Steve Morse
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Steve Morse Arpeggio Lesson |
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| Steve Morse Interview |
Steve Morse Plays Famous Riffs |
| Guitarist Quick-Facts |
| Name: Steven Morse |
| Born: July 28, 1954 |
| Origin: Hamilton, Ohio |
| Guitar Gear |
| Guitars: Ernie Ball Music Man |
| Amplifiers: Engl |
| Bands: Past & Present |
| Deep Purple, Dixie Grit, Dixie Dregs, Kansas, Solo Artist, Steve Morse Band, The Plague |
Steven Morse was born on July 28, 1954, in Hamilton, Ohio. His mother was a classical trained pianist, and in his youth Morse took piano and clarinet lessons. After taking up the guitar, Steve played in a band with his brother Dave called The Plague. When the family moved to Augusta, Georgia the band had to break up, but he and his brother played in another band named Three.
Steven and Dave then moved on to a band named Dixie Grit along with keyboard player Johnny Carr, guitarist Frank Brittingham, and bass player Andy West. The band played local bars performing covers of songs by rock acts like Led Zeppelin and Cream. Without original material the band could not get higher paying jobs and eventually disbanded.
West and Morse played a duet known as the Dixie Dregs, and both of them enrolled in the University of Miami's School of Music. As part of a school project Morse and West teamed up with violinist Allen Sloan, keyboardist Frank Josephs, and drummer Bart Yarnall to perform some of Morse's compositions. After graduation the band continued to perform, with Rod Morgenstein replacing Yarnall on drums, as the Dixie Dregs. The band played their own original songs, most of which were created during their days at the University of Miami, as well as covers of southern rock songs. The project was only meant to be a local area band, but their popularity lead to an increasingly large tour schedule, which eventually garnered them major label attention.
Their debut with Capricorn records, “Free Fall”, was critically praised as a jazz fusion album, but was not a high selling album. Although Morse wrote all of the songs on the first album, their second album, “What If”, was more of a collaborative effort. The album broke free slightly of the jazz fusion formula and incorporated more elements of southern rock, folk, and countries. The album was once again critically acclaimed, but commercially wanting. The band played at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1978, and a live recording of the concert was released in 1979. Later that year, Capricorn records went bankrupt and left the band without a record label.
Arista signed the band to a 3 album contract and gave Morse production powers. The first Dixie Dregs album released under Arista was “Dregs of the Earth” in 1980. Morse penned all of the tracks on the album, which reached number 27 on Billboards Jazz chart. At the request of Arista, the band shortened their name to The Dregs in the hopes of increasing sales. The first album under the new name, “Unsung Heroes” didn't improve in sales and Arista pressured the band into adding lyrics to the next album.
The album was called “Industry Standard”, a clear reference to Arista's increased involvement in the band's output. The album was voted Best Guitar LP by Guitar Player magazine, and Morse himself was honored by the same magazine as Best Overall Guitarist. He won the honor for the next four years as well, which made him ineligible to win again. Steve Howe of Yes, is the only other guitarist to do the same. The band had already recorded the three albums required of them by their contract and, tired of constant gigging, disbanded.
Morse put together a trio called the Steve Morse Band after leaving The Dregs. The band, featuring Rod Morgenstein on drums and Jerry Peek on bass recorded their first album, “The Introduction” in late 1983 and began a tour of Germany in 1984. During the tour Morse conducted guitar clinics. Elektra Records released “The Introduction” in mid 1984. The band returned to tour Germany later the same year and the next year, released its second album, “Stand Up”. Guest musicians on the band's sophomore effort include Eric Johnson, Alex Ligertwood, Peter Frampton, Albert Lee, Van Temple, and violinist Mark O'Conner. The band opened for Rush during their Power Windows tour.
Morse joined Kansas in the year 1986 and recorded two albums with them, “Power” and “In the Spirit of Things”. He received co-writer credits on the band's last big hit, the Top 20 single, “All I Wanted”. After the tour supporting “In the Spirit of Things”, Morse left the band. He spent a year as a commercial airline co-pilot, and returned to Kansas for one more tour in 1991. In 1993 Ritchie Blackmore quit Deep Purple abruptly and Morse became his permanent replacement.
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