"From Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Marshall Tucker Band…"

For more than 300 nights a year in the 1970s, arena and amphitheater audiences heard that introduction. The Marshall Tucker Band scored six gold-selling albums — that’s 500,000 copies sold — and two million-selling albums, and it became a huge influence on artists including Charlie Daniels, Hank Williams, Jr., and Travis Tritt.

The group began performing together in 1972, with an original lineup of guitarists Toy Caldwell and George McCorkle, drummer Paul Riddle, bass man Tommy Caldwell, singer Doug Gray, and saxophone and flute player Jerry Eubanks.

Named after local piano tuner Marshall Tucker, who rented a space downtown on Spring Street, the band’s records made it notable, and its live performances made it legendary. Tucker songs "Can’t You See," "Heard It In A Love Song" and "Fire On The Mountain" remain popular on rock radio, and the band’s expansive, country-rooted, rock-ready sound has tweaked ears for decades.

Bassman Tommy Caldwell died following a car accident in 1980 and was replaced by Franklin Wilkie. The remaining original members disbanded in 1984, though Doug Gray has toured for more than twenty years with various band members, always billed as The Marshall Tucker Band.

—Peter Cooper, author, professor, award-winning journalist, and Grammy-nominated artist