The Marshall Tucker Band: Carolina Dreams - 1977

This 1977 offering from The Marshall Tucker Band leant more on the AOR rock side than the country one. The title is a tribute to their home state of South Carolina.

Fly Like An Eagle was not the Steve Miller Band song but a slice of MTB rock-funk with their trademark flute floating in between the guitar breaks. Both MTB and SMB were similar groups, though. That flute jauntily introduces the delightful only big chart hit for the band, Heard It In A Love Song. It is very much a country pop song with a catchy chorus and an instrumental style very much in the style that Bob Dylan (and his flautist Steve Douglas) would employ on their 1978 Live At Budokan album. The song reminds me of country rock bands like Poco, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Firefall. The guitar breaks on it are simply sumptuous. 

Talking of Steve Douglas, a very Douglas-esque saxophone introduces the beautiful, lengthy love song I Should Never Have Started Lovin' You. It is a lovely piece of soft rock. 

Life In A Song revisits the Doobie Brothers vibe that the group had dabbled in before. You will recognise the sound when you hear it. The Tuckers' use of punchy brass makes it their own, however. Desert Skies is a sleepy country number with a bassline that vaguely reminds me of T. Rex's Hot Love, would you believe. I love the mid-song violin solo too. Never Trust A Stranger exemplifies the group's ability to dabble in countrified funk perfectly.

The final studio cut is the pleasant flute-enhanced gentle country groove of Tell It To The Devil. As was the group's tradition the CD release includes a final live track. Here it is the excellent, upbeat and highly atmospheric country rock of Silverado. It positively bristles throughout. Great track. Check out that guitar.

So, here ends my dalliance with The Marshall Tucker Band. I have written slightly more about the earlier albums because those reviews included more chat about who the group were and their style. Overall, with this album I feel it is sort of like the group's equivalent of The Doobie Brothers' Minute By Minute. Their most polished release.

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