What If (Dixie Dregs album)

What If
Studio album by Dixie Dregs
Released	March 1978
Recorded	1978
Studio	Chateau Recorders
Length	39:46
Label	Capricorn
Producer	Ken Scott
Dixie Dregs chronology
Free Fall (1977) What If (1978) Night of the Living Dregs (1979)

Professional ratings

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]

Production

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]

Track listing

Side A

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

Side B

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

Personnel

• Steve Morse – guitar, banjo
• Mark Parrish – keyboards
• Allen Sloan – violin, viola
• Andy West – bass guitar
• Rod Morgenstein – drums, vocals

Production

Producer - Ken Scott

• Assistant engineers – Brian Leshon, Chris Gregg, Gary Coppola
• Mastered By – SR/2*
• Recorded At – Chateau Recorders

Production coordinator - Steven Brooks

Notes

• "What If" and "Ice Cakes" are re-recordings from the band's 1976 demo record The Great Spectacular.
• The lead track "Take It Off the Top" was used as the theme song for the Friday Rock Show for most of the show's run (from 1978 to 1993).
• American heavy metal guitarist James Murphy covered "Odyssey" on his Feeding the Machine solo album.
• Progressive metal band Dream Theater covered "Odyssey" for the special edition of their 10th studio album Black Clouds & Silver Linings.

References

1. Gioffre, Daniel (2011). "What If - The Dixie Dregs | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
2. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 62. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
3. Waters, Timothy R. (17 Dec 1981). "Classical mixed with bluegrass? Call them the Dregs". Arts. The Christian Science Monitor.
4. Bosso, Joe (13 September 2022). ""I Was Like a Mad Scientist, Always Refining": Steve Morse Reveals How He Wrote "Take It Off the Top"". Guitar Player. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
5. from 1978 Album, 25 April 2010