A number of familiar faces came together Saturday for Spartanburg, SCs Jam for George. The all-star gig celebrated the life of hometown hero George McCorkle, who played rhythm guitar in the Marshall Tucker Band from its inception in 1972 until 1984. The event featured a whos who of southern rock and jam favorites, including Lynyrd Skynyrds Artimus Pyle and JoJo Billingsley, Charlie Daniels Bands Tommy Crain, Commander Codys Mark Emerick and McCorkles former Marshall Tucker Band bandmate Jerry Eubanks. Highlights included versions of Lynyrd Skynyrds Simple Man and Sweet Home Alabama that found Pyle and Billingsley performing with the Alabama-based Southern Boys and Crains take on the Allman Brothers Bands classic Jessica. Emerick also joined Crains Crosstown Allstars & Friends for Long Haired Country Boy, while Georges son, 31-year-old guitarist Justin McCorkle, played with the Southern Boys throughout their set. One of the days most tender felt moments found

Pyle, a survivor of the 1977 Skynyrd plane crash and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, reminding the crowd that George was the one who got [him] the audition for Skynyrd after Bob Burns left the group in 1974.
The day long event concluded with an all-star jam featuring a choice flute solo by Eubanks on Toy Caldwell’s Cant You See and McCorkle’s Fire on the Mountain. Michael Buffalo Smith, who helped organize the benefit, handled lead vocals on the MTB classics.