The Marshall Tucker Band
Formed in 1971 in South Carolina, USA, the Marshall Tucker Band was a ‘southern-rock’ style outfit which maintained modest popularity from the early to late '70s. The band consisted of Toy Caldwell (b. 1948, Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA, d. 25 February 1993, Moore, South Carolina, USA; lead guitarist), his brother, Tommy Caldwell, (b. 1950, Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA; bass), vocalist/keyboardist Doug Gray, rhythm guitarist George McCorkle, saxophonist/flautist Jerry Eubanks and drummer Paul Riddle. There was no member named Marshall Tucker; the group was named after the owner of the room in which they practiced their music. Like the Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie and several others, the band signed with Capricorn Records and established the southern-rock style that emphasized lengthy improvisations built around soul-influenced rock and boogie songs. Prior to the formation of the Marshall Tucker Band, from 1962-65, Toy Caldwell had played with a local group called the Rants. He was in the Marines from 1965-69, and then the Toy Factory, which also included Gray and Eubanks. McCorkle (another ex-Rant), Riddle and Tommy Caldwell were then added in 1972, and the new name was adopted. The group's first Capricorn album was self-titled and reached number 29 in the US in 1973. The following year A NEW LIFE and WHERE WE ALL BELONG were released, a two-album set featuring one studio and one live disc. Their highest-charting album, SEARCHIN' FOR A RAINBOW, came in 1975. Their first single to chart was This Ol' Cowboy, also in 1975. 
Most of the group's albums were gold or platinum sellers through 1978, and the 1977 single Heard It In A Love Song was their best-selling, reaching number 14 (although they were primarily considered an ‘album’ band). Following their 1978 GREATEST HITS album, the band switched to Warner Brothers Records and released three final chart albums through 1981. The group continued to perform after the death of Tommy Caldwell in an auto crash on 28 April 1980, but never recaptured their '70s success. (Caldwell was replaced by Franklin Wilkie, ex-Toy Factory) By the early '80s they had largely disappeared from the national music scene. They released new albums, first on Mercury Records in 1988, and then on Sisapa Records in 1990, with no notable success. All of the group's Capricorn albums were reissued on the AJK Music label in the USA in the late '80s.