| Background: | group_or_band |
| The Swingin' Medallions | |
| Years Active: | 1962–present |
| Origin: | Greenwood, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Genre: | Beach, rock, pop |
| Label: | Dot, 4 Sale, Smash, 123, EBS, Ripete |
| Associated Acts: | Tassles, Pieces of Eight |
| Website: | www.medallions.com |
The Swingin' Medallions are an American beach music group from Greenwood, South Carolina, United States.
The band were formed as The Medallions in 1962, adding the "Swingin'" in 1965;[1] possibly as a tribute to the Swingin' Travelers, an R&B group popular in South Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1967, Brent Fortson and Steve Caldwell left the band and with six members of The Tassles out of North Carolina formed the Pieces of Eight.[1] Johnny Cox and Hack Bartley replaced the two at saxophones.
Their first single, "I Wanna Be Your Guy", was inadvertently released under the name, "Swinging Medallions" instead of "Swingin' Medallions". It did not chart, but the second, "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)", written by Don Smith and Cyril Vetter and originally recorded by Dick Holler and the Holidays, reached No. 17 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1966,[1] and propelled their album to No. 88 on the Billboard 200. It was recorded at the Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina. WIST radio jock Tom Gauger was called in to re-mix for release on Smash. The follow-up single "She Drives Me Out of My Mind", hit No. 71, but the next single, "Hey, Hey, Baby", did not chart. The band continued to be popular in the American South.
In the early-1960s, they frequently played at the Oporto Armory in Birmingham, Alabama where their songs got national airplay by Dave Roddy on WSGN. The band was also a popular attraction in Panama City Beach, Myrtle Beach, and Auburn University.
The band (with a shifting cast) continued to do reunion shows into the 2000s. On September 16, 2009, the band joined Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band during their concert at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, South Carolina for a performance of "Double Shot (Of My Baby's Love)".
One alumnus of the group, drummer Michael Huey,[2] went on to become the staff drummer for the Bill Lowery Studios in Atlanta playing on hit records for the Winstons, Sami Jo, Johnny Nash, Joe South, Frankie Miller, Allen Toussaint, and others. Huey moved to Los Angeles in 1976 and played on numerous hit records and tours with Walter Egan ("Magnet and Steel"), Juice Newton, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Etta James, Lindsey Buckingham, Michael Martin Murphey, Johnny Lee, and the Miami Vice television series, among others. Another alumnus, actor Grainger Hines, was with the group between 1968 and 1971.[3]
Charlie Webber died of cancer on January 17, 2003.[4] John McElrath (born John Grady McElrath in Greenwood County, South Carolina on April 13, 1941) died of Parkinson's disease on June 9, 2018, at age 77.[5] [6] Jimbo Doares (born James Woodrow Doares, Jr. in Columbia, South Carolina on August 14, 1944) died on September 7, 2022, at age 78.[7]