The debut album contains most of their best material, bright guitar, and keyboard-based instrumentals. Chuck Leavell shines on five of his tunes. Jimmy Nalls plays sweet guitar. Their first and best album. Some vocals, nicely crafted on "Nothing Matters but the Fever." ~ Michael G. Nastos, All Music Guide
Sea Level (Main Performer), Paul Simon (Performer), Rudolph Carter (Horn), Charles Fairley (Horn), Earl Ford (Horn), Jaimoe Johnson (Percussion), Jaimoe Johnson (Drums), Leo Labranche (Horn), Neil Larsen (Performer), Chuck Leavell (Percussion), Chuck Leavell (Keyboards), Chuck Leavell (Vocals), Chuck Leavell (Performer), Stewart Levine (Producer), Donald McClure (Horn), Rik Pekkonen (Remixing), Sam Whiteside (Engineer), Lamar Williams (Bass), Lamar Williams (Guitar (Bass)), Lamar Williams (Vocals), Jim Nalls (Guitar), Jim Nalls (Vocals), Marie Kaylan (Art Direction), Kosh (Design), Moshe Brakha (Photography), Fred Meyer (Remixing), Richard Schoff (Assistant)
Representative Albums: "The Best of Sea Level," "Sea Level," "Cats on the Coast"
Representative Songs: "That's Your Secret," "Tidal Wave," "Nothing Matters But the Fever"
Biography
Fusion combo Sea Level was formed in 1976 by keyboardist Chuck Leavell, bassist Lamar Williams, and drummer Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson following their exit from the Allman Brothers Band; guitarist Jimmy Nalls completed the original lineup, which in 1977 issued its self-titled debut LP on the Capricorn label. Honing its distinctive marriage of rock, blues, and jazz through relentless touring, the group returned to the studio to cut 1978's Cats on the Coast, followed later that year by On the Edge; although Jaimoe returned to the Allmans, Sea Level recorded two more albums -- 1979's Long Walk on a Short Pier and 1980's Ball Room -- before dissolving. Leavell later emerged as a sought-after session player and producer, also touring with the Rolling Stones; in 1998, he issued his debut solo LP, What's in That Bag? Sadly, Williams died of Agent Orange-related cancer on January 25, 1983. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
Sea Level is the name of a fusion group that mixed jazz, blues and rock. It existed between 1976 and 1981. Initially, it was an offshoot of The Allman Brothers Band, but as tensions grew between the loss of two of its founding members, and personal greivances between Gregg Allman and other bandmates and associates, Sea Level took on a life of its own as an independent band.
After the initial destruction of the Allman Brothers Band, the refugees who evolved into Sea Level were the trio "We Three"; comprising bassistLamar Williams, drummerJaimoe and Chuck Leavell (piano, keyboards, vocals), all then-members of the Allman Brothers, the trio would occasionally open shows for the group in 1975 and 1976. With the Allmans' first disbanding in 1976, the trio added guitarist Jimmy Nalls and named the band based on a phoenetic pun of their new bandleader's name: "C. Leavell". They toured relentlessly, experimenting on and refining their sound, eventually signing with Capricorn Records (home of the Allman Brothers) and recording their self-titled debut album in 1977.
After the release of their first album, the group expanded to a septet with the additions of Davis Causey (guitar), George Weaver (percussion) and Randall Bramblett (saxophones, keyboards and vocals). That configuration recorded the group's second album, Cats on the Coast, in 1978 (which produced a moderate "hit" with "That's Your Secret"). 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).
Leavell later emerged as a sought-after session musician and producer, eventually becoming a "permanent" session player touring with the Rolling Stones. Considered to have the "wrong image" as the Rolling Stones, while touring, he would most frequently be seated at keyboards, out of the main view of fans, and as a result, became dubbed "the sixth Rolling Stone".
In 1998, he issued his debut solo LP What's in That Bag? and more recently, released Forever Blue (which includes "solo" versions of two classic Sea Level compositions, "Whole Lotta Colada" and "Song for Amy", and Southscape, an album of Southern anthems that hearkens back to his Southern roots.
