Carolina Dreams Tour’77, a double-CD/single-DVD set
from the Marshall Tucker Band, was recorded at one of my favorite hometown concert
spots, the Capital Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. I lived (and still live)
one town over in Clifton, and the dear, sweet Capital was the venue of choice
for us mid 70s teens. It was perfect for any band who could scare up 3,000 or
so fans, which the Marshall Tucker Band could easily do at this stage of their
career. This show was performed after the release of Tuckers’ fifth album,
Carolina Dreams, which includes the group’s top 20 single
“Heard It In A Love Song.” We’re talking the classic MTB lineup
with Jerry Eubanks on woodwinds and harmony vocals, George McCorkle on electric,
as well as 12- and 6-string acoustic guitars, Doug Gray providing the distinctive
lead vocals, Paul Riddle on drums, and brothers Tommy and Toy Caldwell on bass
and lead guitar, respectively. This version of MTB was a strong six-piece, pure
Southern rock band at the height of their powers, just about to hit it big.
Even non-Southern rock band fans like myself (though I do harbor a bit of a
thing for Skynyrd), MTB does have the added distinction (and I think the one
thing that makes them stand out, really) of having such a virtuoso reed player
in Eubanks. Nowhere is this more evident than on the first CD as he plays melodic
flute runs in “Love Song,” and later jams on “Take The Highway.”
The recording is noisy at times, and though cleaned-up somewhat, it properly
presents Marshall Tucker in that wild, wacky and pot-smoke filled setting of
the Capital, very much like all those brittle old theaters you across this country.
You can hear the effort they put into their live shows, most notably when they
flow easily from the opening track, “Fly Like An Eagle” right into
“Long Hard Ride.” Then there is that almost telepathic connection
Doug Gray talks about in the booklet’s liner notes: “We’d
look at each other with our heads down, but we’d be paying attention.
It wasn’t a competitive thing between us we — all wanted to make
things creative for everybody.” This is certainly evident on a song like
“I Should Have Never Started Lovin’ You,” another highlight
on the first CD.
The second CD opens with “Never Trust A Stranger,” a chugging mid-tempo
number, followed by “24 Hours At A Time.” which sounds like it was
taken from a different source. “Ramblin,’ is pure MTB at their bluesiest
fun, followed by the crowd-pleasing “Can’t You See,” which
ends the regular set. The DVD is taken from the same concert at the Capitol,
with the exception of “24 Hours At A Time,” which was ‘reconstructed’
from a few sources (it seems the band didn’t have sufficient footage of
this song, so we get a little footage and interspersed video instead). And while
it’s nice to have all this visual accompaniment, I dare say watching Marshall
Tucker perform, especially from a video source this rough, is only the most
diehard fan will appreciate. The DVD stands as a historical document and nothing
more for the causal fan. There is also some commentary from lead singer Doug
Gray, which is nothing more then a stilted interview playing over the show,
instead of being specific to the action taking place. Despite a few misfires
on the DVD, there’s a lot to dig about this set. It’s nice to hear
the Marshall Tucker Band from back in the day, just about before they broke
big with “Love Song.” And it’s especially nice to see and
hear them play a venue that meant so much to me personally.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
