(… looking back …)
Overview of the producers and the musicians involved:
The Great Spectacular (1975 – demo)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length |
| 1 | Refried Funky Chicken | Steve Morse | 03:50 |
| 2 | Holiday | Steve Morse | 03:55 |
| 3 | Wages Of Weirdness | Steve Morse | 03:54 |
| 4 | T.O. Witcher | Steve Morse | 02:12 |
| 5 | The Great Spectacular | Steve Morse | 03:16 |
| 6 | Ice Cakes | Steve Morse | 03:46 |
| 7 | Leprechaun Promenade | Steve Morse | 03:19 |
| 8 | Country House Shuffle | Steve Morse | 03:59 |
| 9 | What If | Steve Morse | 03:28 |
| 10 | Kathreen | Steve Morse | 02:50 |
“The Great Spectacular” was recorded at the University of Miami, with very limited time and resources. An LP was produced and served as a demo as the band did not have a record contract yet.
The album remained almost unknown to the general public until it was officially released as a CD in 1997, 14 years after the band had disbanded.
Production and sound:
The sound of the band is quite dry and “flat”. The dynamic range is rather low.
Music:
Eight of the ten pieces (all but “T.O.Witcher” and “Kathreen”) were re-recorded later for “official” albums (from 1977 to 1980). For this reason, they are not discussed here, but in the context of these later albums (see below).
Personal opinion:
Listening to these eight tracks, it turns out that these eight pieces were already fully developed in 1975.
Free Fall (1977)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Free Fall | Steve Morse | 04:40 | |
| 2 | Holiday | Steve Morse | 04:29 | |
| 3 | Hand Jig | Steve Morse | 03:16 | |
| 4 | Moe Down | Steve Morse | 03:49 | CB |
| 5 | Refried Funky Chicken | Steve Morse | 03:16 | |
| 6 | Sleep | Steve Morse | 01:53 | AC |
| 7 | Cruise Control | Steve Morse | 06:14 | DR |
| 8 | Cosmopolitan Traveler | Steve Morse | 03:01 | |
| 9 | Dig The Ditch | Steve Morse | 03:50 | |
| 10 | Wages Of Weirdness | Steve Morse | 03:45 | |
| 11 | Northern Lights | Steve Morse | 03:12 | AC |
“Free Fall” is the official debut album of the band, recorded two years after the demo album “The Great Spectacular”.
Steve Davidowski had become the keyboard (and saxophone) player in the band.
Production and sound:
The sound of the band is quite dry and “flat”. The bass guitar lacks the lower frequencies.
Music:
The eleven pieces show a broad stylistic variety. But it is always clear that you are listening to a rock band that incorporates e.g., jazz elements (and not a jazz band that incorporates rock elements). Besides jazz, funk is an important influence. The pieces are very elaborate and full of ideas, yet cool and playful.
Personal opinion:
For a debut, it is a very mature album. And for an unknown band, it is very brave to make this kind of innovative and challenging music that has so many odd and surprising details. Often, a weird sense of humor is shown, when suddenly something happens that the listener was not prepared for.
Technically, all the members play their instruments at a high level, but above all, I am impressed by the creative drumming of Rod Morgenstein.
Personal favorites:
Hand Jig – A very funny piece. (Too bad the guitar solo has an ugly distorted sound.)
Sleep – This short piece sounds nice and rather harmless but it develops at least five separate melodic lines played at the same time – astounding.
Cruise Control – Hectic bass lines drive a very energetic piece, containing a lot of very diverse solos in the middle section. Different ways to play (beautifully sounding) “guitar chorales” are demonstrated, and finally the solos get shorter and shorter until each instrument (the guitar, violin, organ, bass) has less than half a second to play – controlled craziness.
Dig The Ditch – A funny way to play funky music.
Wages Of Weirdness – The essence of this album packed into one piece. Variety, humor, virtuosity, diversity, did I mention humor? 😉
What If (1978)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Take It Off The Top | Steve Morse | 04:07 | DR |
| 2 | Odyssey | Steve Morse | 07:35 | |
| 3 | What If | Steve Morse | 05:01 | |
| 4 | Travel Tunes | Andy West | 04:34 | |
| 5 | Ice Cakes | Steve Morse | 04:39 | |
| 6 | Little Kids | Steve Morse | 02:03 | AC |
| 7 | Gina Lola Breakdown | Steve Morse, Twiggs Lyndon | 04:00 | CB |
| 8 | Night Meets Light | Steve Morse | 07:47 | LS |
Mark Parrish is the new keyboard player on this album.
Production and sound:
The production is good. Opposed to “Free Fall”, each piece gets its own individual “sound”.
Music:
Coming from “Free Fall” and listening to the first three tracks of this album, one hears: rock – prog – psychedelic. It’s like listening to a different band! The range of styles is even broader than before, the musical elements are utilized to explore even more areas. Generally speaking, there is a significant shift from jazz to rock.
“Travel Tunes” was written by Andy West (the only Dregs piece by a band member other than Steve Morse).
Personal opinion:
Reading lots of reviews, I have learned that many people consider “What If” the best Dixie Dregs album. For me, this is not the case. But I acknowledge that there are many great pieces, some of which are singular in the band’s repertoire.
Personal favorites:
Odyssey – The only “prog rock” piece by the Dregs, and arguably some of the best prog music ever written.
Ice Cakes – Contains many different and original sections, all fitting in one piece, in a great way. A good representative track for the band (in case you need one).
Night Meets Light – The first “Long & Slow”-type piece of the band. And already a masterpiece. And proof that the Dregs could play “emotional” music just as well as “technical” music.
Night Of The Living Dregs (1979)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Punk Sandwich | Steve Morse | 03:18 | DR |
| 2 | Country House Shuffle | Steve Morse | 04:13 | |
| 3 | The Riff Raff | Steve Morse | 03:17 | AC |
| 4 | Long Slow Distance | Steve Morse | 06:45 | LS |
| 5 | Night Of The Living Dregs | Steve Morse | 04:21 | |
| 6 | The Bash | Dixie Dregs / Traditional | 04:28 | CB |
| 7 | Leprechaun Promenade | Steve Morse | 03:46 | |
| 8 | Patchwork | Steve Morse | 04:53 | CB |
The first half of the album (four pieces) was recorded in the studio, the second half (four pieces, all new) was live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 23, 1978. These are the only live recordings that were released by the band itself during the classic period (until 1982).
(The concert was also filmed, and released on DVD in 2005, containing all 11 tracks of the concert.)
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
The production is good.
On the concert tracks, some audience noise (cheering, clapping) can be heard along with the music.
According to Andy West, “some of the bass tracks ended up being overdubbed“. (Listening to the DVD (see above) I guess this was done to at least one violin track as well.)
Music:
After the band had demonstrated their extremely wide range of styles on the previous album “What If”, “Night Of The Living Dregs” showed which particular musical directions they would concentrate on in order to bring them to perfection in the years to come.
The four pieces from the Montreux festival proved that they could play their intricate and virtuosic music flawlessly at live concerts.
Personal opinion:
A great album, no question. “Unfortunately”, the previous and the next albums had even more sophisticated compositions than this one. On the other hand, containing four pieces that were played live in concert, with good audio quality is priceless.
Personal favorites:
Long Slow Distance – Indeed, “Long & Slow”. Not “Night Meets Light Part 2”, but a slightly different approach to the mellower pieces that was elaborated on even more in the next three albums.
Leprechaun Promenade – This is a one-of-a-kind piece. Colorful, atmospheric, even haunting; a drama without words, yet full of interesting musical details. Does not fit into any category. Played by a rock band here, but could be played by a symphony orchestra, as well.
Patchwork – The second “Country & Bluegrass”-type piece besides the sensational “The Bash”; this piece has more subtle qualities, like the effortless instrumental interplay and the frequent (yet inconspicuous) changes between 4/4 and 7/8 time (do you know any other Bluegrass piece in 7/8 time?)
Dregs Of The Earth (1980)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type | |
| 1 | Road Expense | Steve Morse | 03:24 | DR | |
| 2 | Pride O’ The Farm | Steve Morse | 03:40 | CB | |
| 3 | Twiggs Approved | Steve Morse | 04:29 | ||
| 4 | Hereafter | Steve Morse | 06:21 | LS | |
| 5 | The Great Spectacular | Steve Morse | 03:20 | ||
| 6 | Broad Street Strut | Steve Morse | 03:54 | ||
| 7 | I’m Freaking Out | Steve Morse | 09:06 | ||
| 8 | Old World | Steve Morse | 02:00 | AC |
This is the first Dixie Dregs album with T Lavitz on keyboards.
And it is the first Dixie Dregs album that was not named after a piece contained therein. Moreover, the title showed some self-irony. Both aspects (the naming concept and the self-irony) would reappear on the remaining three studio albums.
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
The production is good.
Steve Morse uses more distortion for his electric guitar than on the previous albums.
Music:
Less jazz, less funk than before. Maybe you could call it “chamber rock”. T Lavitz adds jazzy virtuosic playing.
Personal opinion:
IMHO the Dixie Dregs never got better than on this album. Everything is fully developed. All the different styles and influences are well balanced and combined to something extraordinary. Each of the eight pieces is simply great on its own.
If I could keep only one Dixie Dregs album, this would be the one.
Personal favorites:
Road Expense – The best “Driving Rock” type of piece. Keen melodies, boogie accompaniment, odd time signatures (which do not spoil the groove). Fast chord progressions, short and great guitar solo. Had the potential to appeal to larger audiences.
Pride O’ The Farm – The best “Country & Bluegrass” piece. Incredible playing; a breathless run from one highlight to the next. Insane, yet funny.
Hereafter – The best “Long & Slow” piece so far. Intricate composition. Majestic yet delicate. Just gorgeous.
Broad Street Strut – A humorous piece, full of little surprises.
I’m Freaking Out – The longest Dixie Dregs piece (9 min), starting with a fantastic 2 min overture followed by complex riffs, interwoven lines, great solos. A unisono tune develops into (at least) 4-part-polyphony – stunning. Impossible to top, IMHO.
Unsung Heroes (1981)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Cruise Control | Steve Morse | 03:44 | DR |
| 2 | Divided We Stand | Steve Morse | 05:00 | |
| 3 | I’ll Just Pick | Steve Morse | 03:27 | CB |
| 4 | Day 444 | Steve Morse | 07:02 | LS |
| 5 | Rock And Roll Park | Steve Morse | 04:35 | |
| 6 | Attila The Hun | Steve Morse | 04:01 | |
| 7 | Kat Food | Steve Morse | 04:58 | |
| 8 | Go For Baroque | Steve Morse | 03:56 | AC |
In this album, the band’s members are the same as in “Dregs Of The Earth”. On the cover, they are depicted without mouths which adds another (somewhat strange) aspect to the ambiguity of the title.
The name of the band has been changed from “Dixie Dregs” to “(The) Dregs”.
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
The production is good.
The sound of the band has slightly changed in that the piano plays a more prominent role than in the previous albums, in addition to the supplementary instruments clavinet and saxophone – all of which, played by T Lavitz.
Music:
The musical concept has not changed from “Dregs Of The Earth”.
Personal opinion:
The first half of this albums succeeds to maintain the high level of “Dregs Of The Earth”. But in comparison, the second half drops a little bit. Yet it is one of their Top 3 albums and contains many fantastic pieces.
Personal favorites:
Divided We Stand – One of the few Dregs pieces in 6/8 time, with an atmosphere ranging from powerful to delicate. Important parts are left to the piano, and there is an extremely beautiful synthesizer solo. Another one of the pieces that I would play to someone who asks me for a good example of the Dregs’ music.
I’ll Just Pick – Not as breathless as “Pride O’ The Farm”, a little more relaxed, served “with a bright smile”. There are lots of highlights (two great piano solos: the first in honky-tonk fashion, the second jazzy; polyphony intensifying from one to four voices; bass guitar suddenly (and boldly) playing the melody for just a second …)
Day 444 – The best “Long & Slow” piece overall. Just fantastic.
Go For Baroque – The “Acoustic & Chamber Music” track on the album, played by the whole band (minus drums), not just by the violin and guitar (although it starts that way). The “Baroque” style, reminiscent of Händel, is replaced by a Romantic style halfway through the piece, culminating in a dramatic/chaotic phase before the “Baroque order” is reestablished and a short but very beautiful coda finishes a gorgeous album.
Industry Standard (1982)
| No. | Title | Ft. | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Assembly Line | S. Morse | 04:25 | DR | |
| 2 | Crank It Up | A. Ligertiwood | S. Morse, The Dregs | 03:35 | |
| 3 | Chips Ahoy | S. Morse | 03:39 | ||
| 4 | Bloodsucking Leeches | S. Morse | 03:59 | ||
| 5 | Up In The Air | Steve Howe | S. Morse | 02:27 | AC |
| 6 | Ridin’ High | P. Simmons | S. Morse, P. Simmons | 03:40 | |
| 7 | Where’s Dixie? | S. Morse | 03:57 | CB | |
| 8 | Conversation Piece | S. Morse | 06:12 | LS | |
| 9 | Vitamin Q | S. Morse | 05:33 |
This is first (and only) Dregs album which featured vocals and lyrics, and many commentors back then attributed this to pressure from the record company to change to a more mainstream style. If this is true, the title of the album can be read as a (cynical) reference to this situation.
Mark O’Connor, US national fiddle champion, was the violin player on this album, while Allen Sloan pursued a career in medicine.
For the first time, there is a guest instrumentalist on a Dregs Album: Steve Howe of Yes plays an acoustic guitar duet together with Steve Morse.
This is the last album of the “classic” period of the Dregs. After touring for this album (including appearances in TV shows, like Jay Leno’s), the band disbanded.
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
The production is good.
Music:
The seven instrumental pieces on this album continue the musical journey that the band has gone on in the previous albums.
In addition, there are two songs, each with a guest singer (Alex Ligertwood, Patrick Simmons) . They have the usual length and structure of pop/rock songs, including verses and chorus, and composer Steve Morse managed to incorporate quite a few typical Dregs features into them.
Personal opinion:
Including two songs with vocals was an interesting attempt, but the result did not satisfy. For the typical previous Dregs fan, the result of such an enterprise had to be disappointing. And for the average chart listener (to whom this attempt presumably was aimed at)? I guess, in both songs, the melodies of the choruses were simply not catchy enough.
In the main part of the album, I sense some sort of melancholy in many of the seven instrumental pieces that was not present in the previous albums. Whether there is some connection to the forthcoming disbanding of the band or not, it adds a new flavor to the Dregs’ music which used to sound rather energetic und joyful before.
At the end of the last piece “Vitamin Q”, starting at 04’57”, there is a short but great coda, which can be recognized as a worthy end to the classic Dixie Dregs period.
Personal favorites:
Assembly Line – This highly original “Driving Rock”-type piece shows the way that the Dregs had gone since their beginnings: Some rather jazzy and playful elements have diminished, other elements (like using long riffs, allowing different moods) have grown.
Chips Ahoy – Driven by powerful piano chords, this piece uses ingredients similar to those in “Divided We Stand” (1981), but comes up with an independent, playful character.
Conversation Piece – Another “Long & Slow”-type piece, rather piano-dominated, featuring three very intense solos (violin, synthesizer, guitar).
Bring ’Em Back Alive (1992)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length |
| 1 | Road Expense | Steve Morse | 03:45 |
| 2 | Assembly Line | Steve Morse | 03:47 |
| 3 | Holiday | Steve Morse | 04:04 |
| 4 | Country House Shuffle | Steve Morse | 04:02 |
| 5 | Kashmir | J. Bonham, J. Page, R. Plant | 03:36 |
| 6 | Odyssey | Steve Morse | 06:12 |
| 7 | Kat Food | Steve Morse | 05:20 |
| 8 | Hereafter | Steve Morse | 06:10 |
| 9 | Medley (Take It off the Top) | Steve Morse | 06:20 |
| 10 | Divided We Stand | Steve Morse | 04:54 |
| 11 | Bloodsucking Leeches | Steve Morse | 04:09 |
| 12 | Cruise Control | Steve Morse | 14:20 |
This is the first (official) album of the Dixie Dregs to contain only live music.
It was recorded during concerts at “The Center Stage” in Atlanta in February 1992.
For these concerts, violinist Allan Sloan returned to the band. Bass guitar was played by Dave LaRue (who had joined the Steve Morse Band the year before).
This album fills part of a gap since only very few good live recordings of the 1980-1982 repertoire seem to exist.
From this album on, the official name of the band was again “Dixie Dregs”.
The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
Unfortunately, the production is not so good, IMHO: Violin and bass guitar are not very well audible (too little treble?), there is too much reverb overall, and everything sounds somewhat “washed out”.
Music:
On this album, there are:
11 pieces from the six previous albums (at least one piece from each of these albums)
1 cover (“Kashmir” (Led Zeppelin)).
This album contains no new Dixie Dregs piece.
9 of the 11 pieces are presented with structures in principle the same as in the studio albums.
1 of the 11 pieces (“Cruise Control”) has a largely extended solo section.
1 of the 11 pieces (“Take It Off The Top”) incorporates a medley of snippets from classic rock songs.
Personal opinion:
Ten years after the band had disbanded while at the peak of their artistic abilities, this album was a great sign that the former members wanted to keep the Dixie Dregs alive, at least on a project basis.
Given the intricate and difficult character of these pieces, it is astonishing how good the live versions on this album are.
Full Circle (1994)
| No. | Title | Written by | Length | Type |
| 1 | Aftershock | Steve Morse | 03:45 | DR |
| 2 | Perpetual Reality | Steve Morse | 05:33 | |
| 3 | Calcutta | Steve Morse | 05:28 | |
| 4 | Goin’ To Town | Steve Morse | 03:39 | |
| 5 | Pompous Circumstances | Steve Morse | 03:22 | |
| 6 | Shapes Of Things | J. McCarty, K. Relf, .P Samwell-Smith | 03:47 | |
| 7 | Sleeveless In Seattle | Steve Morse | 04:06 | |
| 8 | Good Intentions | Steve Morse | 04:00 | |
| 9 | Yeolde | Steve Morse | 02:18 | AC |
| 10 | Ionized | Steve Morse | 04:00 |
This is the first studio album of the Dixie Dregs after the disbanding in 1983 (and the last one so far).
The line-up consists of the three members who had pursued a professional musical career (Steve Morse, Rod Morgenstein, T Lavitz), plus Jerry Goodman (Mahavishnu Orchestra) on violin and Dave LaRue (Steve Morse Band) on bass guitar.
The piece “Shape Of Things” received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Production and sound:
The production is good.
Ths sound of the violin (played by Jerry Goodman) is more “electric” and distorted than on the previous albums.
In some pieces there are background keyboard parts being played by a harpsichord which adds an interesting tone to the typical sound of a rock band.
Music:
There are nine new songs, written by Steve Morse, plus a cover the Yardbirds’ Song “Shapes Of Things” piece (the first cover on a Dixie Dregs studio album).
Personal opinion:
It can be considered great luck that, after twelve years, the Dregs reunited to record an album full of new material. And it is very interesting to see what has changed compared to the music they played twelve years before.
Fortunately (IMHO) there is not much that has changed, but what has? Well, there are no more “odd” pieces. Less polyphony, only very few jazz elements. The overall “ease” has diminished. There is no “Country & Bluegrass”-type piece, and no “Long & Slow”-type piece.
What is still there: abundant creativity, virtuosity, versatility in styles and tone colors.
Personal favorites:
Aftershock – “Arpeggio turned riff” ostinatos and keen melody lines make a nice combination – something that the Dregs have not played before.
Perpetual Reality – For me, this piece has one of the greatest moments of Dixie Dregs’ music (from 2’20” to 2’36”).
Goin’ To Town – A swing piece played by a rock band. Just wonderful.
Yeolde – Great “Acoustic & Chamber Music”, sounding friendly, light and easy, in spite (or because?) of polyrhythms and other tricky details.
California Screamin’ (1999)
| No. | Title | Ft. | Written by | Length |
| 1 | Wages Of Weirdness | Steve Morse | 04:10 | |
| 2 | Peaches En Regalia | Dweezil Zappa | Frank Zappa | 03:23 |
| 3 | Free Fall | Steve Morse | 04:40 | |
| 4 | Aftershock | Steve Morse | 03:46 | |
| 5 | The Bash | Dixie Dregs / Traditional | 06:48 | |
| 6 | Night Meets Light | Steve Morse | 09:00 | |
| 7 | Refried Funky Chicken | Steve Morse | 04:05 | |
| 8 | Jessica | Dickey Betts | 07:19 | |
| 9 | What If | Steve Morse | 05:10 | |
| 10 | Sleeveless In Seattle | Steve Morse | 04:15 | |
| 11 | Ionized | Steve Morse | 03:49 | |
| 12 | The Great Spectacular | Steve Morse | 03:30 | |
| 13 | Dixie | Dixie Dregs / Traditional | 01:30 |
This is the second “live only” album by the Dixie Dregs.
It features recordings from concerts at “The Roxy Theater” in Los Angeles in August 1999.
Musicians: The line-up that produced “Full Circle” five years before was joined by former members Andy West (playing in the band for the first time after 17 years) and Allen Sloan. As could be expected, these two were on stage for the older pieces while Dave LaRue and Jerry Goodman played the newer material.
The album was prefinanced by an early form of crowdfunding: Some time before the event, there was an announcement that people could prepay the price of the album, and they would get sent the finished CD afterwards. And in the sleeve notes of the album there is a heading “The Band would also like to acknowledge the following fans:“, followed by an alphabetical list of more than 500 names. (My name shows up there as well 🙂 )
Caution: Some major streaming platforms show a wrong track listing for this album:
– They list just 12 (instead of 13) tracks
– They name track no 2 “Free Fall” but “Peaches En Regalia” would be correct
– They name track no 3 “Aftershock” but “Free Fall” would be correct, and so on …
– They name track no 12 “Dixie” but “The Great Spectacular” would be correct.
I found this on:
– YouTube (on “Dixie Dregs – Topic”)
– Spotify
– Deezer
Production and sound:
The sound balance of the instruments is better than on “Bring ’Em Back Alive”, but also here the overall sound is not very clear, but rather washed out.
Music:
On this album, there are:
6 pieces from the first three albums (1977-1979)
1 piece from the next three albums (1980-1982)
3 pieces from the seventh studio album (1994)
2 covers (“Peaches En Regalia” (Frank Zappa) and “Jessica” (Allman Brothers))
1 “new” Dixie Dregs piece (“Dixie”, played at concerts previously ).
Personal opinion:
As with “Bring ‘Em Back Alive” seven years earlier, it is amazing to hear that (and how) these guys can play this stuff at concerts. I appreciate live versions of three pieces from “Full Circle”, but it is a pity that there is nothing from “Unsung Heroes” or “Industry Standard”. And no “Long & Slow” piece.