Dixie Dregs
Encyclopedia
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

, southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...

, bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 and classical forms in an often unique style.

Formation and early years

The Dixie Dregs evolved from an Augusta, Georgia band called Dixie Grit, formed by Steve Morse
Steve Morse
Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...

 and Andy West
Andy West
Andy West is an American bass guitarist and composer who is an original founding member of the Dixie Dregs along with Steve Morse. Since the breakup of the original band in 1983, Andy West has been on albums with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser, Paul Barrere, Vinnie Moore, and many others...

 in 1970. The band featured Morse's older brother Dave on drums, Frank Brittingham (guitar and vocals) and Johnny Carr (keyboards). Carr was later replaced by Mark Parrish. Shortly after Steve Morse's enrollment at University of Miami's School of Music in 1971, Dixie Grit was disbanded. Morse and West continued performing as a duet, calling themselves Dixie Dregs (the "Dregs" of "Dixie Grit").

In 1973, Steve Morse (guitar), Andy West (bass), Allen Sloan (violin) and Bart Yarnal (drums) met while students at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...

's School of Music to play as Rock Ensemble II. West also attended Georgia State University for a year while studying cello and music theory & composition along with Parrish. Parrish remained at GSU during the academic school years only to return to Augusta, Georgia during summer breaks - re-establishing the guitar/bass/keyboards/drums quartet with Morse, West, Parrish, and Gilbert Frayer (drums) performing as opening acts for concerts and headlining local gigs as the Dixie Dregs.

During subsequent academic school years, the remaining members of the Dregs — including Andy West — returned to the University of Miami and Mark Parrish returned to Atlanta, Georgia to complete his degree in music performance and composition at Georgia State University under the study of William Masselos, with additional studies of electronic music at Columbia University in New York City under Alice Shields - a protégé of Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos
Wendy Carlos is an American composer and electronic musician. Carlos first came to notice in the late 1960s with recordings made on the Moog synthesizer, then a relatively new and unknown instrument; most notable were LPs of synthesized Bach and the soundtrack for Stanley Kubrick's film A...

.

First recording

At the time, the University of Miami hosted a lively musical community, including future greats Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...

, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....

, Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb
Danny Gottlieb is a freelance drummer who has performed as part of the Pat Metheny Group and Mahavishnu Orchestra. He is also a member of the University of North Florida jazz faculty, where he teaches as a fulltime Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies.- Biography :Danny graduated from the...

, T Lavitz
T Lavitz
Terry "T" Lavitz was an American jazz-rock/fusion keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead.-Biography:Born on April 16, 1956, Lavitz grew up in New Jersey...

 and Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Hornsby
Bruce Randall Hornsby is an American singer, pianist, accordion player, and songwriter. Known for the spontaneity and creativity of his live performances, Hornsby draws frequently from classical, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Motown, rock, blues, and jam band musical traditions with his songwriting and...

. Rod Morgenstein
Rod Morgenstein
Rod Morgenstein is an American drummer and music educator. He is best known for his work with the late '80s Heavy metal band Winger and with the Jazz fusion band Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, The Steve Morse Band, and Jelly Jam...

 was asked to fill in as drummer after a surfing accident disabled Yarnal. In 1974, during the school years at UofM, keyboardist Frank Josephs was added to their lineup. In 1975, the group's first effort, The Great Spectacular
The Great Spectacular
The Great Spectacular is the first Dixie Dregs album. It was originally released on vinyl in 1976, and again on CD 21 years later.-Track listing:#"Refried Funky Chicken" – 3:50#"Holiday" – 3:55#"Wages of Weirdness" – 3:54#"T.O...

 (named by ex-"Dixie Grit" second guitarist and singer, Frank Brittingham) was recorded at the University. Approximately 1,000 copies of the original LP were pressed. The album was reissued in 1997 in CD form.

Signed to Capricorn

Based on the strength of a three song demo and a tip from former Allman Brothers Band members Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...

 and Twiggs Lyndon, Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...

 signed them in late 1976 to record Free Fall (1977). Former Dixie Grit/Dixie Dregs keyboardist Mark Parrish rejoined the group later that year. The moderate success and critical acclaim of Free Fall led to their 1978 effort, What If, supported by their first tour with dates in New York, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and California.

Their third album, Night of the Living Dregs
Night of the Living Dregs
Night of the Living Dregs is an album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1979. The first half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the second half at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978...

 (featuring Morse, West, Sloan, Parrish, and Morgenstein), was released in April 1979, gaining the band their first Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance - won that year by Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

's band Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

. Night of the Living Dregs included studio recordings as well as compositions performed live and recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...

 on July 23, 1978. Ken Scott
Ken Scott
Ken Scott is an English record producer and recording engineer.-Career:Scott started at the age of 16 working in the tape library at Abbey Road Studios. He became a recording engineer working with such acts as The Beatles, Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones and Procol Harum...

 - The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

' and producer/arranger George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

's right-hand man and engineer - produced both Dixie Dregs albums What If and Night of the Living Dregs.

Switch to Arista

In October 1979, Capricorn Records declared bankruptcy, and the band was signed by Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...

 in January 1980, to create three albums. At that time, keyboardist Parrish left and was replaced by T Lavitz. Later that year, Dregs of the Earth
Dregs of the Earth
Dregs of the Earth is an album by Dixie Dregs. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.-Track listing:All tracks are written by Steve Morse.#"Road Expense" – 3:24#"Pride O' the Farm" – 3:40#"Twiggs Approved" – 4:29...

 (featuring Morse, West, Sloan, Lavitz, and Morgenstein) was released.

Parrish went on to play piano and keyboards for vocalists Andy Williams
Andy Williams
Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

, Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack
Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...

, Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...

, Luther Vandross
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross was an American singer-songwriter and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...

, Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...

, Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

, Regina Belle
Regina Belle
Regina Belle is a singer-songwriter who first surfaced in the late 1980s. She is notable for her Grammy award winning duet with Peabo Bryson, "A Whole New World".-Biography:Regina Belle was born in Englewood, New Jersey...

, Deborah Gibson
Deborah Gibson
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Gibson is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. In 1987 she was pronounced the youngest artist to write, produce, and perform a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, with her song "Foolish Beat" and she remains the youngest female to write, record, and...

, Pat Boone
Pat Boone
Charles Eugene "Pat" Boone is an American singer, actor and writer who has been a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. He covered black artists' songs and sold more copies than his black counterparts...

 and daughter Debby Boone
Debby Boone
Deborah Anne Boone is an American singer and stage actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, "You Light Up My Life," which spent a then record ten weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist the following year...

, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...

 and for guitarist Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell
Larry Coryell is an American jazz fusion guitarist.-Biography:Coryell was born in Galveston, Texas. He graduated from Richland High School, in Richland, Washington, where he played in local bands The Jailers, The Rumblers, The Royals, and The Flames. He also played with The Checkers from nearby...

. He won an Angel Award as co-producer of a Christian album, where he arranged and played all the instrumental segments. He has also been musical director, conductor, and keyboard instrumentalist with the touring stage shows of Cats, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz, Little Shop of Horrors, Nunsense, Brigadoon, The Phantom of the Opera, Anything Goes, and other Broadway stage shows.

Name change

For Unsung Heroes
Unsung Heroes (album)
-Personnel:The DREGS:* Steve Morse – acoustic and electric guitars* Andy West – fretted and fretless bass* Allen Sloan – electric and acoustic 5 string violin* Rod Morgenstein – drums and percussion...

, released in 1981, the band changed their name to The Dregs in an effort to gain more commercial appeal. Violinist Sloan was replaced by Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor
Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...

, winner of Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

's Grand Masters Fiddle Championship for their 1982 release, Industry Standard
Industry Standard
Industry Standard is a 1982 album by The Dregs. It is their only album featuring vocals and garnered the group their fourth Grammy nomination.-Track listing:All tracks are written by Steve Morse, except where noted.#"Assembly Line" – 4:25...

. This album introduced vocals for the first time as a further attempt to gain more airtime. Guest vocalists included the Doobie Brothers's Patrick Simmons
Patrick Simmons
Patrick Simmons is an American musician best known as a guitarist and vocalist for the rock band The Doobie Brothers. His fingerstyle guitar playing complements the strumming style of Tom Johnston. Born in Aberdeen, Washington, he has been the band's only consistent member throughout their tenure...

 and Alex Ligertwood (Santana
Santana (band)
Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...

). Industry Standard provided the Dregs with another Grammy nomination for Best Rock/Jazz Instrumental Performance. The recent name change, vocal additions and a grueling touring schedule did nothing to improve sales and the members of The Dregs parted for individual projects.

Reunion

In the late 1980s, the group reunited for a tour featuring former members Morse, Morgenstein (who was also playing with Winger), Lavitz and Sloan. Their return was complemented by a "Best Of" release entitled Divided We Stand (1989). Bassist Dave LaRue
Dave LaRue
Dave LaRue is a bassist who has performed with the Dixie Dregs since 1988 and with the Steve Morse Band since 1989. He also has worked with Dream Theater's John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess...

 completed the line-up for a seven date tour culminating in the 1992 live album Bring 'em Back Alive. Violinist Jerry Goodman, of The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra
The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion group, led by John McLaughlin, that debuted in 1971, dissolved in 1976 and reunited from 1984 to 1987.-First Mahavishnu Orchestra:...

 fame, filled in for Sloan, who was frequently absent as a result of his busy medical career. They signed a deal with former label Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...

 for their first studio album in years entitled Full Circle in 1994.

Today

The Dregs to this day remain a loose collection of its former members, reuniting briefly for short tours and rare studio work. 1997's releases were The Great Spectacular in April and King Biscuit Flour Hour Presents (originally recorded in 1979 for the King Biscuit radio show) in September. California Screamin (2000) is a curious mix of live recordings from the performances at the Roxy Theatre
Roxy Theatre
The Roxy Theatre is located in the historic downtown section of Clarksville, Tennessee in the United States. Standing on a corner of the Public Square it offers live theater shows to the public offering a wide variety of selection in the spirit of literary theater...

 in August 1999. This release features older compositions and covers of the Allman Brothers Band's "Jessica", and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

's "Peaches en Regalia" (with Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor.-Early life:Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of musician Frank Zappa and Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business. He is the second of four siblings: his older sister, Moon, younger sister Diva and younger...

 sharing guitar lead). 20th Century Masters: The Best Of The Dixie Dregs and the DVD Sects, Dregs and Rock 'n' Roll were released in 2002.

Current line-up

  • Steve Morse
    Steve Morse
    Steven J. "Steve" Morse is an American guitarist and composer, best known for his work in the hard rock band Deep Purple since 1994. He began his career to form the unique styled instrumental rock band Dixie Dregs in the 1970. Morse's musical inspiration comes from country, funk, jazz fusion, and...

     - guitar (1970 - Present)
  • Rod Morgenstein
    Rod Morgenstein
    Rod Morgenstein is an American drummer and music educator. He is best known for his work with the late '80s Heavy metal band Winger and with the Jazz fusion band Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, The Steve Morse Band, and Jelly Jam...

     - drums (1973 - Present)
  • Dave LaRue
    Dave LaRue
    Dave LaRue is a bassist who has performed with the Dixie Dregs since 1988 and with the Steve Morse Band since 1989. He also has worked with Dream Theater's John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and Jordan Rudess...

     - bass guitar (1988 - Present)
  • Jerry Goodman
    Jerry Goodman
    Jerry Goodman is an American violinist best known for playing electric violin in the bands The Flock and the jazz fusion Mahavishnu Orchestra. Goodman actually began his musical career as The Flock's roadie before joining the band on violin. Trained in the conservatory, both of his parents were...

     - violin (1992 - Present)

Former members

  • Andy West
    Andy West
    Andy West is an American bass guitarist and composer who is an original founding member of the Dixie Dregs along with Steve Morse. Since the breakup of the original band in 1983, Andy West has been on albums with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser, Paul Barrere, Vinnie Moore, and many others...

     - bass guitar (1970 - 1988, 2000)
  • Gilbert Frayer - drums (1972)
  • Allen Sloan, M.D. - violin (1973 - 1981, 1992)
  • Frank Josephs - keyboards (1974 - 1975)
  • Steve Davidowski - keyboards (1975 - 1977)
  • Mark Parrish - keyboards (1977 - 1978)
  • T Lavitz
    T Lavitz
    Terry "T" Lavitz was an American jazz-rock/fusion keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead.-Biography:Born on April 16, 1956, Lavitz grew up in New Jersey...

     - keyboards (1978 - 2010)
  • Mark O'Connor
    Mark O'Connor
    Mark O'Connor is an American bluegrass, jazz, country and classical violinist fiddler, composer and music teacher. O'Connor's music is wide-ranging, critically acclaimed, and he has received numerous awards for both his playing and his composition...

     - violin (1981 - 1982)
  • Jordan Rudess
    Jordan Rudess
    Jordan Rudess is an American keyboardist best known as a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater and the progressive rock supergroup Liquid Tension Experiment.-Biography:...

     - keyboards (1994, filled in for T Lavitz)

Discography

  • The Great Spectacular
    The Great Spectacular
    The Great Spectacular is the first Dixie Dregs album. It was originally released on vinyl in 1976, and again on CD 21 years later.-Track listing:#"Refried Funky Chicken" – 3:50#"Holiday" – 3:55#"Wages of Weirdness" – 3:54#"T.O...

      (1976 - released on CD April 1997)
  • Free Fall  (May 27, 1977) (Note: the spine lists the title as "Freefall")
  • What If  (March 1978)
  • Night of the Living Dregs
    Night of the Living Dregs
    Night of the Living Dregs is an album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1979. The first half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the second half at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978...

      (1979)
  • Dregs of the Earth
    Dregs of the Earth
    Dregs of the Earth is an album by Dixie Dregs. It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.-Track listing:All tracks are written by Steve Morse.#"Road Expense" – 3:24#"Pride O' the Farm" – 3:40#"Twiggs Approved" – 4:29...

      (1980)
  • Unsung Heroes
    Unsung Heroes (album)
    -Personnel:The DREGS:* Steve Morse – acoustic and electric guitars* Andy West – fretted and fretless bass* Allen Sloan – electric and acoustic 5 string violin* Rod Morgenstein – drums and percussion...

      (1981)
  • Industry Standard
    Industry Standard
    Industry Standard is a 1982 album by The Dregs. It is their only album featuring vocals and garnered the group their fourth Grammy nomination.-Track listing:All tracks are written by Steve Morse, except where noted.#"Assembly Line" – 4:25...

      (1982)
  • Off the Record
    Off the Record (Dixie Dregs album)
    Off the Record is a 1988 EP CD by The Dregs. It is a limited edition promotional item for Ensoniq, released as a disc single. Notably, the recording of "Leprechaun Promenade" is the first studio recording of the song; the first actual recording was of a live performance.- Track listing :#...

      (1988) (Demo for Ensoniq
    Ensoniq
    Ensoniq Corp. was an American electronics manufacturer, best known throughout the mid 1980s and 1990s for its musical instruments, principally samplers and synthesizers.- Company history :...

     synthesizers)
  • Divided We Stand: The Best of the Dregs  (compilation, 1989)
  • Bring 'Em Back Alive (1992)
  • Full Circle (June 7, 1994)
  • King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (September 16, 1997)
  • California Screamin' (February 1, 2000)
  • 20th Century Masters: The Best Of The Dixie Dregs (March 26, 2002)
  • Sects, Dregs and Rock 'n' Roll (DVD, December 2002)
  • From The Front Row... Live! (Dolby 5.1 DVD-Audio, 2003)

External links

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