Sea Level (band)

Sea Level's music fuses elements of funk, blues, Latin and rock music.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/03/07/sea-level-on-the-edge-and-taking-off/a0d6e6cc-f59a-4410-a7da-bf8edc9ad894/ |title=Sea Level -- On the Edge and Taking Off |last=Rabb |first=John |date=March 7, 1979 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2022-04-28}} A jam band, Sea Level's sound has been classified as southern rock,{{cite web |url=https://www.vintageguitar.com/15169/sea-level/amp/|title=Sea Level: Cats On The Coast/On The Edge |last=Prown |first=Pete |date=November 20, 2013 |publisher=Vintage Guitar |access-date=2022-04-29}}{{cite book |last=Ray |first=Michael |date=December 2012 |title=Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hd-bAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT26 |publisher=Britannica Educational |page=26 |isbn=9781615309122}}{{cite book |last=Malone |first=Bill C. |date=February 2014 |title=The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture Volume 12: Music |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AOynAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |page=125 |isbn=9781469616667 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/21/archives/renaissance-and-sea-level-give-a-wellblended-concert-of-rock.html |title=Renaissance and Sea Level Give A Well-Blended Concert of Rock |author=Staff |date=February 21, 1977 |work=New York Times |access-date=2022-04-29 }} jazz rock,{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/six-questions-with-chuck-leavell-1094255/amp/ |title=Six Questions with Chuck Leavell |last=Graff |first=Gary |date=June 15, 2012 |publisher=Billboard |access-date=2022-04-28}} and funk pop.

After the release of their first album, the group expanded to a septet with the additions of Davis Causey (guitar), George Weaver (drums, percussion) and Randall Bramblett (saxophones, keyboards and vocals). That configuration recorded the group's second album, Cats on the Coast, in 1978 (with the leadoff track, "That's Your Secret",Billboard, March 11, 1978 – [https://books.google.com/books?id=LiQEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Lamar+Williams%22Sea+Level&pg=PT32 Page 33 Radio-TV Programming, New On The Charts, Sea Level] reaching #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #45 in Canada.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5468a.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Singles - May 13, 1978}}) By the time of the third album, On the Edge, Jaimoe and Weaver had both left, replaced by Joe English. The sextet of Bramblett, Causey, English, Leavell, Nalls and Williams recorded the fourth album, Long Walk on a Short Pier (1979), unreleased in the United States for nearly twenty years, adding percussionist Matt Greeley for their fifth and final album, Ball Room, issued on Arista in 1980. Their greatest hits album (CD) wrapped up their body of work, minus a handful of appearances on various compilation albums (mostly Southern Rock). They were also featured on a 1978 live Southern Rock album which included a live version of "Grand Larceny."{{Which|date=January 2020}}

Leavell later emerged as a much sought-after session musician and producer, touring with Eric Clapton and eventually becoming a "permanent" session player touring with the Rolling Stones.

In 1998, he issued his debut solo LP, a Christmas album called What's in That Bag? and more recently Forever Blue that includes solo versions of two classic Sea Level compositions: "Whole Lotta Colada" and "Song for Amy." He also released Southscape, an album of Southern anthems that hearkens back to his Southern roots.

A documentary of Chuck Leavell's career and life outside of music,"Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man" [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7099702/ IMDb Listing], directed by Allen Farst [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9109006/ IMDb], premiered at Dayton, Ohio's "The Neon" theatre on November 6, 2020. The film, featured in a number of film festivals in 2020, won the Sedona Film Festival's People’s Choice Award.

The film, featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ronnie Wood, David Gilmore, Dickey Betts, Warren Haynes, John Mayer, Julian Lennon, Billy Bob Thornton, Charlie Daniels, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Hornsby, Chris Robinson, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, Mike Mills, Pat Monahan, John Popper, and Lee Ann Womack among others will be available for streaming beginning December 1, 2020. [https://www.chuckleavellthetreeman.com/ Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man website]

Lamar Williams died from lung cancer on January 21, 1983, at age 34.

Jimmy Nalls, who suffered from Parkinson's disease, died on June 22, 2017, at age 66.[http://wmot.org/post/guitar-star-jimmy-nalls-dies-amid-celebration-his-life#stream/0 Guitar Star Jimmy Nalls Dies Amid A Celebration Of His Life]

Davis Causey died on February 19, 2023, at the age of 74.{{cite news |title=Athens music scene stalwart, The Jesters member Davis Causey dies |url=https://www.classiccitynews.com/post/athens-music-legend-davis-causey-dies |access-date=22 February 2023 |publisher=Classic City News |date=20 February 2023}}

• Chuck Leavell – piano, Moog synthesizer, organ, clavinet, keyboards, percussion, vocals (1976–1980)
• Lamar Williams – bass, vocals (1976–1980; died 1983)
• Jimmy Nalls – guitars, vocals (1976–1980; died 2017)
• Jaimoe – drums, percussion (1976–1978)
• Davis Causey – guitars, backing vocals (1977–1980; died 2023)
• Randall Bramblett – saxophones, piano, keyboards, vocals (1977–1980)
• George Weaver – drums (1977–1978)
• Joe English – drums, percussion, vocals (1978–1980)
• Matt Greeley – percussion, vocals (1980)

Timeline

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• Sea Level (1977, Capricorn)
• Cats on the Coast (1977, Capricorn)
• On the Edge (1978, Capricorn)
• Long Walk on a Short Pier (1979, Capricorn)
• Ball Room (1980, Arista)
• Best of Sea Level (1990, Polydor)
• Best of Sea Level (1997, Capricorn)

{{reflist}}

• {{discogs artist|Sea Level}}

{{Allman Brothers Band}}

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Category:American southern rock musical groups

Category:American jazz-rock groups

Category:Jam bands

Category:Rock music groups from Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:Capricorn Records artists

Category:Musical groups established in 1976

Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1981

Category:1976 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:1981 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)