Toy Talmadge Caldwell Jr. (November 13, 1947 – February 25, 1993) was the

lead guitarist Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featured ...

and main songwriter of the 1970s

Southern Rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

group

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. Whi ...

.Toy Caldwell Jr., 45, a Founder of the Marshall Tucker Band
New York Times. February 26, 1993. p.A17. A founding member of the band, Caldwell remained with the group until 1983. In addition to his role as lead guitarist, he was also the band's steel guitarist and performed lead vocals including on one of the band's best-known hits, " Can't You See."

Early life

Caldwell was born November 13, 1947, in

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

, to Mr. and Mrs. Toy Talmadge Caldwell Sr. He began playing guitar before his teen years with his younger brother

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 ...

. He developed a unique style of playing, playing the electric guitar using his thumb rather than a pick. Toy played basketball and football in high school with friends

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 ...

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

Doug Gray Doug Gray (born May 22, 1948) is an American singer, who is a founding member and lead vocalist of The Marshall Tucker Band. Biography Doug Gray was born on May 22, 1948, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. While high school mates, Gray and bassi ...

. While very involved in sports, the boys eventually became interested in music including jazz and blues. By the age of sixteen, Caldwell was passionate about music, sports, and his other obsession, motorcycles. He also enjoyed hunting and fishing. Caldwell decided to enlist in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. In 1966, he reported for

recruit training Military recruit training, commonly known as basic training or boot camp, refers to the initial instruction of new military personnel. It is a physically and psychologically intensive process, which resocializes its subjects for the unique deman ...

Parris Island Parris is both a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Parris Afton Bonds, American novelist * Parris Campbell (born 1997), American football player * Parris Duffus (born 1970), retired American ice hockey go ...

, South Carolina. After being wounded in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

in September 1968, he was evacuated for two weeks, then returned for duty. Caldwell was discharged in 1969 and once again began playing music with his high school buddies. The Spartanburg chapter of the Marine Corps League is named the Hutchings-Caldwells Detachment in honor of Toy, his brother Tommy and another Marine, Pvt Nolan Ryan Hutchings, who was killed during the Iraq Invasion in 2003.

Career

The Marshall Tucker Band

Returning to Spartanburg from his military service Caldwell formed the Toy Factory band with Franklin Wilkie, Doug Gray and Jerry Eubanks. Younger brother Tommy Caldwell joined in 1973 when Wilkie left and the band became the Marshall Tucker Band. Toy Caldwell was the group's lead guitarist and main songwriter.

Later career

He later formed the Toy Caldwell Band and released an eponymous CD in 1992; the record was later renamed ''Son of the South'' by Southern country rocker and Caldwell's personal friend,

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, pioneering Southern rock. He was best known for his number-one country hit "The Dev ...

. The album was digitally re-released in 2009 through Hopesong Digital /

GMV Nashville GMV Nashville is a digital record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, founded by Jeff Walker in 2007. History Walker founded the label primarily to release digital versions of classic releases from Con Brio Records, which was founded by Walker ...

Personal life

Caldwell married his wife Abbie on September 12, 1969. The song "Ab's Song" from The Marshall Tucker Band's debut album was written for her. He was also the father of two girls, Cassady and Geneal Caldwell. He was the older brother of co-founder and

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

ist

, who was killed at age 30 in an automobile accident on April 28, 1980, and to Tim Caldwell, who on March 28, 1980, one month prior to Tommy's death, was killed at age 25 in a collision with a Spartanburg County garbage truck on S.C. Highway 215. Death Toy Caldwell was found dead in bed by his wife, Abbie, on February 25, 1993, at his home in

Moore, South Carolina Moore is an unincorporated community in Spartanburg County in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Geography Moore is located in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Moore is located south of Spartanburg on U.S. Route 221 and is one mile west o ...

. The cause of death was reported as cardio-respiratory failure due to viral myocarditis, by Spartanburg County Coroner Jim Burnett. Nevertheless, a toxicologist's report found that the cause of death was a cardiac arrest brought on by cocaine use.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caldwell, Toy 1947 births 1993 deaths American Southern Rock musicians American rock guitarists Drug-related deaths in South Carolina Cocaine-related deaths in South Carolina United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War Burials in South Carolina Lead guitarists Pedal steel guitarists Musicians from Spartanburg, South Carolina 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from South Carolina The Marshall Tucker Band members