R.I.P. Jeffrey Reeves, lead guitarist for KC and the Sunshine Band

jeffrey_reeves

(March 15, 2021) In a year that has already taken too many musical lives, today we say goodbye to guitarist supreme Jeffrey Reeves of KC and the Sunshine Band. For many years, the Cleveland native and Fort Lauderdale transplant has been one of the bright lights in a band that brought plenty of shine to the world.

One of his close friends posted today on Facebook, “I don’t think he ever met a person that didn’t fall in love with his inspiration, kindness and love for everyone and everything.”

At the peak of the disco rage, few acts made more of a splash than Miami-based KC and the Sunshine Band. Creating a series of hot upbeat songs highlighting tight instrumentation and lead singer Harry KC Casey’s largely processed vocals, they amassed an amazing collection of top ten hits and a level of success that keeps them touring successfully to this day.

The first few songs, “Blow Your Whistle” (September 1973) and “Sound Your Funky Horn” (February 1974), were released as singles, and had limited impact. However, a side project writing and producing music for George McCrae took Finch and Casey’s “Rock Your Baby” and made it a hit in mid-1974, selling 11 million copies worldwide. The band’s “Queen of Clubs” was a hit in England, and they went on tour to England in 1975 off that success.

With the release of the self-titled triple platinum second album KC and the Sunshine Band in 1975 came the group’s first major US hit with “Get Down Tonight”. It topped the R&B chart in April and the Billboard chart in August. “That’s the Way (I Like It)” also became a number one hit in November 1975 and the group did well at the 1976 Grammy Awards. The 1976 album Part 3 yielded three top 5 singles: “I’m Your Boogie Man”, “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” and “Keep It Comin’ Love”. Their success lasted until the fifth album and 1979-80; their last chart topping hit was “Please Don’t Go” in December 1979, hitting #1 for one week in January 1980, and becoming the first #1 hit of the 1980s. With the declining popularity of disco, the group explored other styles and changed labels, joining Epic Records in 1980 after TK Records went bankrupt.

In 1981, the partnership between Rick Finch and Harry Wayne Casey came to an acrimonious end. Casey began recording as a solo artist, and in 1982 scored a hit track called “Give It Up,” an infectious dance tune that was arguably one of his finest compositions. It was his last hit, as changes in the musical landscape and substance abuse problems led to Casey’s retirement from the music business in the mid-80s.

A revival in the interest of disco music in 1991 brought a now health-conscious Casey out of retirement. He reformed the group with entirely new members and began touring once again, with Reeves becoming a crowd favorite. The group has continued to tour ever since, and even recorded on occasion. Reeves served as arranger for the group’s 2015 Christmas album.

So much love from the musician community shows what Jeffrey Reeves meant to them as a musician and a person. May he rest in peace.

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Portions of this article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikepedia article KC and the Sunshine Band

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