George McCorkle. "But we were really good friends from many, many years ago. I think that cat was one of the most talented people who ever lived, and he never got the credit for it. I loved him like a brother too." The band swapped out members sev-
eral times between 1966 and 1969 when Toy, Tommy, Doug, and George all served in the Armed Forces. Toy, like his father, was a Ma- rine, and served in Vietnam. Toy Caldwell was not only the star at-
traction of the band, but it's number one songwriter. The group began rehearsing songs like "Hillbilly Band," "Take the High- way" and what would soon become one of the most recorded songs in America, "Can't You See."
"We had started playing our own stuff," "We were booking through Beach Club
Promotions, Cecil Corbet," says Wilkie. "Cecil heard some of our original material and sent us to record in Muscle Shoals. We did some tapes with Barry Beckett of the famed Swampers, a keyboard player and engineer. I remember him saying the material was good, but he wanted us to leave Toy down there. After all, that's where Duane Allman got his start."
Corbet engineered the opening spot for
The Toy Factory on The Allman Brothers Band's eastern tour. Another vital move for the band. According to Wilkie, there was a con-
frontation between Toy and Tommy one night in the Spring Street rehearsal space. What- ever the initial reason was for the fight has long since faded from memory, but it caused a little rift for a while that sent Tommy pack- ing to play bass with Pax Parachute, a band that featured George McCorkle and Paul Rid- dle.
For a while, after the tempers cooled,
Toy was rehearsing with both Toy Factory and Pax Parachute. Soon, members of both bands came together to play as Toy Factory. "We hooked playing guitars together," recalls
Marshall Tucker Band, early promo shot.
says Paul Riddle. " It was a 'make it or break it' kind of deal." The band started rehearsing, and
played a couple of shows at The Sitar, where the earlier Toy Factory had previously opened for the Allmans. When Wet Willie played the Sitar, and heard their opening act, the new Toy Factory, they were blown away. Wet Willie lead vocalist Jimmy Hall invited the band to come down to Macon to speak to Capricorn Records President, Phil Walden. "We were playing Spartanburg, at the Ruins (aka The Sitar)," recalls Hall. "We were booked there as the headliner. We didn't re-
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