" (1969, No. 2). Cobb and Buie borrowed heavily from 1936's "Everyday With Jesus" by Robert C. and Wendell P. Loveless to pen the top 20 follow-up "Everyday with You Girl" (1969, No. 19).

"Stormy" and "Traces" both sold more than one million units and were awarded gold discs by the R.I.A.A.. "Spooky", "Stormy", "Traces," and "Every Day With You, Girl" also appeared in the 1977 film The Chicken Chronicles
The Chicken Chronicles
The Chicken Chronicles is a 1977 film starring Steve Guttenburg in this raunchy teen comedy set in 1969.-Synopsis:David Kessler is a high school student who will go to any lengths to impress a pretty cheerleader and lose his virginity, while juggling his job at a chicken joint and trying not to get...

.

They changed their name again, to "Dennis Yost and the Classics IV," and had one last hit, "What Am I Crying For?" (1972, No 39) on MGM South
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...

. Cobb left and was replaced by Bradenton, Fla., guitarist Mack Doss.

In 1974, Cobb, Daughtry and Buie (as producer) formed the Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....

.

Later career

Dennis Yost was credited as the creator of the "Southern Soft Rock" sound. He was known as "the singer's singer" and "The Classic One" because of his smooth, unique voice, and was described as singing "with a tear in his voice". He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1993, an honor he coveted most, because Ray Charles, his favorite singer, was inducted a few years before.

Yost continued to perform with Classics IV for the next thirty years. During the 1990s the lineup included Steve "Stevie G." Guettler (guitar, vocals), Jeff "JT" Strickler (bass guitar, vocals), Steve Farrell (guitar, vocals), Mike Wilson (keyboards, vocals) and Wes Armstrong (drums, vocals) of the Atlanta based group "The Rockerz". He also used the Nashville based group Steve Jarrell and "The Sons of The Beach Band". From 2000 to 2005 the lineup included Tom Vale (saxophone, backing vocals), Bill Johnson (keyboards), Brian Correll (guitar, backing vocals), Doug Reed (drums), and during 2005, Don Martin (bass), and Perry Williams (keyboards & sax at last 3 concerts).
The final concert of "Dennis Yost" and the Classics IV was at Chenay Bay, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, on Sept.24, 2005.

Injury and death of Dennis Yost

On July 11, 2006, Yost fell down a flight of stairs and suffered serious brain trauma. To assist Yost and his wife with their medical bills, a benefit concert was held on March 25, 2007, at Rhino's Live in Cincinnati, Ohio. The benefit was originally conceived by Yost's close friend Jon "Bowser" Bauman
Jon Bauman
Jon "Bowzer" Bauman is an American musician, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's popular Sha Na Na character, "Bowzer" Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na,...

, former vocalist with Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na
Sha Na Na is an American rock and roll group. The name is taken from a part of the long series of nonsense syllables in the doo-wop hit song "Get a Job", originally recorded in 1957 by the Silhouettes....

. Many musical entertainers and some surprise guests from the 1950s through the 1970s performed some of their biggest chart-topping hits in tribute to Yost. Some of the artists performing that day were Denny Laine (The Moody Blues and Wings), Chuck Negron (previously of Three Dog Night), Ian Mitchell (Bay City Rollers), Pat Upton (Spiral Staircase), "Diamond" Dave Somerville, The Skyliners, Buzz Cason, Carl Dobkins Jr., Mark Vollman (The Turtles), and Classics IV guitarist Brian Correll.
The concert did not significantly benefit Yost or his wife financially, as was hoped; expenses far exceeded the money raised, leaving the event in the red. However, it was a huge boost for Yost to visit with so many old friends.

After Dennis' accident, he chose Tom Garrett to replace him as lead singer for The Classics IV. The plan was for Dennis to make a few yearly "special appearances," and gradually have Tom take over as the leader of the band. However, Dennis was able to perform with them for only one appearance in 2008. Tom and Dennis worked closely together to develop the current lineup. He chose Tom to help him keep The Classics IV music going in the Classics IV tradition. Dennis would listen to the band on recorded CDs, and during that time Tom and Dennis became close friends. The band Dennis chose three years ago to continue with The Classics IV trademark consist of Tom Garrett as lead vocalist, Kevin Lloyd on bass, Tim Ridgeway on drums, Joe Sadler on guitar, Garard Motague III on flute and saxophone, and James Yoder on keyboards.

Dennis Yost died of respiratory failure
Respiratory failure
The term respiratory failure, in medicine, is used to describe inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, with the result that arterial oxygen and/or carbon dioxide levels cannot be maintained within their normal ranges. A drop in blood oxygenation is known as hypoxemia; a rise in arterial...

 on December 7, 2008, at the age of 65 on the 40th anniversary of "Stormy"'s entrance into the Hot 100's top 10.

Covers

Yost owned the rights to the Classics IV name for performing and recording. Cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

s of "Spooky" have been recorded by several artists including Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

, Gary Walker and The Rain, The Velvet Monkeys, Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....

, Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...

, Daniel Ash
Daniel Ash
Daniel Gaston Ash is the guitarist for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo projects.-Life and work:After going to concerts in his teenage years, Ash made a decision to be on a stage in some way...

, Jazz Butcher
Jazz Butcher
The Jazz Butcher, also known as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and The Jazz Butcher And His Sikkorskis From Hell, are a British musical group founded by Pat Fish.-History:...

, Puppini Sisters, David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...

, Shock of Pleasure
Shock of Pleasure
Shock of Pleasure is an electro-lounge band based in Dallas, Texas. Formed in 2004 by singer/songwriter Robert Romano , Shock of Pleasure have toured nationally in support of two national releases through the Universal Music/Fontana Label...

, Marc Antoine
Marc Antoine
Marc Antoine is a jazz fusion guitarist. Marc currently resides in Madrid, Spain. His guitar play style is based on Roma music.-Early life:...

 and Imogen Heap
Imogen Heap
Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...

 for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

 of the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 Just Like Heaven.

Madlib
Madlib
Otis Jackson Jr. in Oxnard, California, known professionally as Madlib, is a Los Angeles-based DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and music producer...

 sampled an instrumental version of "Stormy" by Reuben Wilson for his album Shades of Blue
Shades of Blue
Shades of Blue is a remix album by producer Madlib over the archives of Blue Note Records. The album was released on Blue Note itself in 2003.-Track listing:#"Introduction" – 0:32#"Slim's Return" – 3:56...

 (Blue Note, 2003).

Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson
Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...

 sampled "Spooky
Spooky
Spooky is a British house/techno duo consisting of Duncan Forbes and Charlie May. They debuted with Gargantuan in 1993 after signing to Guerilla Records. In 1995 and 1996 they released three EPs on their own Generic Records label, followed quickly in mid-1996 by their second album, Found Sound...

" on his track "Something Wicked This Way Comes".

In 1969 The Ventures recorded an album track which featured an instrumental medley of "Spooky", "Traces" and "Stormy".

Diana Ross & The Supremes recorded a version of "Stormy" in early 1969, although it remained unreleased until the 1980s.

Santana (band)
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...

 scored a hit with "Stormy" in December 1978, from their Inner Secrets
Inner Secrets
Inner Secrets is the ninth studio album from Santana. It marks the start of the phase of Santana's career where he moved away from the fusion of Latin, jazz, rock and blues that marked his previous records and began to move towards an Album Oriented Rock direction. As such, the album's quality is...

 album.

The Atlanta Rhythm Section hit the Top 20 with "Spooky" in 1979 on the album Underdog.

Singer John Legend
John Legend
John Roger Stephens , better known by his stage name John Legend, is an American singer, musician, and actor. He is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards, and in 2007, he received the special Starlight award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame.Prior to the release of his debut album, Stephens' career...

 recorded a song entitled "Save Room
Save Room
"Save Room" is the first single from John Legend's second album, Once Again. It is a joyful, cool love song that samples Gábor Szabó's version of the Classics IV hit "Stormy". As John recalls, "Kanye West brought the sample. I didn't even know the original. I just knew it was a nice organ sound and...

" in 2006 that samples Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó
Gábor Szabó was a Hungarian jazz guitarist, famous for mixing jazz, pop-rock and his native Hungarian music.-Biography:...

's version of "Stormy".

Bloodhound Gang used a base from "Spooky" in the song "Why's everybody always pickin' on me"

Ron Sexsmith
Ron Sexsmith
Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...

's single "Still Time" samples "Traces".

In 1994, Gloria Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García de Estefan; known professionally as Gloria Estefan is a Cuban-born American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known as the "Queen Of Latin Pop", she is in the top 100 best selling music artists with over 100 million albums sold worldwide, 31.5 million of those...

 recorded a cover version of "Traces" on her album Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me
Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me is the fifth studio solo album released by American singer Gloria Estefan, but is the 17th overall, released in 1994 with sales of 4 million copies worldwide.-Album history:...

.

Albums

Vinyl LPs
  • Spooky - Imperial 12371 - 1968
  • Mamas And Papas/Soul Train - Imperial 12407 - 1968
  • Traces - Imperial 12429 - 1969 (as Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost)
  • Song - Imperial - 1970
  • Golden Greats, Volume 1 - Imperial 16000 - 1969
  • What Am I Crying For?/Rosanna/Make Me Believe It - MGM South - MSH-702 - 1972/73 (as Dennis Yost and The Classics IV)


CDs
  • Lil' Bit Of Gold - Rhino R3 73004 - 1988 (this is one of Rhino's rare gold 3 inch CD singles featuring the band's four hits, "Spooky", "Traces", "Everyday With You Girl", and "Stormy") (as Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost)
  • The Very Best of Classics IV - Capitol - 1988
  • The Greatest Hits - EMI Special Products - 1992
  • Best Of Dennis Yost & The Classics IV - Imperial/Capitol from the (Legendary Masters Series) 2003
  • ' "Atmospherics" 28 hits of Dennis Yost and The Classics IV' Australian release 2003
  • The soundtrack of "Six Feet Under" HBO series, "Spooky" 2004

Singles

  • "Spooky
    Spooky (classic song)
    "Spooky" was originally an instrumental song performed by saxophonist Mike Sharpe , written by Shapiro and Harry Middlebrooks, Jr., which first charted in 1967 hitting #57 on the US pop charts. Its best known version was created by The Classics IV when guitarist James Cobb and producer Buddy Buie...

    " - Imperial 66259 - 1968
  • "Stormy" - Imperial 66328 - 1968
  • "Traces" - Imperial 66352 - 1969
  • "Everyday With You Girl" - Imperial 66378 - 1969
  • "Change Of Heart" - Imperial 66393 - 1969
  • "Midnight" - Imperial 66424 - 1970
  • "The Funniest Thing" - Imperial 66439 - 1970
  • "What Am I Crying For?" - MGM South 7002 - 1972

External links

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