The Marshall Tucker Band: This Ol' Cowboy (1974)

We remember Spring days in the north when you were finally able to open the windows in your dorm because the sun had arrived and the snow was gone. Parties erupted on the sunny dry lawns and music blared from those dorm windows.

This Ol' Cowboy was one of those songs. While it will no doubt come across to you as country, it was considered mainstream Southern Rock and The Marshall Tucker Band was in the forefront of that movement. Their infusion of jazz elements is obvious and this set them apart in our opinion. The flute playing by Jerry Eubanks takes the song to another level and the guest fiddle playing by Charlie Daniels and Andy Stein (Commander Cody), makes this an irresistible tune.

This song is the story of a guy who has been around the block, and one more ended relationship is not going to devastate him:

Well I'm sittin' down in San Antone
Waiting on an eight o'clock train
My woman left me here last night
Things ain't been quite the same
I gotta get back to Dallas
And tie up a few loose ends
I'm gonna work a week make a hundred dollars
Aw and hit the road again
So I don't want you to think
That you're the first one
To leave me out here on my own
Cause this ain't gonna be the first time
This ol' cowboy spent the night alone

The Marshall Tucker Band traces its origins to South Carolina and was centered around the Caldwell brothers Toy and Tommy. Toy wrote most of their songs (including this one) and Tommy played bass. The band still exists today but really peaked in the late 70's. 

As per Wiki: The original lineup of the Marshall Tucker Band, formed in 1972, included lead guitarist, vocalist, and primary songwriter Toy Caldwell (1947–1993), vocalist Doug Gray (born 1948), keyboard player, saxophone player, and flutist Jerry Eubanks (born 1950), rhythm guitarist George McCorkle (1946–2007), drummer Paul Riddle (born 1953), and bassist Tommy Caldwell (1949–1980). They signed with Capricorn Records and in 1973 released their first LP, The Marshall Tucker Band.

Where We All Belong, which contains This Ol' Cowboy, was the third album by The Marshall Tucker Band. It is a double album; album one is a studio album (on which This Ol' Cowboy appears) and album two is a live album, featuring extensive jamming by the band and guests.. Album one was recorded in 1974 in Macon, Georgia at Capricorn Studios.

As a vinyl double album, disc one is side one and four, and disc two is side two and three. If you ever had a phonograph and stacked records, you will understand why.

The band would have many gold and also a platinum album run during the 70's.

Sadly, things did not go well for the Caldwells. Tommy died in a car accident in 1980 only a month after another brother, Tim, was killed in a car wreck as well. Toy would battle addiction and succumb to a cocaine induced heart attack in 1993.