I Have Never Heard The Dixie Dregs!

The guy I borrowed it from (I think he may have sort of said, "Here borrow this, this is really good") was a Deadhead at the time (although I also borrowed an XTC tape from him at about the same time).

Scott did you ever get around to hearing the Dregs?

From Rolling Country thread '07:

So I'm watching this Dixie Dregs Live At Montreux 1978 DVD that came in the mail this week (I'll be surprised if I actualy get through the thing --music DVDs are hard to get through in general, especially the live ones; what the hell are they for, anyway? and they make even less sense in the age of youtube than they did before), and the bald bassist (I guess -- they never shine the camera on him when the music's going) with the beard, whoever he is, just introduced a song called "Patchwork" as "avant-garde country music, something that's unique to us." Sound like, um....bluegrass jazz fusion, I guess. So how unique was it, Don or Matt or somebody? And in this band, is that a fiddle or a violin? And who was their audience? (The well-behaved audience on the DVD, older than I would've guessed inasmuch as its been shown, may well be more a Montreux audience than a Dregs audience, but what do I know? Did these guys reach Southern rock fans? Or were they more likely to hit prog fans?) (Which intersects at...Kansas fans?) (Next song, bald dude introduces as "a couple old country melodies that we stuck together to give the guys something to jam on." Sounded like he said it was called "The Wabash," but the DVD cover just calls it "The Bash" instead.)
-- xhuxk, Monday, 26 February 2007 00:28 (6 months ago) Link

let's see, the Dixie Dregs. They were plenty popular down south when I was growing up, Chuck. I suppose they were unique, I believe you mention Kansas and I know I had albums by both groups. I knew plenty of people around here, southern dope-smokers into bluegrass and so forth, who loved the Dregs. And David Grisman. But what was the first hip southern-fried instrumental post-fusion group, marketed as a group? Because I'm tellin' ya, Buddy Emmons on his solo shit from around '70 where he jazzes it up, that's certainly much the same thing. You had Barefoot Jerry, and Charlie Daniels was thought to be somewhat "jazzy" and "progressive" because he had those fiddle-guitar interlude things (again, the Kansas comparison is apposite), plus people knew he had played with Dylan so he was a dope-smoker. That Crazy Backwards Alphabet Soup or whatever that record is, with those former Beefheart musicians, the one where they cover Z.Z Top, is the spiritual descendant of the Dregs' efforts. And yeah, CMT or someone apparently still runs Hee-Haw reruns.
xp
-- whisperineddhurt, Monday, 26 February 2007 14:42 (6 months ago) Link

Did these guys reach Southern rock fans? Or were they more likely to hit prog fans?) (Which intersects at...Kansas fans?)

that intersection was literal, as dixie dregs guitarist steve morse joined kansas in the '80s. (or is that what you were saying?)
-- fact checking cuz, Monday, 26 February 2007 16:14 (6 months ago) Link

yeah, I thought I remembered that about Steve Morse. and now I remember another kind of similar group--Sea Level. but they were more about piano, right, sort of Charlie McCoy Tyner shit I think. And the Allman Brothers' instrumental on "Eat a Peach," the side w/o Duane, was also "fusion." They weren't strictly from the south but Little Feat did a cool instrumental on Time Loves a Hero, "Day at the Dog Races" I think it was. I don't own those original Charlie Daniels records--did he do instrumentals? And then there was Area Code 615, too. Clarence White tripping out on "Ode to Billie Joe" is cool, too. What other southern-fried boogie instrumentals from the '70s and early '80s are there, there have to be more.
-- whisperineddhurt, Monday, 26 February 2007 19:43 (6 months ago) Link

I'm watching live videos of these guys on YouTube, what an odd band

But yeah like uhhh
Is there a mid ground between Charlie Daniels & Mahavishnu Orchestra?

The bass player looks like a beefier Bonnie Prince Billy. The keyboardist is doing jazz fusion super fast runs but with a synth sound that sounds like Pac Man dying

Like I get why chuck was so perplexed like who is this for?

I'm watching them on American Bandstand
Dick Clark says they have a dynamite sound

Oh fuck this singer they added is horrible

Bass player was an early adopter of the Steinberger headless bass

The keyboardist is doing jazz fusion super fast runs but with a synth sound that sounds like Pac Man dying

i love the idea of this too much to ever want to actually hear it.

they really were kinda better in theory...

Haha they booted the singer for the second song on Bandstand and now are doing some down home jamming in like 5/4 or some shit these kids don't know what to think (this is 81)

Now it's 93, the Tonight Show w Jay Leno

Everyone but Morse has poofy hair metal hair, they are doing like a super medly of techy metal classic rock riffs, my Sharona,I fought the law, freebies, summertime blues, slap bass solo, gimme some lovin, Jesus Christ Morse can play fast, they kicked out the bald bassist and the tall hillbilly looking violin player

Now we're Live at the Hob Bear, early 90s? Jazz fusion chops jamming on Wabash Cannonball, Morse plays a Music Man instead of the Frankenstein Tele now

I wonder if King's X likes these guys? I bet they do

81 Memphis, this is some serious prog fusion most fancy pants I've seen em yet, Yes territory at times

The way they go back & forth between fusion, program, and then back to country hoe down stuff is remarkable
I wish I liked this more

they had ZERO good songs. that always helps if you want to sell the shredding. any jazz, blues, or bluegrass musician will tell you that.

Yeah that is a problem

they had GOOD songs, scott seward, wherever you are

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxkVD5Ol1wQ

One of them being the theme music for the BBC's Friday Rock Show in the 80s, so I'll always thank them for that.