“Southern” Rockstars You Didn’t Know Aren’t Really From The South

“Southern” Rockstars You Didn’t Know Aren’t Really From The South | I Love Classic Rock Videos

via Creedence Clearwater Revival / Youtube

Southern rock became a genre that rose in the late 60s to early 70s. It immediately becomes a hit, bringing a different flavor to the table. Soon, being from the South was seen as a positive quality in rock and roll, and bands as far afield as Canada and California were influenced by the sound of the American South. Bands with no ties to the South started making music that sounded so much like a southern rock that you would mistake them for natives. Thanks to the bands presented below, we don’t have to live in the South in order to love the South.

 

The Youngbloods

High on a Ridgetop, the Youngbloods’ final studio album, gave them a standard footing in the southern rock genre. The band gave it their all, spicing up the arrangements with mandolin twang, slide guitar muck, and horns that roared.

Little Feat

Little Feat leader Lowell George became enamored with the New Orleans sound when the band was on tour, prompting him to request an album consisting of Southern-fried funk, which eventually led to the recording of Dixie Chicken (1973). It was sensuous, and soon, the band would find their sound.

The Band

The Canadian-American roots rock band perfectly combined elements of traditional country music with those of early rock, as well as those of jazz, R&B, and Americana.

Canned Heat

The second studio album released by Canned Heat, titled Boogie with Canned Heat, has laid-back boogies that blend with hypnotic driving rhythms and down-home country blues. After finding fame in the late 1960s with Southern-influenced musical stylings, L.A., blues rockers never deviated from the sound that made them famous.

The Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers, also from the Bay Area, were another touring band captivated by the music of New Orleans. Infusing songs like “Black Water” with vitality, the Doobie Brothers’ signature deep Delta sound was essential in their success.

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival, a band from California, epitomized the style of Southern rock known as swamp music. The band was never from the south but their music wonderfully captured the sounds, rhythms, and symbols of the region.