User:Drdaystrum/Aarons and Ackley, Candian folk rock duo of the early 70s

New article name Aarons and Ackley were a successful Canadian folk rock duo that integrated elements of rock, folk, country and jazz into their somewhat eclectic mix and produced two critically acclaimed albums for Capitol Records between 1971 and 1972. Entitled 'Aarons & Ackley' with their follow up LP, 'You and I', both spawned various hits throughout Canada. Chuck Aarons, born in Cleveland and raised in Wilmington Delaware, met Jim Ackley in 1970 while scouring the Toronto music scene where he was introduced to Jim Ackley who was an employee of Capitol Records at the time and former jazz pianist and composer who had fled California to evade the draft in 1966 or 67. Ackley had achieved some notoriety in the 60s by touring with the Beach Boys and contributing as a co-author to one of their album tracks. After Chuck Aarons played with many north Delaware, Philadelphia area bands, he decided to move onto New York then set his sights on Montreal and Toronto using a tip that Toronto had a growing music scene with Ann Murry and Gordon Lightfoot leading the way. Chuck eventually met Ackely through a contact at Capitol Records which resulted in an eventual synergy of their talents. After crafting a solid set of new compositions, Ackley's Capitol contacts eventually led them to a contract and suddenly, they were in Thunder Sound Studios in Toronto, recording their first LP with Dennis Murphy as producer. They used a plethora of local Toronto and former US musicians such as Jim Rolleston, Rolf Kempf and famous jazz drummer Terry Clark (who played with preeminent jazz guitarist Jim Hall) plus Toronto's latest rising singer Chris Kearny who joined Aarons & Ackley for their second LP.

Aarons & Ackley's first LP created mildly successful hits such as Let it Shine, the Devil Song, and Lay Me Down. Their second LP You and I also received critical acclaim and spawned a few singles such as Bonnie Blue, Girl I've Been Waiting and NFS but just as Capitol records was about to launch a full blown US tour to promote their second LP, "You and I", in 1972, they realized Jim Ackley (due to his draft status) could not enter the US and offered to replace him with another keyboardist/singer just during the tour to perform with Chuck Aarons, however, Chuck, being loyal to his co-writer, musician and friend, refused to tour with out him and thus began the beginning of the end of what could have turned into Canada's Simon & Garfunkle. A&A toured until 1975 then broke up. The talented but eccentric Jim Ackely eventually returned to his hometown of LA after President Ford pardoned all draft dodgers then by the late 80s or early 90s had moved to Spain to teach English.

Chuck, "Charles" Aarons went on to enjoy a successful career with TV and studio work in the LA area from 1976 to 1986 then moved to British Columbia where he still resides outside of Vancouver and continues to perform and record CDs under the name Charles Aarons.

== Recordings == Albums 1971 Aarons And Ackley (Capitol-EMI) ST 6362 1972 You And I (Capitol-EMI) ST 6379 Between 1971 and 72 their two Capitol LPs created the following singles: Let It Shine/Lay Me Down (Capitol) 72648 1971 Devil Song/There Is A Lady (Capitol) 72656 1971 Girl I've Been Waiting/N.F.S. (Capitol) 72665 1972 Bonnie Blue/Could Have Had Anything (Capitol) 72680 After signing a new contract with GRT records they released one last record: 1974 Where Did The Music Go/Victim Of Sorrow (GRT) 1230-83

== References == main sources are the brothers of Chuck (Charles) Aarons, Jeffrey and Robert Aarons. Also, the Canadian pop encyclopedia website, http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/A/AaronsAndAckley.html

External links

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