Reachin' for a little bit more (The Marshall Tucker Band) (LP 977 - 981)

The Marshall Tucker Band   Dedicated (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1981) ***  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Tuckerized (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1982) **  

The Marshall Tucker Band   Just Us (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1983) **  

The Marshall Tucker Band   Greetings From South Carolina (Vinyl, Warner Bros Records, 1983) **  

The Marshall Tucker Band   southern spirit (CD, Polydor Records, 1990) ***   

Genre: Southern rock

Places I remember: Amoeba Records, Real Groovy Records, Slow Boat Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Silverado (Dedicated)

Gear costume: Ride In Peace (Dedicated)

Active compensatory factors: This is the third and final edition of albums by these titans of southern rock. They hung in there longer than most and managed to live up to the brothers of the road vibe.

And so we enter the eighties, a tricky decade for bands who established themselves in the seventies.

Dedicated is the first album after bass player Tommy Caldwell's tragic death from a car accident. The band is intact apart from that and still aiming to produce that crazy good southern country swing that they do so well.

By this stage though, they appear more interested in a tilt at the adult contemporary music market, than staying true to their roots. While Doug Gray is involved it will always sound like TMTB. So, three stars for Dedicated.

It only cost me $1.00 from San Francisco's Amoeba Records (from their clearance bin). Criminal, but good for me. I suppose that sums up where the band was at in 2016 when I bought it, but it's better than a clearance bin.

Tuckerized comes in a clearance bin style cover (all the covers from here on in have a whiff of budget about them it must be said). Sadly, it's a trend of diminishing returns from here on, as the ten year mark hit. 

Toy Caldwell only contributes one song to this one and George McCorkle only has one as well, so they become increasingly reliant on outside material from this album onwards, and therefore less recognizable as TMTB. The band remained intact throughout though with Franklin Wilkie the bass man from Dedicated onwards.

Just Us and Greetings From South Carolina are okay but the splitting of the band after the leaning towards country on Greetings looked inevitable. Gray and Eubanks recorded an album with session musicians next, so I don't really regard Still Holdin' On as a true Marshall Tucker Band album.

Southern spirit (lower case denotes certain things - just sayin') is a good attempt to return to the class band's country rock sound, so they get an extra star for this one, but Gray and Eubanks are the only original members. Absolutely dire cover, it must be said.

As I said before, when Doug Gray sings it sounds like TMTB but the band of brothers has long since headed off toward the sunset by the early nineties.

Where do they all belong? I haven't had any great desire to collect albums after southern spirit because the band is pretty much The Marshall Tucker Band in name only, even though Doug Gray and Jerry Eubanks remained for a while. If I come across them, I'll probably be tempted though.

Jerry retired in 1996. I hope he's happily retired - his flute and sax added a huge dimension to that signature Marshall Tucker Band sound. 

That's also the end of the southern rock section of my collection.

Long hard ride (The Marshall Tucker Band) (LP 940 - 944)

The Marshall Tucker Band  Long Hard Ride (Vinyl and CD, Capricorn Records, 1976) *****  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Carolina Dreams (Vinyl, Capricorn Records, 1977) *****  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Together Forever (Vinyl, Capricorn Records, 1978) ***  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Running Like The Wind (Vinyl, Warner Brothers Records, 1979) ***  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Tenth (Vinyl, Warner Brothers Records, 1980) ****   

Genre: Southern Rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Amoeba Records (SF), Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Heard It in A Love Song (Carolina Dreams)

Gear costume: Desert Skies (Carolina Dreams)

Active compensatory factors: Just check out the release dates - they did an album every year without fail! Not only that, the consistency remains high! Incredible.

For me, these albums are the peak achievement years. Long Hard Ride (with that terrific cover) and Carolina Dreams are perfect Marshall Tucker Band records - production is great, the songs are all terrific, the musicianship is at a high standard and the togetherness vibe intact.

If I had to pick one album to represent the band, Carolina Dreams would be it. Hence why both of my featured selections come from it. All of the bands' country/rock strengths are on display. It's just a beautiful collection of sounds.

Together Forever isn't just a nifty album title - you really get the sense that this is a band of brothers who are in it for each other for the long hard ride. Only Tommy Caldwell's untimely accidental death after Tenth in 1980 would make things otherwise.

Together Forever has a tougher sounding, more rock than country rock sound for the most part (last track is an acoustic one) and while there is a uniformity of sound, this last album on Capricorn Records doesn't really rise to the peaks of the previous two.

Running Like The Wind was the band's first album for Warner Brothers and has that distinctive Marshall Tucker band sound again, without great songs though, apart from Unto These Hills which includes some wonderful playing by Doug Eubanks.  

Tenth, their second on Warner Brothers, is a storming album. There is a vitality to the album and a new energy as It Takes Time kicks off the album sounding a little like The Doobie Brothers. The production is FM radio slicker but still recognizably Marshall Tucker Band, as their comfortable easy brilliance continues throughout the album. 

Where do they all belong? A final entry is to come from The Marshall Tucker Band on the next go around with their albums from 1981 onwards (the post Tommy Caldwell era).

Hillbilly band (The Marshall Tucker Band) (LP 894 - 897)

The Marshall Tucker Band  The Marshall Tucker Band (Vinyl, Capricorn Records, 1973) *****

The Marshall Tucker Band  A New Life (CD, Capricorn Records, 1974) *****  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Where We All Belong (Vinyl, Capricorn Records, 1974) ***  

The Marshall Tucker Band  Searchin' For A Rainbow (Vinyl, Capricorn Records, 1975) ***  

Genre: Southern rock 

Places I remember: Amoeba Records (San Francisco); Real Groovy Records (A New Life); Slow Boat Records (Where We All Belong)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Can't You See (from the debut album)

Gear costume: Blue Ridge Mountain Sky (A New Life), Bound And Determined (Searchin' For A Rainbow)

Active compensatory factors: The Marshall Tucker Band is a perfect blend of country and rock sensibilities, plus they have a sweet sound so I have turned into a rabid completist for this band.

It happened slowly. First came hearing Carolina Dreams (it's coming) while working at Marbecks Records and then a cassette copy of Long Hard Road (yes - it's coming too) was thrashed in the car. Two superb albums. Third purchase was A New Life - included in this threesome, and another unbelievably great set of songs.

That did it. Three great albums in a row was telling me something. I needed to get everything else!!

Debut album, The Marshall Tucker Band sets out their stall superbly. 

There's Toy Caldwell's songs (Can't You See, sung by Toy, is an anthem), Doug Gray's terrific lead vocals*, the easy brilliance of the rest of the band which includes Jerry Eubanks adding jazzy sax and flute, and that country rock cool swing from Tommy Caldwell, George McCorkle, and Paul Riddle. All up - a great combination of sounds.

* My two highlighted songs above both feature Toy on vocals but it's actually Doug's smooth approach that is used most frequently on songs, to great effect.

Second album, A New Life, carries on the feel from that debut while adding new jazzy flavours and has a great cover (the cowboy on his horse playing a violin is from the debut cover). No difficult second album syndrome happening here.

Third album, Where We All Belong, is a double album - half live and half studio songs. So, something of an addendum to A New Life.

I'm not sure which band/artist did the first half studio/half live album. I've owned a few in my time - The Rolling Stones Gimme Shelter, ZZ Top's Fandango and Jackson Browne's Running On Empty, which intermingles studio and live to tell a specific story, all spring to mind. Those were single albums though; I'm not aware of any other double albums although Rory Gallagher's Irish Tour '74 has three live sides and a studio jam 4th side.

I'm also not sure what the marketing concept is behind the idea. Nor am I sure whether I like it or not as a concept. Rory had enough great material for a 4th side so that was obviously strategic.  

It works well for The Marshall Tucker Band although the studio songs aren't as strong as on A New Life. The live album has four songs - and these lengthy workouts effectively display another side of the band.

Searchin' For A Rainbow is studio album number 4, and a move into a more laid back country rock sound. It includes a big song for them - Fire On The Mountain and ends with a live version of Can't You See which was mistakenly credited on Where We All Belong. It's magnificent!

Where do they all belong? A lot more to come. To be fair to the chronology and trace their development I've decided to mix the vinyl and CDs together for The Marshall Tucker Band. Next group of their albums starts with Long Hard Ride.