Amazon.com
While the Allman Brothers Band garnered the majority of attention during their four-decade careers, their contemporaries in Southern rock the Marshall Tucker Band have been more quietly, but just as consistently, making quality music. Only vocalist Doug Gray remains from the original sextet, yet the group's sound hasn't changed substantially, as their breezy mix of jazz, blues, and country doesn't need updating to remain fresh. Their unlikely emphasis on flute defined a style that was lighter and less boogie-oriented than most of the harder-driving acts of their era. Perhaps not surprisingly, age has mellowed them even further, and this album's one rocker, "Travelin' Man," seems forced next to the warm melodic roots and country twang that otherwise dominate. Gray's graying vocals have lost a bit of steam, but the band sounds terrific, and most of the songs glow like burnished gold. The somewhat clichéd topics of music, cowboys, horses, and the road appear, but when the elements mesh, as on "Cold Steel," "The Guitar Playing Man," and "Crossroad," favorable comparisons can be made with some of the band's finest. Coming this late in the Marshall Tucker Band's career, that's an unlikely and impressive feat. --Hal Horowitz

1. The Guitar Playing Man
2. Come Runnin' Like A Friend
3. Travelin' Man
4. I Love You That Way
5. Cold Steel
6. Why Am I Crying
7. Down This Road Before II
8. A Sad Cowboy Song
9. Crossroad
10. Jesus Never Had A Motorcycle

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000Q66I2C/?tag=imwan-20

Linda, I just gotta say that your ever-changing avatars are just hilarious. Every one of them cracks me up. We just had the sneeze = wardrobe malfunction one and now we're on to the f-ing ray of sunshine one. Great stuff!

Thanks, Jim. Someone actually made that "ray of f'ing sunshine" remark to me in a PM today, so ....