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Post by Jesse on Jun 18, 2011 18:33:54 GMT -5
I've been getting into the NFL network lately and enjoying their "Top Tens". Thought it would be fun to do here. I got some good ones in mind, but I'll go predictable on you and begin with what most of you will expect: Top Ten Southern Rock Bands10-Dickey Betts Band/Great Southern. Great band! I bought a compilation album once cuz it was cheap and the more I listened, the more I realized how great an artist Betts was/is outside of the Allman Brothers. Got a couple of his cds now and saw him in concert once. I think he deserves to sneak in at #10. 9-Elvin Bishop. Most people only know that "he ain't good lookin' but he sure can play" thanks to Charlie Daniels.......and that pretty much sums him up. His 70's albums are chock full of good-time boogie-woogie licks any cd would make a good soundtrack to your summer bar-b-que. 8-ZZ Top. Sorry, but I've got to deduct points for some of their 80's cheese. Still, their 70's catalog puts them firmly on any list of great Southern Rockers. You didn't think I'd give you the whole list at once did you?  I'll let you chew on these, come up with your own list and guess at the rest of my list for awhile.  |
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Ricky
Club Rocker
Long live Rock and Roll
Posts: 501
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Post by Ricky on Jun 18, 2011 21:31:49 GMT -5
good list...I would put the Outlaws on there too
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Post by duojett71 on Jun 19, 2011 19:41:01 GMT -5
I worked a show for Dickey Betts and Great Southern down in New Orleans back in 2004. It was at the State Palace Theater in Downtown New Orleans. Hardly anyone showed up. Maybe around 100 people.....but you know what Dickey and his band still played for about two hours and completely tore it up. He was amazing.
I love ZZ Top to and would definitely put them up there. The 70's era stuff was the best and I was not a fan of the 'Afterburner' stuff and got really spent with the hits off 'Eliminator'....but some of the later stuff like the 'Rhythmeen' album is really good.
Outlaws for sure....great band
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Post by Jesse on Jun 20, 2011 11:18:42 GMT -5
Only 3 bands in and I already fucked up! ZZ Top is my #7, not 8. #8 is:
8-The Kentucky Headhunters. Ok, kinda pushing it as they are from Kentucky and not the deep South. Also, they only have around 10 albums to their credit, only 7 of which are studio albums. However, that is about twice the output of the Allman Brothers Band of the last 20 years, so I won't hold it against them. Nor will I hold it against them that they leaned Country on their first 2 albums, because their last several album were pure Southern Rock. Great original sound with plenty of hooks and boogies with the best of 'em.
6-The Allman Brothers Band. Could easily be higher if they were more consistant through their career, but who can argue with their track record of "Midnight Rider", "One Way Out", "Statesboro Blues", "Blue Sky", "Jessica", "Ramblin' Man", "Southbound", "Melissa", "Seven Turns", "Good Clean Fun", "End Of The Line", and "Nobody Left To Run With" just to name a few. I can't.
5-The Outlaws. I would love to have them higher on my list, but they have several periods of "lost years" and the current band is totally ruining their legacy. Still, these guys could outplay Lynyrd Skynyrd, outwrite 38 Special and outsing the Eagles. Despite a constantly changing lineup, the sound remained the same. 10 studio albums between 1975 and 1999 and you really can't go wrong with any of them.
Coming soon: The big 4!
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Post by Jesse on Jun 21, 2011 16:07:59 GMT -5
4-The Marshall Tucker Band. "Can't You See" is still one of the most requested songs on Classic Rock radio, but MTB was so much more than that. Basically 'feel good music" long on jammability and hooks. Highlights are Toy Caldwell's guitar playing, Jerry Eubanks' saxophone and Doug Gray's vocals. The group lost it's songwriting edge a bit when Toy Caldwell left at the end of 1983, but they have had a few good CD's in recent years, including 2004's "Beyond The Horizon". Can't go wrong with any of their 70's material, every album they released that decade went either Gold or Platinum.
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 6:00:59 GMT -5
3-Charlie Daniels Band. Yeah, Ol' Charlie dabbles with Country, Bluegrass and Gospel, but the heart of his music has always been Southern Rock. Back in the day he and Tommy Crain were unmatched as a guitar duo and they rocked with the best of them. His first full album came out in 1970 and though his band has changed over the years, he's continued to tour and record on a consistant basis ever since. He will turn 75 in October and still plays about 150 shows a year. If you miss CDB on tour in any given year, it is likely your own fault. That sort of longevity should be rewarded. For me, it puts CDB squarely in the #3 spot among best All-Time Southern Rock bands.
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Post by spacel0rd on Jun 23, 2011 8:08:31 GMT -5
Just to open the door a bit, so no list gets repetitive, I am gonna include a few bands that touch on the southern rock feel/sound, but may not be PURE southern rock:
1. The Allman Brothers Band
2. Lynyrd Skynyrd
3. The Black Crowes
4. The Outlaws
5. Alabama
6. Hank Williams, Jr.
7. Kid Rock
8. The Band
9. ZZ Top
10. Little Feat
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 9:05:24 GMT -5
Just to open the door a bit, so no list gets repetitive, I am gonna include a few bands that touch on the southern rock feel/sound, but may not be PURE southern rock: 1. The Allman Brothers Band 2. Lynyrd Skynyrd 3. The Black Crowes 4. The Outlaws 5. Alabama 6. Hank Williams, Jr. 7. Kid Rock 8. The Band 9. ZZ Top 10. Little Feat All great artists, I'll be addressing some of them soon! |
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 9:10:15 GMT -5
#2-Molly Hatchet. The guitar jams, the boogie backbeat, the Southern drawl vocals. Hard to top these guys. Lose points for their constantly changing lineups and getting sucked into the '80's cheese factory for a few albums, but overall, Molly Hatchet is what Southern Rock is all about.
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 9:19:59 GMT -5
#1- Lynyrd Skynyrd. DUH! Who did YOU think I would put at #1? Georgia Satellites? When most folks think "Southern Rock" only one band comes to mind and that is Skynyrd. 3 screaming guitars, a honky tonk piano player and a barefoot singer, it don't get much more "Southern Rock" than that. Want proof? Just look at the track listing for their "Gold And Platinum" album:
Down South Jukin
Saturday Night Special
Gimmie Three Steps
I Ain't The One
You Got That Right
Gimmie Back My Bullets
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird
That Smell
One The Hunt
What's Your Name
Whiskey Rock'n Roller
Simple Man
I Know A Little
Tuesday's Gone
Coming Home
No one else in Southern Rock can put out an album with that many Classics on it. Plus, Skynyrd is still doing it! One could argue whether or not the Skynyrd of the last 20 years is AS GOOD as the 70's band, but they are still very good. They play the oldies flawlessly and put out quality new music to boot. I love Molly Hatchet, Marshall Tucker, Chuck Daniels and the Outlaws, but I can't put any of them above Skynyrd on this list and still be taken seriously.
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 9:45:13 GMT -5
Best Of The Rest:
Georgia Satellites were a fine band. They released 3 great Southern Rock albums between 1986 and 1989 when most bands were distancing themselves from the genre. Unfortunatly, lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Dan Baird left by 1991. The band soldiered on but never released another album and for my list, longevity played a big part.
The Black Crowes had one of the finest debut albums ever, but their output has been spotty ever since. They've had some good stuff over the years, but they've had some total crap too. Might have slipped in at #10, but I saw a Direct TV concert of them recently and they were godawful. Mindless jamming that went nowhere and there wasn't a hook to be found at any point of the 2 hour show.
Blackfoot and 38 Special are 2 of my favorite bands, but both lean more straight ahead Hard Rock/AOR than Southern Rock. Both have their moments ("Highway Song" IS a Southern Rock anthem, no doubt about it), but I went with artists that were stylistically Southern Rock for the longest stretches of time. Some argue that Southern Rock was more of a movement: It was about Rock bands emerging from the South all at once in the mid-late 70's. However, with THAT definition of Southern Rock, one must be ready to include Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in the discussion and.....I'm not willing to go there. ;D
Henry Paul Band and Rossington Collins Band were both great but too short-lived to be included here.
Hank Williams Jr Rocks out every bit as much as he does Country, but has a lack of original Southern Rock anthems to his credit. i.e. most of what he is remembered for is Country or cover songs (Two examples: He had a hit with a remake of MTB's "Can't You See" in the ealry 70's and for most of the 80's his show closer was ZZ Top's "La Grange"). Southern Rock? Yes, I'd say so. Top ten? No, maybe top 15 or 20.
Alabama never really boogied like most other bands on this list. They had a couple good songs that border on Southern Rock, but they were always too smooth and Southern Rock IMO is about being rough around the edges. I saw a Rolling Stone review of them once and they refered to Alabama as being "for the modern dentist". Possibly the only time I ever agreed with Rolling Stone.
Kid Rock, Shooter Jennings and Blackberry Smoke are relatively new entries into the Southern Rock field. They may crack the top ten in years to come, but none yet have the repetoire of my top ten.
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Post by DrJJones on Jun 23, 2011 12:33:28 GMT -5
A question. What do most people consider Southern Rock to be? Does a band have to be from the South? Or is it more of a sound? I mean Spacelord mentioned Kid Rock whose from Michigan, Little Feat who are from L.A, & The Band from Canada. What do people consider North Carolina's Cry Of Love to be ? Or Florida's Tom Petty? or California's Eagles? Canadian Sass Jordan? Or Joanna Dean?  |
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Post by spacel0rd on Jun 23, 2011 13:06:27 GMT -5
A question. What do most people consider Southern Rock to be? Does a band have to be from the South? Or is it more of a sound? I mean Spacelord mentioned Kid Rock whose from Michigan, Little Feat who are from L.A, & The Band from Canada. What do people consider North Carolina's Cry Of Love to be ? Or Florida's Tom Petty? or California's Eagles? Canadian Sass Jordan? Or Joanna Dean? I think of it as a sound, not a location. And i almost put the Eagles in there, but I think of them more like a Bob Seger...just a half a step too far from southern rock. And when it comes to Petty, I don't think of him as southern rock at all. He's closer to the Byrds and Dylan. |
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Post by spacel0rd on Jun 23, 2011 13:16:24 GMT -5
Might have slipped in at #10, but I saw a Direct TV concert of them recently and they were godawful. Mindless jamming that went nowhere and there wasn't a hook to be found at any point of the 2 hour show. Alabama...they were always too smooth and Southern Rock IMO is about being rough around the edges. A) I liked that "mindless jamming" by the Black Crowes when I saw them live. And I've also seen that Directv concert. Then, again...I like Phish. B) This album is more southern rock than country. They kinda get rougher, live: (The 7 minute "Tennessee River" rocks...And there's a cool cover of "Can't You See" on it)  |
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Post by DrJJones on Jun 23, 2011 13:50:51 GMT -5
The Black Crowes had one of the finest debut albums ever, but their output has been spotty ever since. They've had some good stuff over the years, but they've had some total crap too. Might have slipped in at #10, but I saw a Direct TV concert of them recently and they were godawful. Mindless jamming that went nowhere and there wasn't a hook to be found at any point of the 2 hour show. You really need to see the Rockpalast show from Koln in 1992. Simply awesome show www.youtube.comwatch?v=ks_5hFTNups |
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 17:34:07 GMT -5
Might have slipped in at #10, but I saw a Direct TV concert of them recently and they were godawful. Mindless jamming that went nowhere and there wasn't a hook to be found at any point of the 2 hour show. Alabama...they were always too smooth and Southern Rock IMO is about being rough around the edges. B) This album is more southern rock than country. They kinda get rougher, live: (The 7 minute "Tennessee River" rocks...And there's a cool cover of "Can't You See" on it) I agree, I have this album and it is very good.....however, I can do without their version of "Can't You See". |
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Post by Jesse on Jun 23, 2011 17:37:04 GMT -5
A question. What do most people consider Southern Rock to be? Does a band have to be from the South? Or is it more of a sound? I mean Spacelord mentioned Kid Rock whose from Michigan, Little Feat who are from L.A, & The Band from Canada. What do people consider North Carolina's Cry Of Love to be ? Or Florida's Tom Petty? or California's Eagles? Canadian Sass Jordan? Or Joanna Dean? I kinda went with both the sound/style and the location of the band being from one of the 11 Southern States that made up the Confederacy during the Civil War. Lone exception was the Kentucky Headhunters. Location was what eliminated both the Eagles and Little Feat from my list. |
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