The Marshall Tucker Band [Bonus Track] [Remaster]

Performer: The Marshall Tucker Band
Artist: Jai Johanny Johanson
Engineer: Buddy Thornton; Paul Hornsby
Producer: Paul Hornsby
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Personnel: Toy Caldwell (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, steel guitar); Doug Gray (vocals, percussion); George McCorkle (acoustic guitar, percussion); Fred Wise (fiddle); Jerry Eubanks (flute, alto saxophone, percussion, background vocals); Oscar Jackson (tenor saxophone); Samuel Dixon (trumpet); Paul Hornsby (piano, electric piano, organ, Moog synthesizer); Tommy Caldwell (drums, percussion, background vocals); Paul Riddle (drums); Johnny Lee "Jaimoe" Johnson (congas); Ella Brown, Donna Hall, Ernestine Jones (background vocals). Audio Remasterer: Mike Thomas. Liner Note Author: Barry Alfonso. Recording information: Capicorn Sound Studios, Macon, GA (09/1973); Winterland Auditorium, San Francisco, CA (09/1973). Illustrator: James Flournoy Holmes. Arranger: The Marshall Tucker Band. Taking a page from their Capricorn Records labelmates and Southern rock contemporaries the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band issued a self-titled debut blending the long and winding psychedelic and jam band scene with an equally languid and otherwise laid-back country-rock flavor. Into the mix they also added a comparatively sophisticated jazz element -- which is particularly prominent throughout their earliest efforts. The incipient septet featured the respective talents of Doug Gray (vocals), Toy Caldwell (guitar/vocals), his brother Tommy Caldwell (bass/vocals), George McCorkle (guitar), Paul Riddle (drums), and Jerry Eubanks (flute/sax/vocals). Their free-spirited brand of Southern rock was a direct contrast to the badass rebel image projected by the Outlaws or Lynyrd Skynyrd. This difference is reflected throughout the 1973 long-player The Marshall Tucker Band. The disc commences with one of the MTB's most revered works, the loose and limber traveling proto-jam "Take the Highway." The improvised instrumental section features some inspired interaction between Toy Caldwell and Eubanks. This also creates a unique synergy of musical styles that is most profoundly exhibited on the subsequent cut, "Can't You See." Caldwell's easygoing acoustic fretwork babbles like a brook against Eubanks lonesome airy flute lines. The remainder of the disc expounds on those themes, including the uptempo freewheelin' "Hillbilly Band." Unlike what the title suggests, the track is actually more akin to the Grateful Dead's "Eyes of the World" than anything from the traditional country or bluegrass genres. "Ramblin'" is an R&B rave-up that leans toward a Memphis style with some classy brass augmentations. The effort concludes on the opposite side of the spectrum with the tranquil gospel rocker "My Jesus Told Me So," offering up Caldwell's fluid guitar work with a sound comparable to that of Dickey Betts. "AB's Song" is an acoustic folk number that would not sound out of place being delivered by John Prine or Steve Goodman. This eponymous effort established the MTB's sound and initiated a five-year (1973-1978) and seven-title run with the definitive Southern rock label, Capricorn Records. ~ Lindsay Planer The remastering of the Marshall Tucker Band's classic debut album is indeed cause for celebration. Like the Allman Brothers Band, Marshall Tucker blended elements from all over the Americana map into their trademark sound, which was anchored in the guitaristry and writing talents of Toy Caldwell, and the reed and woodwind playing of Jerry Eubanks. With help from Tom Caldwell and Jerry Eubanks on percussion, and Paul Hornsby on piano and keyboards, the Tuckers set down eight Caldwell tunes that shot country straight through with touches of Appalachian folk music, jazz, blues, and roots rock. The effect is transcendent on cuts such as "Take the Highway," and Caldwell's signature tune, "Can't You See." With its biting guitar lines woven around a chunky, honky tonk piano line, and his mournful vocal that comes straight from Albert King, added to a short flute break, it is an anthem to heartbreak and flight. "Take the Highway" is a proto- jam band anthem with its dreamy twinned leads and loping bassline. Widespread Panic owes a great debt to this album, one that they have yet to acknowledge. After 30 years this album sounds as crisp and elemental as it did on its arrival. The remaster is warm, full, and round in its sonic palette, and the bonus track, a live read of "Everyday (I Have the Blues)," is a Caldwell scorcher. Southern rock got its mantle for excess from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, and the Outlaws, with their respective brands of loud and proud redneck rock -- the Allmans were an entity unto themselves. But if the South had a band with an expansive view of American music and how it played into improvisation a l� the Grateful Dead, it was most certainly the Marshall Tucker Band, and this album is a testament to that. ~ Thom Jurek

Rolling Stone (6/21/73, p.66) - "..their debut album is a moving piece of work...It's tight, smoking music with sharp, ringing lead guitar work and sure vocals that are grittily felt...more than promising.."

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