The Tucker boys bring their A-game to
the capacity crowd, blazing through “Fly Like an Eagle,” the instrumental “Long Hard Ride,” the Top 40 hit “Fire On the Mountain;” their biggest hit ever, “Heard it in a Love Song;” They rock “Blue Ridge Mountain Skies;” from their excellent second album A New Life; the great cowboy tune “Desert Skies;” and a 13-minute “24 Hours at a Time;” “Searchin’ for a Rainbow;” and the perineal show closer, “Will the Circle Be Un- broken.” The excitement in the air is captured forever on magnetic tape. It’s so good, if you close your eyes, you can almost smell the smoke from all the weed being passed around! The vinyl comes with a free download
card, good for a digital download of the album, which includes three tracks from the show that didn’t make it onto the record. The rocking “Dream Lover,” along with Toy singing “Hillbilly Band” and also “I’ll Be Lov- ing You.” All good. Excellent sax and flute from Jerry Eubanks; killer vocals from Doug Gray; Rich drums (as in Buddy!) from young Paul T, Riddle; always hot guitar from George McCorkle; and the world class talent of two Spartanburg brothers, Toy and Tommy Cald- well. I will make note that on this night, Toy did say that he was “a little hoarse,” and it shows on both “Can’t You See” and “Hillbilly Band,” but any rough vocal is overshadowed by the tight in the pocket band. I can’t say enough about Paul Hornsby.
Four decades after the fact, he still has the magic ear and is still a superb and viable record producer. His recent remastering of this work brings the volume up to 21st cen- tury standards (Oh, how I wish Epic would let him remaster the Charlie Daniels Band’s Fire on the Mountain album! Get that output vol- ume equal to today’s standards. Hell, I’d buy it again just for that!) and the mix is red hot! (Which just happens to be the name of Paul’s solo album. If you haven’t got it, do yourself a favor and buy it!) Tuckerheads the world over
are going to just love this album! What a fit- ting tribute to the late Toy and Tommy Cald- well and George McCorkle! So good!
-Michael Buffalo Smith
Marshall Chapman Songs I Can’t Live Without (Tall Girl) Marshall Chapman
never ceases to amaze. As a singer, songwriter, au-
thor, and human, she is always top notch. Nowhere is that more evident than on her new album, Songs I Can’t Live Without, an album that finds the ultra-talented songwriter putting her pen aside to turn out a collection of cover tunes, some of her favorites by every- one from Elvis to Leonard Cohen. The stripped back instrumentation al-
lows Marshall’s soulful voice plenty of room to breathe. Her take on Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page” is as good as it gets, and her cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Tower of Song” is equally compelling. There’s Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” Johnny Cash’s “I Still Miss Someone,” and a rocking “Don’t Be Cruel.” J.J. Cale’s “After Midnight” gets a sul- try vocalization and the record wraps with a throwback to her youth in church, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” with Mar- shall taking the opportunity to talk over the outro about the world, equality, love and the USA. A fitting closer on a simply beautiful collection of cover tunes. A true joy. Highly recommended.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
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