Growing Up in Spartanburg with The Marshall Tucker Band
by Michael Buffalo Smith My association with The Marshall
Tucker Band has been in the words of Robert Hunter, “a long, strange trip.” It has also been a trip I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Growing up in the
same hometown of
Spartanburg, S.C. it was inevitable that we would cross paths. The very first Tucker con- nection I recall occurred back in the very early 1970’s, before Tucker was even formed. I saw Toy Factory at a local club called Uncle Sam’s on Asheville High- way in Spartan- burg. I must have just been a young teen but I sat at a table near the stage and just watched that guy play with his thumb instead of a pick. I blew my mind. He was amazing. I’ll never forget Toy was wearing a leather jacket with his name emblazoned across the back in sil- ver studs. He was ready to be a star, and it was obvious he had all the makings of one even then. Another place I used to love to visit
during the late seventies was Arthur’s, at Hill- crest Mall in Spartanburg. I can remember seeing Matt “Guitar” Murphy jamming his heart out there. One of my fondest memories is of a show featuring The Throbbers. At that time, the jazz-fusion-rock band consisted of Paul T. Riddle, Buddy Strong, Franklin
Wilkie, and Ronnie Godfrey. On this particu- lar night, Toy Caldwell showed up to jam out on a few pop and jazz standards, like “The Nightlife,” and “Stardust,” playing the guitar given to him by B.B. King, a beautiful hollow- body with B.B.’s name spelled out in mother- of-pearl inlays between the frets. Artimus Pyle was there that night as well, sporting a brand new haircut and beard trim. I can re- member just sit- ting there savoring the music. Toy could play it all. Shortly after
Toy’s death in 1992, his friend Al Crisp threw a big benefit show for Abbie and the kids at Al’s Pumphouse in Greenville. My
band, The Buffalo Hut Coalition, was there to pitch in. Every local southern rock and coun- try player imaginable played, with Marshall Tucker covers mingling with rock and country originals and the stray Hank, Jr. cover. A good time was had by all, and Toy’s memory was once again given a booster shot. The first I had heard of the Tucker
Band was in 1972. I was a student at James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C. and someone had brought a copy of The Spartan- burg Herald newspaper in, showing it to everyone and an article that had been written about the band and their impending success. As I recall it was only a week or two later that I heard the debut Capricorn Records album played in its entirety on WORD-AM radio in
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