Duane Allman was a superb guitarist who had already made a name for himself on the session scene with his work at the legendary Muscle Shoals studio, playing on hits like Wilson Pickett’s cover of Hey Jude. Otis Redding’s manager Phil Walden encouraged him to form a band, and the Allman Brothers soon developed a reputation as an awesome live act.

In the summer of 1970, mutual admiration led to Duane Allman jamming with Eric Clapton during sessions with his new band Derek And The Dominos. He ended up contributing guitar to a number of songs on the album, most famously providing the main lick to the riff of Layla.

In 1971 the Allman Brothers released one of the greatest live albums of all time, The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East. This double set showcased the band’s enormous musical talents, through some slick arrangements and monumental onstage jams.

The Allman Brothers, Whipping Post, live at the Fillmore 1971.

Tragedy struck later that year when Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The following year Berry Oakley crashed his motorcycle and died of brain damage shortly afterwards.

Surviving brother Greg Allman indulged the rock and roll lifestyle, hiking off to California to marry Cher (twice). In 1976, faced with a drugs bust, he testified against a member of the band’s entourage and a supposed friend, which led to the band splitting.

The country influence on southern rock

Another brother act from the south, The Marshall Tucker Band, had a more country spin on the Southern rock sound. Their self-titled debut was a great success, and they released some strong follow up albums in A New Life (1974) and Where We All Belong (1974). But their world was rocked when bassist Tommy Caldwell was killed in a car crash in 1980, and the band never recaptured their former success.

The Marshall Tucker Band, Can’t You See, Live in 1973.

Charlie Daniels was an experienced session musician and songwriter, who had played with a diverse range of country, folk and rock artists, including Flatt & Scruggs, Marty Robbins, Ringo Starr, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. He’d even had one of his songs covered by Elvis Presley.

When he released his debut solo album Charlie Daniels in 1970, it was the Southern rock style that he turned to. Taking its lead from the Allman Brothers, but more country based, it’s a fine album from a true musical maverick, and includes such delights as Pope And The Dope, and Thirty Nine Miles From Mobile.

His breakthrough as a solo artist came with the hit single Uneasy Rider, from 1973’s Honey In The Rock album. Subsequently Daniels moved away from Southern rock and back towards his roots in country music. He scored a crossover hit in 1979 with The Devil Went Down To Georgia, the legendary tale of Johnny and his fiddle battle with Satan.

Charlie Daniels, Uneasy Rider, 1973.

Pronounced Leh-Nerd-Skin-Nerd

The success of The Allman Brothers Band and The Marshall Tucker Band created a buzz around the South. Al Kooper, the session musician who’d played with Bob Dylan on many of his greatest records, including Blonde On Blonde, was in Atlanta in 1973 to set up a new competitor label to Capricorn called Sounds Of The South.

His first signing was a band named Lynyrd Skynyrd. Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973) was the band’s debut album, featuring the anthemic Freebird, a monster hit when it was released as a single the following year.

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Freebird, Live 1973.

On their second album, Second Helping, the song Sweet Home Alabama responded harshly to Neil Young’s Southern Man. The lyrics pulled no punches: ‘Well I heard Mr Young sing about her/Heard old Neil put her down/Well I hope Neil Young will remember/Southern Man don’t need him around anyhow.’

Later, Rossington put the record straight about the redneck image: ‘Since the 70s we would drop the Confederate flag when we played Sweet Home Alabama ‘cos we were from the South. Between the race issue and the radical skinheads and people like that who use the flag as a symbol, when we drop it people get the wrong impression of us. People think we’re against blacks… but we’re not, we’re just from the South and proud of that.’

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sweet Home Alabama, Live on the Old Grey Whistle Test, 1976.

The band’s success started to take its toll, especially during the tour to support their third album, Nuthin’ Fancy. Drummer Bob Burns was sacked after throwing a cat out of a hotel window and attacking the tour manager with an axe, guitarist Ed King walked out and Van Zant cut Gary Rossington’s hands during a fight.

They got back on form for the live album One More From The Road (1976) and their next studio album Street Survivors (1977), with new guitarist Steve Gaines. But the band’s glory years ended in tragedy later that year when their aircraft crashed on tour, killing singer Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines and leaving the survivors emotionally scarred.

The son of Hank Williams

The bridge between Southern Rock and country music was personified in Hank Williams Jr, son of one of country music’s legendary figures. For his first album, Hank Williams Jr & Friends album, he recorded songs by The Marshall Tucker Band, and after an horrific accident in 1975, he took inspiration from the success of Lynyrd Skynrd and The Allman Brothers Band in order to get his career back on track.

As he told Jimmy Guterman (quoted in Peter Doggett’s Are You Ready For The Country), ‘Phil Walden had the best line about all these guys. They’re not country singers. They’re not hillbillies. They’re white blues singers. That’s what my daddy was, and that’s what I am.’

Recommended recordings

• The Allman Brothers Band, The Allman Brothers Band At Fillmore East - one of the all-time greatest rock live albums.
• The Marshall Tucker Band, The Marshall Tucker Band - debut album from one of Southern Rock’s finest bands.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd - worth the price of admission for Freebird alone.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, One More From The Road -another great southern rock live album.

Further Reading

• The Complete Guide to Country Rock Part 1: Rockabilly and the birth of Rock and Roll
• The Complete Guide to Country Rock Part 2: the Beatles to Buffalo Springfield
  
• The Complete Guide to Country Rock Part 3: Bob Dylan, the Band and the Byrds
• The Complete Guide to Country Rock Part 4: Gram Parsons, the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Grateful Dead
• The Complete Guide to Country Rock Part 5: Poco, the Eagles and the West Coast Sound