Saturday, August 27, 2011

Blackberry Smoke - Son Of A Bourbon

What's not to like about a woman who can drink whiskey without making a face?  Or a song about it?

What we used to call "Southern Rock" is alive and well, with guitars, long hair, and beards.  Bands like Blackberry Smoke are carrying the torch onward.

The attraction of the music (other than simply great music from bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd) was that it had an honesty, a return to the roots of working man's music.  The band writes about this, hilariously:
At a certain point, Southern Rock as it was perceived in the ’70s was alternately tarted up in slutty make-up by Rock or blow-dried and sanitized by Country, neither of which did much to effectively or appropriately expand the genre’s range. Blackberry Smoke may be too young to remember firsthand the visceral bite of early Lynyrd Skynyrd, the moody excellence of the Marshall Tucker Band and the gritty Blues of the first three ZZ Top albums, but they do a pretty decent job of channeling the era without slipping into faceless arena Country Pop that shares little with Southern Rock outside of a decibel level.
Awesome.  Keep on rockin' guys!




Son Of A Bourbon (songwriters: ??)
My mama drank scotch whiskey
and my daddy drank Jim Beam
I was concieved
just outside of New Orleans
told my ma he loved her
while ole Elvin Bishop played
daddy’d be the worst mistake
my mama ever made

I’m a son of the bourbon I’m a son of a bitch
I’m the dying breed of rock and roll
left ass up in a ditch
I’ve been up against the law
I’ve served some time in jail
I’ve been known for gettin’ stoned
and I’ve raised my share of hell

They went back to Alabama
one cold October day
soon as I was born
my daddy up and ran away
we got by on gettin’ by
we’d live from week to week
as long as I’ve got two good hands
I’ll work to earn my keep

I’m a son of the bourbon
I’m a son of a bitch
I’m the dying breed of rock and roll
left ass up in a ditch
I’ve been up against the law
I’ve served some time in jail
I’ve been known for gettin’ stoned
and I’ve raised my share of hell

My mama drank scotch whiskey
and my daddy drank Jim Beam
I was concieved
just outside of New Orleans
when my life is over
and my time has come to pass
bury me upside down
so the world can kiss my ass

(image source)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks..Good stuff and "Southern Rock" is at the top of my all time list.
The best concerts I ever went to were..
Lynyrd Skynyrd: before the plane went down.
Charlie Daniels..
Marshall Tucker...
The Outlaws..
Baby (a Texas Group back in the '70s)
And finally
Black Oak Arkansas.....

Phil said...

I have to agree.
It's nice to see the genre still kickin' but I don't think you will beat this;

http://youtu.be/sHQ_aTjXObs.

Let's not forget the Allman Brothers either.

Tam said...

The Georgia Satellites?

The Dixie Dregs?

Where have these reviewers been? Have any of them set foot outside NYC or LA in the last 20 years other than to change planes in Nashville?