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Dixie Dregs — The Great Spectacular
(Dregs DRG-0197, 1975/1997, CD)

by Mike Grimes, Published 0009-07-01

The Great Spectacular Cover art

Finally... After more than 20 years, the legendary original "unreleased" Dregs album has been officially released on CD. Of the ten tracks on The Great Spectacular, nine were later re-recorded by either the Dregs or Kansas on official releases. These early versions are sometimes very similar to the later versions, and sometimes quite different. For example, the acoustic "T. O. Witcher" has a few extra parts in the middle that never made it into the Kansas version of the song. The intro for "The Great Spectacular" is noticeably different too. Other tracks, like "Wages of Weirdness," appear to have undergone only very minor changes between these and later recordings. The line-up for this album consists of longtime Dregs core members Morse, Morgenstein, Sloan, and West joined by Frank Josephs on keys. Believe it or not, these guys all played together as the "University Of Miami Rock Ensemble #2" back then. A school band. Can you imagine seeing these guys play at the university coffee shop on a Wednesday night? Holy mother of clam chowder! The recording and mix quality are surprisingly good for a demo-type recording. For Steve Morse and Dixie Dregs fans, this release is a must. This is how it all began.

Filed under: Reissues, Issue 15, 1997 releases, 1975 recordings

Related artist(s): Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse, Andy West

 

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