10 Bands That Define Southern Rock
I’ve always been a fan of Southern Rock. I grew up about halfway between Atlanta and Athens — two Georgia cities with vibrant music scenes, and over the years I’ve found myself drawn to the music of this colorful region of the country.
Though much early rock music originated in the South, a subgenre emerged in the late ’60s and ’70s — a melding of rock, country, and blues that earned the name Southern Rock. The themes of regional pride, wanderlust, and hardship are as prevalent in Southern Rock as the universal themes of love and loss, and many modern Southern Rockers have tried to come to grips with the South’s sometimes difficult and painful history.
Today, Southern Rock is far from monolithic — in fact, there’s something for just about everybody. The genre covers ground as varied as the region itself, from storytellers like Shawn Mullins and Bill Mallonee, to jam bands like Widespread Panic and the Derek Trucks Band, to the soulful stylings of artists like Mother’s Finest, Ashley Cleveland, and Alabama Shakes, to the new Southern sounds of bands like Kings of Leon and The Features. Even Christian bands like Third Day and Needtobreathe have managed to successfully cultivate a Southern Rock sound.
Here’s my list of ten bands that define Southern Rock. I don’t intend for this to necessarily be the most comprehensive list, nor do I mean to imply that these bands are the absolute best of the genre. My main criterion was to limit the list to bands that originated in the South — that’s why you won’t see bands like The Eagles, Poco, Ram Jam, or Bad Company on the list, even though they may well deserve to be. I also didn’t include solo artists on the list.
With all that said, enjoy the list!
What, no Molly Hatchet?
You beat me to it. No list of Southern Rock is complete without Molly Hatchet.
I’ll third that nomination.
Fourth that!
Also – CCR, Outlaws, Lynard Skynard
ya dat
Uh, Lynyrd Skynyrd was in the #2 spot on the list.
I saw Molly Hatchet in concert once, in Germany in 1979, as the first act of a day-long music festival which also had AC/DC and Cheap Trick and some English band called The Who. That was a pretty good show.
CCR was from Lodi California, they do not qualify!
CCR is NOT Southern Rock. They’re from Northern California.
Yeah, that was my first thought. Also, where is Black Oak Arkansas, Kentucky Headhunters, and Mountain? (“Mississippi Queen” was perhaps the first monster southern rock hit.)
You seem to mistake “from the south” with “southern rock.” REM does NOT belong on this list. Neither do ZZ Top or Hootie.
I have never considered the Kentucky Headhunters southern rock. Well, maybe that’s because they only played their stuff on country stations here in this part of Texas.
ZZ Top does belong, REM, Hootie and the Blowfish? Good rock bands but not “Southern” rock. Outlaws, Mountain, Neil Young
Exactly….(except for the “Neil Young” part)
Neil Young inspired Sweet Home Alabama which is sorta something I guess.
true
Mountain is a New York band!
Can’t have a Southern Rock list without Molly Hatchet. Their version of the Allman Brothers “Dreams I’ll Never See” is quite possibly better than the original. That, and “Flirtin’ with Disaster” is an all time classic album regardless of genre (not a speck of filler on it).
mega-dittoes!
How can you put on Atlanta Rhythm Section and R.E.M (prog college ’80s rock) and leave off Molly Hatchet and The Outlaws? If you are going to put on R.E.M. why not just go for it an put on the B-52s?
If you will accept a nomination for Honorable Mention, I offer “The Outlaws.” I still love them and listen to them frequently.
Have to second this. “Green Grass and High Tides” is classic. In so many ways.
Leaving off The Outlaws and Molly Hatchet earns you a fail on this list. Including R.E.M. and Hootie means you have to repeat the whole grade again. Sorry.
Hootie?
R.E.M.???
I like R.E.M. but they do NOT leap to mind when I think of Southern Rock.
.38 Special
Outlaws
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Molly Hatchet
Little Feat
Who wrote this list, anyway? Yeah, you got Skynyrd and the Allmans. You got Marshall Tucker and Charlie Daniels (neither one of which are “rock” but rather country crossovers)…whatever.
What part of Southern Rock do you not understand?
Agreed on Hootie, but REM definitely belongs on this list somewhere.
The first song that popped into my head when bin Laden was dumped over the side of a US Navy vessel was In America by the CDB. “This Lady may have stumbled, but She ain’t never fell.”
I would suggest “Little Feat”, when Lowell George was driving.
Scotch REM and Black Crowes from the list…
REM is Alternative something or other, but not Southern Rock. Black Crowes are absolute dynamite, love ‘em, but not Southern Rock, K?
All Van Zandt Bands… Skynyrd, Hatchet, and .38 Special, that rates the Van Zandt family as #1 in southern rock.
This list did leave out the great southern bar and sag bands:
Little Feat (already mentioned)
Stillwater
NightHawks
Dixie Road Ducks
And though Alabama stayed country, there was no mistaking the roots of much of their music.
Were the Allman’s #1? I prefer Skynyrd in that role. They just recorded too much that hit and stuck… “I Know a Little”…
r/John – TMF
I would definitely scratch R.E.M., Hootie, and Black Crowes. The aforementioned “Little Feat”, “Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble”, and “Molly Hatchett” would take their place. I would put “R.E.M.”, “B52s”, “Hootie”, “Black Crowes”, and “Collective Soul” in the category of Southern College rock. The kind of thing you would listen to at UGA, Davidson, Rhodes, Auburn, Clemson, etc.
By the way Chris hats off to you for wading into this. Not for the timid heart is it?
Though I agree leaving the solo acts out ignores a *huge* group of excellent producers of southern rock — Mr. Stevie Ray Vaughn being #1 in my not-so-humble opinion — he said bands, not solo acts.
What part of “Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble” confuses you? One of the tightest and coolest bands ever. You probably think Pink Floyd is a solo act as well.
I mistakenly read pass “and Double Trouble” but nice way to be a rude jack ass!
And no; I am fully aware Pink Floyd is a band even with all its different incarnations… and I am not just talking about with & without the late Syd Barrett.
Or to say it more clearly for you…
Hee Haw, Hee Haw!
Except Little Feat was from LA (Los Angeles, not Lower Alabama)
LA was where the session work was. If you need to have members born in the South to be on the list: Billy Payne is from Waco, Ken Gradney is from New Orleans, and Fred Tackett is from Arkansas.
For another essential Allman Brothers track, I would add “Nobody Knows.”
Revival is my favorite, although there are too many close seconds to count.
one way out, jessica
“Dreams I’ll Never See”. One of my favorite Allman Brothers tracks, though to tell the truth, it came to be that due to the fact that Molly Hatchet did a fabulous cover version of it (hear it first when I was 12 and fell in love with it).
Good list, but you omitted Chuck Leavell in the Allman Brothers section. Dickey was brilliant, but “Jessica” owes a bunch to Leavell. Listen at about 2:15 to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfM6nRVBvGs
Indeed, the great Chuck Leavell, and may I further his fame by mentioning his his great band Sea Level, which includes some of my all time favs “Living in a Dream” and “That’s Your Secret”. One of the all time great southern piano players.
Wait,
What about Blackfoot? “Train, Train” has to be in the top 5 of all southern rock songs ever produced.
Blackfoot, a great Native American band that enjoyed Ken Hensley sitting in with them but they are not from the south.
10-4 to Little Feat. Interesting story: Way back in the day, early in Leonard Cohen’s career, he played a show at the Berkeley Community Theater during which people sat in the aisles to get closer, much to the dismay of the Fire Marshall. Cohen repeated the admonition to get out of the aisles … and come up on stage, improvising a song on the theme. Playing bass behind Leonard Cohen on that tour: Charlie Daniels. The man gets around.
I grew up in the Bay Area, and didn’t learn about my own Southern roots until midlife; my grandfather had been on his own as a teenager and concocted a story about his grandfather herding sheep in the hills of Scotland as a boy. In context, it was easy to realize he was dodging prejudice while trying to make his way in the world. In actuality, his grandfather herded oysters in the Bay of Chesapeake, as did his daddy.
Once I got hipped to our Tidewater origins, a number of things suddendly made sense to me, not the least of which were my musical tastes
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed by the Allman Brothers from the Live at the Fillmore set. It’s the best.
i realize they came from the bay area but what about creedence?
Interesting suggestion re CCR. Can we call the authors of “born on the bayou” and “proud mary” “southern” even though they hail from my godawful neck of the woods? The list does purport to be of southern “rock” not southern “people” so I would argue CCR is at least eligible….
Wow, yeah CCR, remember, there is a lot of the country (including Canada)that listens to Country music, and it’s my belief that Southern rock is the merging of hard rock, blues, and country. It doesn’t matter where someones from it’s the sound that counts.
don’t forget Blackfoot and Black Oak Arkansas. this brings back memories for me. Southern Rock was my choice back when I was a kid in the late 70′s and early 80′s. Still remember going to the Roundup at the old JFK in Philly when I was 17 -an all day concert with all the big hitters of the time: The Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Marshall Tucker, and the Allman Brothers. Went to a lot of concerts back then but that’s the one I remember best…
Finally, someone mentioned Black Oak Arkansas
BOA was my 1st concert ever. Jim Dandy. Those were the days…
REM and Hootie??? Dose the writer work for the PC mag Rolling Stone?
jeez!
Remember that blonde whose sole purpose was saying (not singing) “Go Jim Dandy, Go!”
StanO, that was the late Miss Ruby Starr. A fine singer and performer in her own right.
He mentioned early in the article that the bands should also be southern geographically, daxy, but I’m with you. CCR should be there even if their Deep South was San Diego.
Two more recent bands that I’d give honorable mention to would be Gov’t Mule and the Derek Trucks band, but I suppose that’d be like giving the Allman’s 3 slots.
Nothing wrong with that…
I was dealin’ up and down the highway
Till they caught me with a heavy load
They sentenced me to hard labor
Workin’ on the side of the road
Now I don’t deny I was guilty
And I know I broke the law
I was hungry and broke and couldn’t see no hope
And my back was up against the wall
Now I’m right outside your window
Honey open up and let me in
I broke out of jail this mornin’
And I ain’t never goin’ back again
I just had to stop by for a minute
And I can’t stay long at all
‘
Cause I gotta run you see I’m under the gun
And my back is up against the wall
I was shackled to a three-time loser
A man named Jefferson
One night we got to talkin’
And I asked him what he’d done
He said a man fell over my razor
In the middle of a barroom brawl
But don’t you see it was him or me
And my back was up against the wall
Now I’m right outside your window
Honey open up and let me in
I broke out of jail this mornin’
And I ain’t never goin’ back again
I just had to stop by for a minute
And I can’t stay long at all
‘Cause I gotta run you see I’m under the gun
And my back is up against the wall
Now I’m right outside your window
Honey open up and let me in
I broke out of jail this mornin’
And I ain’t never goin’ back again
I just had to stop by for a minute
And I can’t stay long at all
‘Cause I gotta run you see I’m under the gun
And my back is up against the wall
I gotta run you see I’m under the gun
And my back is up against the wall
Yeah I gotta run you see I’m under the gun
And my back is up against the wall
No Widespread Panic?
I miss good 80ies stuff like 38 Special or the Fabulous Thunderbirds.
Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray are more Texas than pure Southern. I can see the point though, especially with ZZ Top in this list.
I have no problem with Hootie and REM being here though.
Beg to differ Teacher in Tejas, east Texas is a southern as Alabama. East Texas spawned not just ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Double Trouble, but also Johnny Winter And (Johnny even performed once with the Allman Brothers Band) and Edgar Winter’s White Trash. But they’re really blues band you might say, what’s more southern than blues? One the other hand, Texas has always stood alone.
By the way, if REM can make the list how about the Steve Miller Band (Dallas)?
Without Little Feat this list is incomplete.
No Black Berry Smoke?
Good list, though I don’t necessarily put Lynyrd Skynyrd and REM in the same genre…
I also would have Skynyrd #1…that is the essence of the Southern Rock I grew up with in the 70s.
If I’d been making this list, Skynyrd would have just barely been on it. They lost a lot of points when they recorded “Saturday Night Special.”
ZZ Top # 8 with REM ahead of them?? Really? No way. ZZ Top should have #3
For me Lynyrd Skynyrd should have #1.. I’ve seen them 6 times from 1987 to about 2000, the last time was with ZZ Top.. what a show that was!!
As a lifelong fan, I’ve never even heard of “Drive-by Truckers” and never listened to R.E.M. Of course that might be just due to generational and/or geographical differences. And speaking of geography, in Texas we have our own preferences among which I would mention Asleep at the Wheel and David Allan Coe just because. And Little Feat!!!!!
I am of the Allman generation and love Little Feat but I have to say the Drive By Truckers are the best southern band I’ve heard. They capture the ambiance of north Alabama like being there.
The Outlaws, Black Oak Arkansas, Blackfoot, Little Feat and Molly Hatchett all deserve mention on this list.
I’d also make an exception to the ‘no solo artists’ rule and include Stevie Ray Vaughan (Double Trouble was his backing band).
I would also make another exception and include early CCR’s ‘swamp rock’ sound.
What about the Dixie Dregs?
dont you mean the Dixie Drags.
Greetings:
R.E.M.’s inclusion was more than a bit of a stretch. The geographical location of the band has virtually nothing to do with the essence of “Southern Rock”. I would refer to R.E.M. as “College Boy Rock”.
I’ve always been partial to longer form music. In early ’70s, I held an intellectual conceit, that was much influence by the Allman Brothers Band, that rock would evolve in more of an instrumental/jazz direction which, in spite of the jazz-fusion period, very much failed to materialize. One of the bands that I thought supported my thesis was the Allmans, especially Dicky Betts’ contributions such as “Elizabeth Reed” and “Les Breres in A Minor. Mr. Betts’ contribution to the band included both country and jazz influences.
Even Hootie And The Blowfish (who were Dash’s peers on the Southern college circuit in the 80′s and 90′s) would agree that Dash Rip Rock, aka the World’s Greatest Bar Band, is more deserving of their slot on this list.
REM (not!) but no Molly Hatchet!? Are you crazy, man?
Dude, no Molly Hatchet, the Outlaws, and .38 Special yet you include REM and Hootie among others under the category of Southern Rock? Is this satire? I mean really….
Can’t be defined as a “Southern Band” and maybe the antithesis of a Southern Band but a tremendous collection of musciians with the very misleading name: “Dixie Dregs”.
Air Force brats stationed at Charleston AFB in 1973: my brother, sister and I attended a concert pairing Foghat and Procal Harum. Little did we know there was a change, Foghat was out and a new band, Marshall Tucker Band (debut) took their place on short notice. When we heard the music, we recognized as MTB was getting radio time in the local air.
Take the Highway, Can’t You See, Ramblin’: AWESOME!!!!! The things Toy Caldwell made his guitar do ought to be prohibited…
Awesome band, great city, best people on the planet…I hope we make it back
ZZ Top.. more music out of that 3 man band than ,, well there’s just nothing else to compare them to.. standing like sticks not moving much.. love their style.. went to a concert and they had a moving piece of flooring to move them.. it was hilarious.. and they brought the house down with everything they played.. Viva ZZ Top
As for only having 10 and calling these examples the top 10 does great injustice to ALL of the southern rock bands of the 70′s to the present. Southern rock IS america and it is the moms n apple pie to most rockers.
Great list and great comments. In terms of influence, I would add The Crickets.
What about “The Band” and
Credence Clearwater Revival?
Wow. Little Feat not on the list. There’s a fat man in the bathtub with the blues. I hear you moan.
My favorite response…
Hear! Hear!
Indeed. Thought of the fat man myself!
I have always thought of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as a southern band.
They are; they’re from Gainesville, Fla originally.
Carrollton here. ’76 high school grad
west GA College regularly had a Dixie Dregs, Mother’s Finest,and ARS bill. Little Feat was awesome, but an LA Band.
Eric Quincy Tate? or am I that much older than y’all?
Used to see the Crowes (later Black Crowes) at Hedgen’s in Buckhead for $1 cover (GA Satellites also)
Friends and kinfolks used to hang with ABB in Macon Days. Aunt used to work with Duane & Gregg’s mom at a cocktail lounge in Daytona Beach mid 60′s
good times, now get off my lawn
If you’re including ZZ Top from Tejas, then The Eagles should be eligible as Don Henley is from East Texas (and long-time guitarist Don Felder was from Gainesville where he graduated High School along with original guitarist and banjo player Bernie Leadon).
However, the most glaring (and to this point unaddressed) omission is Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Oh yeah, and Free Bird is the national anthem of the south
Widespread Panic is the current torch bearer. I agree with The Drive By Truckes, but not without mentioning Panic first.
B52s should be mentioned as well.
And yes The Black Crows most definitely should be mentioned.
Widespread Panic – Stop-Go – 10/26/01 – UNO Lakefront Arena – New Orleans, LA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOZzAcRYUbA&
Loved Drive-By Truckers- thanks for the new band on my playlist. Also the video brought back lots of memories- I spent many good nights nights mixing around all around the south (including the 40 Watt).
I agree with Little Feat crowd and second the B52s. I would bump Hootie for Little Feat and I have always liked the B52s better than Counting Crows.
The problem is there are so many iconic bands from the south you almost have to go back and pull the top 10 by decades or by sub-genre. I’m thinking dog show- best of breed then best of show.
Amazing Rhythm Aces, the Too Stuffed To Jump album may be one of the greatest of all time.
That, and Eat a Peach…and anything by Marshall Tucker or Charlie Daniels.
“Wet Wille” is left off. A fairly new local (Jacksonville, FL) band is worth listening to, “JJ Grey and MoFro”, southern swamp music at it’s finest.
Allman Brothers – Live at Fillmore East – ’nuff said
You’ve been called out for the lack of Molly Hatchett.
But I think Charlie Daniels best, most enduring song is his Long Haired Country Boy, which is really an anthem.
Here are a few of my favorite “Rockinest Guitar Songs” of all time:
Molly Hatchet’s cover of the Allman’s “Dreams I’ll Never See”
Blackfoot’s “Highway Song”
Skynyrd “T for Texas”, “I Know a Little”
Outlaws “Hurry Sundown” & “Green Grass and High Tides”
Allman Brothers “Jessica” & “Ramblin’ Man”
Maybe not a Top 10 nod but I’ll throw the Ozark Mountain Daredevils in for an honorable mention.
Definitely replace Hootie and REM with Outlaws and Molly Hatchet. It’s the sound more than the home address.
You know, I was skeptical when I saw the headline, but this is actually a nicely done list. Kudos.
I worked in the music industry for ten years and one of my biggest headaches was the use of the term “Southern Rock.” Virtually all American music originated from the South, so what is it that makes a “Southern Rock” band southern? Obviously, the responses of some of the others on this board suggests that not everyone is content with geographical origin. It certainly isn’t “redneck” pride as these were not people who mocked and derided their homeland. I had a Jewish friend once confess that he adored “Southern Rock” and I was happy to see him shatter all “Southern Rock” stereotypes. I asked him his opinion on how to define it and he responded, “I don’t know. I guess its music that makes me feel free.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Im sure its too late for me to respond to your statement and you actually see it, but simply put, your friend nailed what Southern Rock is all about – the wonderful, exhilarating feeling of freedom.
Hey Ang, rest assured, I saw your comment! That’s a nice list too, Hatchet did “Dreams I’ll Never See” hauntingly well.
Talking about current bands you would have to include North Mississippi All Stars.
Scratch Hootie, The Black Crowes, R.E.M., Drive-By Truckers….Add Outlaws, Elvin Bishop, Black Oak Arkansas, and 38 Special.
Really? Neither the article nor the comments mention the boys from Ft. Payne, aka Alabama. I rank them right up there along side CDB with cuts like “My Home’s in Alabama” and “Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band.”
There’s a reason the band’s music didn’t survive the band – it stunk.
“Freebird” is the most overrated song in the history of rock.
Agree with the folks who complain about Molly Hatchet’s absence from the list.
Could have left Hootie out.
Yea, It only reached #39 on Rolling Stones top 500 songs of all time.
So how good something is depends on how popular it is? Who knew?
Hootie and the Blowfish do not belong on this list. 38 Special. Molly Hatchet. Outlaws. Allman spinoffs. Almost anything else would do but Hootie. Somehow they sold about 15 million copies of his first album and then everyone came to their senses and they sold about a hundred of his second. Blech.
You gotta be kidding me. The Outlaws aren’t even on the list? Green Grass and High Tides is right there with Freebird as the greatest Southern Rock song ever.
The North Mississippi Allstars and Govt. Mule absolutely should be on this list.
Ill through in Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit for fun.
Widespread Panic 1988-2002 sold out Phillips Arena somthing like 15+ times no band has even come close to that. Set the world’s record for attendance at a cd relase party in downtown Athens at 75,000+. Forget Hootie there is nothing “southern” about their music. Col. Bruce Hampton should be on that list somewhere. The Black Crowes could be the worst band to ever walk the earth. You could add Gov’t Mule as well.
I know that 4 of the 5 came from Canada, but Levon Helm and his buddies in the Band wrote on the THE Southern Rock songs…
Virgil Caine is my name and I served on the Danville train…
Bigby: That’s all right. A lot of Little Feat fans chming in here (correctly) but Lowell George, Richie Hayward, Paul Barrere & I think Billy Paine were out of the Southern California music scene so got to include The Band even with only Levon representing the South.
The Allman Brothers, really? O V E R R A T E D.
overrated? lol
When I was a kid, one of my prized processions was 45 of “Ramblin’ Man” by The Allman Brothers. But I will forever hate “Whippin’ Post”.
Would you count the B-52s in this? They’re more “new wave”" but they are from the south!
If you ask 2 people, you would likely get 3 opinions on this. But I have to agree that Molly Hatchet, 38 Special, Little Feat, and the Outlaws need to be on here somewhere. I enjoyed the local band Nantucket back in the day. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXvFX_XDpRw
You folks make me feel old. Can any of you remember the beginning of it. The Crickets, or “The Day That Music Died.” How about “I’m a Traveling Man” or “Garden Party”? Fats was probably before your time also.
This guy doesn’t know Southern Rock – I saw them all:
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Allman Brothers
Charlie Daniels
Outlaws
Molly Hatchet
.38 Special
Blackfoot
Rossington Collins Band
Henry Paul Band
Marshall Tucker
Poco
You saw Molly Hatchet and still think they are good? Oh you just saw them, never heard them.
There are more good Southern rock bands from the past few decades than just the Black Crowes.
Ozzy guitarist Zakk Wylde put together a couple great Southern albums — an acoustic album called “Book of Shadows” and a heavier album called “Pride & Glory”.
Another Ozzy guitarist, Jake E Lee, played in a Southern rock group called Badlands. Their self-titled album and “Voodoo Highway” are some bluesy gems.
Then there’s the “Let It Scream” album by The Scream.
Circus of Power mixed Southern rock with grunge on their “Magic & Madness” album.
I am just a dumb foreigner, so I may be on thin ice here, but how about Georgia Satellites?
The Satellites definitely do not get enough respect. Their debut record is fantastic; the only bad song on it was the hit that everybody rolls their eyes at today.
Plus their cover of “Don’t Pass Me By” just annihilates the (yes) Beatles original…
They are as deserving of a mention as many of the other bands mentioned on this board. (Some of these poeple–to include the author of the article–apparently have no idea what Southern Rock is.)
In the late 80′s, as their one hit was getting regular rock-station airtime, I remember thinking that the Georgia Satellites were the vanguard of a Southern Rock revival. But I was wrong.
ABB, MTB, Skynyrd, Outlaws, Blackfoot, Molly Hatchet, CDB, .38 Spec, and maybe Little Feat and Black Oak Arkansas–in that order
REM????? They may be a rock band from the South, but they’re no more “southern rock” than the Indigo Girls (from Atlanta).
Do people who get hired to do columns on PJM have to know *anything* about the subjects they write columns about? If one is to judge from this one, apparently not is the answer to that question. What a pathetic excuse for a music column. Mr. Queen, you might find it helpful next time to actually learn what something is and what it sounds like before popping off a column on the subject. Southern rock, my a**!
So Mr Expert, let’s see your list.
yes, yes, yes to all three!
The “from the South” I’ll give you on all of your selections, but like others – R.E.M. Hootie and the Blowfish, Black Crows? I like HatB & Black Crows, but they don’t belong.
I can agree with the rest.
One addition: Paul Thorn and the Paul Thorn Band (I know it’s just his name, but without the band, there would be the sound). He was born in WI, but grew up in Tupelo, MS. More of a country, blues and soul sound, but some of their songs rock.
If you haven’t heard him on the radio, it’s probably because he doesn’t belong to a major label, but has his own. A couple songs have been recorded by bigger names (Toby Keith for one).
With song titles like Burn Down the Trailer Park, 800 Pound Jesus and Tequila is good for the Heart, how can he bee from anywhere but the South.
My favorite Paul Thorn song: “The Holy Ghost Big-Bang Theory Pentecostal Fire-and-Brimstone Mission Temple Fireworks Stand”.
He puts on a heck of a live show too.
REM???Hootie?????, Black Crows??????? Not southern rock. Not even close.
And without .38 special, Molly Hatchet, Outlaws, Little Feat, your list is null and void. And Skynard goes at the top, not Allman brothers.
How about Uncle Tupelo and Wilco?
What – no Little Feat? No Black Oak Arkansas?
Put the pipe down and step away from your CD player…
Little Feat, though had some great Southern type songs…Dixie Chicken…were from LA.
Maybe you haven’t heard a newer band named Blackberry Smoke.The only reason I did was because of the Audition Channel on Direct TV.Theyre very tasty,melodic good guitars ,vocals ,harmonies .Think a Laid back Skynyrd. Google.Thank me later.Im Rocker Bryan Eddy ,and I approve this message.
absolutley Blackcrows-white trash atlanata suburbia-epitome of southern rock
whoever put this list together dont know southern rock
The Allman Brothers leave all the rest in their dust….Number One!
Although he’s more of a parody, if you haven’t heard Unknown Hinson aka Stuart Daniel Baker is kind of a legend on southern public access cable and is the voice of Early Cuyler on Squidbillies, his music is simultaneously hilarious and bad a$$! And for a more contemporary band might I suggest Kings of Leon…?
If ‘Southern Rock’ is strictly rednecks playing looong guitar solos with cowboy hats in front of confederate flags, well then it died with Ronnie Van Zandt 35 years ago. Get over it…
No Chuck, it’s not “strictly rednecks playing looong guitar solos with cowboy hats in front of confederate flags.” That’s an ignorant stereotype.
The Allman Brothers still play the Beacon Theater in Manhattan every year in March, and Ronnie Van Zandt never wore a cowboy hat.
Get over what?
I am very sorry but any list of Southern Rockers that omits Black Oak Arkansas is just not legitamit. You could skip Molly Hatchet but man BOA was before Skinner! The fantastic front man and on lead washboard Jim Dandy, which David Lee Roth cited as an extreme influance. I saw them a few times back in the day and they were GREAT! Saw the reconstituted verson at the “Chip” in Sturgis back in 2001 and I will admit it was pitiful but man back in the day they were a site to behold. I respect you thoughts but man this is a horrible oversite.
I think “The Georgia Satellites” deserve a mention.
One of the best live bands I saw back in the 80′s.
They rocked out The Europa Hotel in Belfast during the Troubles. What a performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdpAop7gp0w
Whatever your picks are, Chris got the subtitle right with Freebird. It is the consummate, Southern Rock anthem.
You should hear me play it on air guitar. I can play both leads at the same time.
Any list of the top ten Southern Rock bands that doesn’t include Macon, Georgia’s Wet Willie must have been compiled by a Yankee. This band gave us the classic “Keep On Smiling” along with “Country Side of Life”, “Weekend”, and “Street Corner Serenade”. Also, their live album “Drippin’ Wet” is right up there with the ABB’s “Fillmore East” and Skynyrd’s “One More From the Road”.
I’m from Columbia, SC, home of Hootie and the Blowfish. They were a good band, but hardly define Southern Rock.
ZZ Top’s “Sleeping Bag” is essential but not “Tush”, “Cheap Sunglasses” or “I’m Bad, I’m Nationwide”?
One final comment… the person who said that the Allman Brothers Band was overrated obviously suffers from Beiber Fever.
Little Feat
Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble
The Outlaws|
Hootie and the Blowfish?
Atlanta Rythym Section?? I get it they were a hot band when you were growing up in Atlanta. That’s nice but that is like saying Sugarland is one of the greatest country music bands of all time.
I do like Hootie and REM, but they are just from the South. They are not Southern Rock. might as well nominate Doctor John at that rate. Same with Tom Petty, although he can rock it some, yeah. There are some bands from outside the South like CCR that would be more on the money than them. My own list of Awesome Southern Rock would be this list.
CCR: “Green River”
The Eagles: “James Dean’
Lynyrd Skynyrd: “Simple Kind of Man”
Marshall Tucker Band: “Take the Highway”
Ozark Mountain Devils: “There Goes Another Love Song”
Bad Company: “Silver Blue and Gold”
Atlanta Rhythm Section; “Imaginary Lovers”
.38 Special: “Never Fade Away”
ZZ Top: “My Head’s in Mississippi”
Molly Hatchett: “Whiskey Man”
Little Feat: “Dixie Chicken”
Allman Brothers: “Man Out There”
J.D. Souther” When You’re Only Lonely”
Charlie Daniels Band; “The South’s Gonna Do it Again”
i don’t know Drive-by truckers, so i will have to look them up now. Sometimes it’s good to hear what other people like. I get to hear some new music that way.
I had forgotten about the Ozark Mountain Daredevils. They’d be in my top ten, although I personally think that some of their stuff is more akin to Rockabilly than Southern Rock.
And “There Goes Another Love Song” is a great song–but it was done by the Outlaws, not OMD.
New Riders, Poco, Commander Cody, NRBQ, Pure Praire League, Eagles, Nitty Gritty Gritty Band, The Byrds, Linda Ronstadt just to name a few.
I saw most of these bands at a place called My Father’s Place in Roslyn, NY, back in the 70′s. The Police made their North American debut there.
Great place.
It is unbelievable that The Amazing Rythmn Aces didn’t even make your list! No argument with #1 & #2 but The Aces should be #3…surely you must know this? All the rest ok (with the exception of Hootie and the Blowfish which shouldn’t even be on the list).
The B-52s. Born at a Chinese restaurant in Athens GA in 1976. 35 multi-platinum years later, they are still rockin’.
MIke Nesmith and the First National Band started southern rock.Check out Magnetic South, Loose Salute and Nevada Fighter.
I truly love this article. What a trip down memory lane. In a nutshell, here are the best Southern Rock Bands and their best songs in order – coming from a Southern woman’s perspective:
1. Allman Brothers – Blue Skies
2. Molly Hatchet – Dreams I’ll Never See (original Allman’s tune)
3. Marshall Tucker – Take the Highway
4. Lynard Skynard – Free Bird
5. The Outlaws – Green Grass and High Tides
6. Blackfoot – Train, Train
7. Stevie Ray Vaughn – Pride and Joy
8. Poco – Good Feeling to Know
9. Charlie Daniels – The South is Going to Do It Again
10. Sorry, but I am a woman – Mother’s Finest – Oh, Baby Love
Runner up – Driving and Crying – Honeysuckle Blues.
Forgot Drivin N Cryin, good call!
I once saw Kevin Kenny, the lead singer of Drivin n Cryin try to cut to the front of the line to enter an Allman Brothers concert without tickets, tryin to name drop and get booted out.
LOL!
Rich M, it’s not an ignorant stereotype, it’s the sad cartoon image most of those bands wholeheartedly embraced and subsequently beat themselves to death with. I know, because I was there, as a fan and musician… for a while, but got really tired of the biker gear and the musical dead-end it was. How many times can you really yell “Free Bird”?
And just because there’s a band out there still calling themselves The Allman Brothers doesn’t make them the band that played the Fillmore East 30 years ago. Duane and Berry are dead, they threw Dickey out, Greg can barely make it through a show and everyone’s else is just making a paycheck. Even worse with Skynyrd. And yes, Ronnie wore a broad-brimmed hat with cowboy regalia all around it. Close enough. Sheesh.
Remember the good records, but if the only way you can be a ‘Southern Rock’ band is to play the same ol’ same ol’ 40 years later, well… yawn.
Actually the Allman Brothers Band had a second coming in the 90s with Allan Woody (playing bass) and the super talented Warren Haynes playing opposite Dickey Betts. They put out a bunch of fantastic new songs (which you should give a listen too)…and toured just about every year to packed crowds with lots of new young fans.
Woody and Haynes broke off on a side gig, Govt. Mule in which they wrote a bunch of great new stuff as well. Highly recommended.
Drummer Butch Trucks son, plays with them now, and his side band is also very worthy.
Compare to a .38 Special geriatric re-union tour. LOL!
Derek Trucks’ band, the appropriately titled Derek Trucks Band, is really good. He also released an album with his wife, Susan Tedeschi. The Tedeschi-Trucks Band album was one of my best of 2011.
Mother of two Dawgs, live near the Black Crowes’ High School, college DJ back in the day…. Don’t know if that lends any credentials or not, but y’all should look into Leon Russell, the man, the music and the studio. He’s a classic…and not just Southern Rock, or Country or Rock ‘n Roll…. “A Song For You” and “Tight Rope”–classics. The man is an icon in music, though not in neon lights.