By Howard Campbell—
The ATF Band: Stephen Lee, Herbie Harris, Lyndon Webb, and Courtland White.
WITH music activities gradually getting back to normal, the ATF Band returns to recording on a high with Collie Weed, an homage to ganja. Released on May 13, it is done to the melody of Seals & Crofts’ soft rock classic, Summer Breeze.
Stephen Lee, drummer for the ATF Band, said keyboardist/vocalist Herbie Harris came up with the idea for the song three years ago. A weed song, he believed, would be perfect for a melody as laid-back as Summer Breeze which was a big hit in 1972.
“Herbie had done a demo about three years ago of Summer Breeze. About a month ago after rehearsal we were all chatting and decided to do a cover song. Herbie said let’s go in the studio and he played the demo he had done. Of course, it was Summer Breeze. We then all agreed to record it and change the chorus to Collie Weed and change the words in the verses, but keep the Seals & Croft melody,” Lee explained.
He said he and his colleagues were unaware that Shinehead also did a song called Collie Weed to Summer Breeze in 1999.
It is the first song for 2022 released by the ATF Band whose other members are bassist Lyndon Webb and guitarist Courtland “Gizmo” White. Harris, a veteran who has played with Kotch and Third World, formed the band six years ago.
They had a hit song with Yardie in 2018 and released an EP of the same title one year later. The quartet’s progress was stalled by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
“Yes, the lockdown I think affected everyone both financially and emotionally. We were supposed to do some gigs overseas and had to cancel because of the pandemic. I guess that’s life, but a lot of places are opening back now, so we will see,” said Lee.
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