British By A Twist Of Fate
Here is a selection of damn fine tunes that you might find in a collection of Southern Rock music. For those that have never come across this genre of music, let me elucidate. Those that recognise my lack of knowledge, might wish to cast aspertions on my character. That's what the comments are for, feel free to expand, correct or just berate me (alternatively, you may wish to say "Nice mix Mick!").
In the late Sixties the Rock Music that we think of as 'Classic' filtered through, after a long and arduous journey, to an area of this globe that, musically speaking, we generally consider to be 'Country'. From a non-political viewpoint, some of the folk in this area were bored with the 'Grand Ol' Opry' and were looking for an alternative style. This new electric guitar imbued music seemed like an interesting starting point?
Groups like the One Percent, Hammer, Alice Marr, The Moving Sidewalks and The Hour Glass, had been inspired by the international phenomenon called The Beatles, were exploring the new players such as Cream's Eric Clapton and a new black sensation going by the name of Jimi Hendrix. Frank Zappa actually sacked one of the guitarists in his band, The Mothers Of Invention, for having the audacity to put forth an idea for a song, 'Willin'. His loss was our gain.
In general, the rules regarding Southern Rock suggest that the bands should have roots in the South. That's about it really, the music stretches from the Blues, through Country and Rock, to Jazz including all stops in between. On those grounds, I'm hoping that my choices here will be appreciated?
Driving South - Maybe You Can Put That Right
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Ain't No Good Life
Atlanta Rhythm Section - Hitchhikers Hero
Stillwater - Rock 'n' Roll Loser
Henry Paul Band - Wood Wind
Marshall Tucker Band - Fire On The Mountain
Henry Paul Band - Grey Ghost
Charlie Daniels Band - Orange Blossom Special
The '78 Superjam - Cocaine
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Breakdown
Sea Level - Nothing Matters But The Fever
ZZ Top - Crunchy
Marshall Tucker Band - Long Hard Ride
Molly Hatchet - Gator Country
Blackfoot - Foxchase
Gregg Allman - Come And Go Blues
Rickie Lee Jones - Easy Money
Lowell George - What Do You Want The Girl To Do
Little Feat - Straight From The Heart
The download link is here:
DownloadFilename: Southern.rar Filesize: 93.09 MB
Gregg Allman's performance of
Come And Go Blues is apparently taken from The Allman Brothers:
Brothers of the Road '82 DVD, and seems to be an outake from a TV appearance that I found on
YouTube, check the clip coz it's longer and has more improvisation before the song. Any info (date or story, etc?) would be appreciated. I will be investing in the DVD.
The '78 Superjam is available
(in the right circles) as a bootleg CDR. It seems to be the remains of the Lynyrd Skynyrd group with a lot of friends having a good time. Recorded in Doraville, Georgia in August 1978 and in attendance are
Gary Rossington,
Allen Collins,
Billy Powell,
Artimus Pyle from
Lynyrd Skynyrd,
Richard 'Dickey' Betts of the
Allman Brothers Band, Charlie Daniels &
Taz DiGregorio of
The Charlie Daniels Band,
Mike Duke &
Jimmy Hall of
Wet Willie,
Robert Nix of the
Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Outlaws,
Bonnie Bramlett &
Lenny LeBlanc. I downloaded my copy from
Skynfan's Guide To Rock n Roll and if you have any interest in
this music, I suggest you do the same while it's available.
Thanks Skynfan,
quality blog! 
