Young drummer and songwriter Jimmy Sossamon was inspired to pick up rock instruments, like countess other teenagers, by the Beatles. In the mid-'60s, a group of high school friends -- Sossamon, guitarist Carlton Warwick, bassist Johnny Hayes, and guitarist Ronnie Baxley -- came together in the small North Carolina town of Lumberton to form the Young Ones. Hours of practice in an old tobacco barn and the addition of organist Dickie Britt helped the band become accomplished enough to begin playing local gigs on the weekends. They worked up a repertoire of Beatles and other British Invasion covers that allowed them to find higher paying gigs and increasing regional popularity throughout the mid-'60s with a stage show that included the finale of crashing their musical equipment before the Who began that trademark. The band's popularity increased with battle-of-the-band victories and television appearances allowing them to cut a few 45s in 1966 that made strong showings on local charts, but by this time the band had already begun to drift apart, splitting for good within a year. Even before the breakup, Sossamon had begun writing a lot of songs that he wanted to record. During the spring of 1968, songwriter and drummer Jimmy Sossamon heard a local group, the Glory Cykle, that impressed him so much that he approached them about becoming their manager, which they agreed to. The band -- guitarists Ralph Stevens and Jeff Hardin, bassist Grady Pope, organist Rick Wilson, and drummer/vocalist Ken Allen -- practiced at the studio Sossamon had built in his parent's garage, and by the end of the year, Sossamon had assumed the drumming duties to free up Allen as lead vocalist. They also shortened the band name to Cykle, and, in early 1969, began recording an album consisting entirely of Sossamon originals. The resultant eponymous LP was pressed in small quantities later that year. Not long after, Sossamon moved to Charlotte to take a position as songwriter and session drummer for a studio. In addition to writing songs for some of the other artists signed by the studio, he occasionally played live with some of them as well. One of the bands was the Rhodes Scholars from Gainesville, GA. Before long, Sossamon filled the drummer's seat for the band, but his association with them ended when he decided not to accompany the band on a tour of Florida and the Bahamas. The entire legacy of Sossamon and his bands is available on the 1997 collection released by reissue label Gear Fab. ~ Stanton Swihart, Rovi