Although Steve Morse enjoyed a healthy following among guitar players, his name was never a household commodity, and he remained a cult figure who earned his greatest success in the readers' polls held annually by musicans' magazines. Although initially inspired by the Beatles, as a teen Morse began to expand his listening to include the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Although he played a little piano and some clarinet, he became fascinated with guitar after seeing a concert by classical guitarist Juan Mercadal, who later gave a teenage Morse some lessons. Deeply influenced by a campus performance by John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Quartet while attending the University of Miami, Morse decided to focus on instrumental rock music; in 1974 that he put together his first band, the Dixie Dregs (later simply the Dregs), which would go on to become one of the defining groups in the fusion rock genre. After some 14 albums fronting the Dregs, the Steve Morse Band began their recording career in 1984 with an album called Two Faces. Soon after, Elektra Records snatched Morse up and he cut two albums for the company, The Introduction in 1984 and Stand Up in 1985, before switching to MCA. Morse releases for the label included High Tension Wires (1989) Southern Steel (1991), and Coast to Coast (1992). After leaving MCA in 1992, Morse recorded two excellent albums for Windham Hill/BMG Records, Structural Damage (1995) and StressFest (1996), and also joined Deep Purple for a U.S. and European tour in 1996. - Richard Skelly [AMG]

One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar projects. Guitarist Steve Morse and bassist Andy West played together as high school students in Augusta, Georgia in a conventional rock band called Dixie Grit. When Morse was expelled from school for refusing to cut his hair, he enrolled at the University of Miami School of Music, where he met violinist Allen Sloan, who had played with the Miami Philharmonic, and drummer Rod Morgenstein. The three decided to form a band, and Morse convinced West to come to Miami and join. The Dixie Dregs completed their lineup with keyboardist Steve Davidowski. Their first album, The Great Spectacular, was recorded for a class project in 1975 and later released by the band (it is long out of print). Following graduation, the quintet began playing live around the South and got their break after opening for Sea Level on 1976, when a representative from Capricorn Records was impressed enough to sign them. Mark Parrish, a former member of Dixie Grit, replaced Davidowski for their official debut, 1977's Free Fall. Their follow-up, ...[AMG]

[Compilations]
12.Best of the Dixie Dregs (1987)
13.Off the Record (1988)
14.The Best of the Dregs/Divided We Stand (1989)
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