Remembering the Great Toy Caldwell TOY STORY
by Michael Buffalo Smith On Wednesday, November 13th, a
group of friends and fans gathered at the Nu Way lounge in Spartanburg, SC to play music and remember our friend and brother Toy Caldwell on what would have been his 72nd birthday. Sadly, we lost this great talent and friend back on February 25, 1993. He was only 46 years young. Toy left behind a legacy as one of America’s finest guitar pickers, a legacy that lives on today. What follows is an article I wrote that appeared both in GRITZ magazine and also in Hittin’ the Note magazine in 1999.
When Toy Caldwell graduated from
Dorman High School in Spartanburg, South Carolina in the mid-1960's, he knew that he had a steady gig at the Spartanburg Water- works waiting on him if he wanted it. His dad, Toy Caldwell, Sr., was a respected employee, and lining his son up with a job would be no big deal. There was just one problem. Toy had a fire burning inside him. He had felt it begin as a warm glow when he was just a child, watching his father pick on an old Gibson acoustic guitar. He was listening to records by Hank Garland and the Sugarfooters, another Spartanburg export, as well as a myriad of blues artists- B.B. King, Robert Johnson, Freddie King-and country music from the likes of Hank Williams, Roy Acuff and Chet Atkins.
Toy Caldwell, Jr. had come into the
world at the General Hospital in Spartanburg on November 13, 1947, and he never left his
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home town. Well, he left a lot, to tour the globe as lead guitarist, singer and songwriter for The Marshall Tucker Band, but he always came back to Spartanburg, because it was home.
As a teenager, Toy became overwhelm-
ingly fascinated by the guitar. His brother Tommy was already following in his dad's footsteps, and played any instrument from guitar to drums, eventually settling in as a bassist. Together, the brothers played barn dances and parties, but when they hit high school as teens, Toy decided that he wanted to play in a rock and roll band. He joined The Ramblers, along with George McCorkle, Franklin Wilkie and David McCutcheon, with Wallace Huckaby on drums, and Robbie Cobb and Reggie Gosnell playing horns, playing r & b and Motown sounds.
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