Charlie Daniels and
David Corlew at Blue Hat Records have really done the world a major favor by re-releasing this, former
Marshall Tucker Band guitarist and songwriter
Toy Caldwell's only studio album. The release, originally on the now defunct Cabin Fever Music label (under the title "Toy Caldwell"), was only available for a short time prior to
Caldwell's death in 1993. Now, however, all of Toy's music can once again be had, including the full-throttled "I Hear the South Calling Me," with
Charlie Daniels on fiddle, and "Midnight Promises," perhaps one of
Caldwell's all-time finest blues ballads, featuring brother
Gregg Allman on the Hammond B-3 organ and vocals.
Caldwell's band played their heart out on the album. Pic Pickens on guitar, Mark Burrell on the drums, and Tony Heatherly on bass provide the perfect compliment to
Caldwell's world-famous thumb-style chicken-pickin'. There are plenty of Toy's Western-themed songs here, including the haunting "Shadow Rider" and "Mexico," a song reminiscent of his old "24 Hours at a Time" from the Tucker days. Toy reworked a couple of his old MTB tunes for the project, including "Fly Eagle Fly" and his signature tune "This Ol' Cowboy." Both songs hold up well in comparison to the originals. On his cover of
Willie Nelson's "Night Life," Toy plays some red-hot jazzy guitar backed by a smooth vocal ensemble, and Willie himself steps up to the plate to nail the vocal on the last verse. "Trouble in Dixie," "Love Turns Mean," and "Wrong Right" are all songs of love gone wrong, sometimes written with a tongue-in-cheek tone by
Caldwell, and featuring more of his smoldering Gibson guitar work. "Texas on My Mind" is a welcome addition to the recording, a "smooth as Tennessee whiskey" ballad, sung by Tony Heatherly, Toy's friend and bassist. With the reissue, Blue Hat has tacked on an incredible bonus cut: a live track of "Can't You See" from the Volunteer Jam, with Toy backed by
the Charlie Daniels Band. It's nothing short of stellar.
Toy Caldwell is no longer with us, but thanks to his ample body of work, and all of the people he touched with music during his lifetime, his memory will live on and on, and
Son of the South is just another great way of remembering the talent that was
Toy Caldwell. ~ Michael B. Smith