David and the Giants began as a rock band in
Laurel, Mississippi, with the Huff brothers David, Clayborn and Rayborn. Along with Jerry Parker on drums, they toured the Southeast during the 1960s. In 1977, they switched to a
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music that features lyrics focusing on matters of Christian faith, often with an emphasis on Jesus, typically performed by self-proclaimed Christian individuals. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Ch ...
format. They continued to sing and record together through 1999.
Recording and performing together for almost 40 years, the band released 17 albums. Though the band's style has been compared to that of
Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart, their most commercially successful work came in the 1960s with a sound, augmented by The Muscle Shoals Horns, that closely resembled that of
Jay & the Techniques.
Music career
Early years and conversion
The band released its first single, a cover version of "
Rockin' Robin" around 1964, under the name of Little David & the Giants. In 1969,
Keith Thibodeaux (best known as "Little Ricky" from ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'') joined the band. His arrival marked the beginning of the band's most commercially successful era. Although band members often described their sound as having its roots in
Southern rock, the band's most successful recordings became popular in England in the 1970s and 80s as
Northern soul – songs that featured a mixture of a Top 40 sound with horns and strings.
In 1969, they achieved regional success in the southeastern US with singles of that genre entitled "Superlove" and "Ten Miles High". Their work of that era was distributed in both the United States and in the United Kingdom.
"Superlove", "Ten Miles High" and some of the band's other late sixties singles have appeared on various genre compilations. In the early 1970s, the band performed in concert with
Styx
In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...
,
Black Oak Arkansas,
Cheech and Chong and
Chuck Berry. David Huff was in the studio with
The Rolling Stones when they recorded the song, "
Brown Sugar", and also spent some time in the studio with artists such as
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
and
Rod Stewart
Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...
.
In 1977, the band members converted to
Christianity. That same year they released their first Christian album, ''Song of Songs''. Released without label support, it contained ballads and a mixture of pop-rock. Their second album, ''This One's for You'' had a similar sound. Two years later, the band recorded ''Step in My Shoes''. Devoid of up-tempo songs, the album was not commercially successful. For their fourth album, the band returned to a sound much closer to their musical roots. ''Almost Midnight'', a rock album, was more successful than the first three. They continued with that sound for their fifth attempt, entitled ''Heaven or Hell''.
/ref>
Commercial peak and decline
In the 1980s, the band signed with Priority Records, CBS Priority Records in Nashville. The first release, entitled simply ''David and the Giants'' was widely distributed and sold well. The band's next album, ''Riders in the Sky'', contained concert staples like "Riders in the Sky" "Step by Step", "King of the Jews", "Superstar" and "Look at the People". The band released another album called ''Inhabitants of the Rock'', which though not commercially successful, contained the radio releases "I Can Depend on You" and "I Am Persuaded". It went out of print in the early 1990s. Two more albums followed, ''Under Control'' and ''Magnificat''. Both were well-received by fans. The band concluded the 1980s with ''Strangers to the Night'' and ''R-U Gonna Stand Up''. In 1989, the song "Here's My Heart" from ''R-U Gonna Stand Up'' received airplay on heritage CHR/Top 40 station WNCI in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, thanks to a mislabeled CD of what was supposed to be a copy of a single from the group Soul II Soul. WNCI program director Dave Robbins liked the song enough to put the song on the air, although they did not know who the artist was at the time. WNCI received such positive response to the song that it was added into regular rotation.
Keith Thibodeaux left the band after recording "R U Gonna Stand Up" in the summer of 1989. In the 1990s, the band was not commercially successful. Though they had three hits from their albums "Stumbling Block to a Stepping Stone", "I'm Still Rocking" and "Always on My Mind", their most successful album had been ''Angels Unaware''. By 1997, the band had been on the road for almost 30 years and decided it was time to do something else.
Band members since 1997
David Huff continued to perform as a solo act and operates a recording studio near Atlanta, Georgia. He released a series of solo albums, including ''Really'' in 2000 and ''Proclaim'' in 2003 (which was re-released by Christian Records in 2004). ''Let My Guitar Talk'', an instrumental album, was released in 2008. ''Do You Know What I Mean'' was released in August 2008.
The Huff brothers occasionally performed together as "David and the Giants". On December 9, 2007, they joined former drummer Keith Thibodeaux for a reunion concert at Emmanuel Praise Church in Monroe, Georgia. They also performed at the 2011 Nashville Amp Expo with guitarist Phil Keaggy
Philip Tyler Keaggy (born March 23, 1951) is an American acoustic and electric guitarist and vocalist who has released more than 55 albums and contributed to many more recordings in both the contemporary Christian music and mainstream markets. H ...
, who joined them during their set.
In September 2014, David and the Giants (David Huff, Clayborn Huff, Rayborn Huff and Keith Thibodeaux) released "Still Rockin". The live album was recorded at New Life Church in Pearl, Mississippi, in mid-2013. The CD also features four songs recorded by the band at Huff Recording in Athens, Georgia. The band continued to perform in the U.S. and internationally. In 2017, they performed and were honored by the Jimmie Rodgers Music Foundation to receive The Jimmie Award in Meridian, Mississippi
Meridian is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, seventh largest city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 41,148 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census and an estimated population in 2018 of 36,347. It is the count ...
(along with other Mississippi musicians and songwriters such as Steve Forbert and George Soule).
In August 2017, a live concert album and video was recorded in St. Louis, Missouri, celebrating 40 years of David and the Giants music. In September 2018, the band recorded their first full studio album with the original band since 1989. ''What Are You Waiting For?'' was released on March 5, 2019. It was recorded with the original lineup of David Huff, Clayborn Huff, Rayborn Huff and Keith Thibodeaux in Athens, Georgia.
Members
* Dennon Dearman – bass guitar (1994–1999)
* Gerald Hagan – piano (1977–1979)
* Owen Hale – drums (1977–1978)
* Clayborn Huff – bass guitar (1963–present)
* David W. Huff – guitar, vocals (1963–present)
* Lance Huff – drums (1989–1999)
* Rayborn Huff – keyboards (1963–present)
* Jerry Parker – drums (1963–1967)
* Bob Gauthier – guitar (1969–1971)
* Friday Nelson – drums (1969)
* David Shelton – drums (1977)
* Gregg Giuffria – keyboards (1971–1972)
* Bobby Torello – drums (1973)
* Mike Jackson – vocals (1974–1977)
* Johnny Hozey – guitar (1974–1977)
* Tommy Aldridge – drums (1972)
* David Morris – bass (1974–1977)
* Norman Stokes – keyboards (1974–1976)
* Tony Taylor – drums (1978)
* Keith Thibodeaux – drums (1969–1977, 1979–1989, 2007–present)
Discography
Singles
* "Rockin' Robin"/"I'll Always Love You" (1963–1964) – Little David & the Giants (Charm Records)
* "On Bended Knees"/"Someday You're Gonna Be Sorry" (1967) (Amy Records
DJ copy of Kinetic Energy 1969 Amy 45
Amy Records was a record label formed in 1960 as a subsidiary of Bell Records. Artists who had success on Amy included Al Brown's Tunetoppers with "The Madison" (Amy 804 charted #23), a dance tune in 1960, Jo ...
)
* "Ten Miles High"/"I'm Down So Low" (1968) (Crazy Horse Records)
* "Superlove"/"Rolling in My Sleep" (1968) (Crazy Horse)
* "Don't Say No"/"Love 'em and Leave 'em" (1968) (Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
)
Albums
* ''Song of Songs'' (1977) (Song of Songs Records)
* ''This One's for You'' (1978) (Song of Songs)
* ''Step in My Shoes'' (1979) (Song of Songs)
* ''Almost Midnight'' (1980) (Song of Songs)
* ''Heaven or Hell'' (1981) (Song of Songs)
* ''David and the Giants'' (1982) ( Priority Records)
* ''Riders in the Sky'' (1983) (Priority)
* ''Inhabitants of the Rock'' (1984) ( Myrrh Records)
* ''Under Control'' (1985) (Myrrh)
* ''Magnificat'' (1987) (Myrrh)
* ''Strangers to the Night'' (1988) ( Giant Records)
* ''R-U Gonna Stand Up'' (1989) (Giant)
* ''Distant Journey'' (1990) (Giant)
* ''Long Time Coming'' (1992) (Giant)
* ''Giant Hits'' (1993) (Giant)
* ''Angels Unaware'' (1995) (Giant/ Benson Records)
* ''Dream'' (1996) (Giant)
David Huff solo albums
* ''Really'' (2000) ( Giant Records)
* ''Proclaim'' (2004) (Giant)
* ''Let My Guitar Talk'' (2008) (Giant)
* ''Do You Know What I Mean'' (2008) (Giant)
* ''Living in the Future'' (2012) (Giant)
* ''Wait'' (2013) (Giant)
* ''Born For This'' (2016) (Giant)
References
External links
*
*
Radio CSS Interview with David Huff (Audio)
{{Authority control
American Christian rock groups
Rock music groups from Mississippi
Musical groups established in 1963
Myrrh Records artists
1963 establishments in Mississippi