Wet Willie lead singer Jimmy Hall told Toy Caldwell to book the band at Grant's Lounge in Macon which he did. They [Tucker and his wife] did their Sunday school lessons and read many books, and he even worked for the National Federation of the Blind. [1], In 1988 Gray and Eubanks recorded the album Still Holdin' On, their one and only release on the Mercury Records label. Always give. The six founding members of Marshall Tucker were, brothers Tommy and Toy Caldwell on bass and lead guitar, rhythm guitarist George McCorkle, drummer Paul T. Riddle, lead singer Doug Gray and Jerry Eubanks on flute and saxophone. His brothers, Tommy, bass guitar player for the Marshall Tucker Band, and Timmy died in separate auto accidents about 13 years ago. Mar 11 Carteret, NJ Carteret Perf. Tickets start at $25. [13] The band's final Capricorn release came with 1978's Together Forever, which was produced by Stewart Levine. Toy played basketball and football in high school with friends George McCorkle, Jerry Eubanks, and Doug Gray. Hope to see you there!! [11], By the 1970s Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle had returned to Spartanburg, and the Toy Factory had resumed playing in area clubs.[12]. June 9 will now be Marshall Tucker Band Day across the Palmetto State. Feb 11 Vinton, LA Delta Downs Racetrack, Hotel & Casino Plus, the bands mighty music catalog, consisting of more than 20 studio albums and a score of live releases, has racked up multi-platinum album sales many times over. Mar 08 Norwalk, CT Wall Street Theater Caldwell had a lightning fast thumb on guitar, McCorkle said. [5] 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. MTB does love America. Survivors include his father, Toy T. Caldwell Sr.; and two daughters, Cassady Good Caldwell and Toy Geneal Caldwell. It's certainly a song of contradictions. "Marshall Tucker is 94 years old and still alive," marvelled Doug Gray, the straight-talking frontman of the southern rock band that co-opted . Even after all these years after the tragedies, the miles, the personnel changes, and the many developments in the music business. Daniels added that he never got tired of seeing his MTB brothers on the road: Whenever Doug Gray walks into my dressing room with that big ol smile of his and then we hug each other and sit and talk for a while, the evening is complete., I remember seeing Marshall Tucker and The Outlaws play together in Jacksonville many years ago, when I was just a kid, recalls Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Johnny Van Zant. Doors at 7:30 p.m. Dave Mason is also on . Jethro Tulls Thick As a Brick: Concept LP or Parody of One? The Instagram post also said "Marshall was blind since birth but amazingly could play the heck out of the piano. The Marshall Tucker Band continued recording and performing into the 21st century, playing between 150 and 200 shows per year. The band and Tucker eventually figured out what was happening. Don't Threaten. 3:31 PM. [1] While the band had reached the height of its commercial success by the end of the decade, it has recorded and performed continuously under various line-ups for 50 years. The Southern rock group founded by Toy Caldwell, Doug Gray, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle, Paul Riddle and Tommy Caldwell shared a remembrance of Tucker on social media after learning of his death. Though . After a solid 10-year run, Toy Caldwell, Riddle, and McCorkle left the band in 1983. [25] Billboard charts have categorized the band as country, blues and adult contemporary. The Marshall Tucker Band is one such group that continues to have a profound level of impact on successive generations of listeners who've been . 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. Borden. Don't ever think that you're better than anybody else. Coincidentally at the same time, country star Lee Brice also name-checked the band in his hit "Parking Lot Party": "A little Marshall Tucker on the radio," the South Carolina native croons. Among his songwriting credits is the anthem Cant You See, which he sang at the FarmAid concert last year in Dallas and at the Charlie Daniels Band Volunteer Jam in Nashville. [4], He was the older brother of co-founder and bass guitarist Tommy Caldwell, who was killed at age 30 in an automobile accident on April 28, 1980, and to Tim Caldwell, who on March 28, 1980, one month prior to Tommy's death, was killed at age 25 in a collision with a Spartanburg County garbage truck on S.C. Highway 215. The original line-up of the Marshall Tucker Band, formed in 1972, included lead guitarist, steel guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Toy Caldwell (19471993), lead vocalist Doug Gray (born 1948), keyboard player, saxophone player, and flautist Jerry Eubanks (born 1950), rhythm guitarist George McCorkle (19462007), drummer Paul Riddle (born 1953), and bassist Tommy Caldwell (19491980). ADVERTISEMENT. Comment, ta https://t.co/2nlVxXHJwa, South Carolina Governor Proclaims Marshall Tucker Band Day Across The State, The Marshall Tucker Band - Celebrating 50 Years Of Southern Rock, Celebrating 50 years, Marshall Tucker Band to play free concert in downtown Spartanburg, Southern rockers Marshall Tucker Band to celebrate 50th anniversary with Ryman show. The bands namesake yes, there really was a Marshall Tucker died on Jan. 20, 2023, at the age of 99. "The rest is history!" they said. Eubanks finally left the rigors of the road in 1996, and McCorkle died from cancer just last year. I was blessed with that ability and Im thankful I can share with others.". If you didnt? Under license to Marshall Tucker Entertainment Inc.#The. By Rachel DeSantis. They are good memories.. After Tommy Caldwell was killed in a car accident in 1980, he was replaced by bassist Franklin Wilkie. The Marshall Tucker Band continue to celebrate five decades since its inception with more dates of their 50th Anniversary tour, in 2023. Also other data will not be shared with third person. But when lead singer Doug Gray looks out at MTB audiences now, he doesn't see the gray-haired crowds he once expected. "It truly is," Gray agrees. The Marshall Tucker Band came together as a young, hungry, and quite driven six-piece outfit in Spartanburg, South Carolina in 1972, having duly baptized themselves with the name of a blind piano tuner after they found it inscribed on a key to their original rehearsal space and theyve been in tune with tearing it up on live stages both big and small all across the globe ever since. Celebrating 50 years, the band is set to perform 41 concert dates in 26 states in 2022, starting January and ending in June. He began playing guitar before his teen years with his younger brother Tommy Caldwell. The Marshall Tucker Band had its hits in the '70s. Also other data will not be shared with third person. "Most of our fans who come to Spartanburg don't even know there's a monumental thing like . We needed a name asap and the rest is history! In the early fall of 1973 Marshall Tucker Band was still a young and hungry group out to prove themselves every time they hit the stage. In fact, he was never even a professional performer at all. Swanlund, a South Carolina . Younger brother Tommy Caldwell joined in 1973 when Wilkie left and the band became the Marshall Tucker Band. [3], The "Marshall Tucker" in the band's name does not refer to a band member, but rather a blind piano tuner from Columbia, South Carolina. He was 99. "Since Tommy's death, he was there in body only," Toy Caldwell's wife Abbie said in 1998. Waylon Jennings and Zac Brown Band have both had charting country singles with covers of the Marshall Tucker Band's 1973 hit, "Can't You See.". I appreciate everybody.". "We are saddened to hear of the passing of someone very special to our . Marshall Tucker Band guitarist George McCorkle died Friday morning (June 29) near Nashville after being diagnosed with cancer earlier this month. He was 99. After 15 years with the band, Caldwell left in 1985 to begin a solo career. Lead singer, co-founder and sole original member Doug Gray has always credited a great deal of The Marshall Tucker Band's success to Toy Caldwell, and rightfully so. A big part of the current Marshall Tucker Band sound is the respected talent of Chris Hicks on guitar. I met Marshall in 2002 when I arranged for MTB lead singer Doug Gray and him to have lunch together at Spartanburg's Beacon Drive-In for a story on WSPA-TV (I hope to find my photos from that meeting and post them later). His last performance with the band was on April 18, 1980. [7], The original members (and some later members) of the Marshall Tucker Band had been playing in various line-ups under different band names around the Spartanburg area since the early 1960s. Staff Writer Contact Me Posted on 10 February, 2023, 04:53 PM EST. In essence, its this inimitable down-home sonic style that helped make the MTB the first truly progressive Southern band to grace this nations airwaves the proof of which can be found within the grooves and ever-shifting gears of Take the Highway, the first song on their self-titled April 1973 debut album on Capricorn Records, The Marshall Tucker Band. "Marshall was blind since birth but amazingly could play the heck out of the piano. Be Proactive. Often associated with such similar-minded acts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blackfoot, Marshall Tucker Band and .38 Special, Molly Hatchet is best known for . Jul 21 Batavia, NY Batavia Downs Gaming, Related: Listings for 100s of classic rock tours. Get notified whenever The Marshall Tucker Band announces a live stream or a concert in your area. Sending blessings to his wife and family.. Click #isupportlocal for more information on supporting our local journalists. Charlie Daniels' decorated career as a singer, song writer, guitarist, and fiddler spanned several decades. While the band had reached the height of its commercial success by the end of the decade, it has recorded and performed continuously under various line . Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. Five decades of the Marshall Tucker Band sometimes its still hard to understand, said MTB lead singer and founding member Doug Gray, when the run was first announced. Toy Caldwell was the lead guitarist and primary songwriter for The Marshall Tucker Band. The Marshall Tucker Band got its start in Spartanburg, S.C. when Gray teamed up with Tommy Caldwell and Toy Caldwell, Paul T. Riddle, George McCorkle and Jerry Eubanks, borrowing the name "Marshall Tucker" from a piano tuner whose name was found on a key ring in their old rehearsal space. Caldwell was discharged in 1969 and once again began playing music with his high school buddies. . Toy Talmadge Caldwell Jr. (November 13, 1947 - February 25, 1993) was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the 1970s Southern Rock group The Marshall Tucker Band. "And we didn't realise this until five years ago, that the . Caldwell married his wife Abbie on September 12, 1969. [19] The band has incorporated throughout its career elements of diverse genres into its sound, most frequently blues,[20][21][22][23] country[20][21][23] and jazz. (Marshall Tucker recently passed away, READ HERE). And though Doug Gray was officially the lead singer (and is currently the only . Last fall he released his debut album, Toy Caldwell, a mix of rock n roll, country, blues and pop with a lyrical thread of romantic entanglements. Borden on drums; and new member Marcus Henderson on flute. "In the early days when we were rehearsing in an old house in Spartanburg [S.C.], we found a keychain inscribed with his name. The Marshall Tucker Band is all about Doug Gray. The BCB team brings you the latest Breaking News, Contests, On This Day rock history stories, Classic Videos, retro-Charts and more. SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) _ Toy T. Caldwell Jr., former lead guitar player and singer for the Marshall Tucker Band, died Thursday, and the cause was under investigation, a coroner said. [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. Daniels' first of many collaborations with the Marshall Tucker Band came on the band's second album, A New Life,[14] which was released in 1974, and certified gold in 1977. played with Firefall / The Marshall Tucker Band Read more. Use the 'Report' link on [14] Gospel, the band's 1999 album, featured the band's rendition of traditional songs including "The Wayfaring Stranger", "Will the Circle Be Unbroken", and several original tracks. Coloured by lyrical references to riding a freight train, Can't You See paints an evocative picture of the American South, although with its subject aiming to 'find me a hole in the wall' and 'crawl inside and die' there's also darkness present. In 1972, original members Toy Caldwell, Tommy Caldwell, Gray, Jerry Eubanks, George McCorkle and Paul Riddle came together in Spartanburg, S.C. As the band wrote on their Facebook page on Jan. 21, We are saddened to hear of the passing of someone very special to our hearts, for very obvious reasons. High 57F. Me and my brother have been playing together forever and, when thats over, were going home. accounts, the history behind an article. Hub City music icons, the Marshall Tucker Band, will play Music on Main June 7 at downtown Spartanburg's Morgan Square. People ask me all the time what Im gonna do when I turn 80, and I always say, The same thing that were continuing to do now. Were road warriors, theres no doubt about that and I dont intend to slow down. May the MTB wagon train continue running like the wind on a long hard ride for many more years to come. We are just regular people. Later it came to light that Marshall Tucker, the blind piano tuner, had tuned a piano in that rented space before the band and his name was inscribed on the key. Your e-mail address will be used to confirm your account. You can't deny any of them. In recent years, they toured with acts like Charlie Daniels and Travis Tritt.