Southern rock often gets a bad rap among folks whose "learnin' shed" isn't a car on blocks in the front yard. This is largely due to the fact that classic rock radio tends to play only the most hillbilliest of Skynyrd songs ("Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps"), and it's just impossible for a normal person to see the unfortunate choice of a Confederate flag as part of a band's aesthetic and not feel weird.
But there's more to Southern rock than the endless boogie of Molly Hatchet. The music has its roots in ancient blues, deep soul and even the earliest rock 'n' roll music (see Elvis' Sun Sessions). For one thing, two of the genre's main progenitors, Greg and Duane Allman, basically grew up in Muscle Shoals studio, playing with Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, Clarence Carter and others. And Southern rock itself has evolved over the years and remains vital today.
The genre can easily be broken down to three eras, and what we've done here is offer a little primer on Southern rock with the major players of each of its periods in playlist form. This is not the last word on Southern rock, so if you have "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" tattooed on your forehead, don't flip out that there's no Wet Willie. This here is meant to be a starter kit for newcomers and some good songs for the acolytes.
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Smelly Old Southern Rock/The Golden Age (1969-1975)
The Allman Brothers basically opened the door, set the bar, put the "choogle" in "chooglin'" or whatever you want to call it with their 1969 self-titled debut album. By the time Eat a Peach appeared in 1972, Southern rock had its blueprint and was an exploding scene in its own right. Here we have some of the best songs of that era, from Duane tearing the sky apart in "Stand Back" to forest-dwelling car thieves Black Oak Arkansas giving a history lesson. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils may be more of a country rock band, but "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" is such a damn good song we had to include it. That's Duane Allman playing guitar on Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude."
The South Rises Again ('80s-'90s)
Southern rock fell from critical and commercial favor in the late '70s, possibly due to the loss of several members of Lynyrd Skynyrd in a plane crash in 1977. In any case, people didn't start talking about Southern rock again until Donnie Van Zant's .38 Special appeared in 1981 with the radio-perfect two-fer here. The Black Crowes hit it big in the '90s, but it was Drivin' N' Cryin', a band from Atlanta, that was better than both, as evidenced here by the only song of theirs to make it to the radio in any real way. It's a good'n.
Southern Rock's New Set of Teeth ('00s)
Unfortunately we don't have the rights to Raging Slab's 2002 Southern rock masterpiece, Pronounced Eat Sh*t, so you'll have to settle for their cover of Mountain's cowbell epic, "Mississippi Queen." Elsewhere, Kid Rock, Florida's Shinedown, the Black Crowes and the best Skynyrd song since poor Ronnie passed give you an idea of where Southern rock is today.
The Allman Brothers basically opened the door, set the bar, put the "choogle" in "chooglin'" or whatever you want to call it with their 1969 self-titled debut album. By the time Eat a Peach appeared in 1972, Southern rock had its blueprint and was an exploding scene in its own right. Here we have some of the best songs of that era, from Duane tearing the sky apart in "Stand Back" to forest-dwelling car thieves Black Oak Arkansas giving a history lesson. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils may be more of a country rock band, but "If You Wanna Get to Heaven" is such a damn good song we had to include it. That's Duane Allman playing guitar on Wilson Pickett's "Hey Jude."
The South Rises Again ('80s-'90s)
Southern rock fell from critical and commercial favor in the late '70s, possibly due to the loss of several members of Lynyrd Skynyrd in a plane crash in 1977. In any case, people didn't start talking about Southern rock again until Donnie Van Zant's .38 Special appeared in 1981 with the radio-perfect two-fer here. The Black Crowes hit it big in the '90s, but it was Drivin' N' Cryin', a band from Atlanta, that was better than both, as evidenced here by the only song of theirs to make it to the radio in any real way. It's a good'n.
Southern Rock's New Set of Teeth ('00s)
Unfortunately we don't have the rights to Raging Slab's 2002 Southern rock masterpiece, Pronounced Eat Sh*t, so you'll have to settle for their cover of Mountain's cowbell epic, "Mississippi Queen." Elsewhere, Kid Rock, Florida's Shinedown, the Black Crowes and the best Skynyrd song since poor Ronnie passed give you an idea of where Southern rock is today.
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Southern Rocks New Teeth - Drive By Truckers!!!
Kid Rock's "All Summer Long" is total crap, and doesn't belong in the same universe with the other, real southern rock songs you mention here. The song is beneath Kid Rock, and is definitely not southern rock.
Yeah I have to concede the Kid Rock song is awful but sometimes I like things that are awful. I can't help it. The fact the dude's from Michigan is a little tougher to reconcile. maybe he's like an honorary southern rocker because he wants it so bad.
I'm with Matt on the Drive By Truckers, but how about the heavy metal hillbilly of Hank III?
"There's more to Southern rock than Molly Hatchet. There's also the Black Crowes."
I recently got turned onto something newer, southern, and heavy... Maylene and the Sons of Disaster. Good stuff.
Check out The Effects For some southern rock sound! The band is originally from Tulsa, OK and now reside in Nashville, TN. Amazing Young band that puts on one of the best live shows i've ever seen. www.TheEffects.com Also Shinedown and Kid Rock Shouldnt even be in the music industry. They will never hold a candle to bands like Skynyrd and Molly Hatchet and The Black Crowes!
maylene and the sons of disaster put the rock in southern rock