The Marshall Tucker Band

The Marshall Tucker Band
Marshall Tucker Band on July 4, 2006
Background information
Origin	Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA
Genres	Southern rock, country rock
Years active	1972–present
Labels	Capricorn, Warner Bros., Mercury, Cabin Fever, Ramblin'
Associated acts	Charlie Daniels, The Allman Brothers Band, Eric Quincy Tate, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Website	www.marshalltucker.com
Members	Doug Gray (original member) Marcus James Henderson Chris Hicks Rick Willis Pat Ellwood B.B. Borden
Past members	Jerry Eubanks (original member) Toy Caldwell (original member) George McCorkle (original member) Paul Riddle (original member) Tommy Caldwell (original member) Franklin Wilkie Stuart Swanlund Rusty Milner Tim Lawter Ronnie Godfrey Bobby Ogdin Bob Wray James Stroud Tom Robb Ace Allen Don Cameron Frank Toler Mark Pettey Ronald Radford Paul Thompson Garry Guzzardo David Muse Chris Hicks Clay Cook Tony Heatherly

The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock/country rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. While the band had reached the height of its commercial success by the end of the decade, the band has recorded and performed continuously under various lineups for nearly 40 years.

The original lineup of the Marshall Tucker Band, formed in 1972, included lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Toy Caldwell (1947–1993), lead vocalist Doug Gray (born 1948), keyboard player, saxophone player, and flautist Jerry Eubanks (born 1950), rhythm guitarist George McCorkle (1946–2007), drummer Paul Riddle (born 1953), and bassist Tommy Caldwell (1949–1980). They signed with Capricorn Records and in 1973 released their first LP, The Marshall Tucker Band.

After Tommy Caldwell was killed in an automobile accident in 1980, he was replaced by bassist Franklin Wilkie. Most of the original band members had left by the mid-1980s to pursue other projects. The band's current lineup consists of Gray on vocals, keyboard player and flautist Marcus James Henderson, guitarist Rick Willis, bassist Pat Elwood, and drummer B.B. Borden.

The "Marshall Tucker" in the band's name does not refer to a band member, but rather a Spartanburg-area piano tuner. While the band was discussing possible band names one evening in an old warehouse they had rented for rehearsal space, someone noticed that the warehouse's door key had the name "Marshall Tucker" inscribed on it, and suggested they call themselves the "The Marshall Tucker Band," not realizing it referred to an actual person. It later came to light that Marshall Tucker, the blind piano tuner, had rented the space before the band, and his name was inscribed on the key. In his book, Top Pop Singles, 1955-2002, music historian Joel Whitburn attributes "Marshall Tucker" to the owner of the band's rehearsal hall.