What is the appeal of Southern Rock?

iamjethro said:
Hey, I am from what most consider the south, and I know many that I do feel are intolerant and less than desirable as friends. I also know many more that are salt of the earth great people. And BOTH those groups like some Southern Rock.

I grew up in the time it was hitting in the seventies. And a lot of it was useless copies of the good stuff that quickly found its way back to the corners of the unnoticed.
But when it was good, it was very good. And intolerant southern a-holes drinking and beating up minorities? Listen a little closer to the lyrics written b the best of those good ol' boys. The opinion of guns by Skynyrd in Saturday Night Special or Van Zant's view of drugs in That Smell. Intelligent, well presented points of view whether you agree with them or not
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Yes, and everyone who calls skynyrd racist needs to sit down and listen to Curtis Lowe too.
 
Chad said:
I hope you didn't take my comment on southern accents as a dig or that it in anyway meant a person with a southern accent is an intolerant asshole. If you did I apologize. I was merely pointing out that it is much easier to identify with folks in your area than across an ocean. Hell, half of my family has southern accents and I've been told by people in Michigan that I have one.
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That's why rap was initially primarily popular in black communities. It was black people talking about the issues they've faced being a black person. It's hard to argue that it's growing popularity lead to larger general better understanding of the plight of African Americans for those that were willing to listen, while also scaring the shit out of those that still I've a world where they fear they're sons and daughters might associate and even become intimate and (horror of horrors) marry a person of color and then have little children that they want to at once love and revile. It fucks with their core beliefs in a way they can't process outside of using to feed their hatred.

Again, this group is far larger than any of us thought, but I believe it is still far from the majority. So I listen to music I like by artists I like. But I will stop listening and supporting if I find out they are bigoted pieces of shit, sex offenders, etc.
 
Usually the musicians were hugely loving and influenced by black musicians and bands too. They weren't the roots of any latter associations with hatred and I don't they were intentionally trying to fan the fires or spread hatred.

I've generally liked a good amount of the music classified in this stupid category. It's just good fun, often big guitar, music. White southern kids (but not exclusively) that grew up listening to popular music (white and black radio) getting influenced by the Stones, Cream, and other English bands/artists that put a different spin on the same stuff. It's a cool reflection on the cycle of influence.
 
Chad said:
Next time you come down, I'll show you these 2 features on the radio. One is the knob that lets you go to another station and the other is a button to turn the radio off :tongue:
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The last time I owned a car, there were 6 rock stations in NYC/Long Island:

92.3 - Which had switched from Classic Rock to Modern Rock
92.7 - Which kept switching from 80s Goth & New Wave to Dance
101.1 - Oldies, but transitioning into more 80s music and "Lite Rock" to get new listeners
102.3 - Classic Rock
102.7 - Classic Rock
104.3 - Which had switched from Classical to Classic Rock

The Classic Rock stations played the same 50 songs in different orders. The Modern Rock station played Nu-Metal. The Goth/New Wave station was more listenable as a dance station. So I started listening to NPR. The Oldies station was half good, half eye gouge inducing.

It's been 15 years since I owned a car. And I still can't listen to that shit.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
The last time I owned a car, there were 6 rock stations in NYC/Long Island:

92.3 - Which had switched from Classic Rock to Modern Rock
92.7 - Which kept switching from 80s Goth & New Wave to Dance
101.1 - Oldies, but transitioning into more 80s music and "Lite Rock" to get new listeners
102.3 - Classic Rock
102.7 - Classic Rock
104.3 - Which had switched from Classical to Classic Rock

The Classic Rock stations played the same 50 songs in different orders. The Modern Rock station played Nu-Metal. The Goth/New Wave station was more listenable as a dance station. So I started listening to NPR. The Oldies station was half good, half eye gouge inducing.

It's been 15 years since I owned a car. And I still can't listen to that shit.
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Every now and then I listen to our classic rock station. One morning I dropped my daughter off to school and "walking on the moon" was on. When I picked her up from school, "walking on the moon" came on. That has always killed me about classic rock stations, their is 70 years of music to pull from and you play the same 50 songs over and over again.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
The last time I owned a car, there were 6 rock stations in NYC/Long Island:

92.3 - Which had switched from Classic Rock to Modern Rock
92.7 - Which kept switching from 80s Goth & New Wave to Dance
101.1 - Oldies, but transitioning into more 80s music and "Lite Rock" to get new listeners
102.3 - Classic Rock
102.7 - Classic Rock
104.3 - Which had switched from Classical to Classic Rock

The Classic Rock stations played the same 50 songs in different orders. The Modern Rock station played Nu-Metal. The Goth/New Wave station was more listenable as a dance station. So I started listening to NPR. The Oldies station was half good, half eye gouge inducing.

It's been 15 years since I owned a car. And I still can't listen to that shit.
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How the hell did you survive 8 hours in the car with me?
 
Chad said:
Every now and then I listen to our classic rock station. One morning I dropped my daughter off to school and "walking on the moon" was on. When I picked her up from school, "walking on the moon" came on. That has always killed me about classic rock stations, their is 70 years of music to pull from and you play the same 50 songs over and over again.
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The Classic Rock station in Buffalo used to play "Bargain" by The Who at the same time every day. You could set your watch to it.
 
Chad said:
Every now and then I listen to our classic rock station. One morning I dropped my daughter off to school and "walking on the moon" was on. When I picked her up from school, "walking on the moon" came on. That has always killed me about classic rock stations, their is 70 years of music to pull from and you play the same 50 songs over and over again.
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I have three stations programmed into my car radio - a couple of months ago I got in the car and they were playing "Jet Airliner" by Steve Miller. I hit preset #2 and they were playing "Jet Airliner" but three seconds behind the other station. It totally confused me for about 15 seconds.
 
Chad said:
I hope you didn't take my comment on southern accents as a dig or that it in anyway meant a person with a southern accent is an intolerant asshole. If you did I apologize. I was merely pointing out that it is much easier to identify with folks in your area than across an ocean. Hell, half of my family has southern accents and I've been told by people in Michigan that I have one.
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Not at all and I should have clarified that. I used your words to make the point and should have been more clear. You have always been one of the more level headed internet people I know. I think I'm just overly frustrated with the idea that no matter what comes up or comes out in the news, one group takes the opportunity to bash another group. And here it used to be pretty confined to the political thread that I have vowed to stay out of but more and more it ends up in all kinds of topics. I'm starting to wonder if people even realize they are doing it any more.
 
Devil is Dill said:
I have three stations programmed into my car radio - a couple of months ago I got in the car and they were playing "Jet Airliner" by Steve Miller. I hit preset #2 and they were playing "Jet Airliner" but three seconds behind the other station. It totally confused me for about 15 seconds.
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Petition to retitle this thread: "What is the appeal of Steve Miller?"
 
Chad said:
Every now and then I listen to our classic rock station. One morning I dropped my daughter off to school and "walking on the moon" was on. When I picked her up from school, "walking on the moon" came on. That has always killed me about classic rock stations, their is 70 years of music to pull from and you play the same 50 songs over and over again.
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That’s the exact issue I have with just about every bar cover band.
 
bsman said:
Petition to retitle this thread: "What is the appeal of Steve Miller?"
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Again with the mindless bashing.

Steve wrote some great songs, and some not so great ones. Kinda like most bands. Except most bands didn't have Boz Skaggs, Paul McCartney, Richard Thompson, Glyn Johns, Lee Michaels and a host of others helping out from time to time. But hey, abradabracadabra sucks, so to hell with 'em.
 
Dogsinotpalc said:
Gary, you're super smart and I mean that sincerely. This and your previous post were just so spot on.

I also believe that Sweet Home Alabama as a song, while a tongue and cheek swipe at Neil for Southern Man, speaks to part of our nation that so many of us underestimated. It appealed and continues to resonate to a group within the U.S. that embraced/es the hate being spewed either overtly (e.g.: Trump) or subtly(e.g. the likes of Thurmond, McConnell, and others that kept and keep getting re-elected) by conservative politicians and pundits. It helped keep (or possibly rekindled) a regional pride going and the particular region has a horribly dark side to it. And as we now know, many have never let go of the dark hatred (no pun intended) and in fact spread it to their children and grand children.

People don't necessarily realize how embedded things have become within themselves. Tom Petty was feeling that southern pride when he and the band wrote the Southern Accents album. Even the outside or co-write of Don't Come Around Here No More had a different connotation for different folks in this country...basically regionally, and not just the south. Tom talked about it years ago that he regretted dancing with the rebel flag and seeing so many folks coming to his shows with the flag on hats, shirts, jackets, belt buckles, etc. In so many words he admitted that he had a myopic view of these symbols and was not raise to view them as symbols of hate, but said it was clear that were and are.

But as has been mentioned, southern rock and country music seem to speak to a certain amount of people throughout this country in a way that supports their hatred of that which is different from them. White people in particular. But as you state, we can't generalize that to mean that if you like these musics you are this type of person. Exactly as you point out that being a fan, creator, buyer, seller, etc. of rap/hip-hop does not make one a gangbanger and certainly doesn't require you to be black and hateful of white people...even though some folks want to see things.

Back to Sweet Home Alabama. I believe it is harmonically and melodically one of the great rock tunes ever written. Lyrically, however, it speaks to aspects of southern American culture, but more broadly rural American culture, that are part of the worst of our history and sadly our present.

Using the wiki-list (whether the artist belongs there or not): The Allmans, Widespread Panic, Alabama Shakes, the Avett Bros, the Black Crowes, Canned Heat, the Fabulous T-Birds, Little Feat, JJ Cale, Leon Russell, the Subdudes, and a whole lot more have never lyrically or publicly made any allusions towards anything that would lead their fans to associate their music with small-minded bigotry. It's just some great music. But lyrics can just be bad, speak to great universal truths, speak to horrible historical and living truths, and more.

I'm rambling and don't expect anyone to have read this.

Good day sirs.




























I said GOOD DAY!
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You make good points. Sweet Home Alabama, musically, is very catchy (though I heard it so much over the decades that it became tiresome). My father was from Cottonport, LA, and I get the Southern Pride, but the undertones are uncomfortable for me. Perhaps we need that sometimes. If everything we hear fits our beliefs and understanding we will not be challenged to understand how other people think and feel. SOmetimes we need to be uncomfortable to question our own thoughts and beliefs and to better understand ourselves and other people. Thanks for this response.
 
I've heard both Richie Furay and Rusty Young take credit for inventing Southern rock, with Poco.

Or was it Country Rock? Is there a difference?

They released their first album in the same year the Allman Bros did the same. And I consider ABB to be the first essential Southern Rock band.

But not Country Rock.

So maybe they're right
 
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