Doug Gray (born May 22, 1948) is an American singer, who is a founding member and lead vocalist of

The Marshall Tucker Band The Marshall Tucker Band is an American rock band from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Noted for incorporating blues, country, and jazz into an eclectic sound, the Marshall Tucker Band helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s. W ...

Biography

Doug Gray was born on May 22, 1948, in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Off ...

. While high school mates, Gray and bassist,

Tommy Caldwell Tommy Caldwell (born August 11, 1978) is an American rock climber who has set records in sport climbing, traditional climbing, and in big-wall climbing. Caldwell made the first free ascents of several major routes on El Capitan in Yosemite Natio ...

joined a band called ''The New Generation''. The band consisted of: Gray on vocals; Tommy Caldwell on bass; Randy Foster on rhythm guitar; Keith Wood on lead guitar; Dan Powell on organ; and Ross Hanna on drums. In 1968, they co-wrote a single, "Because of Love (It's All Over)" and released on a 45rpm record. After high school, The New Generation merged with another local band, ''The Rants'', which included: guitarist,

Toy Caldwell Toy Talmadge Caldwell Jr. (November 13, 1947 – February 25, 1993) was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the 1970s Southern Rock group The Marshall Tucker Band.

(brother of Tommy); saxophonist, keyboardist and flutist,

Jerry Eubanks Jerry Eubanks (born March 9, 1950) is an American musician best known as the original saxophonist, keyboardist and flautist for The Marshall Tucker Band. His flute and sax solos were a signature of the band. Eubanks left the Marshall Tucker Band ...

; and drummer, Ross Hanna (1951-2019), to form a new band called the ''Toy Factory''. As the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

dragged on, many of the members joined various military branches with Gray joining the Army and serving in the Vietnam War. After his duty in the military, Gray rejoined the Caldwell brothers and Eubanks of the ''Toy Factory''. They recruited guitarist,

George McCorkle George McCorkle (October 11, 1946 – June 29, 2007) was a founding member and guitarist for the Marshall Tucker Band. He wrote " Fire on the Mountain", the band's first top 40 hit, though had hoped that Charlie Daniels would record the song. He l ...

along with drummer, Paul Riddle. By 1972, they changed their everlasting band name to

(name of man who was hometown piano tuner in the cotton-mill city of Spartanburg). Gray remained with the band for its entire career and he is the only original member who still performs with the band today. Gray sang lead on most of the band's songs. For one exception, " Can't You See," featured founder and guitarist

Toy Caldwell Toy Talmadge Caldwell Jr. (November 13, 1947 – February 25, 1993) was the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the 1970s Southern Rock group The Marshall Tucker Band.

as the singer. In addition to singing, Gray also sometimes plays tambourine and in the band's early days he played keyboards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Doug 1948 births Living people American male singers American rock singers Musicians from Spartanburg, South Carolina Tambourine players The Marshall Tucker Band members United States Army soldiers