Soul And / Or Related Artists
side effect

Side Effect

Formed in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Side Effect, originally, consisted of:

Augie Johnson (b. 2nd August 1948, New Orleans, Lousiana, U.S.A. d. 10th October 2014, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.A.)

Sylvia Nabors

Louis Sanford Patton (d. 17th June 2020, U.S.A.)

and

Gregory Matta

Side Effect were formed in Los Angeles in May 1972, when they started out as an all male trio and consisted of Louis Patton, Gregory Matta and leader Augie Johnson.

The group went under the name of The Cultures, originally.

Augie had been singing since childhood in fact, Johnson was among the kids who sang on Frank Sinatra's 1959 hit 'High Hopes.'

Augie Johnson was demobbed after a two year stint in the U.S. Army, where he was entertainments officer.

Returning to Los Angeles he hooked up with an old friend, Louis Patton.

The pair formed a seven piece show band called the Cultures.

The following two years saw Gregory Matta and Jim Gilstrap performing with the band.

During this period, the group supported many soul acts including The Temptations, The Jackson Five, Barbara Striesand, Rod Stewart and Disco Tex and The Sexolettes.

By 1974, Jim Gilstrap had left the group and the group recruited Sylvia Nabors, changed their name to Side Effect and recorded one single for the Canadian based GAS Records.

Side Effect

In 1975, Side Effect signed with Fantasy and recorded its self-titled debut album, which was, like subsequent efforts, produced by Wayne Henderson of the Crusaders fame.

That album featured artistic input from Arthur Adams, Jerry Peters, Joe Sample, Louis Johnson and Ronnie Laws.

By the time Side Effect recorded their second album, 'What You Need', in 1976, Nabors had been replaced by Helen Lowe.

Helen Lowe was later to become Helen Baylor, who had some success on the gospel circuit in the early 1990's. People may recall 'There's No Greater Love'.

Then, in 1977, Lowe was replaced by Sylvia St. James, who recorded with the group in 1977 and 1978.

St. James' subsequent replacement was Miki Howard, a talented singer who sang with the group for a few years before signing with Atlantic in 1986 and becoming well known as a solo artist.

The 1995 album 'N' Effect' featured the vocals of Elaine Gibbs. You can check out her website below.

In 2001, Soul Brother Records, in London, borrowed a copy, from a man called Jonathan, of an early album from 1973 entitled 'Effective', which was subsequently released that year.

The album included the vocals of Jim Gilstrap on the Northern Soul favourite 'Run, Run, Run'.

Augie Johnson, sadly, passed away in October 2014.

Louis Sanford Patton passed away in June 2020.

http://augiejohnson.com/

www.elainegibbs.com

Side Effect

Real Player

Albums:

Effective (Soul Brother Records 1973 - Released in 2001)

Side Effect (Fantasy Records 1976)

What You Need (Fantasy Records 1976)

Goin' Bananas (Fantasy Records 1978)

Rainbow Visions (Fantasy Records 1979)

After the Rain (Elektra Records 1980)

Portraits (Elektra Records 1981)

All Aboard (Elektra Records 1982)

N'effect (DHR Records 1995)

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