Cymarron was an American

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. They are most famous for their song " Rings", a number 17 hit in 1971. The recording went to No. 6 on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary chart and peaked at number 66 in Australia. "Rings" was also the first single release on Columbia's Entrance

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

. The band released a follow-up single, "Valerie" which was not as successful, peaking at 96 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), ...

and 19 on the Adult Contemporary chart. An album, also called "Rings" was released which reached 187 on the

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

album chart. Cymarron was composed of Rick Yancey (December 31, 1947 – September 10, 2021), Sherrill Parks (July 21, 1948 - July 24, 2022), and Richard Mainegra. They named their group after ''

Cimarron Strip ''Cimarron Strip'' is an American Western television series starring Stuart Whitman as Marshal Jim Crown. The series was produced by the creators of ''Gunsmoke'' and aired on CBS from September 1967 to March 1968. Reruns of the original show w ...

'' - a short-lived TV

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

from 1967. The band's only top 20 hit, "Rings" was written by outside

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

s Eddie Reeves and Alex Harvey, and produced by

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

. Moman had earlier hired Yancey as a

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. Yancey wrote the flip-side of their popular single, the song "Like Children". The song "Rings" was subsequently

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of ...

by both Lobo and Reuben Howell in 1974. Lobo's version was released as a single which reached 43 on the

and number 8 on the

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart. The song was also recorded in 1983 by Leo Kottke for his album, '' Time Step''. Cymarron achieved little other success, despite releasing another

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and several other singles. In 1991, Yancey and Mainegra joined

Jimmy Griffin James Arthur Griffin (August 10, 1943 – January 11, 2005) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work with the 1970s soft rock band Bread. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1970 as co-writer ...

in forming the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

band The Remingtons. Yancey and Griffin also performed together as GYG until Griffin's death in 2005. Yancey, singer and guitarist, died in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee, on September 10, 2021, at age 73.

References

External links

Oldies.com BiographyThe song "Rings"
1971 establishments in Tennessee American soft rock music groups Musical groups established in 1971 Musical groups from Memphis, Tennessee {{US-rock-band-stub