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Swingin’ Medallions keep on groovin’

July Jam at The Villages Amphitheater

By LINDSAY BIANCHI
lbianchi@TheCitizenNews.com

Dust off your dancing shoes and come enjoy the sounds of the Swingin Medallions at the Villages Amphitheater July 9. The Main Street Tourism Association is sponsoring the free concert from the proceeds of past community events.

The Swingin' Medallions have been based out of the Greenwood, South Carolina area since the early 1960's. The music most often associated with the band is beach music, frat rock, R&B, or shaggin' music. Whether young or old, they offer a little bit of everything for everyone. After a few years of touring colleges from the Carolinas to the Louisiana bayou, John McElrath took the group to Arthur Smith’s Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina, to record “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love.” The song became a million seller in 1966, and has been a party classic for college students for decades. “We did the song in one take,” McElrath said. “We wanted it to sound the way we did it on stage.”

“She Drives Me Out Of My Mind” and “Hey, Hey, Baby” were top 40 hits in 1966 and 1967, but “Double Shot” remains the signature song of the Swingin’ Medallions.

The members of the band have changed over the past 30 years, but John McElrath has remained the original and constant member to be performing today. The band has always been comprised of eight members with at least a four-piece horn section. Although the group has changed throughout the years, the high-energy party style has been passed down to the band that performs today.

John’s sons, Shawn and Shane McElrath have followed in their father’s footsteps. Shawn plays lead sax and bass and Shane plays alto sax, keyboards and sings lead. They made an agreement with their dad to finish college in exchange for playing in the band, something the original band’s line-up achieved along with their popular success.

The rest of the Medallions include: Robby Cox on drums; Ashby Stokes, guitar, mandolin and banjo; John Campbell, bass, guitar and vocals; Alex Smith, saxophone; Andrew Dudley, trombone; and John McElrath on keyboards.

McElrath says the “Medallions” will release a new set of songs in the next couple of months on 4Sale records, the band’s own label. In addition, an exhaustive book which covers the 60’s R&B/Beach music scene of the South, “The Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music” will be published soon. The Swingin’ Medallions is just one of the many great bands to be highlighted. The book will also contain two CDs of rare cuts. For more information about the book and The Swingin’ Medallions, visit www.medallions.com.

Gates open at 7 p.m. and the Swingin Medallions will start the party at 8 p.m.. For further information, call Fayetteville Main Street at 770-461-6029.