The southern United States is a spooky place of equal parts back-woods moonshine and old Civil War mystery. From this special, almost mystical place, maybe the best type of rock and roll was born. The southern United States know the blues like no other district in the world – this comes out in simply poetic lyrics and great guitar riffs. Here’s a top 10 of the best.
They may have been from California but they sang some of the best southern rock songs like “Born On A Bayou” and “Long As I Can See The Light”. Lyrically “Midnight Special” is one of the quintessential southern rock songs but the fact that they were from out west bumps them down a couple levels to 10.
Yes, that guy and I’ll wager none of us know a single person that couldn’t sing every bar of “Devil Went Down To Georgia”. He is on there more for the girth of his work than for the #1 hits but Charlie made fiddles cool, kinda.
They plowed some good ground with songs like “Fire on the Mountain” and “Heard It In A Love Song” Doug Gray sings the part of the broken down yet happy southern boy damn well, I’m not sure they are the most influential band out there but they sure went to the well once with “Heard It In A Love Song.”
Pay attention to this band if this genre is for you, they have only been around since 1996 but they can play and are one of the only bands that can actually make the claim of being better live than on CD, most of these bands can say the same but most bands in the music world are filtered through miles of electronics to make them sound something like, well, shit. Luther Dickinson is one of the best singer/guitar players around. Check into “Mean Ol’ Wind Died Down” it’s satisfying.
Come on, these guys deserve a lot of credit for still being around and just like Fidel Castro, they still have their beards. Points for that, seriously though some of the best guitar licks in rock come from this band like “La Grange” could be the best rock and roll guitar song ever, ranking that is like ranking your favorite toes but it’s in the top 10 (new list somebody). They make lyrics like “A Haw Haw Haw/ A Haw Haw Haw Haw” sound good.
He gets most of his credit for being both a racist and a country singer but had a lot of southern rock in him. Songs like “Longhaired Redneck” and “If That Aint Country”. He wrote some pretty awful songs about black people but is repentant and what can you expect from a guy who has been in and out of reform schools and prison since the age of 9. “Southern boys live among the ghosts and spirits of slaves and soldiers crying out to a moon that’s done them wrong”–I hate unattributed quotes but this one kinda got it just right.
Kind of like the Beatles in the sense that he was basically just the first person to stumble on a round shape and use it for a wheel. I’m guessing someone would have taken black blues and gospel and mixed them with country to make southern rock shortly after him had he not. Just like that first cave man who invented the wheel–would have been done eventually. Still though, the older I get the better he sounds. Has far too many songs to list go pick your own.
Lowell George was a badass in the Duane Allman vein. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do on a stage. This is one of the first southern rock bands whose album’s can be seen as entire pieces rather than a collection of songs. “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” is a gem. They were among the first bands from the south to include black musicians which proves art is a ways ahead of the rest of life, avant guard is the status quo. Their clothes suffered during the 70′s as the entire country slipped into the deluge of disco, that mosquito that sucked the soul of music from us for nearly 2 decades largely until Nirvana’s Nevermind (one of the most appropriate titles to an album, a jaded exasperated response to a world that just doesn’t get it). Lowell George died in 1979 and like many of our best they left all too soon. Life’s a bitch for the ubertalented, I guess.
Named after their high school gym teacher in a back-handed way. This is one of the most played bands of all time. They have anthems like “Free Bird” and “Sweet Home Alabama”, “Gimme Three Steps” and “Every Mother’s Son” are classics as well. And, just like Lowell George and Duane Allman, Ronnie Van Zandt died too early, this time in a plane crash along with two other bandmates and both pilot and copilot. They continued to make music with Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie’s brother, at the front. It was tough to bump them to the second spot in this list but the Allman Brothers Band, and the spin-off’s like Gov’t Mule and The Greg Allman Band, are just too good both lyrically and in skill.
“All Night Train” is one of the all time best jam songs I’ve heard and the Allman Brothers built their foundation on playing instruments well, then getting bent on drugs and booze. And they were certainly not the most attractive group of guys but NSYNC and the Back Street Men sucked and they were gorgeous. Songs like “Going Down Slow” well showed the down side of drug and drink: “won’t somebody write my mother/and tell her the shape I’m in/ I want you to tell her to pray for me/ask her to forgive me for all my sins.” Prophetic lyrics, had Duane Allman not died there is no telling how much new ground the group would have cut. Songs like “Rambling Man” and “Midnight Rider” are anthems best listened to alone in the driver’s seat on some long highway with the music way up. Duane Allman lived hard and kicked a lot of ass. Its unbelievable he died at the age of 24.
Contributor: Brosiusjb
i agree on allman brothers over skynyrd. nice list
I laughed at “La Grange” being one of the best rock ‘n’ roll guitar songs of all time. I wouldn’t even rank it in my top 100. Other than that, this is a great list!
OMG all these bands are from America obviously you’re ignorant to the rest of the world’s music and a big fat racist!!!!~!!1!
Hehe, just kidding! (Though I was half expecting to see REAL comments like that.)
I love this kind of music, my dad played half these bands when I was growing up and the rest I either discovered on my own or through friends/family. I knew every band but North Mississippi All Stars. (Totally going to check them out now!) I actually thought Lynyrd Skynyrd would be number 1 but I totally have some love for the Allman Brothers band too.
Seeing Charlie Daniels and David Allan Coe on this list were the icing on the cake. Those two artists were introduced to me by my mom!
Great job!
you stupid *****!!! what about SOUTHERN do you ot understand
Ukeleled guns on the list, g – any music that uses tintinnabulation as part of its repertoire is A-OK yo by me yo.
Southern Rock’s not something I know enough about to comment on intelligently. This is a good list though, informative, and gives me something to get intelligent about. Thanks for the list!
Y’all forgot to mention “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I know it wasn’t a hit but I love that song. Damn!!!!
I TOTALLY AGREE!!!!!!! It's actually my favorite song by skynyrd!
#11 maybe Molly Hatchet, my favorite Southern Rock band.
Elvis was a band?
Other than that, I think Tricia (comment no 5 above) said it for me.
goo call on n0.1.
any chance you guys could do some articles on cricket in the near future?
“I’ll wager none of us know a single person that couldn’t sing every bar of ‘Devil Went Down To Georgia’.”
Wow, did you ever lose that bet… I asked my wife, I asked my friends, I asked my coworkers… None of them had even heard of the song.
CCR belongs in the top 3, but they weren’t an official southern band, so it’s an accurate list.
Also an honorable mention should be made to .38 Special, Kansas, & Black Crowes, who I like better than half of the bands that made that list.
PLAY FREE BIRD!!!
Would Stevie Ray Vaughn be considered southern rock? I guess its more Texas Blues. Delighted to see The Allman Brothers at number 1. Would have liked to see Creedence a bit higher on the list. Another suggestion would be J.J. Cale but I am not sure of that would fit the criteria.
*it would fit the criteria…I really should proof read before posting..my humble apologies.
from the intro “The southern United States is a spooky place of equal parts back-woods moonshine and old Civil War mystery”.
being a born and raised southerner, i have to take exception to this statement. have you ever been to the south or do you just listen to MSNBC to get your stereotypes? and even if this was true, what does it have to do with southern rock?
the northeastern united states is a spooky place of equal parts crack-dealers from the ghetto and foreigners driving taxi cabs.
the western united states is a spooky place of equal parts homo*****uals having ***** in the streets and hippies smoking pot in public.
do you see any problems with these statements?
how about kings of leon?
The Midwest United States is a spooky place of equal parts cow/pig farms and nothing. It is less scary than the other parts of the world.
I was going to add the bands Molly Hatchet and The Fabulous Thunderbirds althought after much introspection of my part(very little) I believe they only deserve honorable mention.
David Allen Coe is FTW. I love his racist stuff
whats with the 2 days of american focused articles, sort it out no one outside of the states gives a damn about baseball and southern bands
Another list with the king on it, i love this site ! But, as noted above the king was just one man, not a whole band. Elvis and the Jordinaires could be , however.
I’m not an expert on southern rock bands, but what about Kansas? Do they even belong here?
Let’s not forget the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Russell Smith had the voice and the tunes.
Elvis is not a band. And CCR is not southern. That would be like adding Neil Young for Southern man.
David Allen Coe is not even liked or known by most southerners. But I am sure you had to add some drug addled racist hick to send out the stereotype of the rest of the southerners like me
Ever been to Japan why they are more crazy about baseball there than anyone I know in the US.
Listverse is a spooky place of equal parts people who take stuff waaayyy too seriously after reading the list intro and buttered squash.
I like this game! Good list… next?
pretty good but take off Elvis and ZZ Top. Creedence is Southern rock. It’s a genre, folks, and they fit the bill. ZZ Top does not. Consider Molly Hatchet, Mountain, and for you hippies — Widespread Panic.
damien_karras: my thoughts exactly.
Lowell George was born in Hollywood, as was Paul Barrere, and Richie Hayward’s from Iowa. I love Little Feat, but I think their music was more about the idea of Southern music, than Southern music itself.
i love Jupiter Coyote…
CCR should have been higher, Elvis is dead and so is his music! Add in Molly Hatchet in his place. I actually prefer Lynyrd Skynyrd over The Allman Brothers Band. Nice list!
15- hahahahahaha.
i love skynard and ccr
Whayyyy
Kudos for CCR!!
& Lynyrd Skynryd (probably not spelt right)
Good list
LITTLE FEAT!!! They are great! I don’t think I would consider them Southern Rock though. To me they seem more like they would be swamp rock, like The Band and J.J Cale.
Allman Brothers Band are truly one of the best bands ever though. They deserve to be first.
Also, if you like southern rock you might want to check out a band called Five Horse Johnson. They are a small bluesy hard rock band from Toledo. They are not popular at all, but I believe that if they were around during the Allman Brothers they would be very famous.
Here is one of their more hard-rock style songs. It reminds me of Molly Hatchet for some reason.
This was a fantastic list, but there are so many better ‘real’ Southern rock groups that could have filled in CCR’s place at #10. I love CCR, but they really don’t belong on this list.
I know it’s not everyones taste but to leave Pantera off the list I think is a mistake. In a contemporary rock and roll world they are massively influential, and they are very openly and proudly a southern rock style, with heavier elements added.
good choice in Allman Brothers.
Well my father was a gambler down in Georgia,
He wound up on the wrong end of a gun.
And I was born in the backseat of a Greyhound bus
Rollin’ down highway 41
Lord I was born a ramblin’ man
Tryin’ to make a livin’ and doin’ the best I can
And when it’s time for leavin’
I hope you’ll understand
That I was born a ramblin’ man
Brosius – Thank you! Southerners usually don’t get enough credit for the awesome things they do. I also knew all of these but North Mississippi Allstars because my old man played them all when I was a kid, grew up on them in fact.
Love all the bands on this list.
Quick note aboot the CCR paragraph…
“Midnight Special” is lyrically a good tune, however it’s been around long before CCR covered it.
It sounds like your saying they wrote it, but they did not.
If I read it wrong, sorry for my mistake.
Just trying to give credit where credit is due.
oh, and I didn’t spell ‘About” wrong. I’m Canadian, and I guess we say it “ABOOT”, eh?
Good list, it must have been a tough choice between Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers, but I agree that The Allman Brothers are slightly better. Maybe best British Invasion bands could be next?
I never do this, but you absolutley can not leave out The Black Crowes, and Widespead Panic, The Doobie Brothers, and The Georgia Satelites at least deserve an honorable mention.
I prefer Skynyrd to the Allman Brothers too, but in the end, there can be only one. I love Little Feat and my favorite Marshal Tucker Band song would have to be “Can’t You See.”
I think that Atlanta Rhythym Section should’ve been on here. Also, there should be an honorable mention about the work that the Van Zant brothers have done (.28 Special and the 2 surviving brothers and the albums that they’ve put out together in the past decade or so.)
So was the comment about Charlie Daniels’ girth a crack at his weight?
Other than that though, solid list.
for the record #26 ZZ Top is definitely Southern rock. My cousin Frank Beard is the drummer and I can tell you from my pops’ side of the family that they are as Southern and country as you can get, along with their genre of music being very Texas Southern. And as for the guy who said Pantera, I don’t know about that one but I grew up in Arlington and they were always right across the street from me when I was very little. (I’m 20 now)
Brosiusjb: I knew of all of these bands, knew some of them, loved a few.
Saw CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, ZZ Top & The Allman Brothers Band play live. None of this makes me an expert, but it gives me some personal insight into some of the bands, and I’d have say that I think you got the order just about right. It works for me.
Good job.
and I don’t listen to any of these, I’m more into trippy art rock music, the floyd or zep or what have you. but I’m just saying, ZZ Top is good on this list, not even because it’s part of my family because I do not listen to ZZ Top at all but for late 70′s-80′s Southern rock they were definitely sick.
Good list. For anyone who thinks David Allan Coe is a racist should check out his album “Requiem for a Harlequin” seeing that it has quite a few anti-racist pro civil rights songs, and the song “***** Anita Bryant”.
Oh and I think you should of put Drive-By Truckers on this list.
No Outlaws? Green Grass and High Tides is one of the best southern rock songs out there.
12)Jenna:
“I know I have said this before, but the odds of us actually playing Freebird?
There are no odds. It is not going to happen.”
This list is terribly written. The paragraphs about each band are just horrible.
CCR Should be much higher, if not #1
hey man what an awesome list! im a huge southern rock fan and i think ya got it pretty good. my only complaint with the list is Lynyrd Skynyrd bein number 2, they ARE southern rock. but still, thanks for the list, rock on!
great list
#41 slipstick – .28 Special? I think your caliber is off a bit.
And I gotta agree with my boy Diskhuker – your description of the south is wrong. I always heard it’s a spooky place where the men are men and the sheep are nervous.
Good list… these songs definitely make me feel a sort of ambiance of the old south. I wasn’t even alive for the heyday of many of these bands… but they make me feel like there was a time of “magical freedom” that took place on southern highways and bayous.
Garth Brooks songs make me feel like that too.
CCR is one of my all time favourite bands.
I had never heard of Little Feat until I was at Bonnaroo this past summer and stopped by their show. It was unreal. The Allman Brothers were supposed to play, but had to cancel and were replaced with Widespread Panic (much to my dismay…love The Allman’s, but Widespread isn’t for me)
I did not like this list, how come every southern band have to be from at least 20 years ago?
With golden sunny days and thunderstorms and Spanish moss.
No Molly Hatchet?!?! Other than that awsome list man. Allman Brothers Band is amazing!
Kings of Leon should have definitelly been on here.
And Eddie, I was pretty depressed the Allman Brothers couldn’t come, but I disagree about Widespread, I think they turned out to be pretty good. Haha, but everything about Bonnaroo is unreal.
“I’ll wager none of us know a single person that couldn’t sing every bar of “Devil Went Down To Georgia”
That would be me. In fact I don’t know anyone who doesn’t loathe Charlie Daniels and Lynyrd Skynyrd. At least David Allen Coe is more honest about his racism. Speaking as a dye-in-the-wool New England Yankee, the bands that glorify the confederacy are dreadful. However, the Allman Brothers(if brosiusjb had ranked Lynyrd Skynyrd first I would have had to go all General Sherman on his ass) rule! So do ZZ Top, Little Feat, and of course CCR(not just a California band, a Berkeley, Ca band). Elvis seems a little out of place here. If you’re going that route, Jerry Lee Lewis would have been a savvier choice.
I’ll be sure to check out the North Mississippi All Stars. Another current Southern rock band that is reputed to be fantastic live is My Morning Jacket.