The South Will Rise Again

Kings Of Leon did it to me. That opening to Joe's Head. It took me back to the 70s and the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd. I was always more of a Skynyrd fan. The Gotham Gal is more Allmans. We grew up on it and then kind of left it behind. But now I am back with a vengeance

This is music for the simple man with the whiskey bottle in hand. And I love it. Two records that stand tall in our vinyl collection are The Allman Brothers at Fillmore East and One More from the Road by Lynyrd Skynyrd. They've been getting a lot of play on the turntable this week.

But the south has risen again. Maybe it never fell. Bands like My Morning Jacket from Kentucky, Kings Of Leon from Tennessee, and The Drive By Truckers from Alabama by way of Athens Georgia are making southern rock in the 21st century that sounds both new and old at the same time. I've seen MMJ and KOL live and they are truly great. They've picked up where the Allmans and Skynyrd left on and are keeping the southern rock genre vital.

Here's an imeem playlist that I put together with some highlights of this week's southern rock binge. I hope you like it.

Comments

[charlie crystle]

I opened for Skynyrd at Jones Beach in 2001. There were so many Spinal Tap moments, from the choreographed band to the fog so thick the spotlights couldn't find the singer, who jumped up and down screaming and pointing at his head to try to get the crew to see him...though that didn't top Ted Nugent yelling into the mike, "I'm venison powered!".

Classic.

[Stephen Gilberg]

Thanks for some of the great music posts...

With regard to Southern Rock, it's alive and brewing here in New York City.

Have you had a chance to see Leroy Justice (www.leroyjustice.com) play their southern influenced "Bourbon Rock"? They have an upcoming gig at the Bitter End on July 26th if you're around. They have a great album available on iTunes, however Leroy Justice Live is a very special treat!

Also, their MySpace page is http://www.myspace.com/leroyjustice

[Brandon McLarty]

I just read on Drudge about the Artic Monkeys not playing at Live Earth (http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070705025637.vyh5u7g0&show_article=1) My respect for the band has only grown by there rooted statements.

They are right we should not listen to what the Artic Monkeys think about Global Warming. The awareness that is raised by concert is great but Rockers for spokes people of the Earth is wrong.

Gore was on a role, I think this event will be quickly forgotten. Each concert event has become less memorable. 1)Woodstock, 2) LiveAid 3)Live 8 ( almost forgetton after 3 years) now Live Earth.

A better name may have been "Revive Earth" invoking the image that earth needs help vs. "Live Earth" which sounds like Earth is alive and kicking like a few of the old time rockers still playing live concerts.

[TJM]

I saw DBT at Webster Hall last time they were in town. Awesome show. They're at Battery Park July 19. For more of that southern sound, check out The Dexateens (produced by Patterson Hood of DBT), The Black Keys, Cross Canadian Ragweed and Mama Sweet.

[carl rahn griffith]

thanks for reminding me about the excellent drive by truckers, fred - as a result i have just loaded a couple of their cd's into itunes so i have just started listening to them again after consigning them (by mistake) to my cd graveyard/archive.

i saw them in new york in 2003 - at the bowery, i think - was a great gig; not usually 'my cup of tea' this style of music (being a brit, i suppose being the reason why) but they're very cool. great musicians.

just selected 'the southern thing' on itunes, as i type!

boy, i had forgotten just how similar the kings of leon sound is to them - quite a compliment.

for something a tad more manic in this genre(ish) i can heartily recommend th' legendary shack shakers - seen them live a few times now around the world - intense fun gigs, for sure. try them!

http://www.cockadoodledont.com/

[Sam]

Have you heard the Deftones rendition of "Simple Man"? I dare say that it's even better. The sound is obviously textured by the deftones so it ends up being extremely rich. The solo must be heard. It was released on their disc "B-sides and rarities".

http://play.rhapsody.com/deftones/bsidesrarities/simpleman?didAutoplayBounce=true

or of course:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=80815972&s=143455&i=80815928

[Alex]

Hi Fred,
If you want to continue mining the southern rock vein I highly recommend The Marshall Tucker Band. Just an awesome mix of blues, jamming and jazz. They are still touring, saw them live last winter at Toad's Place in New Haven and it was amazing - absolutely blew me away. They played for 2 1/2 hours including 45 minute renditions of some of their songs. Rhapsody has some live albums of theirs - check out Ramblin, Searchin for A Rainbow, 24 hours at a time and Fire on the Mountain.

[Charlie Gower]

People write a lot here don't they. I'm a fan of being concise. I'm a big southern rock and southern soul fan. Try The Two Gallants on for size.

[Fraser]

Why only snippets of the songs w/ imeem? Streampad it up like you used to and let us hear it all.

[jackson]

The Allmans (misnomer methinks, should be Allman - as in singular, since there's only been one Allman in the band since october 29, 1971) maintain that they are not southern rock, they are a blues band.

Whatever...

Anyway, like you, I prefer Skynyrd - the real dead band, not the cover band that tours under the Stars and Bars.

The Allmans are long on jam short on song.

Looking forward to seeing the Kings....

[James]

What would it take for you to add the one.org banner to your blog to support charity? I have added it to my own and would love to see other bloggers amplify the need to stomp out poverty.

If the activism irritates you then I understand...

James McGovern
http://duckdown.blogspot.com/

[Mike Orren]

Fred, I 'll second the comment above on Marshall Tucker. Get the live version of "24 Hours a Day." MTB was amazingly jazz-infused, and while not as consistently good as the Allmans, on their best days were a better band.

I'd also encourage you to dig beyond the hits in the Black Crowes catalog. Some amazing stuff in there. The recent live disk Freak n' Roll in the Fog is a great place to start.

I think you've mentioned Kevn Kinney before-- You should really dig back to his old band Drivn' n' Cryin'.

Another RIP band you should listen to is the V-Roys.

And anything by Dan Baird (originator of the Georgia Satellites) or his current band The Yayhoos.

Finally, I'd be remiss in a Southern Rock post if I didn't give some local (Dallas) boys a shout-- Give a spin to The Drams (great) or their precursor Slobberbone (even better, and an avowed favorite of Stephen King's).

[Chris]

Hi, Fred. I'm an MBA trying to make my way into community development venture capital and a fan of all things indie-rock. Needless to say, I'm a fan of the blog and constantly learn from it.

Being from and living in Tennessee, I am extremely pleased to see some appreciation for the re-birth of Southern rock. Some other groups I would suggest include:

The Features (Murfreesboro, TN)
The Black Keys (Memphis, TN)
The Whigs (Athens, GA)

Keep rock'n and bloggin'.