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Avg: 4.0 (14 ratings)
- Date Released: November 4, 2003
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Classic Rock
- Label: Shout! Factory
Their second album — jazzier, and with moments as blue as the big sky itself.
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We Say...
Marshall Tucker start their second album mythically reinventing themselves like Americans always have — hitching up their stagecoach and heading west in search of “A New Life.” Ethereal southern space-rock boosted by woodwinds verging on prog and guitars heavying up toward metal, the opening jam lasts nearly seven minutes. Toy Caldwell tells us he shot a man, and now he’s so homesick he could die.
Then comes “Southern Woman,” which is even longer, moseying sleepily along for its first three minutes until the brass kicks in, vamping toward bebop over a boogie-woogie beat. A New Life, in general, sounds more explicitly jazzy than the debut — “Too Stubborn” is basically a Western Swing ballad; in the live version of the smoothly picked “Another Cruel Love” added to this slightly expanded reissue, horns repeatedly trill what sounds like the Woody Woodpecker theme.
Caldwell’s singing feels somewhat dryer and more macho than on the first album as well — not always an improvement. And while stretched-out song lengths give the music even more room to breathe, the tempos slow some, and cowpokes out in the sun too long are liable to get aimless. So hit country-rock move “24 Hours at A Time,” which marries an indelible chorus hook to Charlie Daniels’s guest fiddle, outwears its welcome a bit too soon. But when the world-weary eco-lament “Fly Eagle Fly” mourns lost black bears, cougars, and buffalo, Marshall Tucker’s wandering can feel as blue as the big sky itself. -
They Say...
Perhaps the only reason that New Life isn't quite as memorable as its self-titled predecessor is that the band's debut was just so startling when it appeared. By the time New Life was issued in 1974, to the band's credit, it seemed like the Marshall Tucker Band sound had always been a part of America's rock & roll scene. New Life is earthier than the first album, and country music is less layered over by the trappings of jam-band rock. "Blue Ridge Mountain Sky" is only eclipsed by Dickey Betts' "Ramblin' Man" as the ultimate road song from the period. Likewise, the pedal steel blues of "Too Stubborn" echo an earlier era altogether, as the ghost of Bob Wills comes into Toy Caldwell's songwriting. The whining guitars and lilting woodwinds of the title track bring the jazzier elements in the band's sound to the fore and wind them seamlessly into a swirling, pastoral country music. The Muscle Shoals horns lend a hand on the Allman Brothers' Brothers and Sisters-influenced "Another Cruel Love," and guest Charlie Daniels' fiddle cooks up a bluegrass stew on "24 Hours at a Time." The sound is fantastically balanced and warm, and like its predecessor, this album has dated very well.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
A New Life |
6:44 |  |
| 02. | |
Southern Woman |
7:54 | |
| 03. | |
Blue Ridge Mountain Sky |
3:37 | |
| 04. | |
Too Stubborn |
3:55 | |
| 05. | |
Another Cruel Love |
3:58 | |
| 06. | |
You Ain't Foolin' Me |
7:03 | |
| 07. | |
24 Hours At A Time |
5:03 | |
| 08. | |
Fly Eagle Fly |
4:25 | |
| 09. | |
Another Cruel Love (bonus live track) |
4:23 | |
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Credits
- The Marshall Tucker Band - Main Performer // Toy Caldwell - Guitar (Acoustic) // Toy Caldwell - Guitar // Toy Caldwell - Guitar (Electric) // Toy Caldwell - Guitar (Steel) // Toy Caldwell - Vocals // Toy Caldwell - Slide Guitar // Tommy Caldwell - Bass // Tommy Caldwell - Vocals // Tommy Caldwell - Vocals (Background) // Charlie Daniels - Fiddle // Charlie Daniels - Violin // Jerry Eubanks - Flute // Jerry Eubanks - Keyboards // Jerry Eubanks - Saxophone // Jerry Eubanks - Vocals // Jerry Eubanks - Vocals (Background) // Earl Ford - Horn // Doug Gray - Guitar // Doug Gray - Percussion // Doug Gray - Vocals // Paul Hornsby - Keyboards // Paul Hornsby - Producer // Oscar Jackson - Horn // Jaimoe - Conductor // Jaimoe - Conga // Todd Logan - Horn // George McCorkle - Guitar (Acoustic) // George McCorkle - Banjo // George McCorkle - Guitar // George McCorkle - Guitar (Electric) // Paul Riddle - Drums // Harold Williams - Horn
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