The Marshall Tucker Band
Carolina Dreams Tour '77

A live DVD of the Marshall Tucker Band (or simply MTB) is released, dusted off from the archives, which will delight all fans of the South Carolina band and southern rock.

It is indeed a concert recorded - as the title suggests - during the tour in support of the album "Carolina Dreams", an album recorded right at the beginning of 1977. We are therefore in the peak moment of southern rock, with Lynyrd Skynyrd who were about to release their last masterpiece "Street Survivors," before the tragic accident in October of that year, and with the exception of the Allman Brothers Band which was undergoing a series of extra-musical problems during those years.

MTB was experiencing a moment of great success in that period, both critically and publicly: their style, an epic and rambling country played with a swinging attitude and with splendid sax and flute interludes by the multi-instrumentalist Jerry Eubanks, managed to coin a clearly recognizable sound. The band was also composed of brothers Toy and Tommy Caldwell, respectively guitar and bass, second guitarist George McCorkle, Paul Riddle on drums, and the singer and percussionist Doug Gray.

The music and lyrics were mainly the work of Toy Caldwell, whose talent on the six-string (with his original way of picking the instrument without ever using a pick) makes him one of the most underrated talents in the made in USA rock scene.

The great added value of this "Carolina Dreams Tour '77" lies precisely in its proposition of a live performance also in video format, in addition to a double CD that features the same tracklist as the DVD and therefore adds little to the strength of this set.

This allows, for the first time, to see a performance of the complete classic lineup: in the following years, the band experienced a series of events that compromised their artistic fate: firstly, the death of Tommy Caldwell in a car accident in 1980, and then Toy’s passing a few years later due to heart problems. Meanwhile, the band moved towards increasingly less original and more radio-friendly shores, playing, during the '80s, a type of country music far removed from the previously proposed southern concept.

The performance contained in this live, recorded in February 1977 at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey, features many of the great classics of the band's repertoire.

Songs like "Searchin' For A Rainbow", "This Ol' Cowboy", "Can't You See", "Fire On The Mountain", "Ramblin'" need no particular introduction or comments for anyone who loves the genre, as they are so well-known.

It is simply worth noting that the instrumental performance is naturally excellent; after all, the MTB already had several years of concerts behind them, and the sound is compact, with the band’s famous instrumental interweavings always capable of evoking the great expanses of American tradition. Nevertheless, from a strictly musical point of view, if one is looking for the best of the recorded live MTB, it is better to turn to the recently published "Stompin' Room Only" which, in addition to even more brilliant versions of the group's great songs (thanks also to guests like Charlie Daniels, Dickey Betts, and Chuck Leavell), contains gems such as the exuberant "Blue Ridge Mountain Sky" or "Hillbilly Band," not present in "Carolina Dreams Tour '77".

However, the thrill of finally seeing this extraordinary group surpasses any objections. Moreover, criticisms would still be conceived according to today’s consumer habits, who might argue that the images - subject, according to the notes of the booklet, to a difficult restoration - are not up to modern concert standards and that a song ("24 Hours At A Time") has been reconstructed with photos and other means since the images were irrecoverable: in reality, this does not detract but rather adds charm to the product.

One last note for the final reinterpretation of the traditional "Will The Circle Be Unbroken", which offers one of the highest moments of the whole concert; opened and closed by Toy’s guitar solo, with the band coming in and out following the leader’s notes and Doug Gray's voice, this track certifies why this group should be rediscovered, and certainly this testimony of absolute historical value can represent the best way to start or start again for those who may have left them buried in a drawer.

TRACKLIST

1. FLY LIKE AN EAGLE

2. LONG HARD RIDE

3. SEARCHIN' FOR A RAINBOW

4. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER STARTED LOVIN' YOU

5. HEARD IN A LOVE SONG

6. TAKE THE HIGHWAY

7. FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN

8. IN MY OWN WAY

9. NEVER TRUST A STRANGER

10. 24 HOURS AT A TIME

11. RAMBLIN'

12. CAN'T YOU SEE

13. THIS OL' COWBOY

14. WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN