The Derek Trucks Band - BBC Radio 2 (2006)

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Last one up in May, this recording is just like the rest of this month: short and sweet. For those of you unfamiliar with The Derek Trucks Band: Derek Trucks is Butch's nephew and plays guitar with The Allman Brothers Band. On his own it's a slightly different story. Here Derek explores the boundaries of soul, jazz, funk, fusion. But it's got southern rock sauce on it, don't you worry.
This is a four song session, played live in the studio for BBC Radio 2.
Can you hear the sun?

Recommendation of the month

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Alright, this time I would like to suggest to you all to play some Les Dudek. Or maybe buy some of his cd's. Les Dudek's cd's all are rather funky affairs. Like Les' debut album with the wonderful parrot cover.


But things really started cooking on Les' third outing, Ghost Town Parade. Truly one of southern rock's finest offerings.


On Gypsy Ride Les toughened up even more. Alle Les Dudek is very funky and has great guitar playing a plenty. These records have all been released on Wounded Bird Records, and are easily available.


The sun is shining. Get a tan!

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Then...Again...Live! (2004)

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Another XM Satellite Radio broadcast. This time the 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd line-up gives it a go at recreating their debut album (pronounced'leh-'nérd'skin-'nérd) live in the studio.
I'm not too wild about the 'new' Skynrd, but this I really love. Instead of their calculated southern boogie, here they really live music again. Like the band sounded with Ronnie, like friends. And for friends, not for marketing purpose!
I'm really not sure at all where I got both this show and the ABB show from. I think it was someone I found on DC++ hubs. Anyway, thanks to the one who made these available to begin with.
Cheers!

Please note: there are some encoding issues in the first half of Simple Man. It lasts approx. 10 seconds. Otherwise it's fine.

Allman And Woman - Two The Hard Way (1977)

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Gregg Allman married Cher and obviously had to make an album with his new wife. It was something else... Mocked and ridiculed by the press at that time, but how do we feel about it now?
I've always liked this album. Sure it's slick, it's sugary sweet and has nothing to do whatsoever with The Allman Brothers Band. It's soul with a bit of rock, some funk and really nice vocals. Look, I'm no Cher fan, but she pulls this off quite nicely. And I even enjoy their vocals together. They match to my ears. These are the kind of songs I would want to sing with my wife!
This is the 128 kbps version. I also had the 320 kbps version (that's circulating in a Gregg Allman discography torrent), but this one definitely sounds far better. It's only love...

Atlanta Rhythm Section - Sleep With One Eye Open (1982)

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I thought this was a true find. It's the follow-up to Quinella, but it was never released. These are great sounding studio recordings! So how cool is this?
Anyway, besides its curiosity, this is a really nice album too. If you were hoping to something similar to Quinella, you're in luck. Quinella is one of my favorite ARS albums (I felt it sounded a lot more livelier than their other studio outings), and this makes for a nice pair. And boy, do I like a nice pair!

Law - Law (1975)

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When I learned about southern rock, around 1986, the genre had all but died. And it didn't look, at the time, it would ever resurge. As a matter of fact, it was hardly recognized as a genre at all. It was used for bands like Skynyrd and The Allmans, sure. But it was seen as a minor glitch in 70's musical development.
So at the time, when trying to find out about southern rock, I just checked all backs of interesting-looking album covers (with bearded long haired folks pictured) and basically buying anything released on Capricorn Records (eventhough a lot of non-southern rock they issued as well).
Nowadays it's easier, but you might miss a few good bands as well. Cause you gotta bear in mind that these 70's southern bands never set out to make 'southern rock'. That was just a label applied afterwards. And we know about those southern rock bands that actually had some success. But a lot of them just appeared and disappeared without a trace...
Like this band Law. Southern funk rock, hailing from Atlanta, Georgia. I guess they were heading for a similar style as Wild Cherry (Play That Funky Music, White Boy!), but Law never had their level of recognition. They released two more albums, which I have not heard but read about. From reading about them I make out that they were even more 'funk'. If anybody can get their hands on a good clean rip (at min. 192 kbps), please give it to me.
Back to this album: it's really cool. Get it. It's funk, it's soul but it's also very much southern rock. Released on the Atlanta based label GRC (General Recording Association), rather hard to find. It has some crackle, which I couldn't get rid of. You'll hear that when played through headphones. However, when played on your stereo all is good. Play it loud and have a drink on me!

Randall Bramblett - That Other Mile (1975)

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"That Other Mile" is Randall Bramblett's debut solo album. Already he had earned a reputation as an important sidekick to many of Southern Rock's greats, like Gregg Allman and loads of Capricorn recording artists. But Here he gets a chance to do all the shining himself. And he does. This is one of those albums that you (I, really) just can't find anything wrong with. Slightly laid back and definitely groovy, it's a peach! Randall wrote some songs on this album that would be covered by the likes of Beaverteeth. You reckon you're gonna pass this by? I bet you caint..

The Allman Brothers Band - Then..Again..Live! (2004)

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XM Satellite Radio organized several in-studio live sessions where bands got to recreate their classic albums. This radio broadcast had The Allman Brothers Band updating their 1972 masterpiece Eat A Peach. This was originally broadcast in 2004 and has the following line-up: Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge and Marc Quinones. It is the first time Gregg sings Dickey's Blue Sky. Nice document.

George Hatcher - Rich Girl (1978)

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This album you want, trust me. It's a great example of 70's southern rock, somewhere in between ZZ Top and Little Feat. But slightly different. Oh well, this is George Hatcher.
Not a lot to be found about his current whereabouts. George hailed from Charlotte, North Carolina and had a bit of a career in Britain in the later 70's, which is where he was stationed at the time. He made a few albums, this one on the German 'Shark' label. All rather hard to find, but all very much worth your trouble. Don't believe me? Well, check this out!

Sea Level - Ball Room (1980)

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Ball Room was the last album released by Sea Level. All previous albums were done for Capricorn records, but since they went bankrupt, this album was made for the Arista label. Sea Level was a Chuck Leavell affair. So you know you won't have to expect the rocky side of southern rock. Instead we get the rather sophisticated side of things. And singing most songs, again, is Randall Bramblett. Where they used to rely very much on jazzy, fusion skills, this leans towards the trends set in the early 80's. I quite like this a lot, and I hope you will too...

Raging Slab - L.A. Live (1990)

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This is a groovy soundboard of Raging Slab supporting their self-entitled classic for RCA Records. I don't know the origins of this recording. But it sure sounds fine to my ears. And they just released one of their, in my opinion, best records. So a nice setlist as well. Workin' For RCA!

Barefoot Jerry - Two Mile Pike

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This video was included on the Heartworn Highways DVD. I had never before seen any footage of Barefoot Jerry. And I really love their albums, which are all available on CD. Maybe this will convince you to go out and buy some. I'd recommend as first choice the 1974 album "Watchin' TV", which also features the song on this video.

Charlie Daniels on Country Closeup, hosted by Glen Campbell

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This is a (McCluth) rip of a radio broadcast LP of Country Closeup. A show hosted by Glen Campbell, this broadcast features Charlie Daniels. Supporting his "Decade Of Hits", Charlie Daniels reveals all (all? ha!) to Glen Campbell. Including a couple of commercials aimed at a mostly farming audience, this is quite a nice little time-document. Have fun.

Tommy Jennings - Equal Opportunity Lovin' Man (1982)

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For all Outlaw-country lovers, The Sief in particular, for you to grab: the second album of Tommy Jennings. There's really not that much to say about, the first is the better; this is the good one. Haha, but you get it here for free: Waylon's little bro..