 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2024) |
| What If | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 1978 | |||
| Recorded | 1978 | |||
| Studio | Chateau Recorders | |||
| Length | 39:46 | |||
| Label | Capricorn | |||
| Producer | Ken Scott | |||
| Dixie Dregs chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide |  [2] |
What If is the second studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1978. [3]
The band sought, for What If, producer/engineer Ken Scott, because of his production of Mahavishnu Orchestra's Birds of Fire (1973). “Those guys were our heroes,” said guitarist and main composer Steve Morse. He added: “we were eager to work with Ken. We felt like we were graduating to the next level.” [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Take It Off the Top" | Steve Morse | 4:07 |
| 2. | "Odyssey" | Morse | 7:35 [5] |
| 3. | "What If" | Morse | 5:01 |
| 4. | "Travel Tunes" | Andy West | 4:34 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5. | "Ice Cakes" | Morse | 4:39 |
| 6. | "Little Kids" | Morse | 2:03 |
| 7. | "Gina Lola Breakdown" | Morse, Twiggs Lyndon | 4:00 |
| 8. | "Night Meets Light" | Morse | 7:47 |
Producer - Ken Scott
Production coordinator - Steven Brooks
Steve J. Morse is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple. Morse also enjoyed a successful solo career and was a member of the group Kansas in the mid-1980s. Most recently, Morse became a member of the supergroup Flying Colors.
Stained Class is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 10 February 1978 by Columbia Records. It is the first of three Judas Priest albums recorded with drummer Les Binks, as well as the first to feature the band's now well-known logo in the artwork. Musically, Stained Class is considered the album on which the band honed many of the elements of their hard-edged signature sound, dispensing with most of the progressive and blues rock overtones and softer ballads of previous efforts. The album features such notable tracks as "Exciter", considered an early precursor to speed metal and thrash metal, a cover version of "Better by You, Better than Me" by Spooky Tooth – which became the subject of an infamous civil suit in 1990 which alleged the song subliminally influenced two teenaged boys to make a suicide pact – and “Beyond the Realms of Death”, which is considered one of the band’s greatest songs by many fans and frequently included in the band’s live setlists.
Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band is known for instrumental music that fuses elements of rock, classical music, country, jazz and bluegrass into an eclectic sound that is difficult to categorize. Recognized for their virtuoso playing, the Dixie Dregs were identified with the southern rock, progressive rock and jazz fusion scenes of the 1970s.
Free Fall is the debut studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1977. It was their first release on the Capricorn Records label. Three of the songs from this album are re-recordings from the band's demo release The Great Spectacular (1976).
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Edward Offord is an English retired record producer and audio engineer who gained prominence in the 1970s for his work on albums by the progressive rock bands Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes.
Another Music in a Different Kitchen is the first studio album by the English punk rock band Buzzcocks. It was released in March 1978 by the United Artists record label. This was the third line-up of Buzzcocks, with the guitarist Pete Shelley singing following the departure of the original vocalist Howard Devoto and then the firing of the bass guitarist Garth Smith. The album includes the single "I Don't Mind", which reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1978.
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Ken Scott is an English record producer and engineer known for being one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, as well as engineering Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, David Bowie, Duran Duran, the Jeff Beck Group, Supertramp, and many more.
Purpendicular is the fifteenth studio album by the English rock band Deep Purple, released on 5 February 1996. It is their first album with guitarist Steve Morse from Dixie Dregs, who replaced Ritchie Blackmore. The album entered the UK Charts on 17 February 1996, where it peaked at No. 58.
Night of the Living Dregs is the third album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1979. The first half of the album was recorded in the studio, and the second half at the Montreux Jazz Festival on July 23, 1978.
Live! Bootleg is a double live album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in October 1978. While most of the performances were drawn from concerts in 1977 and 1978, "I Ain't Got You" and "Mother Popcorn" were taken from a radio broadcast of a Boston performance on March 20, 1973.
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Terry "T" Lavitz was an American keyboardist, composer and producer. He is best known for his work with the Dixie Dregs and Jazz Is Dead.
The Great Spectacular is a self-produced demo album by the Dixie Dregs, recorded in 1975 on campus at University of Miami and released in 1976 only on limited vinyl. By the time the band had risen in popularity in the late 1970s, the record had been out of print, becoming a highly sought-after collector's item, and was re-released for the CD format in 1997.
Dregs of the Earth is the fourth studio album by Dixie Dregs, released in 1980. It was the band's first release on Arista Records, their last one before changing its name to the Dregs, and contains a re-recording of one of their earlier songs, which appeared on their 1976 demo The Great Spectacular.
Unsung Heroes is the fifth studio album by the Dixie Dregs, released in 1981. This was the band's first album released under the moniker The Dregs. It also received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Andy West is an American bass guitarist and composer who is an original founding member of the Dixie Dregs along with Steve Morse. Since the breakup of the original band in 1983, West has been on albums with Mike Keneally, Henry Kaiser, Paul Barrere, Vinnie Moore, and many others. His frequent style of playing bass is with a guitar pick, although he has performed in fingerstyle on several occasions. Since 1985, West has simultaneously pursued a career in the software industry while continuing to release albums sporadically. He currently works as a vice president for Analytics and Adaptive Learning at Pearson Education.
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