Bernadette Randle (keyboards) b.St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.
Clarence Oliver (drums) b. Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A.
Jonathan Robert Williams (bass guitar)
Mozart Pierre-Louis (organ) b. Haiti.
Tommy Keith (rhythm guitar) b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
and
Walter Lee Morris (lead guitar)
The Rimshots (a.k.a. People Of Pleasure) were part of the All Platinum/Stang Records imprint during the 1970’s.
Prior to being called the Rimshots, the group provided the instrumentation for many of the All Platinum/Stang/Chess artist roster.
These included sides for the likes of Hank Ballard, Donnie Elbert, Shirley & Company, Chuck Jackson, Brook Benton, Solomon Burke, Brother to Brother, Eleanor Mills, The Moments, and Etta James (on ‘Etta Is Betta Than Evah’).
'soultrain parts 1 & 2' - 1972 / 'dance girl' b/w 'who got the monster' - 1974
In 1972, they collaborated (on the A-1 Records imprint), with King Curtis on the original theme song for the legendary Soul Train television series.
The group released two albums, which were 'Soultrain' (in 1972) and 'Down To Earth' (in 1976).
'soul train' - 1972 / 'down to earth' - 1976
By the mid Seventies, their work concentrated mainly for the All Platinum set-up.
The group were the backing band for their All Platinum label mates the Moments at this time.
They performed on many albums for the label, and began to release material under their new name, ‘the Rimshots’.
‘7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (Blow Your Whistle)’ was released in Europe in 1975.
The group began touring internationally, appearing on the BBC Television show, Top of the Pops.
The Rimshots released further singles for several labels including, Astroscope and Stang, including ‘Do What You Feel’ (in 1975, number 93 on the U.S. Billboard charts), ’Super Disco’ b/w ‘Groove Bus’ (in 1976, number 49 R&B), ‘Harvey’s Wallbanger’ (in 1975) and ‘Jack In The Box’ b/w ‘We’ve Got You Singing’ (in 1977).
When Bernadette Randle left All Platinum, she was replaced by Sammy Lowe, Jr.
The Rimshots had disbanded by the Eighties, although Sugarhill Records released a fine retrospective of their work during the mid Nineties.
Albums:
Soultrain (A-1 Records 1972)
Down To Earth (Stang Records 1976)
