Remembering 2023’s Music Losses: Dean Daughtry

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Ah! Now we hit the “huh”? point of this monthlong look at the people in music who left us in 2023. No, this gentleman wasn’t a Tony Bennett or Harry Belafonte in name recognition, but you’ve probably heard one of his songs. That’s why I’m doing this: an in-depth exploration of the people who made the music we sang along with. Here’s today’s performer. Dean Daughtry Let’s hit the wayback machine first: to Roy Orbison. His touring band was known as the Candymen. Their piano player was Dean Daughtry. Then fast forward a few years, when you had hits “Spooky” and “Stormy” by the Classics IV. In 1970, members of the two bands morphed into a session band for a studio in Doraville, Georgia. While backing the people who recorded in the studio they also formed their own recording outfit, the Atlanta Rhythm Section. (Hey, it worked for Toto, so why not!) Except for the song “Doraville,” the Atlanta Rhythm Section (or ARS for short) didn’t have much luck in riding the wave of southern rock. Then someone for Georgia got elected president. Actually, their 1977 hit “So Into You” just coincided with the peanut farmer from Plains becoming the President of the United States. Whatever happened (they also opened big stadium shows for acts like The Who), it worked, and ARS got a moment in the sun. Of course, there was a problem: if you listen to ARS, they don’t sound much like Skynyrd or Marshall Tucker or any of the other “southern rock” bands. They had their own style that was much more melodic and based in Daughtry’s piano than the three-guitar attack of other southern rock bands. And, as disco and punk came along, ARS’s popularity waned. ARS’ musical legacy includes “So Into You” and “Imaginary Lover,” both of which were co-written by Daughtry. They also released their version of “Spooky”….hard to say it was a straight “cover,” given that ARS member Buddy Buie wrote the song while in the Classics IV. Daughtry was the only original member to play on every ARS album. His death from natural causes on January 23, 2023 left one original member — original vocalist Rodney Justo — living. For most people, the Atlanta Rhythm Section is one of those countless 70s bands on the scrap heap of forgotten hitmakers. Not for me. I really enjoyed ARS’s music, and I’ll still have a “Champagne Jam” every now and then courtesy of their tunes. Dean Daughtry Born William Dean Daughtry September 8, 1946 - January 26, 2023 (age 76) HALL OF FAME: Georgia Music (with the Atlanta Rhythm Section), 1996 Here’s one of ARS’s big hits, “Imaginary Lover,” which Daughtry co-wrote: