Southern rock

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Lynyrd Skynyrd

Southern rock is a form of country rock that developed in the southern United States in the late 1960s and was one of the most popular styles of rock in the 1970s . One of the best-known record labels for Southern Rock was Capricorn Records , which was founded by Phil Walden in Macon , Georgia .

Music and lyrics

The Allman Brothers Band

Characteristic of Southern Rock is hard-played rock music that is close to hard rock and takes up blues , country and sometimes jazz and funk elements. The lyrics, the playing style and the appearance of the musicians reflected the attitude towards life of a young generation at the end of the 1960s, which were shaped by the conservative values ​​of the southern states, but also by the hippie movement and rock.

Typical of Southern Rock is a directness and closeness to life in the statements, which differed from the rather confused texts of the previous psychedelia music, but also from the intellectuals of the late Beatles and the Rolling Stones at that time. Often the musicians also have a tendency towards machismo in their appearance , which is based on the classic male role model with which they were brought up.

Political and social background

Southern Rock was also a reaction to the political situation in the USA and the change in values in the 1960s. Since the civil war, the southerners had repeatedly been accused of racism , on the other hand they were stereotypically characterized as backwoodsmen. During the civil rights movement , which wanted to finally equalize the racial relations in the south of the USA, there were repeatedly songs against the southern states that emphasized these clichés. The young southerners wanted to defend themselves against these accusations and describe their own attitude towards life. Lynyrd Skynyrd's hit Sweet Home Alabama (1973) was a direct reaction to Neil Young's Southern Man (1971). The Allman Brothers Band was also one of the first bands to consist of black and white musicians.

The popularity declined in the late 1970s, but bands of this style still exist today. Despite the deaths and drug problems, the Allman Brothers Band survived successfully from the 1970s in changing line-ups, which was particularly successful in the 1990s, and also ZZ Top . Molly Hatchet, Black Oak Arkansas and the Reformed Outlaws are still touring today.

The main performers

literature

  • Mark Kemp: Dixie Lullaby (2004) (English).
  • Michael Knippschild: Southern Rock Bands and Facts (2001).