Dixie Dregs Albums Ranked

The Dixie Dregs is an American jazz-rock band from Augusta, Georgia, formed in 1970 and one of the top jazz-rock bands in the United States. The band’s instrumental music fuses elements of rock, jazz, country, and classical music. In the UK, they are best known for their recording “Take It Off the Top”, which was used for many years as the signature theme tune by disc jockey Tommy Vance for his BBC Radio 1 Friday Night Rock Show. Here are all of Dixie Dregs Albums Ranked.

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8. Full Circle (1994)

“This is the hardest rocking Dregs album — the only moments of jazziness are on the one country tune, “Goin’ to Town”. The trademark Dregs sound of guitar and violin wailing in unison is in top form, and Morse adds more fuzz than usual to his backing guitar parts. Morgenstern’s driving beats are a long way from the jazz-trained drummer you heard on 1977’s “Freefall”. “Sleeveless in Seattle” is the standout cut, but rockers “Aftershock”, “Perpetual Reality”, “Calcutta”, and “Ionized” are all very good.”

7. Industry Standard (1982)

“The exposed material in this album results very interesting, particularly if you’re a Dregs fan, because the change of musicians (keyboard and violin) and the refresh of musical guests give that comercial edge that they needed (?), or at least in two songs ( “Crank It Up” and “Ridin’ High” ). Mark O’Connor, the new violinist and second guitarist (see “Bloodsucking Leeches” video at the Montreux concert of 1978) played with an irreverent emotion, making the violin to spread out screaming melodies on every note he played”

6. Night Of The Living Dregs (1979)

“”Night of the Living Dregs” catches the early incarnation of the band – Morse on guitar, long-term collaborators Andy West on bass and Rod Morgenstein on drums, and Allen Sloan on violin and Mark Parrish on keyboards. The first half of the album was a studio recording, and the second half was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival. All eight selections were written by Morse, except for “The Bash” which was a collaborative arrangement – one part “Wabash Cannonball” and one part “Orange Blossom Special” – the entire thing played at a breathtaking pace.”

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5. The Great Spectacular (1975)

“Moody, and progressively influenced jazz with an undertone of southern rock. It just works man! All the tracks are in fact so good that (aside from T.O. Witcher) each song has dropped a re-recorded visit at some stage of their discography. I enjoy listening to the comparisons of then and now.”

4. Free Fall (1977)

“This is one of those albums that makes you realize there just isn’t enough interesting music these days. The best way to describe this music would be to say, if you took the best things about the Mahavishnu Orchestra, the Allman Brothers, and Kansas, and created a style out of those, what you would be left with is the Dixie Dregs. Enjoy!”

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3. Unsung Heroes (1981)

“Steve Morse (guitar) and T Lavitz (keyboards), the creative foundation of the Dixie Dregs, produced an outstanding record with this effort. Joined by Rod Morgenstein (drums), Andy West (bass). and Alan Sloan (violin), they finally released a studio recording of Cruise Control, a regular show closer for the band to this day. Kat Food is another outstanding track. Carefully arranged and tightly rehearsed, this album represents a tour de force for the band, both in performance and composition.”

2. What If (1978)

“The eight tracks on this instrumental album range in length from 2:03 to 7:47 and present a mixture of Kansas-influenced progressive rock, Mahavishnu Orchestra-influenced jazz rock fusion, hard rock, classical, and country. In fact, these guys seemed to bridge the gap between bands such as Kansas and Return to Forever/Mahavishnu Orchestra. The styles that dominate the album include the prog and jazz rock played at a neck snapping velocity – the interplay between Morse and Allen is simply unbelievable. At the other end of the musical style spectrum is the wild country hoedown (also played at a breakneck tempo) Gina Lola Breakdown, which is a lot of fun and features virtuoso guitar and violin playing.”

1. Dregs Of The Earth (1980)

“This is one of those very rare albums on which every song is equally excellent. Steve Morse uncannily combines melodiousness with virtuosity. He’s a much better guitarist than, say, Jimmy Page. Dixie Dregs were in the vanguard of rhythmic and melodic innovation, so each song sounds very different from others on the CD. They also successfully experimented with dynamics, colors, tempos and even counterpoint.”