Southern Rock Mount Rushmore

[Driftwood]

Who you got?
I have seen the original or some incarnation of the Southern Rock Pantheon. If I was only ever allowed to listen to one genre of music for the rest of my life, it would be Southern Rock.
So, if you are a fan of Southern Rock, and you only get four (acts, not people), who goes on your Mount Rushmore?

Lynyrd Skynyrd - the gold standard
Allman Brothers - maybe started it
The Outlaws - my personal favorite
Molly Hatchet - some of the best songs

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

Definitely Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers...

After that I have to put ZZ Top in there. After that I'm kind of torn....38 Special maybe, Marshall Tucker Band, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Molly Hatchet, even the Black Crowes have earned a spot in the discussion.

Right now Blackberry Smoke, Black Stone Cherry....even Zac Brown Band....There are a few acts still putting out good music that can fight for that fourth spot.

 

[TigerVols]

Jason and the Nashville Scorchers
B-52s
REM
Pylon

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Hate his politics and his racist bull**** but Charlie Daniels at least deserves to be in the conversation.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Allmans
Skynerd
Marshall Tucker
Little Feat

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Just put Duane Allman and Dicky Betts up there and skip the rest of the monument. And I didn't realize Elvis is no longer considered southern.

 

[maumann]

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, perhaps?

 

[cyclingwriter2]

If you go by Southerners who played rock music, then that is one group. If you go by “southern rock,” which is a much narrower vein of music, then really the first four mentioned fit the bill.

 

[swingline]

Skynyrd and Allmans, for sure. After that a pick-em between Molly Hatchet, .38 Special, Marshal Tucker, CDB. Truthfully, as big as we think their impact is, there weren't a whole hell of a lot of groups that can be considered Southern Rock.

ZZ Top is Texas blues, definitely not Southern Rock. Tom Petty was rock, but not Southern Rock.

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

Thin Lizzy, which wasn’t Southern at all ( in fact they were Irish) and had three really popular tracks if you squint hard enough, will demand a place on the mount.

 

[garrow]

Classics IV
Atlanta Rhythm Section

 

[Neutral Corner]

Allmans
Skynerd
Marshall Tucker
Little Feat

I love me some Lowell George, and Atlanta and the Feat had a love affair, but Little Feat was an L.A. band.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Allman Brothers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Marshall Tucker
Atlanta Rhythm Section

I saw the first three plus Grinderswitch at the Georgia Jam in Atlanta in June of '74. That was probably the best Skynyrd show I ever saw. There was a looooong rain delay (stadium show) before the Allmans went on, and they were *wasted*. They tried to put out that someone had dosed the food and beverage backstage, but I think they just were kept waiting and had entirely too long to get a massive buzz on. I vividly remember two roadies holding Gregg by the elbows as they carried him out and plopped him on the organ bench.

 

[micropolitan guy]

MTB's live album is spectacular, especially 24 Hours at a Time.

I'd go with NC's top 4. Love the ARS.

 

[Driftwood]

MTB's live album is spectacular, especially 24 Hours at a Time.

I'd go with NC's top 4. Love the ARS.

24 Hours at a Time is awesome.

I think the most disappointed at a concert as I've ever been was MTB. They've got a handful of blockbuster songs, the rest was crap. After I heard the biggies, we left. My buddy who went with me had seen them previously. He told me to be prepared to be disappointed. When we walked out, he said, "I told you so."

 

[Driftwood]

ZZ Top and Tom Petty are not Southern Rock bands. They are rock bands from the south. I love both. They just aren't Southern Rock.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

ZZ Top and Tom Petty are not Southern Rock bands. They are rock bands from the south. I love both. They just aren't Southern Rock.

I agree with this
That's why you can't eliminate Little Feat
Although calling CCR southern rock would be stretching it

 

[Michael_ Gee]

I agree with this
That's why you can't eliminate Little Feat
Although calling CCR southern rock would be stretching it

CCR is from northern California.

 

[Neutral Corner]

I agree with this
That's why you can't eliminate Little Feat
Although calling CCR southern rock would be stretching it

"I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari,
Tehachapi to Tonapah..."

Little Feat was a blues/boogie band that started when Lowell George and Roy Estrada left Zappa's Mothers of Invention and joined with Bill Payne and Richie Hayward from George's previous band, The Factory. ("Don't Bogart that Joint" from the Easy Rider soundtrack.) They were a California band.

They played a little bit of all sorts of music, from New Orleans funk and jazz to folk, country, rock and blues. I loved them to death and was a major fan who saw them half a dozen times live while Lowell was alive, but while I did and do love their music, they simply were not a Southern Rock band in the sense that this thread is about.

I think that it would be entirely fair to say that they played some southern rock, but not that they were a Southern Rock band.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Personally, for southern rockers, I’d go ...

Allmans
Isbell
DMB
Buffett

YMMV.