The Marshall Tucker Band

Born in the early 1970s on Spartanburg's music scene in South Carolina, The Marshall Tucker Band established itself as a Southern rock group blending country, blues, gospel and touches of jazz. Formed in 1972 around Doug Gray, Toy and Tommy Caldwell, George McCorkle, Jerry Eubanks and Paul Riddle, the band developed a sound marked by melodic guitars, the presence of the flute and often extended song structures. Their debut album, simply titled The Marshall Tucker Band, was released in 1973 and was followed by A New Life (1974), the double Where We All Belong (1974), Searchin’ for a Rainbow (1975) and Carolina Dreams (1977), which cemented the band's place at the heart of 1970s Southern rock. After Tommy Caldwell's death in 1980 and the departure of several founding members, the lineup reformed around Doug Gray, and The Marshall Tucker Band continued its trajectory between rock, country and its jam-band legacy on North American stages.