Target (American band)


Target was a Southern rock band from Memphis, Tennessee, who formed in the early 1970s. The band consisted of singer Jimi Jamison, guitarists Buddy Davis and Paul Cannon, Tommy Cathey on bass, and drummer David Spain. The group released a pair of albums, Target and Captured, on A&M Records, 3 singles plus a live concert At The High Cotton Club in Memphis on February, 1975 and opened concerts for Black Sabbath, Boston, and KISS. However, it has come to light that a third album was recorded in 1979, entitled In Range before the band split in 1982.

History (1974-1980)

In the early 1970s, Jamison was playing in a band called Omaha with Roy Howell. Omaha consisted of Howell, Jimi Jamison, Tommy Cathey, Walter Polk, and David Mayo. They had released the song "Open Mind," which was recorded, engineered and quick-mixed by J.R. Williams at Trans-Maximus Studio in Memphis. However, several band members wanted to explore the chances of performing original music and ended up backing David Beaver on his Combinations project. Eventually, they decided to break out on their own and formed Target.
Target started and became an arena local band playing live constantly building up their reputation. Eventually they were signed by A&M Records. They cover the song "99 and Half" on their first album . The group's Free- & Lynyrd-Skynyrd-influenced sound went down well live, but this didn't translate into the kind of record sales that had been hoped for.
The second album saw the band's sound become a little more sophisticated and expansive, and the band went out on tour once more, playing with Boston on this occasion. However, A&M were unimpressed by the sales figures for Captured and dropped Target from their roster. Target struggled on without a record deal until the early 1980s, before finally calling it a day. They won many loyal fans over their time together, and continued to pack venues down the years whenever there was the occasional Target reunion.

Final Recording and Late Release

In Range was recorded in the autumn of 1979: it took the band about two to three weeks to do this third album and it was released by Scape Music Label in 2017.

Discography

Singles