Customer Reviews

Searchin' For A Rainbow

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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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.

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.

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.

SEARCHIN' FOR A RAINBOW features the Marshall Tucker Band going in a great new direction. The country, bluegrass, and Western swing elements that had always been there were moved to the fore this time around, and the band had its first hit single (#38) with the song "Fire On The Mountain", which uses the Gold Rush of the 1800s that was part of my high school Social Studies curriculum as a metaphor for how the music business chews up and spits out people. However, dig a little deeper, and the song is a parable about how self-indulgent behavior can kill you in the end, an interpretation that led to me hanging up pictures of pretty actresses as a deterrent to habits that might make me sick or injure me. That's hardly the only great song here, as the title track, "Virginia", and live versions of "Can't You See" and "It Takes Time" (the latter a bonus track), also stand out. There's more filler than usual, but this CD still gets five stars for effort and the great moments that do appear.

Yes I said album I wore our 3 LP's and I also have a new one in the wrapper. I also have the cd and it is on my computer and my Ipod as well. Not many days go by and probaly never a week goes by that I don't listen to this music. It is a part of me.

My musical tastes run to the eclectic- classical, Beatles/British Invasion, Johnny Cash (especially the Sun Records years), '60's and '70's classic rock, country and many other genres as well. I am not a huge fan of this band, in fact the only songs by them I've heard are on this album. I first listened to this album in a friend's dorm room at college. The whole record just works for me. I take it as a unit, and I really like listening to it. It's worked for me since 1975, and I'll probably keep listening to it 'til they put me under.

Prior to the release of this album, the Marshall Tucker Band primarily played long, drawn-out jams. Let's face it they patterned themselves after the Allman Brothers. It was the 70's and people had a longer attention span back then. Lacking the commericial success that producers, studios, and record companies wanted, they too had to enter into the pop/country genre. Although, I like most of the songs on this one. Especially Virgina (which isn't one of their more notable songs). The title track and Fire On The Mountain are also good selections. Walkin' and Talkin' (A Texas swing-styled song)and Bob Away My Blues, Is a good honky-tonk selection. I don't care for Keeps Me From All Wrong. Bound and Determined sounds a lot like the Allman Brothers...I like this one. Can't You See (live) and It Takes Time (live) are very good songs. This CD shows that the MTB were destined for greatness! Although, I still like a lot of their older music better than this!

The Marshall Tucker Band is one of my favorites from the late 70's, and this CD brings back good memories. Love it!Searchin' For A Rainbow

Searchin' for a Rainbow seems to be a step down for Marshall Tucker, but it doesn't matter. The band still knew how to make fine Southern Rock music when this was first released. The first two songs ("Fire on the Mountain" and "Searchin' for a Rainbow") are adequate at best, but when we get to "Walkin' and Talkin'," things start to pick up very quickly. "Virginia," one of the most memorable songs on this album, will probably become my personal favorite on this album. "Bob Away my Blues," "Keeps Me All From Wrong," and "Bound and Determined" are nicely played and sung in typical MTB fashion. The live version of "Can't You See" is a decent filler.

Searchin' for a Rainbow may not be the best from Marshall Tucker, but it's still features lively, beautiful, and unique songs.

Grade: 8.7 out of 10

Also from Marshall Tucker Band
Self-titled debut (9.5 out of 10) Marshall Tucker Band
A New Life (9.3 out of 10) New Life
Where We All Belong (9.7 out of 10) Where We All Belong

The Marshall Tucker Band seems to have been largely forgotten today but in the mid-1970s this band was one of the best Southern rock, country-rock outfits around.

Marshall Tucker had a very unique sound; they combined what was essentially a country and country-rock sound with elements of blues and jazz to create one of the most distinctive musical styles among the many successful bands that, at the time, were coming out of the south eastern U.S.

Bands that come out of the South at the same time as Marshall Tucker included Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Charlie Daniels Band.

If you're not familiar with the Marshall Tucker Band, there are three of their albums you should check out: Searchin' For A Rainbow, Long Hard Ride and Carolina Dreams. All three are excellent.