Southbound

An Illustrated History of Southern Rock

Scott B. Bomar

• Publisher: Backbeat
• Year: 2021
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493064700
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music History & Criticism

Many of the architects of rock and roll in the 1950s, including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Little Richard, were Southerners who were rooted in the distinctive regional traditions of country, blues, and R&B. As the impact of the British Invasion and the psychedelic era faded at the end of the following decade, such performers as Bob Dylan and the Band returned to the simplicity of American roots music, paving the way for Southern groups to reclaim their region's rock-and-roll heritage. Embracing both Southern musical traditions and a long-haired countercultural aesthetic, such artists as the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd forged a new musical community that Charlie Daniels called "a genre of people more than a genre of music."

Focusing primarily on the music's golden age of the 1970s, Southbound profiles the musicians, producers, record labels, and movers and shakers that defined Southern rock, including the Allmans, Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, the Charlie Daniels Band, Elvin Bishop, the Outlaws, the Atlanta Rhythm Section, .38 Special, ZZ Top, and many others.

From the rise and fall of the mighty Capricorn Records to the music's role in helping Jimmy Carter win the White House and to its continuing legacy and influence, this is the story of Southern rock.

Table of contents

• FOREWORD
• INTRODUCTION—BROTHERS AND SISTERS: DEFINING SOUTHERN ROCK
• 1 Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Setting the Southern Stage
• 2 Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More: The Allman Brothers Band and the Rise of the Southern Rock Era
• 3 Reach for the Sky: The Odyssey of Phil Walden and Capricorn Records, Part One
• 4 Simple Man: Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rise of Redneck Rock
• 5 Long Haired Country Boys: When the Devil Went Down to Nashville
• 6 Holler and Shout: The Odyssey of Phil Walden and Capricorn Records, Part Two
• 7 Green Grass and High Tides: Riding the Southern Wave
• 8 Take No Prisoners: Jacksonville’S Southern Rock Assault
• 9 Hold On Loosely: Southern Rock in Changing Times
• 10 Never Gonna Change: An Enduring Legacy
• EPILOGUE—REBEL SOUL: THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• SOURCES