Hank Williams

Toy CaldwellMarshall Tucker BandSPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Toy T. Caldwell Jr., former lead guitar player and singer for the Marshall Tucker Band, died yesterday, and the cause was under investigation, a coroner said.Mr. Caldwell's body was found by his wife, Abbie Good Caldwell, at their home in Moore, about 80 miles northwest of Columbia, said Bill Doble, vice president of music for Cabin Fever Entertainment, for whom Mr. Caldwell recorded. Mr. Doble said Mr. Caldwell, 45, had been ill with influenza and bronchitis.

Heroin, long the leading killer among drugs in Baltimore, has crept from the inner city, arriving violently at the tidy cul-de-sacs of Maryland's suburbs and the back-road burgs of the most far-flung parts of the state.A new, cheaper, more potent brand of the drug is making the rounds. More and more, it is being snorted instead of injected, accounting in large part for the explosion in use. And it is killing more people in more parts of Maryland -- and at a younger age -- than ever.Consider:A Carroll County teen-ager, his slight frame nearly lost in a cream-colored sweater, nervously rocks in his courtroom chair as he is accused of selling the heroin that killed a schoolmate.

Over the years, we've seen no shortage of music by children of famous singers. It has ranged from awful (Nelson) to good if extremely derivative (Ziggy Marley), but the truth is, each and every kid -- from Hank Williams Jr. to Nancy Sinatra -- came to the plate prejudged, the prospect of living up to The Famous Daddy all but impossible. ; Poor

"Pappy" Neal McCormick,88, who played steel guitar for some of the top names in country music and helped give Hank Williams Sr. his start in the business, died of complications from the flu Friday in Defuniak Springs, Fla.Albert Lippert,72, a co-founder of the Weight Watchers diet plan, died Saturday of a stroke during a trip to South Africa. He founded the diet plan with Jean Nidetch after taking part in Nidetch's diet class on Long Island in 1963.Pub Date: 3/04/98

It's been a little more than a year since Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and it hasn't stopped rocking. Catch Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr. (above) as they continue the resurgence of good ole country rock when the Rowdy Frynds Tour stops at 1st Mariner Arena tomorrow evening at 6:45. 1st Mariner Arena is at 201 W. Baltimore St. Tickets are $23-$67.50. Call 410-547-SEAT or go to ticketmaster.com.

* Wally Fowler, 77, a singer, songwriter and concert promoter who was known as "Mr. Gospel Music," drowned Friday while fishing with his son-in-law on Dale Hollow Lake northeast of Nashville. Mr. Fowler was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1988. His songs include Eddy Arnold's first million-selling record, "That's How Much I Love You," and "I Couldn't Believe It Was True," recorded by Willie Nelson in 1974. He got his start in 1935 at age 18 with the John Daniel Quartet, the first gospel quartet to join the Grand Ole Opry.

Reece A. Overcash Jr., 68, chairman and chief executive officer of Associates Corp. of North America, died yesterday in Dallas of a stroke. The Dallas-based Associates Corp. is a consumer and commercial finance company and manages assets of more than $35 billion. It is part of the Financial Services Group of Ford Motor Co.Madelaine Hemingway Mainland Miller, 90, a younger sister of Ernest Hemingway who was known by her nickname "Sunny," died Saturday in Petoskey, Mich. She recalled life with her famous brother in a 1975 book, "Ernie: Hemingway's Sister 'Sunny' Remembers."

Golden West Cafe has a handful of good shows this week, but the highlight is easily Joe Lally and Zomes on Saturday. While Fugazi has been on an indefinite hiatus for over eight years now, Lally, the band's founding bassist, has released three solo albums; the latest, "Why Should I Get Used to It," was released in April. Elsewhere this week: Wham City Comedy, Height with Friends, and the Smokers Club tour, starring Method Man and Curren$y.  On Monday , Manchester Orchestra, an indie rock five-piece, perform at the 9:30 club, 815 V St. N.W., Washington.

You can go with the usual Thursday night network mainstays, like NBC's The Office or ABC's Grey's Anatomy. Nothing wrong there. But if you are looking for something different, here are a couple of music-based productions. THE ROOTS OF THE MAN IN BLACK: This look at country singer Johnny Cash and the thematic currents of his music and life is first-rate film biography from two outstanding documentary filmmakers, Robert Gordon (Muddy Waters: Can't Be Satisfied) and Morgan Neville (Hank Williams: Honky Tonk Blues)