There are only four songs from the band known as Timmy, but they are just fantastic, laced in keyboards with an English feel.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Timmy
ALBUM: The Atlanta Project (EP)
LABEL: Rudolf Music
SERIAL: AP2002
YEAR: 1999
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: 
LINEUP: John Harrison – keyboards, vocals * Peter Penhallow – keyboards, vocals * Don MacLeod – guitars * Andy West – bass * Charles Tapp – drums, vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Nuclear Affair * 02 Baby Lady * 03 Broadway Hollywood * 04 Back Up Slow Down
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
Despite the album title, this band don’t come from Atlanta whatsoever, but there is a connection. Timmy, in fact, were local legends in their native San Francisco, and formed as far back as 1973. The two leading lights were Georgia natives Don MacLeod and John Harrison. The band has been through more personnel than a private company, but it wasn’t until the 80’s that things had progressed through to recording sessions.
For this session, Dixie Dregs bassist Andy West had joined, he was with Timmy for about a year. Randy Hansen drummer Charles Tapp had joined in 1982, he stayed until 1985. ‘The Atlanta Project’ was produced by British recording engineer Eddy Offord. He was put onto the band by their manager at the time Tony Secunda. In 1984, Timmy flew back to Atlanta to record these songs, where Offord had converted an old movie house into a recording studio.
The Songs
There are only four songs here, but they are just fantastic. Laced in keyboards with an English feel, but with a tight pumped up rhythm section. ‘Nuclear Affair’ invokes memories of Touch, particularly with those organ lines, but the way they combine progressive lines with a form of AOR could move them into the same category as Asia and SPYS. It’s that good.
‘Baby Lady’ features a introspective entrance, with the Lords Prayer being recited, but soon they move into their entrancing brand of progressive band of AOR. There’s a load of stop-start passages on ‘Broadway Hollywood’, but once it gets going, the track flows beautifully. The last track ‘Back Up Slow Down’, is a slowed down deliberate affair, with layered keys and vocals. Such a shame there are only four tracks. I would loved to have heard more.. This is like an entree, where’s the main?
In Summary
Not long after these songs were recorded, it was shopped to Warner Bros then president Mo Davis, who was making arrangements to release it. Months later, Davis had departed the label, the demo (and any future plans with WB) were shelved. ‘The Atlanta Project’ did not see the light of day until 1999, released on Charles Tapp’s own label Rudolf Music.
One album that is related to Timmy that not many people are aware of, and that is the 1989 album by the band Eye ‘It Might Rain’. People might remember the cool album cover of an red eyeball.. It was created by Prairie Prince of The Tubes. Eye were in fact Timmy, but under another name. An interesting band with an equally interesting history.
