Noted for incorporating blues, country and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s.
[2] The band's current line-up consists of Gray on vocals; keyboard player, saxophonist and flautist Marcus James Henderson; guitarists Chris Hicks and Rick Willis, bassist Ryan Ware and drummer B.B.
[5] Music historian Joel Whitburn erroneously attributes "Marshall Tucker" to the owner of the band's rehearsal hall in his book Top Pop Singles, 1955-2002.
The Toy Factory's constantly shifting line-up included, at various times, Caldwell, his younger brother Tommy, Doug Gray, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle and Franklin Wilkie.
[13] In 1972 Caldwell and McCorkle once again revamped the band's line-up, eventually settling on Tommy Caldwell on bass/backing vocals, George McCorkle rhythm guitar/banjo, vocalist Doug Gray and Jerry Eubanks, keyboards/flute/tenor sax/backing vocals, while adding Paul Riddle on drums; the new line-up 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, Georgia, which he did.
[14] Southern rock fiddler Charlie Daniels later recalled that the Marshall Tucker Band "came onstage and just blew it out from start to finish.
Long Hard Ride, the band's fifth consecutive gold album, was released in 1976,[15] and its instrumental title track (which again features Charlie Daniels on fiddle) was nominated for a Grammy.
[16] 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.
Former Toy Factory bassist Franklin Wilkie replaced Caldwell for their next album, Dedicated (1981), but the band was never able to recapture its commercial success of the 1970s.
On 1982's Tuckerized, which featured Ronnie Godfrey, who joined them as an additional keyboardist, only two songs were written by band members; "Sea, Dreams & Fairy Tales" by Toy Caldwell and "Sweet Elaine" by George McCorkle.
[1] During the summer of 1984, MTB toured with a revamped lineup featuring Gray, Eubanks, Spartanburg guitarist Rusty Milner and new Nashville players: Bob Wray (bass), James Stroud (drums), Kenny Mims (guitar) and Bobby Ogdin (keyboards).
Bassist Tim Lawter joined in 1987, and the other newer members: Rusty Milner, Stuart Swanlund and "Ace" Allen (including newly added, in 1989, keyboardist Don Cameron) had a much greater role on the band's 1990 album, Southern Spirit, released on the Sisapa label.
Borden (ex-Mother's Finest) in 1997, guitarist Chris Hicks joined in 1996, after a long stint in the Outlaws, and keyboardist Paul Thompson (who came in after Pettey left) was briefly a member in 1994, but was dropped pretty soon after and not replaced.
Clay Cook (saxophone, flute, keyboards, vocals) was a member from 2000-2009 and Dave Muse returned in 2003-2009 before being succeeded by current man Marcus James Henderson in 2009.
[23] According to Allmusic's Jeff Tamarkin, Toy Caldwell's guitar playing style was categorized by "flashy, jazzy licks"; the band has also been noted for extensive jamming.