The next band on my list of Southern Rockers or Country Bluesman is the long time running band called The Marshall Tucker band.
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock/country rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. While the band had reached the height of its commercial success by the end of the decade, the band has recorded and performed continuously under various lineups for nearly 40 years.
The original lineup of The Marshall Tucker Band, formed in 1972, included lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Toy Caldwell (1947–1993), vocalist Doug Gray (born 1948), keyboard player, saxophone player, and flutist Jerry Eubanks (born 1950), rhythm guitarist George McCorkle (1946–2007), drummer Paul Riddle (born 1953), and bassist Tommy Caldwell (1949–1980). They signed with Capricorn Records and in 1973 released their first LP, The Marshall Tucker Band.
After Tommy Caldwell was killed in an automobile accident in 1980, he was replaced by bassist Franklin Wilkie. Most of the original band members had left by the mid-1980s to pursue other projects. The band's lineup as of 2009 consists of Gray on vocals, guitarist Stuart Swanlund (died August 4, 2012), keyboard player and flutist Marcus James Henderson, guitarist Rick Willis, bassist Pat Elwood, and drummer, Barry (B.B.) Borden.
Stuart Swanlund (guitarist) , (died August 4, 2012)
In 1984 Doug and Jerry hit the road with a group of Nashville studio musicians and young Spartanburg guitarist named Rusty Milner. Bob Wray (bass, standing far left), James Stroud and Kenny Mimms (standing, center) were in the band for one tour. Bobby Ogdin (standing, far left) would remain for about two years. Stroud went on to become one of Nashville's premier producers.
The "Marshall Tucker" in the band's name does not refer to a band member, but rather a Spartanburg-area piano tuner. While the band was discussing possible band names one evening in an old warehouse they had rented for rehearsal space, someone noticed that the warehouse's door key had the name "Marshall Tucker" inscribed on it, and suggested they call themselves the "The Marshall Tucker Band," not realizing it referred to an actual person. It later came to light that Marshall Tucker, the blind piano tuner, had rented the space before the band, and the landlord had yet to change the inscription on the key.
In his book, Top Pop Singles, 1955-2002, music historian Joel Whitburn attributes "Marshall Tucker" to the owner of the band's rehearsal hall.
The original members (and some later members) of The Marshall Tucker Band had been playing in various lineups under different band names around the Spartanburg area since the early 1960s. In 1966, members of several such bands merged to form the Toy Factory, named after guitarist Toy Caldwell. The Toy Factory's constantly shifting lineup included, at times, Caldwell, Caldwell's younger brother Tommy, Doug Gray, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle, and Franklin Wilkie. In the late 1960s, four of the band members served in the U.S. Armed Forces; Toy Caldwell was wounded in Vietnam.
By the 1970s, Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle had returned to Spartanburg, and the Toy Factory had resumed playing in area clubs. In fact, in 1970 the Toy Factory was the opening act for the Allman Brothers when the Allman's played at the "Sitar" music lounge in Spartanburg.
In 1972, Caldwell and McCorkle once again revamped the band's lineup, eventually settling on Tommy Caldwell on bass, George McCorkle rhythm guitar, and Jerry Eubanks, flute/tenor sax, while adding Paul Riddle on drums; the new lineup adopted the name "Marshall Tucker Band." Wet Willie lead singer Jimmy Hall told Toy Caldwell to book the band at Grant's Lounge in Macon, GA. which he did. After hearing the band play at Grant's Buddy Thornton and Paul Hornsby recorded the band's demo at Capricorn Studios in Macon, Ga. Frank Fenter and Phil Walden signed The Marshall Tucker Band based on those demos.
1970s
The Marshall Tucker Band's self-titled debut, produced by Paul Hornsby, was released in 1973, and certified gold in 1975. All of the tracks were written by Toy Caldwell, including "Can't You See", which was released in 1973 on Capricorn 0023 ("Bubbled Under" at No. 108 on 1 September 1973) and re-released in 1977 on Capricorn 0278 (peaked at No. 75 on 24 September 1977). After the album's release, the band began touring, playing upwards of 300 shows per year throughout the decade.
Southern rock fiddler Charlie Daniels later recalled that The Marshall Tucker Band "came onstage and just blew it out from start to finish." Daniels' first of many collaborations with The Marshall Tucker Band came on the band's second album, A New Life, which was released in 1974, and certified gold in 1977. Daniels and blues guitarist Elvin Bishop were among several musicians that joined the band for Where We All Belong, a double-album (one studio album and one live album) released by the band in 1974 and certified gold that same year.
The following year the band's Searchin' for a Rainbow was also certified gold the year of its release, and contained the track "Fire on the Mountain," which peaked at No. 38 on the Billboard charts. Long Hard Ride, the band's fifth consecutive gold album, was released in 1976, and its instrumental title track (which again features Charlie Daniels on fiddle) was nominated for a Grammy. Carolina Dreams, released in 1977 and certified platinum that same year, proved to be the band's most commercially successful album, and included the track "Heard It In a Love Song," which reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts. The band's final Capricorn release came with 1978's Together Forever, which was produced by Stewart Levine. Following the bankruptcy of Capricorn, The Marshall Tucker Band moved to Warner Bros. Records for their ninth album, Running Like the Wind (the band's eighth release was a compilation album entitled Greatest Hits), and they retained Levine as the album's producer.
1980s
Following the completion of the band's tenth album, entitled Tenth, tragedy struck The Marshall Tucker Band. On April 22, 1980, the band's bassist and co-founder, Tommy Caldwell, was involved in an automobile accident in which he suffered massive head trauma, and died six days later.
Former Toy Factory bassist Franklin Wilkie replaced Caldwell, but the band was never able to recapture its commercial success of the 1970s. On 1982's Tuckerized, only two songs were written by band members; 'Sea, Dreams & Fairy Tales' by Toy Caldwell and 'Sweet Elaine' by George McCorkle. Main songwriter Toy Caldwell only contributed three songs to each of the two albums released in 1983; Just Us and Greetings from South Carolina. After 1983's Greetings from South Carolina, the band split up.
In 1988, original members Gray and Eubanks reorganized The Marshall Tucker Band to record the album Still Holdin' On, their one and only release on the Mercury Records label. Although Gray and Eubanks added new members Rusty Milner, Stuart Swanlund, and Tim Lawter, Still Holdin' On was primarily recorded with studio musicians. The newer members had a much greater role, however, on the band's 1990 album, Southern Spirit, released on the Sisaspa label. The album marked a return to the band's country and blues roots.
1990s
In 1992, The Marshall Tucker Band produced its first album for the Cabin Fever label, Still Smokin', which managed to crack the top 70 on the Billboard charts. The band's 1993 release, Walk Outside the Lines, marked a transition to a more country sound, relying less on long improvised jams that were the trademark of the band's early career. The album's title track was co-written by country music star Garth Brooks, a long-time fan of the band who considered writing a track for them a "milestone" in his career.
Ronald Radford, a Spartanburg boy, played with the band from 1993 - 95. Previously, he toured several years with Randy Travis among others and was voted touring Guitar Player of the Year for two years by the Academy of Country Music. In addition to guitar he played keyboards in MTB and learned steel guitar specifically for the band.
After Jerry's departure in 1996 David Muse stepped in and filled some mighty big shoes. His showmanship brought a new dimension to the band and he was well received by longtime Tucker fans. He was a founding member of Firefall and remained with them throughout their heyday in the mid 70's and into the early 80's. In January of 2000 he left MTB for the reunion of Firefall. David Muse returned to the MTB lineup in 2003, covering the flute, sax and keyboard chores for the band.
For 1998's Face Down In the Blues, the band added Spartanburg-area guitarist Ronald Radford and multi-instrumentalist David Muse, the latter replacing Jerry Eubanks, who had retired in 1996. Gospel, the band's 1999 album, featured the band's rendition of traditional songs such as The Wayfaring Stranger and Will the Circle Be Unbroken, as well as several original tracks.
Recent history
The Marshall Tucker Band continued recording and performing into the 21st century, playing between 150 and 200 shows per year. The band reissued many of its albums from the 1970s on its new Ramblin' Records label, as well as two two-disc compilations, the first (Anthology) being a 30-year retrospective and the second (Where a Country Boy Belongs) being a collection of the band's country songs. In 2004, they released another studio album, Beyond the Horizon, and the following year released a Christmas album, Carolina Christmas.
"Can't You See" was used for the opening and closing credits of the Kevin Costner 2008 motion picture Swing Vote. "Take the Highway" was also used in the movie.
I’ll look for another famous artist/band to share with you in my next post. It is great to learn more about the icons of the guitar/music world that we all strive to mimic in our own way.
Now, until next time, please remember to “Support Live Music”. It keeps all musicians working. and that is very important Your support is appreciated.
MUSICIAN by Night
GOD Save “The Blues”
First, regarding ARS, the pictures labeled Rodney Justo are actually pictures of Ronnie Hammond, now deceased. Rodney Justo was the singer for their first album (not a commercial success) and Ronnie Hammond was the singer during their popular period of the '70s. Rodney is the current lead singer (as of November 2013).
ReplyDeleteSecond, Ronnie never played drums for ARS.