The group, which reached its zenith in the '80s with a string of country hits, will play at the concert club Saturday.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN
Published May 23, 2003
It's been four decades - 40 years - since J.P. Pennington and his pals formed a band in his hometown of Richmond, Ky., and called themselves the Exiles, which quickly changed to Exile.
It's been a quarter century - 25 years - since the group's breakthrough hit, Kiss You All Over, topped the pop charts in 1978.
And it's been 20 years since the group changed its style to country and started piling up a string of No. 1 country hits that included Woke Up in Love, I Don't Want to be a Memory, Give Me One More Chance, Crazy for Your Love, She's a Miracle, Hang on to Your Heart and others.
Band members have changed over the years, and fortunes have waned, but the group's mainstays, Pennington and Les Taylor, got back together in 1997 to re-launch Exile and have been on the road since then.
On Saturday, Exile will be at Bourbon Street Concert Club, just one stop on their way to two shows at Little Nashville Opry in Nashville, Ind., on July 5.
Opening act at Bourbon Street is local favorite Wiley Fox.
Exile earned 11 nominations for "Vocal Group of the Year" by the American Country Music association and the Country Music Association. As a rock group, they opened for Aerosmith, Heart and Boston; as a country group, they opened for Kenny Rogers, Ronnie Milsap, Alan Jackson, Travis Tritt and Hank Williams Jr.
Pennington wrote or co-wrote all of Exile's No. 1 hits, and he also wrote hits for Alabama (Take Me Down, The Closer You Get), Janie Fricke (It Ain't Easy Being Easy) and Kenny Rogers (Take This Heart).
The band's close harmony and memorable lyrics make for good dance music. The current sound is the same that brought the group so many accolades at its zenith in the 1980s.
At a glance
WHAT: Exile, with opening act Wiley Fox
WHERE: Bourbon Street Concert Club, 4331 U.S. 19, New Port Richey
WHEN: Saturday; doors open at 7:30 p.m., show at 9 p.m.
