Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLV--Marshall Tucker Band: Heard It in a Love Song

Every now and again a song comes along and the first time you hear it, you know it's going to be a favorite of yours for the rest of your life (e.g., "Don't Do Me Like That" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).  But there's also that song that you hear for years, kind of like, and then one day hear it and think, "How the hell did I not notice how great this song was?"  Such was the case with song #155 here on FNJ.

The Marshall Tucker Band formed in 1972 in Spartanburg, S.C. (though they'd been playing in various bands and incarnations since the early 60's), and spent the 70's playing kind of cool younger brother to its much cooler older brothers, The Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd.  A major player in what used to be called Southern Rock (I think they call it half-assed Country now), they had quite a streak with their first five albums going gold and their sixth platinum.  They were well known for being a great live band, as well as being nominated for a Grammy.  Sadly, tragedy struck in 1980 when original bassist Tommy Caldwell (brother of chief songwriter and founder, Toy Caldwell) was killed in an auto accident.  The band stayed together for a few more years before going their separate ways.  Lead singer Doug Gray eventually resurrected the band name, and they still performs 150-200 shows a year with a different collection of musicians.  Not a bad gig if you can get it....

Fun Fact:  There is no one in the band named Marshall Tucker--the band got its name from a blind piano tuner named, appropriately enough, Marshall Tucker, whose name they had seen engraved on the back of the key to the warehouse they rented for rehearsals.

Released in 1977 (the year I graduated high school--holy shit I'm getting old) on their Carolina Dreams LP, "Heard It in a Love Song" was the only hit single the Marshall Tucker Band had (though "Can't You See" charted and is a fan favorite) throughout their career, reaching #14 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Forty years later and it's still a staple on Classic Rock radio--I'd be willing to bet there isn't an hour that goes by that some radio station in America isn't playing it.

Considering that I'm a strict disciple of the Dorothy Gale School of Life ("There's no place like home..."), "Heard It in a Love Song" is kind of an odd song for me to adore.  It tells the tale of a rambler who's on his way out the door and leaving behind a woman he knows he shouldn't, but the lure of greener pastures has been his lifelong obsession and has kept him moving on from town to town. Bookended by a dazzling flute solo, the song features heartfelt vocals from Doug Gray, a nice instrumental break (check out the guitars at the end of the break--straight from the Allman Brothers "Jessica"...what the fuck, plenty of good songs out there that stole a little bit here and there), and a simple ("Heard it in a love song" x3, then "Can't be wrong") but catchy as all hell chorus.  As is often the case with classic songs, the band manages to sing and play the tale without its getting mawkish, which is no easy feat in a pop song--Gray's vocals are a testament to the song's heartbreaking honesty.  Put it all together and it's easy to see why Southern Rock captured American's attention for a few years from the late 60's to the late 70's--there were a lot of damn good songs that came out of the movement, and "Heard It in a Love Song" is most definitely one of them.

Lyric Sheet:  "Don't sneak out that door/Couldn't stand to see you cry/I'd stay another year if I saw a teardrop in your eye..."

Enjoy:

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emaycee