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Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals.
- Allman Brothers Band. If you’re looking for the beginnings of Southern Rock, there may be no better place to start than the Allman Brothers. Formed in Jacksonville, Florida by the brothers Allman, they were the catalyst for numerous other bands to introduce their own southern-ness to rock.
- Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington formed a band in 1964 and, by 1970, had finally settled on the name of a teacher from Rossington’s school – Leonard Skinner.
- Ozark Mountain Daredevils. A genuine bunch of mountain-dwelling hippies, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils could play anything from folk and bluegrass, to straight-ahead pop and fist-wavers like their regional hit “If You Wanna Get to Heaven” (which of course involves raising a little hell).
- ZZ Top. ZZ Top always stood apart musically from the rest of the Southern rock crowd, as a stripped-down blues-rock trio who were never into long jams. They stood apart even more once they got into synthesizers.
- The Band – The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (1969) Written by guitarist Robbie Robertson – a Canadian enthralled by the mythical south – and sung by Arkansas-born drummer Levon Helm, Dixie tells the story of the end of the Civil War from the point of view of an southern soldier: beaten and tired, overtaken by the march of progress.
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – Free Bird (1973) The track that, more than any other, defined the southern rock genre. The beginning of the song is almost a power ballad, as Ronnie Van Zant asks the immortal question ‘If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?’
- Allman Brothers Band – Ramblin’ Man (1973) One of the pioneering southern rock bands, it was the Allman Brothers’ mix of blues, country and jazz that forged their overall sound.
- Little Feat – Dixie Chicken (1973) Little Feat’s landmark third album saw Lowell George writing some of the best songs of his career and the band developing an oozy, denser sound that suited them perfectly.
Southern rock, popular music style combining blues jams and boogie licks with lyrics declaring fierce regional pride. Its aggressive, unpretentious sound helped revitalize American rock in the 1970s.
- The Allman Brothers Band - Eat A Peach (1972) ‘Bearing sorrow, having fun.’ That phrase from Melissa captures the essence of this masterpiece album. After Duane Allman died in a motorbike crash, the band rallied and made a studio-meets-live double album (including choice leftovers from their landmark 1971 live album At Fillmore East) that was part benediction, part bridge to the future.
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – '(Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd)' (1973) Lynyrd Skynyrd’s classic debut, is the quintessential southern rock album and includes the most sacred of all southern rock songs.
- ZZ Top – Tres Hombres (1973) Are ZZ Top really a Southern band? The argument has raged down the years, but the truth is that while ‘The Li’l Ol’ Band From Texas’ may be slightly removed from the genre’s main highway, their shared musical legacy is undeniable.
- Molly Hatchet – Flirtin’ With Disaster (1979) The second album from the Jacksonville band who seem to have been doomed to live out their career in the shadow of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Nov 16, 2020 · It’s a slippery, nebulous term that can mean almost anything. On its face it appears to imply rock music from the 1970s that came from the South, but that could include anything from Wet Willie to Marshall Tucker to Lynyrd Skynyrd, acts that have little in common stylistically or sound-wise.
Southern Rock. Southern Rock drew from the heavy blues-rock of the late '60s as well as honky tonk and Bakersfield country, creating a distinctive fusion. Throughout the early '70s, Southern rock bands formed a major part of the American hard rock band.
