Dixie Dregs
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Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from
Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
. Formed in 1970, the band is known for instrumental music that fuses elements of rock,
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and bluegrass into an eclectic sound that is difficult to categorize. Recognized for their
virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...
playing, the Dixie Dregs were identified with the
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 and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
,
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
and
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
scenes of the 1970s. In 1975, the band recorded their
demo album Demo, usually short for demonstration (disambiguation), demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than for release *Demo (Behind Crimson Eyes), ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 ...
'' The Great Spectacular'' and self-released it in the following year in a limited pressing. The demo soon garnered attention from record labels, including
Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...
, with whom the Dixie Dregs would sign in 1976, and three albums were released for the label: ''
Free Fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...
'' (1977), ''
What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...
'' (1978) and '' Night of the Living Dregs'' (1979); the latter album, which was split between studio and live recordings, was nominated for a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, and each of the band's next three albums would subsequently receive further Grammy nominations. After Capricorn declared bankruptcy in 1979, the band signed with
Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
, releasing the album '' Dregs of the Earth'' in 1980. The following year, the band changed their name to The Dregs, releasing two albums under this name, '' Unsung Heroes'' (1981) and '' Industry Standard'' (1982), which was the only album by the band to feature vocals. The band disbanded in 1983. After reuniting in 1988, the Dixie Dregs released '' Full Circle'' in 1994, and the live albums ''Bring 'Em Back Alive'' (1992) and ''California Screamin'' (2000).


History


Formation and early years

Dixie Dregs evolved from an
Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...
, band called Dixie Grit, formed by Steve Morse and Andy West 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 duo, 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 The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
's School of Music to play as Rock Ensemble II. West also attended
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is al ...
for a year while studying cello and music theory and 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 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 protégée of
Wendy Carlos Wendy Carlos (born Walter Carlos; November 14, 1939) is an American musician and composer known for electronic music and film scores. Born and raised in Rhode Island, Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before moving to New Y ...
.


First recording

At the time, the University of Miami hosted a lively musical community, including future professional musicians
Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He was the leader of the Pat Metheny Group (1977–2010) and continues to work in various small-combo, duet, and solo settings, as well as other side pr ...
,
Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...
,
Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took lesso ...
,
T Lavitz Terry "T" Lavitz (April 16, 1956 – October 7, 2010) was an American keyboardist, composer, and Record producer, producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead (band), Jazz Is Dead. Biography Born on April 16, 19 ...
and
Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, folk music, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock music, rock, heartland r ...
.
Rod Morgenstein Rod Morgenstein (born April 19, 1953) is an American drummer with rock bands Winger and Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, the Steve Morse Band, and Jelly Jam. He has also done session work with Jordan Rudess including h ...
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'' (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 and Twiggs Lyndon,
Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...
signed them in late 1976 to record their debut album ''
Free Fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...
'' (1977). Steve Davidowski was the keyboardist on ''Free Fall''. When Davidowski left to work with fiddler Vassar Clements, 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 What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...
'', supported by their first tour with dates in New York,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
,
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,
South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...
,
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
,
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
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,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
,
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, and
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Their third album, '' Night of the Living Dregs'' (featuring Morse, West, Sloan, Parrish, and Morgenstein), was released in April 1979, gaining the band their first
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, won that year by Paul McCartney's band Wings. ''Night of the Living Dregs'' included studio recordings as well as compositions performed live and recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978. Ken Scott, The Beatles' and producer/arranger George Martin'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 ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...
in January 1980, to create three more albums. At that time, keyboardist Parrish left and was replaced by T Lavitz. Later that year, '' Dregs of the Earth'' (featuring Morse, West, Sloan, Lavitz, and Morgenstein) was released. Parrish went on to play piano and keyboards for vocalists
Andy Williams Howard Andrew Williams (December 3, 1927 – September 25, 2012) was an American singer. He recorded 43 albums in his career, of which 15 have been gold certified and three platinum certified. He was also nominated for six Grammy Awards. He hos ...
,
Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...
,
Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...
,
Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...
,
Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson ( ; born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the hit singles " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", "You're Looking Like ...
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Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...
,
Regina Belle Regina Belle (born July 17, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter who started her career in the mid-1980s. Known for her singles "Baby Come to Me (Regina Belle song), Baby Come to Me" (1989) and "Make It Like It Was" (1990), Belle is most notabl ...
, Deborah Gibson,
Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...
and daughter
Debby Boone Deborah Anne Boone (born September 22, 1956) is an American singer, author, and actress. She is best known for her 1977 hit, " You Light Up My Life", which spent ten weeks at No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and led to her winning the G ...
,
Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...
and for guitarist
Larry Coryell Larry Coryell (born Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III; April 2, 1943 – February 19, 2017) was an American jazz guitarist, widely considered the "godfather of fusion". Alongside Gábor Szabó, he was a pioneer in melding jazz, country and rock ...
. He won an Angel Award as co-producer of a Christian album "With Reverence" by singer Charles Land where he arranged and played all the instrumental parts. He has also been musical director, conductor, and keyboard instrumentalist with the touring stage shows of ''
Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...
'', '' 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'', released in 1981, the band changed their name to The Dregs in an effort to gain more commercial appeal. Violinist Sloan began pursuing a career in medicine at the Medical College of Georgia culminating in a residency in Anesthesiology and was subsequently replaced by Mark O'Connor, winner of
Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
's Grand Masters Fiddle Championship for their 1982 release, '' Industry Standard''. This album introduced vocals for the first time, as a further attempt to gain more airtime. Guest vocalists included the
Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock music, rock band formed in San Jose, California in 1970. Known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their Vocal harmony, vocal harmonies, the band has been active for over five d ...
's Patrick Simmons and Alex Ligertwood (
Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer * Sailboat designs by W. D. Schock Corp ** Santana 20 ** Santan ...
). ''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 in 1983, the members of The Dregs decided to disband the group, parting for individual projects.


Reunion

During the early 1980s, the British disc jockey Tommy Vance started using the Dixie Dregs track "Take It Off the Top" as his signature tune for the BBC radio show ''The Friday Rock Show''. 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 completed the lineup for a seven date tour culminating in the 1992 live album ''Bring 'em Back Alive'', which garnered them a fifth Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance in January 1993 - awarded to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble for " Little Wing". Violinist Jerry Goodman, of The 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 was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...
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 Flower 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 in August 1999. This release features older compositions and covers of the Allman Brothers Band's " Jessica", and
Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...
's "
Peaches en Regalia "Peaches en Regalia" is an instrumental jazz fusion composition by Frank Zappa. It was initially released on Zappa's album ''Hot Rats'' in 1969 and has been recorded many times since. Other versions Years later, in 1987, the piece was released ...
" (with
Dweezil Zappa Dweezil Zappa (born Ian Donald Calvin Euclid Zappa, September 5, 1969) is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor. He is the son of musical composer and performer Frank Zappa. Exposed to the music industry from an early age, Zappa develo ...
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. On July 3, 2017, Rod Morgenstein announced a reunion tour beginning February 2018 in a YouTube video for Rock, Roots, & Blues - Live. The first show of the reunion tour dubbed "Dawn of the Dregs" took place on February 28, 2018, in
Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city and the county seat of Pinellas County, Florida, United States, west of Tampa, Florida, Tampa and north of St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies T ...
. It featured the original lineup of Steve Morse (guitar), Andy West (bass), Rod Morgenstein (drums), Allen Sloan (violin), and Steve Davidowski (keyboards)


Musical style

Dixie Dregs' performances consist entirely of instrumentals, with '' Industry Standard'' (1982) being the only album by the band to contain vocals. The band members are noted for their
virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...
playing, and Dixie Dregs' music incorporates elements of many genres, which makes the band's sound difficult to singularly classify; they have been categorized as a
jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...
,
instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular f ...
,
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
or
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 and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
band. The band's influences include
The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock music, rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969. Its founding members were brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar, lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards), as well as Dickey Betts ( ...
and
Mahavishnu Orchestra The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a jazz fusion band formed in New York City in 1971, led by English guitarist John McLaughlin (musician), John McLaughlin. The group underwent several line-up changes throughout its history across its two periods of a ...
. ''
The Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American conservative daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarde ...
'' described the band's music as a fusion of rock,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, country, and
classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...
. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' categorized Dixie Dregs' music as a fusion of
jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...
and country music. ''
The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...
'' defined Dixie Dregs' music as being a fusion of bluegrass and classical music. ''The Times'' described Dixie Dregs' music as a fusion of progressive rock, heartland rock, and jazz.


Personnel


Members

;Current members * Steve Morse – guitar (1970–1983, 1988–present) * Andy West – bass guitar (1970–1983, 1988, 1999, 2017–present) *
Rod Morgenstein Rod Morgenstein (born April 19, 1953) is an American drummer with rock bands Winger and Dixie Dregs. He also played with Fiona, Platypus, the Steve Morse Band, and Jelly Jam. He has also done session work with Jordan Rudess including h ...
– drums (1973–1983, 1988–present) * Allen Sloan – violin (1973–1981, 1988–1992, 1999, 2017–present) * Steve Davidowski – keyboards (1975–1977, 2017–present) ;Former members * Frank Brittingham – guitar, vocals (1970–1971) * Dave Morse – drums (1970–1971) * Johnny Carr – keyboards (1970) * Mark Parrish – keyboards (1970–1971, 1973, 1977–1978) * Bart Yarnall – drums (1973) * Gilbert Frayer – drums (1973) * Frank Josephs – keyboards (1974–1975) *
T Lavitz Terry "T" Lavitz (April 16, 1956 – October 7, 2010) was an American keyboardist, composer, and Record producer, producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead (band), Jazz Is Dead. Biography Born on April 16, 19 ...
– keyboards (1978–1983, 1988–2010; his death) * Mark O'Connor – violin (1981–1983) * Dave LaRue – bass guitar (1988–2017) * Jerry Goodman – violin (1992–2017) ;Substitute musicians * Jordan Rudess – keyboards (1994, 2024)


Timeline


Lineups


Discography


Studio albums

* ''
Free Fall In classical mechanics, free fall is any motion of a physical object, body where gravity is the only force acting upon it. A freely falling object may not necessarily be falling down in the vertical direction. If the common definition of the word ...
'' (1977) * ''
What If What If may refer to: Film * ''What If'', a 2006 TV film starring Niall Buggy * What If... (2010 film), ''What If...'' (2010 film), an American film * What If... (2012 film), ''What If...'' (2012 film), a Greek film * What If (2013 film), ''What ...
'' (1978) * '' Night of the Living Dregs'' (1979) * '' Dregs of the Earth'' (1980) * '' Unsung Heroes'' (1981) * '' Industry Standard'' (1982) * '' Full Circle'' (1994)


Demo releases

* '' The Great Spectacular'' (1976 - released on CD April 1997) * ''Off the Record'' (1988) (demo for Ensoniq synthesizers)


Live albums

* ''Bring 'Em Back Alive'' (1992) * ''King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents'' (September 16, 1997) * ''California Screamin' '' (February 1, 2000) * ''From the Front Row... Live!'' (Dolby 5.1 DVD-Audio, 2003)


Compilations

* ''Best of the Dixie Dregs'' (1987) * ''The Best of the Dregs: Divided We Stand'' (1989) * ''20th Century Masters: The Best of the Dixie Dregs'' (March 26, 2002)


Video albums

* ''Sects, Dregs and Rock 'n' Roll'' (DVD, December 2002) * ''Live at Montreux 1978'' (DVD, 2005)


Singles

* 1976: "Cruise Control"/"Refried Funky Chicken"/"Cosmopolitan Traveler" (self-released) * 1978: "Take It Off the Top"/"Little Kids" * 1979: "Punk Sandwich"/"Country House Shuffle" * 1980: "Pride O' the Farm"/"The Great Spectacular" * 1981: "Cruise Control"/"Go for Baroque" * 1982: "Crank It Up"/"Bloodsucking Leeches"


References


External links

* *
The Dixie Dregs first promo photograph, by Michael Mastro, who also shot the photographs on the back of ''What If''
{{Authority control Southern rock musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Arista Records artists American progressive rock groups Musical groups established in 1970 Rock music groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Articles which contain graphical timelines Capricorn Records artists American jazz-rock groups American musical quintets