Searchin' For A Rainbow [Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

The Marshall Tucker Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 27, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Shout Factory
• ASIN: B000139TGM
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,723 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Old West dreams meet Southern memories in the tracks of Searchin’ for a Rainbow, The Marshall Tucker Band’s fourth album. Released in 1975, this song collection found the group refining its multi-faceted sound into an appealing country-rock essence. Still present were the jazz and blues-based elements that had always made Marshall Tucker a distinctive unit. By dressing up their music in Western garb, the band found a way to reach a huge new audience—all it took was a little "Fire On The Mountain" to light the way. "We’d found a bit more direction on how to design songs for a record," says lead singer Doug Gray. "Our record company Capricorn had always said, ‘Try to give us something that would work on the radio.’ We tried to do that, and at the same time please each other. We were known as a jamming band. This was the first time we really tried to give them Marshall Tucker’s interpretation of what a hit song was." Helping to spur things on was "Fire On The Mountain," the lead track off Searchin’ for a Rainbow. Released as a single in the fall of ’75, the tune reached #38 on the pop charts. A vivid, Old West, lyric-storyline combined with bluegrass-tinged instrumental licks and an ear-grabbing chorus brought Marshall Tucker its first Top 40 hit.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of their finest: classic 70s country-rock, February 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Searchin' For A Rainbow (Audio CD)

The series of recently remastered reissues (say that 3 times fast!) of The Marshall Tucker Band's classic albums by Shout Factory is a great service to music fans everywhere. They were one of the great early jam bands and don't often enough get their proper due. On the release of their fourth album, 1975's "Searchin' For A Rainbow," the band had mastered their blend of country, bluegrass, blues and jazz improvisation within a rock context and found a way to make it more commercial. The Top 40 single "Fire On The Mountain" was the sign of a bright future for the band's commercial endeavors. Luckily for us this doesn't mean they sacrificed their sound to get there. Also, "Searchin' For A Rainbow" was the album that brought the band's association with Western themes to the forefront. "Walkin And Talkin" is classic western swing. There's a bonus track on here too: a live version of "It Takes Time," the leadoff track to their 1980 "Tenth" album. All in all this is a worthy addition to any 70s country-rock library and a fine improvement over the out-of-print original CD version of the album.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of their best...but kind of short., January 1, 2012

By 

kireviewer (Sunnyvale, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Searchin' For A Rainbow (Audio CD)

Released in 1975, this is Marshall Tucker's fourth album. It continues the line of fantastic albums by this group until they took a slight downturn on the fifth album, Carolina Dreams (many poeple love that album, but I think it is the group's weakest).

Originally, this was very short album at about 33 minutes long, and one of the songs was a live version of a previously released song. So, you only get about 27 minutes of new material, but it all great. My favorite is Bound and Determined. The live version of Can't You See on this album was previously planned to be released on the previous album, Where We All Belong, but for some reason it was dropped and included here. This new release also includes a bonus track of It Takes Time. It is OK, but does not make it worth buying this album if you already have it.

The original CD release of this album and the whole Marshall Tucker catalog had poor sound quality. SHOUT! Factory has reissued the whole catalog and has included one bonus live track on each. The remasters have been pretty good, but not perfect. Sometimes the mix is a little off, but the sound quality is very crisp with a good dynamic range. If you have the original CD, it might be worth buying this for the much improved sound. But, if you have the album, than it is not necessary. Note that the sound quality on the bonuse track is not as good.

I saw Marshall Tucker as the headliner when they did a tour for this album. They only played 20 minutes! It was a real shock. They did come out for a 20 minute encore, but this was the only time I saw a headliner only play 40 minutes. When I saw the group in the following years, they always played around 2 hours.

At one time the whole Marshall Tucker tape inventory (masters and live recordings) was for sale on eBay. The people had the tapes but did not have the licensing for the music. If you bought the tapes you still had to get the license. I guess SHOUT! Factory got them. They have done a so-so job with the Marshall Tucker catalog remasters. They have done a much worse job with many other releases, and I try to steer clear of them. Many of their releases are misleading, where they repackage old material and make it seem new.

This is a tragic band. The bass, lead and rhythm guitarists have all died. Doug Gray (lead vocalist), sometimes with the flautist/saxophonist, has continued on with the band's name, releasing a number of albums in different styles, like straight out country and blues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars my searchin' is over- I found the gold, August 28, 2007

By 

B. E Jackson (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Searchin' For A Rainbow (Audio CD)

Searchin' for a Rainbow is where the Marshall Tucker Band decided that going country is the direction they wanted to travel, and well, who am I to complain? It was a respectable (and obvious) choice. It's not like they were destined to be entirely a rock band anyway. They always had country and blues influences- even underneath the heavy guitar and sax jams there was a sense of country/rock.

The first song titled "Fire on the Mountain" contains a superb verse melody, memorable chorus, and great guitar playing. It's a perfect song, and honestly strikes me as more authentic than most artists who've attempted the same style of country/rock but never able to pull it off with the same kind of satisfying results. No, those artists can't capture the beauty and songwriting of this song. The title song is more of the same, with equally satisfying results. What a beautiful style of country/rock the Marshall Tucker Band excelled at. I can't believe this song has been removed from radio station formats. What a cryin' shame.

"Walkin' and Talkin" is pure boogie blues, and I love it (especially the guitar solo). "Virginia" is a commercialized ballad probably influenced by the Allman Brothers Bands "Melissa". I hear a similarity in the vocal melody. Nice lyrics about travelling in search of gold or... a search for adventure. "Bob Away the Blues" is a new experiment for the band- the best way to describe the vocals are "lazy blues", and that's meant entirely as a compliment. Great song.

"Keeps Me From All Wrong" is my vote for surprise highlight- catchy piano lines and vocals, bouncy rhythm work, meaningful lyrics and... perhaps it qualifies as a ballad, which makes it even more interesting and difficult to categorize. "Bound and Determined" offers another immediate Allman Brothers Band comparison, this time a more rocking version of the blues, such as something from their Eat a Peach album. It's an inspirational jam which is honestly what the album *needs* by this point- the saxophone work makes it stand in a different category from anything else though. VERY good saxophone playing, might I add. The keyboards are good too, but the guitar solo is the part that takes the cake.

I don't quite understand why Searchin' for a Rainbow concludes with a live version of "Can't You See". It gives one the impression the band didn't have enough songs for the album, so they threw in a live version of a classic song just to fill in enough space. Not a move I'm particularly fond of, however it doesn't take anything away from the quality of the song, of course.

Overall, great album all the way through. Just expect a more country influence than ever before, especially if you've been listening to the bands albums in order, like I have.