Southern rock
Encyclopedia
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music
, and genre of Americana
. It developed in the Southern United States
from rock and roll
, country music
, and blues
, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals. Although it is unknown from where the term southern rock came, "many people feel that these important contributors to the development of rock and roll have been minimized in rock's history."
, and many stars from the first wave of 1950s rock and roll
such as Bo Diddley
, Elvis Presley
, Little Richard
, Buddy Holly
and Jerry Lee Lewis
hailed from the Deep South
. However, the British Invasion
and the rise of folk rock
and psychedelic rock
in the middle 1960s shifted the focus of new rock music away from the rural south and to large cities like Liverpool
, London
, Los Angeles
, New York City
, and San Francisco.
In the late 1960s, traditionalists such as Canned Heat
(from Los Angeles
), Creedence Clearwater Revival
(from Northern California
), and The Band
(Canadian
, though drummer Levon Helm
is a native Arkansan
) revived interest to the roots of rock
and to Southern themes in Americana
. See also Muscle Shoals Music, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
.
, formed in Jacksonville, Florida
, made their national début in 1969 and soon gained a loyal following. Their blues rock sound on one hand incorporated long jams informed by jazz
and classical music, and on the other hand drew from native elements of country
and folk
. Because a certain type of blues music, and essentially, rock and roll, was invented in the South, Gregg Allman commented that "Southern rock" was a redundant term, like "rock rock."
The Allman Brothers were signed to Capricorn Records
, a small Macon label formed and headed by Phil Walden
(former manager of Otis Redding
) and partner Frank Fenter
, former European Managing Director of Atlantic Records
. Similar acts recorded on Capricorn included the Marshall Tucker Band
from Spartanburg, South Carolina
, Wet Willie
from Alabama
, Grinderswitch
from Georgia (and composed of Allman Brothers' roadies) and the Elvin Bishop Band
from Oklahoma
.
Loosely associated with the first wave of Southern rock were acts like Barefoot Jerry
from Tennessee
and the Charlie Daniels Band
from Tennessee. Charlie Daniels
, a big-bearded fiddle
r with a knack for novelty song
s, gave Southern rock its self-identifying anthem with his 1975 hit "The South's Gonna Do It," the lyrics of which mentioned all of the above bands, proclaiming: "Be proud you're a rebel / 'Cause the South's gonna do it again." A year earlier, Daniels had started the Volunteer Jam
, an annual Southern rock-themed concert held in Tennessee. The Winters Brothers Band from Franklin, Tenn. was a band Charlie Daniels helped to get started with "Sang Her Love Songs," "Smokey Mountain Log Cabin Jones," and more. They still perform and hold an annual festival in Nolensville, Tennessee every year.
In the early 1970s, another wave of hard rock
Southern groups emerged. Their music emphasized boogie
rhythms and fast guitar leads with lyrics extolling the values, aspirations - and excesses - of Southern working-class young adults, not unlike the outlaw country
movement. Lynyrd Skynyrd
of Jacksonville, Florida
dominated this genre until the deaths of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant
and two other members of the group in a 1977 airplane crash. After this tragic plane crash, members Allen Collins
and Gary Rossington
started The Rossington-Collins Band
. Groups such as Ozark Mountain Daredevils
, ZZ Top
, .38 Special, Confederate Railroad
, Outlaws, Molly Hatchet
, Blackfoot
, Point Blank
, Black Oak Arkansas
, and the Edgar Winter Group
also thrived in this genre.
Not all Southern rock artists fit into the above molds. The Atlanta Rhythm Section
and the Amazing Rhythm Aces
were more focused on vocal harmonies, Louisiana's Le Roux
ranged from Cajun-flavored Southern boogie early on to a more arena rock
sound later on, while the Dixie Dregs
and Allman Brothers' offshoot Sea Level
explored jazz fusion
.
At Southern rock's peak The Allman Brothers and other Capricorn artists played a part in Jimmy Carter
's 1980 campaign for the presidency
. Molly Hatchet's appearance on the dance-oriented show Solid Gold hinted at the wider level of popularity Southern rock had achieved.
. With the rise of MTV
, New Wave
, and glam metal
, most surviving Southern rock groups were relegated to secondary or regional venues. Bands such as Better Than Ezra
, Drivin N Cryin
, Cowboy Mouth
, Dash Rip Rock
, Kentucky Headhunters and Third Day
emerged as popular southern bands across the Southeastern United States during the 1980s and 1990s. One notable exception was The Georgia Satellites who had some widespread popularity in the mid to late 1980s.
During the 1990s, the Allman Brothers reunited and became a strong touring and recording presence again, and the jam band
scene revived interest in extended improvised music. Incarnations of Lynyrd Skynyrd also made themselves heard. Hard rock groups with Southern rock touches such as Jackyl
renewed some interest in Southern rock. Classic rock
radio stations played some of the more familiar 1970s works, and Charlie Daniels's Volunteer Jam concerts were still going. Phil Walden resurrected Capricorn Records only to fall back into bankruptcy. One of the final Capricorn issues was a solo effort by former Wet Willie front man Jimmy Hall entitled Rendezvous With The Blues.
But some rock groups from the South, such as Georgia
's R.E.M.
, The B-52's
, Widespread Panic
, and Black Crowes, Florida
's Sister Hazel
, Blind Melon
's Mississippian lead guitarist, and Texas
's Stevie Ray Vaughan
, The Fabulous Thunderbirds
and Joe Ely
incorporated Southern musical and lyrical themes without explicitly allying with any Southern rock movement.
The 1990s also saw the influence of Southern rock touching metal
. Early in the decade several bands from the Southern United States (particularly New Orleans
with its metal scene) such as Eyehategod
, Acid Bath
, Soilent Green
, Corrosion of Conformity
and Down
, influenced by Melvins, mixed Black Sabbath
style metal, hardcore punk
and Southern rock to give shape to what would be known as sludge metal
. Most notable sludge metal bands hail from the Southern United States.
went from a hard metal rapper to a southern rocker/ country singer using 2001's album "Cocky" as the transformation album. His next two studio releases 2003's "Kid Rock" and 2007's "Rock N Roll Jesus" were mainly straight southern rock jams and country tinged ballads. His 2008 single "All Summer Long" (which samples Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves Of London) became one of his biggest hits to date without it being available on iTunes. The Allman Brother's Dickey Betts joined Kid Rock as part of his Rock N Roll Revival Tour in 2008 and Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for him. In 2009 they will relaunch the tour under the same name.
In 2005, Southern rock received new exposure from an unlikely source: singer Bo Bice
took an explicitly Southern rock sensibility and appearance to a runner-up finish on the massively watched but normally pop-oriented American Idol
television program. Fueled by a key early performance of the Allmans' "Whipping Post
" and later performing Skynyrd's "Free Bird
" and, with Skynyrd on stage with him, "Sweet Home Alabama", Bice demonstrated that Southern rock still had a place in the American music pantheon. In late 2007, Bo Bice joined veteran Southern rock legends Jimmy Hall - Vocals/ Sax / Harmonica (Wet Willie Band), Henry Paul- Vocals / guitar / Mandolin (Outlaws, BlackHawk), Steve Gorman- Drums (The Black Crowes, Jimmy Page), "Dangerous" Dan Toler- Guitar (The Gregg Allman Band, The Allman Brothers, Dickey Betts & Great Southern), Reese Wynans- Keyboards (Stevie Ray Vaughan), Mike Brignardello- Bass (Giant, renowned session player), Jay Boy Adams- Guitar (Texas Blues Solo Artist) to record Brothers of the Southland celebrating Southern rock with a renewed spirit and maturity.
Southern rock currently plays on the radio, but only on oldies stations and classic rock stations. Although this class of music gets minor radio play, a group of loyal fans keeps this style of music alive by having older bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers play in venues with decent size crowds.
Post-grunge
bands such as Shinedown
, Saving Abel
, Pre)Thing
, Nickelback
, Saliva
, 3 Doors Down
, 12 Stones
, Default
, Black Stone Cherry
and Theory of a Deadman
, have included a Southern rock feel to their songs and have gone as far as to cover Southern rock classics like "Simple Man" and "Tuesday's Gone
." Metallica
has also covered "Tuesday's Gone" on their Garage Inc.
album.
Additionally, alternative rock
groups such as Drive-By Truckers
, Bottle Rockets
, Black Crowes, Band of Horses
, My Morning Jacket
, State Line Mob
, The Steepwater Band
, Zach Williams & The Reformation
, Hester and Kings of Leon
combine Southern rock with rawer genres, such as garage rock
, alt-country
, and blues-rock
.
Much of the old style Southern rock (as well as other classic rock
) has made its transition into the country music
genre, establishing itself along the lines of outlaw country
in recent years. Bands such as Skynyrd and Daniels frequently play country music venues, and the influence of Southern rock can be heard in many of today's country artists, particularly male vocalists. Examples include solo artists Toby Keith
and Jimmy Aldridge and the duo of Big & Rich
.
Southern rock influence can also be seen in the metal
and hardcore punk
genres. This is showcased by such bands as Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, The Showdown
, He Is Legend
, Every Time I Die
, Norma Jean
, The Chariot
, Mastodon
, Cancer Bats
, A Life Once Lost
, Weedeater
Once Nothing
and Memphis May Fire
and the definitive tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd's drummer Artimus Pyle: Atlanta,Georgia-based band Artimus Pyledriver.
Several of the original early 1970s hard rock
Southern rock groups are still performing in 2011. This list includes Atlanta Rhythm Section
(ARS), Marshall Tucker, Molly Hatchet
, Outlaws, Gregg Allman
, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd
, ZZ Top
, Canned Heat
, Black Oak Arkansas
, Blackfoot
, .38 Special and Dickey Betts
. New groups such as Blackberry Smoke
, Gator Country
, Widespread Panic
, The Black Crowes
, Gov't Mule
, Southern Rock Allstars
and The Derek Trucks Band
are continuing the Southern rock art form.
A number of books in the 2000s have chronicled Southern rock's rich history, including Randy Poe's Skydog - The Duane Allman Story, Gene Odom
's Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock and Rolling Stone writer Mark Kemp
's Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race & New Beginnings in a New South.
Furthermore, the resurgence of Southern Rock has seen newer bands like The Deadstring Brothers
, Fifth on the Floor
and Whitey Morgan and the 78's
combining the Southern Rock sound with Country, Bluegrass and Blues. This has been propelled by record labels like Bloodshot Records
and Lost Highway Records.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and genre of Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
. It developed in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
from rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals. Although it is unknown from where the term southern rock came, "many people feel that these important contributors to the development of rock and roll have been minimized in rock's history."
1950s and 1960s: origins
Rock music's origins lie mostly in the music of the American SouthSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
, and many stars from the first wave of 1950s rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
such as Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly
Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...
and Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
hailed from the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
. However, the British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
and the rise of folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
and psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
in the middle 1960s shifted the focus of new rock music away from the rural south and to large cities like Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and San Francisco.
In the late 1960s, traditionalists such as Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
(from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
), Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....
(from Northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
), and The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
(Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, though drummer Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
is a native Arkansan
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
) revived interest to the roots of rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
and to Southern themes in Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
. See also Muscle Shoals Music, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, also known as The Swampers, are a group of American soul, R&B, and country studio musicians based in the town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama...
.
1970s: peak of popularity
The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
, formed in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, made their national début in 1969 and soon gained a loyal following. Their blues rock sound on one hand incorporated long jams informed by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and classical music, and on the other hand drew from native elements of country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and folk
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
. Because a certain type of blues music, and essentially, rock and roll, was invented in the South, Gregg Allman commented that "Southern rock" was a redundant term, like "rock rock."
The Allman Brothers were signed to Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
, a small Macon label formed and headed by Phil Walden
Phil Walden
Phil Walden was co-founder of the Macon, Georgia-based Capricorn Records with his younger brother Alan Walden and a good friend and former Atlantic Records executive, Frank Fenter....
(former manager of Otis Redding
Otis Redding
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. was an American soul singer-songwriter, record producer, arranger and talent scout. He is considered one of the major figures in soul and R&B...
) and partner Frank Fenter
Frank Fenter
Frank Fenter was a music industry executive.Fenter was the first Managing Director of Atlantic Records for Europe, where he helped discover and sign to Atlantic late-1960s British Invasion groups including Led Zeppelin and the progressive rock bands Yes and King Crimson...
, former European Managing Director of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
. Similar acts recorded on Capricorn included the Marshall Tucker Band
Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s...
from Spartanburg, South Carolina
Spartanburg, South Carolina
thgSpartanburg is the largest city in and the county seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest city of the three primary cities in the Upstate region of South Carolina, and is located northwest of Columbia, west of Charlotte, and about northeast of...
, Wet Willie
Wet Willie (band)
Wet Willie is an American band from Mobile, Alabama, U.S. They were best known for their hit "Keep On Smilin'," reaching #10 on the Billboard Chart in August 1974, but had a number of charted songs in the 1970s utilizing their soulful brand of Southern rock....
from Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
, Grinderswitch
Grinderswitch
Grinderswitch was an American southern rock band. They recorded a number of albums for Capricorn Records in the 1970s, but never achieved the same widespread recognition enjoyed by some of the label's other artists, such as The Allman Brothers Band and Marshall Tucker Band. They also recorded for...
from Georgia (and composed of Allman Brothers' roadies) and the Elvin Bishop Band
Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist.-Career:Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten years old...
from Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
.
Loosely associated with the first wave of Southern rock were acts like Barefoot Jerry
Barefoot Jerry
Barefoot Jerry is an American Southern rock and country rock band, based in Nashville, Tennessee, most active from 1971 to 1977. It was composed of area studio musicians under the tutelage of Wayne Moss, lead guitarist of Area Code 615, and other 615 alumni. This name is also used to refer to Moss...
from Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
and the Charlie Daniels Band
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
from Tennessee. Charlie Daniels
Charlie Daniels
Charles Edward "Charlie" Daniels is an American musician known for his contributions to country and southern rock music. He is known primarily for his number one country hit "The Devil Went Down to Georgia", and multiple other songs he has performed and written. Daniels has been active as a singer...
, a big-bearded fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r with a knack for novelty song
Novelty song
A novelty song is a comical or nonsensical song, performed principally for its comical effect. Humorous songs, or those containing humorous elements, are not necessarily novelty songs. The term arose in Tin Pan Alley to describe one of the major divisions of popular music. The other two divisions...
s, gave Southern rock its self-identifying anthem with his 1975 hit "The South's Gonna Do It," the lyrics of which mentioned all of the above bands, proclaiming: "Be proud you're a rebel / 'Cause the South's gonna do it again." A year earlier, Daniels had started the Volunteer Jam
Volunteer Jam
The Volunteer Jam was the annual Charlie Daniels Band concert first held on October 4, 1974 at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee This was the beginning of a tradition....
, an annual Southern rock-themed concert held in Tennessee. The Winters Brothers Band from Franklin, Tenn. was a band Charlie Daniels helped to get started with "Sang Her Love Songs," "Smokey Mountain Log Cabin Jones," and more. They still perform and hold an annual festival in Nolensville, Tennessee every year.
In the early 1970s, another wave of hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
Southern groups emerged. Their music emphasized boogie
Boogie
Boogie is a repetitive, swung note or shuffle rhythm, "groove" or pattern used in blues which was originally played on the piano in boogie-woogie music. The characteristic rhythm and feel of the boogie was then adapted to guitar, double bass, and other instruments. The earliest recorded...
rhythms and fast guitar leads with lyrics extolling the values, aspirations - and excesses - of Southern working-class young adults, not unlike the outlaw country
Outlaw country
Outlaw country is a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s , sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music...
movement. Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
of Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
dominated this genre until the deaths of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant
Ronnie Van Zant
Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...
and two other members of the group in a 1977 airplane crash. After this tragic plane crash, members Allen Collins
Allen Collins
Larkin Allen Collins Jr. was one of the founding members and guitarists of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and co-wrote many of the band's songs with late frontman Ronnie Van Zant...
and Gary Rossington
Gary Rossington
Gary Robert Rossington is a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He plays lead and rhythm guitar. He is also a founding member of The Rossington-Collins Band along with former Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate, the late Allen Collins...
started The Rossington-Collins Band
The Rossington-Collins Band
The Rossington Collins Band was a southern rock band founded in 1979 by guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington following the 1977 plane crash which killed three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, of which both had been members. The Jacksonville band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982...
. Groups such as Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Ozark Mountain Daredevils
The Ozark Mountain Daredevils are a Southern rock/country rock band formed in 1972 in Springfield, Missouri, USA. They are most widely known for their singles "If You Wanna Get To Heaven" in 1974 and "Jackie Blue" in 1975....
, ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
, .38 Special, Confederate Railroad
Confederate Railroad
Confederate Railroad is an American country rock band founded in 1987 in Marietta, Georgia by Danny Shirley , Michael Lamb , Mark Dufresne , Chris McDaniel , Warren "Gates" Nichols and Wayne Secrest...
, Outlaws, Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet is an American southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975. They are widely known for their hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster" from the album of the same title. The band, founded by Dave Hlubek and Steve Holland, took its name from a prostitute who allegedly mutilated...
, Blackfoot
Blackfoot (band)
Blackfoot is a Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida organized during 1970. Though they are primarily a Southern rock band, they were known also as a hard rock act....
, Point Blank
Point Blank (band)
Point Blank is an American rock and roll band hailing from Texas. The band formed in 1974 and recorded six albums between 1976 and 1982. Garnering occasional airplay on AOR radio stations, the band is best known for their 1981 hit single, "Nicole"....
, Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
, and the Edgar Winter Group
Edgar Winter
Edgar Holland Winter is an American musician. He is famous for being a multi-instrumentalist. He is a highly skilled keyboardist, saxophonist and percussionist. He often plays an instrument while singing. He was most successful in the 1970s with his band, The Edgar Winter Group, notably with their...
also thrived in this genre.
Not all Southern rock artists fit into the above molds. The Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....
and the Amazing Rhythm Aces
Amazing Rhythm Aces
The Amazing Rhythm Aces are an American country rock group. The band has characterized their music as "American Music" or "Roots Music" — rock, country, blues, R&B, folk, reggae and Latino...
were more focused on vocal harmonies, Louisiana's Le Roux
Louisiana's Le Roux
Louisiana's LeRoux is a pop band founded in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA that saw its heyday from 1978-1983. Their best known songs were "Take a Ride On a Riverboat" with its 4-part a capella intro, the regional smash "New Orleans Ladies", "Nobody Said It Was Easy " , "Addicted", and "Carrie's Gone"...
ranged from Cajun-flavored Southern boogie early on to a more arena rock
Arena rock
Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...
sound later on, while the Dixie Dregs
Dixie Dregs
The Dixie Dregs are an American band formed in the 1970s. Their mostly instrumental music fuses jazz, southern rock, bluegrass and classical forms in an often unique style.-Formation and early years:...
and Allman Brothers' offshoot Sea Level
Sea Level (band)
Sea Level is the name of a fusion group that mixed jazz, blues and rock. It existed between 1976 and 1981. Initially, it was an offshoot of The Allman Brothers Band, but as tensions grew between the loss of two of its founding members, and personal greivances between Gregg Allman and other...
explored jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
.
At Southern rock's peak The Allman Brothers and other Capricorn artists played a part in Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's 1980 campaign for the presidency
United States presidential election, 1980
The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
. Molly Hatchet's appearance on the dance-oriented show Solid Gold hinted at the wider level of popularity Southern rock had achieved.
1980s and 1990s: continuing influence
By the beginning of the 1980s Southern Rock icons the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd had broken up, Capricorn Records was bankrupt, and Jimmy Carter out of office. As with most all of rock, leading acts of the genre had become thoroughly enmeshed in corporate arena rockArena rock
Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...
. With the rise of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, and glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
, most surviving Southern rock groups were relegated to secondary or regional venues. Bands such as Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Formation and early success:Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary...
, Drivin N Cryin
Drivin N Cryin
Drivin' 'N' Cryin is an American Hard rock/Southern rock band from Atlanta, GA.-History:The band was formed in 1985 in Atlanta. Kevn Kinney hooked up with Tim Nielsen, who was in a popular band called the Nightporters with drummer Paul Lenz at the time...
, Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth
Cowboy Mouth is a rock band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Their name usually means "One with a loud and raucous voice". The nucleus of the band formed in the 1990s, and they have become a powerhouse live act whose performances have been likened to "a religious experience."Some of their most...
, Dash Rip Rock
Dash Rip Rock
Dash Rip Rock is a New Orleans based rock band built around the songs of singer-guitarist Bill Davis.The band is a legendary live powerhouse, often being credited with founding the musical genre known as "Country Punk." The New York Times said Dash Rip Rock is "the kind of band that provides a...
, Kentucky Headhunters and Third Day
Third Day
Third Day is a Grammy award-winning Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead singer Mac Powell, guitarist Mark Lee and former member Billy Wilkins. The other band members are bassist Tai Anderson and drummer David Carr...
emerged as popular southern bands across the Southeastern United States during the 1980s and 1990s. One notable exception was The Georgia Satellites who had some widespread popularity in the mid to late 1980s.
During the 1990s, the Allman Brothers reunited and became a strong touring and recording presence again, and the jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
scene revived interest in extended improvised music. Incarnations of Lynyrd Skynyrd also made themselves heard. Hard rock groups with Southern rock touches such as Jackyl
Jackyl
Jackyl is an American rock band formed in 1990. Their sound has been described as hard rock, heavy metal and Southern metal.The band is probably best-known for its song "The Lumberjack", which features a chainsaw solo by lead singer Jesse James Dupree. On the recording, Dupree alternately revs the...
renewed some interest in Southern rock. Classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
radio stations played some of the more familiar 1970s works, and Charlie Daniels's Volunteer Jam concerts were still going. Phil Walden resurrected Capricorn Records only to fall back into bankruptcy. One of the final Capricorn issues was a solo effort by former Wet Willie front man Jimmy Hall entitled Rendezvous With The Blues.
But some rock groups from the South, such as Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
's R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
, Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
, and Black Crowes, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
's Sister Hazel
Sister Hazel
Sister Hazel are an alternative rock band from Gainesville, Florida, whose style also blends elements of folk rock, pop, classic rock 'n' roll and southern rock. Their music is characterized by highly melodic tunes and generally optimistic lyrics. The band's instrumentation often features abrupt...
, Blind Melon
Blind Melon
Blind Melon is an American rock band active from 1989 to 1999, and from 2006 onward.Best remembered for their 1993 single "No Rain", the group enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1990s with their neo-psychedelic take on alternative rock...
's Mississippian lead guitarist, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
's Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stephen Ray "Stevie Ray" Vaughan was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. He was the younger brother of Jimmie Vaughan and frontman for Double Trouble, a band that included bassist Tommy Shannon and drummer Chris Layton. Born in Dallas, Vaughan moved to Austin at the age of 17 and...
, The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds
The Fabulous Thunderbirds are an American, Grammy-nominated Blues rock band, formed in 1974.-Career:After performing for several years in the Austin, Texas blues scene, the band won a recording contract with Takoma/Chrysalis Records, and later on signed with Epic Records.Their first two albums,...
and Joe Ely
Joe Ely
Joe Ely is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, Texas Country, Tex-Mex and rock and roll....
incorporated Southern musical and lyrical themes without explicitly allying with any Southern rock movement.
The 1990s also saw the influence of Southern rock touching metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. Early in the decade several bands from the Southern United States (particularly New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
with its metal scene) such as Eyehategod
Eyehategod
Eyehategod is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans who formed in 1988. They have become one of the most well known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene...
, Acid Bath
Acid Bath
Acid Bath was a seminal American sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana that was active from 1991 to 1997. Acid Bath combined doom metal roots with influences from black metal, death metal, gothic rock, blues, folk, and country...
, Soilent Green
Soilent Green
Soilent Green is a grindcore and sludge metal band that hails from Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans.-Overview:Soilent Green was founded in 1988. Their début album wasn't released until 1995, when Pussysoul came out on Dwell Records...
, Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity
Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...
and Down
Down (band)
Down is an American heavy metal supergroup that formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarist Pepper Keenan, guitarist Kirk Windstein, bassist Pat Bruders and drummer Jimmy Bower. Since their formation, Down has gone on hiatus twice...
, influenced by Melvins, mixed Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
style metal, hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and Southern rock to give shape to what would be known as sludge metal
Sludge metal
Sludge metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that melds elements of doom metal and hardcore punk, and sometimes incorporates influences from southern rock, stoner rock and grunge. Sludge metal is typically abrasive; often featuring shouted vocals, heavily distorted instruments and sharply contrasting...
. Most notable sludge metal bands hail from the Southern United States.
2000 to present: the resurgence
In 2001, Kid RockKid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
went from a hard metal rapper to a southern rocker/ country singer using 2001's album "Cocky" as the transformation album. His next two studio releases 2003's "Kid Rock" and 2007's "Rock N Roll Jesus" were mainly straight southern rock jams and country tinged ballads. His 2008 single "All Summer Long" (which samples Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves Of London) became one of his biggest hits to date without it being available on iTunes. The Allman Brother's Dickey Betts joined Kid Rock as part of his Rock N Roll Revival Tour in 2008 and Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for him. In 2009 they will relaunch the tour under the same name.
In 2005, Southern rock received new exposure from an unlikely source: singer Bo Bice
Bo Bice
Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice, Jr. is an American singer and musician who placed second to Carrie Underwood in the fourth season of American Idol. He has recorded three studio albums, including one on RCA Records...
took an explicitly Southern rock sensibility and appearance to a runner-up finish on the massively watched but normally pop-oriented American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
television program. Fueled by a key early performance of the Allmans' "Whipping Post
Whipping Post (song)
"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense...
" and later performing Skynyrd's "Free Bird
Free Bird
"Free Bird" is a song by the American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd...
" and, with Skynyrd on stage with him, "Sweet Home Alabama", Bice demonstrated that Southern rock still had a place in the American music pantheon. In late 2007, Bo Bice joined veteran Southern rock legends Jimmy Hall - Vocals/ Sax / Harmonica (Wet Willie Band), Henry Paul- Vocals / guitar / Mandolin (Outlaws, BlackHawk), Steve Gorman- Drums (The Black Crowes, Jimmy Page), "Dangerous" Dan Toler- Guitar (The Gregg Allman Band, The Allman Brothers, Dickey Betts & Great Southern), Reese Wynans- Keyboards (Stevie Ray Vaughan), Mike Brignardello- Bass (Giant, renowned session player), Jay Boy Adams- Guitar (Texas Blues Solo Artist) to record Brothers of the Southland celebrating Southern rock with a renewed spirit and maturity.
Southern rock currently plays on the radio, but only on oldies stations and classic rock stations. Although this class of music gets minor radio play, a group of loyal fans keeps this style of music alive by having older bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers play in venues with decent size crowds.
Post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
bands such as Shinedown
Shinedown
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 2001 and founded by members Brent Smith , Brad Stewart , Jasin Todd , and Barry Kerch . A few line-up changes followed, and the band's current line-up consists of Smith and Kerch, the band's only two remaining original...
, Saving Abel
Saving Abel
Saving Abel is a American rock music group from Corinth, Mississippi, who were started in 2004 by Jared Weeks and Jason Null. The band title is from the ancient biblical story of Cain and Abel, that is about a brother who killed his own brother...
, Pre)Thing
Pre)Thing
pre)Thing was a rock band fronted by former Crazy Town member Rust Epique. Signed to V2 Records, the group released one demo and one major-label record, which came out after the lead singer's death in 2004.-History:...
, Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
, Saliva
Saliva (band)
Saliva is an American rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in September 1996 and currently under Island Records. Saliva released their self-titled debut album on August 26, 1997, under Rocking Chair Records....
, 3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down
3 Doors Down is an American rock band from Escatawpa formed in 1996. The band consists of Brad Arnold , Matt Roberts , Todd Harrell , Chris Henderson , and Greg Upchurch ....
, 12 Stones
12 Stones
12 Stones is a rock band that was formed in 2000 in Mandeville, Louisiana. They have collectively sold more than 2 million records.-History:The four band members met in Mandeville, Louisiana, a small suburb north of New Orleans, and within 15 months were signed to a record deal with Wind-up Records...
, Default
Default (band)
Default is a Canadian post-grunge/alternative rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Since forming in 1999 they have released four albums, and have sold more than a million records...
, Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry
Black Stone Cherry is an American rock band formed in 2001 in Edmonton, Kentucky. They are signed to Roadrunner Records. The band consists of Chris Robertson , Ben Wells , Jon Lawhon , and John Fred Young...
and Theory of a Deadman
Theory of a Deadman
Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia, formed in 2001. The band is currently signed to Roadrunner Records as well as Island Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country and acoustic, as well as their post-grunge and alternative...
, have included a Southern rock feel to their songs and have gone as far as to cover Southern rock classics like "Simple Man" and "Tuesday's Gone
Tuesday's Gone
"Tuesday's Gone" is the second track on Lynyrd Skynyrd's first album, "". One of the band's most popular songs, its relaxing pace and serenading guitars have made it a fan staple. The lyrics, featuring themes of a relationship ending because of extensive touring, are similar in mood to the band's...
." Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
has also covered "Tuesday's Gone" on their Garage Inc.
Garage Inc.
-Disc two:These tracks are a collection of B-sides from artists Metallica were inspired by, throughout the early years of the band.-Personnel:* James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar on "Whiskey In the Jar"...
album.
Additionally, alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
groups such as Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an alternative country/Southern rock band based in Athens, Georgia, though three out of six members are originally from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama, and the band strongly identifies with Alabama. Their music uses three guitars as well as bass, drums, and now...
, Bottle Rockets
The Bottle Rockets
The Bottle Rockets are an American rock band formed in 1992, currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. The founding members are Brian Henneman , Mark Ortmann , Tom Parr and Tom Ray . Current members are Henneman, Ortmann, John Horton and Keith Voegele...
, Black Crowes, Band of Horses
Band of Horses
Band of Horses, originally briefly known as Horses, are an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle by Ben Bridwell. They have released three studio albums, the most recent and most successful of which is 2010's Grammy nominated Infinite Arms...
, My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band from Louisville, Kentucky.The band consists of Jim James , Tom 'Two-Tone Tommy' Blankenship , Patrick Hallahan , Carl Broemel , and Bo Koster .-History:My Morning Jacket was...
, State Line Mob
State Line Mob
The State Line Mob was an association of criminal elements that operated in the 1950s and 1960s at the Mississippi–Tennessee state line in Alcorn County, Mississippi, and McNairy County, Tennessee, along U.S. Route 45. The State Line Mob was involved in bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, tourist...
, The Steepwater Band
The Steepwater Band
The Steepwater Band is an American rock band formed in Chicago in 1998 by the trio of Jeff Massey , Joe Winters , and Tod Bowers...
, Zach Williams & The Reformation
Zach Williams & The Reformation
Zach Williams & The Reformation is an American rock band formed in Jonesboro, Arkansas in 2007 by the group of Zach Williams , Red Dorton , Robby Rigsbee , Josh Copeland and Evan Wilons...
, Hester and Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
combine Southern rock with rawer genres, such as garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, alt-country
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
, and blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
.
Much of the old style Southern rock (as well as other classic rock
Classic rock
Classic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
) has made its transition into the country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
genre, establishing itself along the lines of outlaw country
Outlaw country
Outlaw country is a subgenre of country music, most popular during the late 1960s and the 1970s , sometimes referred to as the outlaw movement or simply outlaw music...
in recent years. Bands such as Skynyrd and Daniels frequently play country music venues, and the influence of Southern rock can be heard in many of today's country artists, particularly male vocalists. Examples include solo artists Toby Keith
Toby Keith
Toby Keith Covel , best known as Toby Keith, is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer and actor. Keith released his first four studio albums — 1993's Toby Keith, 1994's Boomtown, 1996's Blue Moon and 1997's Dream Walkin, plus a Greatest Hits package for various divisions of...
and Jimmy Aldridge and the duo of Big & Rich
Big & Rich
Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich. Both members alternate as lead vocalists and play rhythm guitar...
.
Southern rock influence can also be seen in the metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
genres. This is showcased by such bands as Maylene & The Sons of Disaster, The Showdown
The Showdown (band)
The Showdown is a southern metal/metalcore band based in Elizabethton, Tennessee. While the members of the band are Christian and the band is signed to a Christian record label, the band does not consider itself a Christian act, according to guitarist Josh Childers...
, He Is Legend
He Is Legend
He Is Legend is a hard rock band formed in Wilmington, North Carolina who signed to Tragic Hero Records in 2009. The band consists of vocalist front man Schuylar Croom, guitarist Adam Tanbouz, drummer Steven Bache, bassist Matt Williams....
, Every Time I Die
Every Time I Die
Every Time I Die is a metalcore band from Buffalo, New York, formed in 1998. Their musical style is rooted in technical hardcore with strong southern metal and mathcore elements, and is also characterised by their cryptic, bitingly sarcastic lyrics. The band announced on July 14, 2008 that they had...
, Norma Jean
Norma Jean (band)
Norma Jean is an American metalcore band from Douglasville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Since their inception in 1997 and replacement of members throughout the years, the band's only original member is the guitarist, Chris Day...
, The Chariot
The Chariot (band)
The Chariot is an American mathcore band from Douglasville, Georgia, formed in 2003. The current lineup consists of drummer David Kennedy, bassist Jon "KC Wolf" Kindler, vocalist and bandleader Josh Scogin, and guitarists Brandon Henderson and Stephen Harrison. The band has experienced frequent...
, Mastodon
Mastodon (band)
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. The band is composed of bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds, guitarist Bill Kelliher and drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor...
, Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats
Cancer Bats are a hardcore punk/sludge metal band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Background:Cancer Bats originated in May 2004 with singer Liam Cormier and guitarist Scott Middleton, former member of Toronto heavy metal band At the Mercy of Inspiration...
, A Life Once Lost
A Life Once Lost
A Life Once Lost is an American metalcore band formed in 1999 in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After releases on Robotic Empire and Deathwish Inc., A Life Once Lost released their successful album, Hunter on Ferret Music in 2005...
, Weedeater
Weedeater (band)
Weedeater is a sludge metal band formed in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1997 with members from the recently defunct Buzzov•en. The band has released four full length albums...
Once Nothing
Once Nothing
Once Nothing were a self-proclaimed "Blue Collar Metal" band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and were signed to Solid State Records.- First Came The Law :...
and Memphis May Fire
Memphis May Fire
Memphis May Fire is an American post-hardcore band currently based in Texas. Since its formation, the band has released two EPs and two full-length albums. Their music has been compared to Underoath and He Is Legend...
and the definitive tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd's drummer Artimus Pyle: Atlanta,Georgia-based band Artimus Pyledriver.
Several of the original early 1970s hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
Southern rock groups are still performing in 2011. This list includes Atlanta Rhythm Section
Atlanta Rhythm Section
The Atlanta Rhythm Section, sometimes abbreviated ARS, is an American southern rock band. In 1970 former members of the Candymen and the Classics IV joined together and became the session band for the newly opened Studio One in Doraville, Georgia....
(ARS), Marshall Tucker, Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet
Molly Hatchet is an American southern rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1975. They are widely known for their hit song "Flirtin' with Disaster" from the album of the same title. The band, founded by Dave Hlubek and Steve Holland, took its name from a prostitute who allegedly mutilated...
, Outlaws, Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
, Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
, ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
, Canned Heat
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is a blues-rock/boogie rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The group has been noted for its own interpretations of blues material as well as for efforts to promote the interest in this type of music and its original artists...
, Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Oak Arkansas is an American Southern rock band named after the band's hometown of Black Oak, Arkansas. The band reached the height of its fame in the 1970s with ten charting albums released in that decade...
, Blackfoot
Blackfoot (band)
Blackfoot is a Southern rock musical ensemble from Jacksonville, Florida organized during 1970. Though they are primarily a Southern rock band, they were known also as a hard rock act....
, .38 Special and Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
. New groups such as Blackberry Smoke
Blackberry Smoke
Blackberry Smoke is an American southern rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. The lineup consists of Charlie Starr , Richard Turner , Brit Turner , Paul Jackson , and Brandon Still ....
, Gator Country
Gator Country
Gator Country is an American Southern rock band formed in Davie, Florida in 2005 by several ex-members of the Southern rock group Molly Hatchet...
, Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic
Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Todd Nance, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and guitarist Jimmy Herring...
, The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
, Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
, Southern Rock Allstars
Southern Rock Allstars
The Southern Rock Allstars are a band that got its name from the history/lineage of its former members all of whom were connected with Southern rock...
and The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band
The Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
are continuing the Southern rock art form.
A number of books in the 2000s have chronicled Southern rock's rich history, including Randy Poe's Skydog - The Duane Allman Story, Gene Odom
Gene Odom
Gene Odom is an American writer and former bodyguard.He was Ronnie Van Zant's personal bodyguard and security manager for the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, and has written two books about the band: Lynyrd Skynyrd: I'll Never Forget You and Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock.Odom...
's Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock and Rolling Stone writer Mark Kemp
Mark Kemp
Mark Kemp is an American music journalist and author. A graduate of East Carolina University, he has served as music editor of Rolling Stone and vice president of music editorial for MTV Networks...
's Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race & New Beginnings in a New South.
Furthermore, the resurgence of Southern Rock has seen newer bands like The Deadstring Brothers
The Deadstring Brothers
The Deadstring Brothers are an alt-country/rock band from Detroit, Michigan who play in a style somewhat reminiscent of the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main Street...
, Fifth on the Floor
Fifth on the Floor
Fifth on the Floor is an American Alternative Country, Southern Rock band formed in Lexington, Kentucky in 2006, and currently consists of Justin Wells , Matty Rodgers , Jason Parsons , and Aaron Graham .-History:The band formed in the summer of 2006...
and Whitey Morgan and the 78's
Whitey Morgan and the 78's
Whitey Morgan and the 78's are honky tonk country band based in Flint, MI. In 2010 they signed a recording contract with Chicago based Bloodshot Records.-Formation and Early History:...
combining the Southern Rock sound with Country, Bluegrass and Blues. This has been propelled by record labels like Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois which specializes in roots-inflected indie rock, punk blues, and a Chicago brand of outlaw country...
and Lost Highway Records.
See also
- Blues-rockBlues-rockBlues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
- Country rockCountry rockCountry rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
- Heartland rockHeartland rockHeartland rock is a genre of rock music that developed in the 1970s and reached its commercial peak in the 1980s, when it became one of the best-selling genres in the United States. It was characterized by a straightforward musical style, a concern with the average, blue collar American life, and a...
- Roots rockRoots rockRoots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
- Swamp rock
- Tulsa Sound
- List of Southern rock bands
- Southern Rock GoldSouthern Rock GoldSouthern Rock Gold is a two-disc greatest hits compilation album released in 2005. It features thirty-two of the greatest hits from Southern rock, many of which are from the Universal Music Group catalogue...
Quotation
- Gregg AllmanGregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...