Who are the Able Bodied Men? Good question.

A Humble Beginning
Able Bodied Men evolved from a group called Gone Fishin, all members of the youth group of Chapel Woods Presbyterian. Virtually the entire youth group was in GF. Their stage presence was huge and their sound was horendous. Gone Fishin finally got fed up with people making fun of their name and changed it to Town Choir for a very brief period of time. This group neither performed nor recorded. In fact, the name may have only been in use for a week or two.

A Second Wind
When Ghost Ryder got a guitar (he'd pretty much just taken up space in GF), things took a turn for the better. Ryder quickly composed enough songs (rough though they were) that a recording deal was inevitable. That deal came in the form of Slimnastic Harp Dog's 4 track recorder and no less than 10 or 12 hours of hard work that produced the infamous opus called The Classic Fischer Kings. Oh, and the band changed its name again, to... you guessed it... The Classic Fischer Kings. But at least the group had begun to gel, and was even considering a whirlwind tour or Dekalb County. This tour would eventually take place, but only after they'd changed the band's name again, to...

Able Bodied Men
The name was finally right, and Able Bodied Men launched a tour for all time, beginning at Crossroads Presbyterian and ending back at the cradle, Chapel Woods Church. Finally they sported a full length album, and a regular lineup: Darth Johnson - Vocals, Ghost Ryder - Guitar, Thumper Ware - Bass, and Slimnastic Harp Dog - Guitar (the latter concert also included guitarist Ginsu Jobson and drummer Weasel Mitchell. It is regarded by many as the longest two-concert tour in history, but ABM had finally played before living, breathing humans, and lived to tell the story. They easily made enough in tape sales at the two shows to cover the cost of the tapes themselves, selling an estimated 50 copies. These shows spawned the incomparable volume "Able Bodied Men Live", a tape recorded straight off of the video from Slim's VHS camcorder. Noisy and often unintelligible, it's frankness and home-made charm are remarkable. Notable moments include Darth's two youngest brothers fighting over who would have to hold the camera, and a song in which the cameraman wandered the stage, picking up only one instrument at a time.

Narthex
About a year after the triumph that was Able Bodied Men, Darth, Ryder and Thumper were faced with the realization that they were just too old to cut the mustard. Enter Narthex, new blood to carry the ABM torch. Led by new vocalist, guitarist, and budding songwriter Crog, this group played the old ABM standbys as well as a few new selections, notably "River of Sin", "I Had To Die", "Dedicate Yourself" and "Innocence Regained", all composed by SH Dog in the post ABM era. Crog was joined by drummer Dan, guitarists Ginsu and Heath, bassist Jon and the Dog. A midnight show at Chapel Woods was followed by an appearance at Crossroads. A live album of the CW show would be available, but something went wacky with the recording equipment. At least the shirts were cool.
Note: Crog went on to semi-stardom with the later releases of his two critically acclaimed solo ventures, Crog: Really Raw and Crog: A Little More Clean.

An End To An Odyssey
After what must have been two years following the demise of Able Bodied Men, Darth, Ryder and Slim couldn't shake the thought that some of their best material had never been recorded. The album Darth/Ryder/Slim is the definitive work from the ABM empire, finally producing listenable versions of such favorites as "Tiger", "My Hyp" and the Altar Boys cover "Final Hour". As the title suggests, all work was recorded by Darth Johnson (Vocals), Ghost Ryder (Acoustic Guitar and Vocals) and Slimnastic Harp Dog (Electric Guitar, Bass, Harmonica, Saxophone and Vocals), in the Dog's garage. 60 copies of the tape were made (20 for each artist), of which only a very few remain.