Nantucket -

Nantucket was an American hard-rock band from Jacksonville, NC, that released three albums on Epic between 1978 and 1980, followed by an album apiece on RCA and Executive during the subsequent five-year period. The band’s rhythm section departed after the Epic trilogy for the rock trio PKM.

Members: Eddie Blair (saxophone, keyboards, vocals), Mark Downing (guitar), Tommy Redd (guitar, vocals), Kenny Soule (drums), Larry “L Factor” Uzzell (vocals, harmonica, trumpet), Mike Uzzell (keyboards, vocals), Pee Wee Watson (bass), David “Thumbs” Johnson (bass), Richard Gates (drums), Perry Richardson, Alan Thornton (guitar), Jason Patterson (drums)

Background

Nantucket originated in Jacksonville, North Carolina, as Stax of Gold, a group formed in 1969 by singer/bassist Larry Uzzell, keyboardist Mike Uzzell, guitarist Mark Downing, and guitarist Tommy Redd. Saxophonist/keyboardist Eddie Blair and drummer Kenny Soule later completed a six-piece lineup. They billed their act Nantucket Sleighride after a 1972 club contest in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, then shortened the name within months.

Early sets concentrated on R&B and rock covers. The group developed original material at a Virginia Beach warehouse in the winter of 1974 and tested songs inside club sets without announcing them. Redd supplied many of the basic compositions, while all six members shaped the arrangements.

Epic A&R executive Lennie Petze signed the band after a week-long West Palm Beach showcase attracted competing label interest. Atlantic favored “What’s the Matter with Loving You” as the first single, while Epic selected “Heartbreaker” for the debut campaign.

Nantucket

Nantucket released the self-titled debut album in May 1978 on Epic.

Ten Redd originals fill the album, performed by the established six-man lineup. Steve Miller harmonicist Norton Buffalo guests on “Never Gonna Take Your Lies.”

A1. “Heartbreaker” (3:53) – Redd
A2. “Never Gonna Take Your Lies” (3:47) – Redd
A3. “Real Romance” (4:08) – Redd
A4. “She’s No Good” (3:25) – Redd
A5. “Born in a Honky Tonk” (3:20) – Redd
B1. “It’s Gettin’ Harder” (3:33) – Redd
B2. “Girl, You Blew a Good Thing” (3:29) – Redd
B3. “Spring Fever” (4:42) – Redd
B4. “Quite Like You” (2:28) – Redd
B5. “What’s the Matter with Loving You” (3:28) – Redd

Nantucket recorded the album in 1977 with Kaye-Smith engineer Win Kutz, who produced, engineered, and mixed the sessions for Maverick Productions. Recent studio work by Kutz included assistant mixing on Book of Dreams by Steve Miller Band. Reed Ruddy assisted.

CBS art director Paula Scher designed the package after completing the visual campaign for the debut album by Boston. New York caricaturist Robert Grossman, also responsible for the 1978 Proctor and Bergman cover Give Us a Break, illustrated a giant red lobster figure on dark-blue rocks below a lighthouse. Jim Houghton, photographer of 52nd Street by Billy Joel, supplied the back-cover group portrait.

Epic lifted “Heartbreaker” as a June 1978 single (b/w “She’s No Good”), which reached No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Girl, You Blew a Good Thing” followed in October (b/w “Quite Like You”). Roughly 200,000 copies of the album entered circulation.

Your Face or Mine?

Nantucket released the second album, Your Face or Mine?, in June 1979 on Epic.

Your Face or Mine? contains nine Redd originals performed by the unchanged lineup.

A1. “Gimme Your Love” (4:15) – Redd
A2. “I Live for Your Love” (3:06) – Redd
A3. “Hey, Hey Blondie” (3:39) – Redd
A4. “California” (4:11) – Redd
A5. “Wide Awake” (3:30) – Redd

B1. “Don’t Hang Up” (4:13) – Redd
B2. “Your Place or Mine” (3:35) – Redd
B3. “Just the Devil’s Way” (4:10) – Redd
B4. “Is It Wrong to Rock and Roll” (5:18) – Redd

Nantucket recorded the album at Bee Jay Studios in Orlando and Quadradial Studios in Miami with Atlanta Sound Pit engineer Tony Reale, a recent Epic soundman on the self-titled albums by Ted Nugent and Molly Hatchet. Reale co-produced with the band and worked alongside engineers Bill Vermillion and Hank Neuberger, while Frank Rand served as executive producer. Chicago Recording Company hosted the mix.

CBS art director Andrea Klein, credited on Some Enchanted Evening by Blue Öyster Cult and Circle in the Round by Miles Davis, built the package concept around six segmented headshots by Jim Houghton. Contemporary Houghton credits included Highway to Hell by AC/DC. The front arranges the portraits in a two-by-three grid with the question “Your Face or Mine?” and the instruction “see back cover for answer.”

Epic lifted “Gimme Your Love” as a July 1979 single (b/w the non-album “Put Out or Get Out”). Watson replaced Mike Uzzell before sessions for the third album.

Long Way to the Top

Nantucket released the third album, Long Way to the Top, in August 1980 on Epic.

Long Way to the Top contains eleven Nantucket originals and a cover of AC/DC (“It’s a Long Way to the Top”). The group later joined AC/DC for United States dates on the Back in Black tour.

A1. “It’s a Long Way to the Top” (4:20) – Angus Young, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott
A2. “Living with You” (2:21) – Redd
A3. “Time Bomb” (2:59) – Redd
A4. “50 More” (5:20) – Redd
A5. “Media Darlin’” (3:28) – Redd
A6. “Rugburn” (3:29) – Redd, Soule

B1. “Too Much Wrong in the Past (For a Future)” (4:06) – Redd, Soule, L. Uzzell, Downing
B2. “Over and Over Again” (2:48) – Redd, Soule, L. Uzzell, M. Uzzell, Blair
B3. “Turn the Radio On” (3:02) – Redd
B4. “Tell Me (Doctor Rhythm Method)” (2:40) – Redd
B5. “Rescue” (4:45) – Redd, Soule, L. Uzzell, M. Uzzell, Downing, Blair
B6. “Rock of the ’80s” (4:34) – Redd

Nantucket recorded the album at Bee Jay Studios in Orlando with British engineer-producer Tom Allom. Recent production credits by Allom included Unleashed in the East and British Steel by Judas Priest and On Through the Night by Def Leppard. Bill Vermillion engineered the sessions, and Larry Uzzell joined Allom and Vermillion for the mix. Sterling Sound mastered the finished record.

The sleeve reunited CBS art directors John Berg and Paula Scher around a second Nantucket illustration by Grossman. This image depicts the red lobster mascot clutching a silver guitar amid a tilted nighttime skyline. Norman Seeff, photographer behind Eat to the Beat by Blondie, supplied the group portrait.

The Epic contract ended after the third album. In 1981, Soule and Watson left Nantucket and formed PKM with guitarist Michael Gardner. The revised lineup added drummer Richard Gates and bassist David “Thumbs” Johnson for the next release.

No Direction Home

Nantucket released the fourth album, No Direction Home, in January 1983 on RCA.

No Direction Home contains eight Redd titles, a Bryan Adams cover (“Hiding from Love”), and a Marvin Gaye cover (“Ain’t That Peculiar”).

A1. “No Direction Home” (4:18) – Redd
A2. “I Don’t Want to Lose You” (5:41) – Redd, Uzzell
A3. “Hiding from Love” (3:25) – Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance, Eric Kagna
A4. “Ain’t That Peculiar” (3:25) – Smokey Robinson, Warren Moore, Marvin Tarplin, Bobby Rogers
A5. “Morning, Noon and Night” (3:17) – Redd
B1. “Ready for Your Love” (3:50) – Redd
B2. “Come Home Darling” (4:11) – Redd, Uzzell
B3. “Never Felt This Way Before” (4:21) – Redd
B4. “Girl I’ve Got Your Number” (4:02) – Redd
B5. “Tennessee Whiskey” (3:35) – Redd

Mike Flicker, producer of four albums by Heart, directed the sessions at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles. Recent credits included Money Talks by Trooper, Cowboys & Englishmen by Poco, and the 1982 self-titled Randy Meisner album. Flicker and Rolf Hennemann engineered with Bob Winard and Paul Ray assisting.

Norman Moore designed the black sleeve around a blue frame and opposing red-and-yellow arrow forms folded into the letters N and U. Contemporary art-direction credits included Synchronicity by the Police and the Two of a Kind soundtrack.

RCA lifted “Hiding from Love” as an April 1983 single (b/w “Never Felt This Way Before”).

Alan Thornton replaced Downing before the fifth album. Manager Mike Uzzell formed Executive Records in Raleigh with Ray Carroll.

V

Nantucket released the fifth album, V, in June 1985 on Executive. The album launched the Raleigh label.

V contains ten band-written titles performed by the revised lineup, with multi-instrumentalist Rod Dash as an additional musician.

A1. “Pretty Legs” (3:34) – Redd, Blair, Johnson
A2. “Ain’t It a Shame” (3:21) – Redd
A3. “Made for You” (4:02) – Thornton
A4. “Looking You Up” (3:59) – Redd, Downing
A5. “Drivin’ Me Crazy” (3:21) – Johnson, Uzzell, Redd
B1. “Out of Control” (1:05) – Johnson, Gates
B2. “Can’t Stop Rockin’” (3:00) – Redd
B3. “Horizontal Weekend” (3:11) – Redd
B4. “Freedom” (3:49) – Thornton
B5. “Party’n in the Cars” (3:37) – Redd, Thornton, Johnson, Gates

Raleigh producer Rod Dash directed the album at Videofonics, John Falzone engineered, and Rick Lassiter assisted. Mike Uzzell served as executive producer. Also in 1985, Dash and Falzone made the self-titled Executive EP by Maxx Warrior at the same studio.

Lucinda Sager designed the package around a front-cover illustration by Mike Pombrio. The image places two red lobster claws and a white burst over an oversized metallic V. Pombrio also illustrated the contemporary Maxx Warrior sleeve, while Greg Gibson supplied the back-cover group photograph.

Later Activity

By 1988, Larry Uzzell remained the sole original member amid further personnel changes. Nantucket ceased regular activity in 1990, then returned for occasional reunions. The November 29, 1991, performance at the Longbranch in Raleigh supplied the recording for Still Live after All These Years, which Zella Records released four years later.

Zella collected eight studio demos from the 1980s on The Unreleased “D.C. Tapes” in 2006 as an archival release. The group followed with You Need a Ride to Raleigh in 2011, and the title song earned a Carolina Beach Music Award nomination two years later. Charlotte Music Awards presented Nantucket with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, followed by induction with the 2012 class of the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.

Discography: