Southern rock

This article is about a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. For the Gibraltar-based insurance company Southern Rock, seeEldon Insurance.

Southern rock
Stylistic origins	Rock and roll blues rock country
Cultural origins	1960s and early 1970s, Southern United States
Fusion genres
Southern metal
Regional scenes
Southern United States
Other topics
Alternative country blues rock country rock cowpunk heartland rock progressive country roots rock sludge metal Southern soul swamp rock

Duane AllmanofThe Allman Brothers Bandperforming in 1971.

Southern rockis a subgenre ofrock musicand a genre ofAmericana.It developed in theSouthern United Statesfromrock and roll,country music,andbluesand is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculates the term "Southern rock" may have been coined in 1972 by Mo Slotin, writing for Atlanta's underground paper,The Great Speckled Bird,in a review of anAllman Brothers Bandconcert.

History

1950s and 1960s: origins

Rock music's origins lie mostly in the music of theAmerican South,and many stars from the first wave of 1950srock and rollsuch asBo Diddley,Elvis Presley,Little Richard,Buddy Holly,Fats Domino,andJerry Lee Lewishailed from theDeep South.However, theBritish Invasionand the rise offolk rockandpsychedelic rockin the middle 1960s shifted the focus of new rock music away from the rural south and to large cities likeLiverpool,London,Los Angeles,New York City,andSan Francisco.

In the 1960s, rock musicianLonnie Mackblended black and white roots-music genres within the framework of rock, beginning with the hit song "Memphis" in 1963.Music historianDick Shurmanconsiders Mack's recordings from that era "a prototype of what later could be called Southern rock".

The Allman Brothers Band,fromJacksonville, Florida,made their national debut in 1969 and soon gained a loyal following.Duane Allman's playing on the twoHour Glassalbums and anHour Glasssession in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama had caught the ear ofRick Hall,owner of FAME.

In November 1968, Hall hired Allman to play on an album withWilson Pickett.Allman's work on that album,Hey Jude(1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of a number of other musicians, such as Eric Clapton, who later related how he heard Pickett's version of "Hey Jude" on his car radio and called Atlantic Records to find out who the guitarist was: "To this day," Clapton said, "I've never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record. It's the best."

1970s: peak of popularity

Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971.

Theirblues rocksound incorporated long jams informed byjazzand also drew from native elements ofcountryandfolk.They were also contemporary in their electric guitar and keyboard delivery.Gregg Allman commented that "Southern rock" was a redundant term, like "rock rock."

Early 1970s, popular musicians in the southern area includedCreedence Clearwater Revival(fromCalifornia),Dale Hawkins,Delaney & Bonnie,Janis Joplin,Leon Russell,andTony Joe White.

Lynyrd Skynyrdof Jacksonville, Florida, is known for "Free Bird","Sweet Home Alabama","Saturday Night Special ", and" What's Your Name ". 70s southern rock bands include theAtlanta Rhythm Section,ZZ Top,Black Oak Arkansas,Potliquor,Barefoot Jerry,Grinderswitch,Wet Willie,Blackfoot,Johnny Winter,Edgar WinterGroup, and Sea Level.

Country rock bands

Charlie Daniels'self-titled debut album,released in 1970, was a pivotal recording in the development of the Southern rock genre, "because it points the way to how the genre could and would sound, and how country music could retain itshillbillyspirit and rock like a mother, "according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine.Erlewine described Daniels as "aredneckrebel, not fitting into either the country or the rock & roll [...] but, in retrospect, he sounds like a visionary, pointing the way to the future when southern rockers saw no dividing lines between rock, country, andblues,and only saw it all as sons of the south. "

Daniels later formed the Charlie Daniels Band, a group which fused rock, country, blues, and jazz. Erlewine described the band's sound as "a distinctly Southern blend" which emphasized improvisation in their instrumentation. After the success of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia",a single which Erlewine described as a" roaring country-discofusion ", Daniels shifted his sound from rock to country music and" helped shape the sound ofcountry-rock".

The Marshall Tucker Band,from Spartanburg, South Carolina, opened many of The Allman Brothers Band concerts using elements ofblues,country rockandblues rockin their music.They also collaborated with Charlie Daniels. Their self-titled album, released in 1973, included the hit "Can't You See".Perhaps known best for the single"Fire on the Mountain,"the Marshall Tucker Band hit" Heard it in a Love Song "charted in 1977.

Lynyrd Skynyrdplayed British hard rock influenced music until the deaths of lead singerRonnie Van Zantand two other members of the group in a1977 airplane crash.After this tragic plane crash, membersAllen CollinsandGary Rossingtonstarted theRossington Collins Band.

1980s and 1990s: continuing influence

By the beginning of the 1980s, the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd had disbanded, and Capricorn Records had gone bankrupt. Leading acts of the genre (in particular,38 Special) had become enmeshed inarena rock.With the rise ofMTV,new wave,funk,urban contemporary, andheavy metal,most surviving Southern rock groups were relegated to secondary or regional venues. Rock musicians such as Molly Hatchet,Outlaws,Georgia Satellites,the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan, Point Blank,Tom Petty,Bruce Hornsby, Steve Earle,Widespread Panic,andKentucky Headhunters,emerged as popular Southern bands across the southeastern United States during the 1980s and 1990s.

During the 1990s, the Allman Brothers reunited and became a strong touring and recording presence again, and thejam bandscene revived interest in extended improvised music.

Georgia's alternative rock bandR.E.M.released the albumFables of the Reconstructionwhich explicitly invokes theReconstruction Erain the title and is considered aSouthern Gothicalbum. The 1990s also sawthe Black Crowesrise to mainstream popularity with the releases ofShake Your Money Maker(3× platinum), theSouthern Harmony and Musical Companion(debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and certified 2× platinum), andAmorica(certified Gold).

2000 to present

New musicians such as theTedeschi Trucks Band(the Derek Trucks Band), Warren Haynes,Gov't Mule,Chris Duarte Group,Dixie Witch,Whiskey Myers,Widespread Panic,the Black Crowes,Blackberry Smoke,Kid Rock,andthe Allman Betts Bandare continuing the Southern rock art form.

In 2005, singerBo Bicetook an explicitly Southern rock sensibility and appearance to a runner-up finish on the normally pop-orientedAmerican Idoltelevision program, with a performance of the Allmans' "Whipping Post"and later performing Skynyrd's"Free Bird"and, with Skynyrd on stage with him," Sweet Home Alabama ".

Southern rock currently plays on the radio in the United States, but mostly on oldies stations and classic rock stations. Although this class of music gets minor radio play, there is still a following for older bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers play in venues with sizable crowds.

A number of books in the 2000s have chronicled Southern rock's history, including Randy Poe'sSkydog: The Duane Allman Storyand Rolling Stone writerMark Kemp'sDixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race & New Beginnings in a New South.Turn It Upwas released by Ron Eckerman, Lynyrd Skynyrd's former manager and plane crash survivor. Sociologist Jason T. Eastman analyzes contemporary Southern rock to illustrate changes in today's southern identity in his bookThe Southern Rock Revival: The Old South in a New World.

South rock musicians likeLittle Big Town,Billy Currington andRyan Adamscombine the Southern rock sound with country,bluegrassand blues. This has been propelled by record labels likeCapitol Records Nashville,Mercury Nashville andLost Highway Records.

Southern metal

Southern metal
Stylistic origins	Southern rock heavy metal
Cultural origins	1990s, Southern United States
Regional scenes
Southern United States
Other topics
Sludge metal stoner rock country metal

Southern metalis a fusion genre combining southern rock with heavy metal music. It appeared in the 1990s and is performed by bands such asTexas Hippie Coalition,Norma Jean,andHe Is Legend.

See also

• Country rock
• Heartland rock
• List of southern rock bands
• Roots rock
• Southern Rock Gold
• Swamp rock
• Tulsa sound

General and cited references

• Patoski, Joe Nick (1980). "Southern Rock".The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll.New York: Random House.ISBN0-394-73938-8.
• Kemp, Mark (2004).Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race and New Beginnings in a New South.New York: Free Press/Simon & Schuster.ISBN0-7432-3794-3.

External links

• Road to Jacksonville– Southern rock webzine with articles and interviews.
• Pure Southern Rock website