* En anglais uniquement
With the California country-rock, singer-songwriter sound of the
Eagles and
Jackson Browne a hot commodity in the mid-'70s, the idea for
the Funky Kings seemed to make perfect sense. Formed in 1976 for
Clive Davis' Arista Records,
Funky Kings was an odd teaming of three singer-songwriters --
Jack Tempchin ("Peaceful Easy Feeling", "Already Gone"),
Jules Shear, and
Richard Stekol -- with a funk rhythm section, bassist
Bill Bodine and drummer
Frank Cotinola, and steel guitarist
Greg Leisz.
Although
Davis had high hopes that
the Kings would become the next
Eagles, they received little notice, and, when Arista passed on releasing a second record, disbanded after one album. The first single from the record,
Tempchin's "Slow Dancing," did receive minor airplay at the time of its release, but failed to make any waves until being covered by
Johnny Rivers in 1977, when it peaked at number ten.
Tempchin went on to record one LP for Arista as well as collaborating with former Eagle
Glenn Frey on material for
Frey's solo efforts.
Shear formed the critically acclaimed
Jules and the Polar Bears in 1978 before releasing a number of highly lauded, if not commercially successful, albums on his own. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Roger McGuinn, Tommy Conwell and
Iain Matthews and reached the charts thanks to renditions by
the Bangles and
Cyndi Lauper. He also served as host of MTV's
Unplugged series.
Stekol, who has had his songs done by singers including
Kim Carnes and
Iain Matthews, has continued to record and tour with
Shear on occasion. ~ Brett Hartenbach