Mose Jones - Mose Knows (1974)

♫

Ha ha. Knows, nose... Yeah right. Ha! Nice nose, though. Anyhoo, what we have here is another essential piece of the puzzle of the history of Southern Rock. From back when southern had merely a geographical meaning. And Southern Rock might as well have been so recognizable because in the South every genre got mixed. And that attracted people from all places, from Eric Clapton to Rod Stewart. To make great music with them southern guys.
That's when the label 'southern' really started have commercial meaning. And only then would the rest of the world learn. Slowly.
But in the early days Southern Rock was a lot less bound by rules. There was no genre or image then, these guys were just making music. Still, you could hear a familiar sound in all different types of bands. From Marshall Tucker to Blackfoot, from The Allmans to Barefoot Jerry, and from Charlie Daniels to Black Oak. Oh, and then there's the attitude. That too.
One of the first 'southern' labels to emerge after 'Capricorn' was 'Sounds Of The South'. Distributed by MCA, this label was set up by Al Kooper. He was the one who gave us Lynyrd Skynyrd. And they were recommended to him by a band he had already signed: Mose Jones.
This is Mose Jones second album, 'Mose Knows'. I'm really happy to finally get a chance to listen to this myself (thanks Tyrone), cause the Mose Jones albums are not that easy to find. I like the album, though I can see why Skynyrd made it and...
At times the sound is somewhat reminiscent to Marshall Tucker. So, it's all good vibes and mellow rocking. And it made me thirsty. Cheers!