Friday, December 25, 2009

Molly Hatchet - Live At Reading (1979)



Here's a raunchy little Rock & Roll show for ya. It's a short concert of Molly Hatchet playing at Reading in the UK. And even though I'm not the biggest Hatchet fan, I can't deny that this is really good. And I do love their debut album, that's a classic. Lots of energy and great songs. This was a performance recorded right after finishing their "Flirting With Disaster" album, and the boys in the band are in fine form. Southern Rock with Rock being the key word here. Some minor issues on this show, probably caused by the tape transfer? Some muffled sounding bits, but nothing terrible. Anyway, very much worth checking out. C'mon baby, let the good times roll!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Swallow - Out Of The Nest (1972)



A bit of an oddity here. Swallow gets in by connection. But the thing is, the connection was only made on their second album, which I will post later on. That album was recorded in Studio One and produced by Buddy Buie and featured members of the Atlanta Rhythm Section. Not this one. So what we have here has nothing to do with Southern Rock at all. I figured you might be curious about this record after I post their second. But I fixed this one first, when I got the rips from Luc. So there.
"Out Of The Nest" reminded me mostly of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Gravelly vocals, very good, and lots of horns. Quite a powerful Jazzy/R&B/Soulful Blues Rock release. And despite it not being Southern Rock, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album. Look to the future and remember this. Shuffle.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Rusty Wier - Rusty Wier (1975)



Rusty Wier was a bit of a cult legend on the Austin, Texas scene. Was, since he sadly passed away on October 9 this year. He will be missed, that's for sure. Because Rusty did make some wonderful records since 1974, holding ground somewhere in between Outlaw Country and Southern Rock, though his later albums leaned more towards Country.
This album, "Rusty Wier", from 1975 should attract quite a few Southern Rock fans, though. It's his second album and it's a really fine ride. There's a great groove throughout the music on this record and there are some cool cats playing along. Pick of the day: "Dixie Lynn". Rusty has a very distinctive voice, which I absolutely love to bits. If you haven't heard about Rusty before, this is where you get on. Fly away..

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Dr. Hector And The Groove Injectors - Prescription (1987)



In the early 80's lots of Southern Rock bands decided to try their hand at commercial Pop Rock/AOR, like 38 Special and Molly Hatchet. Grinderswitch, on the other hand, decided to just call it quits. Dru Lombar grabbed the opportunity to launch his new band with this 1987 debut album. Dr. Hector And The Groove Injectors was not quite what Grinderswitch used to be, though the music is far from the usual 80's fare. Instead we get a good dose of well played, inspiring Rhythm & Blues/Blues Rock with some definite Southern guitar picking. Nice vocals too (no, not necessarily when Dru is singing...). And horns. It's a really satisfying album and I'm sure glad Luc sent me a rip. This is not the rip already circulating on other blogspots. You be the judge which is the better. Learn more about Dru here. Great album, great songs, great for throwing a party. Kingsnake shake.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Blackfoot - Medicine Man (1990)



"Medicine Man" was Blackfoot's come back to Southern Rock, after having made a couple of slick and poppy Rock records. And they were back in fine form too. No longer the original line-up (of the albums up to "Marauder"), this band was still very much able to deliver the goods. There were two versions of this album. One included only 7 tracks. This is the one with all nine. It's been out of print for quite some time, so enjoy. I sure wish mr. Medlocke would quit his daytime job and give us another Blackfoot album. Cause the man rocks when he's the main man! This album features one of my all-time Blackfoot favorites: "Chilled To D'Bone". B-b-b-b-b-boogie!

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Whiskey River - Whiskey River (1981)



Whiskey River was a Country Rock band with some Southern Rock and Outlaw influences. They released two independent albums, of which this is their second. It's a very nice record which should appeal to fans of later Charlie Daniels records and the Earl Scruggs Revue. This album was produced by Randy Scruggs, and he does a wonderful job. All songs, I think, appear to be originals and are well written and executed. Nothing too heavy going on here, but it's nice steady rockin' all along. Thanks to my French Connection (again...) for providing this rip. I also have their first album ripped, and I will post that later on. Yippee kay-ah-yay!

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Tim Brooks & The Alien Sharecroppers - Back In The Game (2002)



There were some speculations going on about a new CD being released by Tim Brooks, but I guess it takes some more time. In the meanwhile the first Tim Brooks & The Alien Sharecroppers' CD's are no longer available. Which is too bad. Just listen to this beautiful piece of Southern Blues Rock: "Back In The Game", their second album. Again, at times very reminiscent to The Allman Brothers Band, this is Tim and his band at their very best. Tim can play that guitar with the best of them (as has he done), and The Alien Sharecroppers are a more than worthy group of pickers to back him up. Tim handles some vocals himself, but vocally the star of this record is Jon Wimpee, who also plays guitar. Just check out the track "Hanging By A Thread" (written by Tim and his brother Gregg). It's a classic! "Back In The Game" is a 'band record', which to me means that it's a very cohesive record where everything comes together as it should. Some of the finest Southern Rock songs and one hell of a band! Let's hope that new record will be out shortly. C'mon guys, don't hesitate: you want this! Possum chops..