- “Southern Man,” Neil Young
- “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd
- “Ronnie and Neil,” Drive-by Truckers
Here’s the short version of the story behind these songs. Back in the day, Neil Young saw all the clips of some really horrific things happening in Alabama (most these things were also happening all over the country, but it’s easier to demonize the South for racial problems. In the grand scheme/sham of news stories, that’s the South’s preconceived backstory/character. I could go on for hours about revisionist history that demonizes the South in order to alleviate blame and guilt among the rest of the country that did the exact same shit, but tried to stop it about 3 weeks sooner, but that’s an entire book, not a quick blog post), anyway, Neil he wrote a couple of great songs about it: “Southern Man” and “Alabama.” They’re both amazing songs and said things that needed to be said.
Then, Lynyryd Skynyrd went to Muscle Shoals, Alabama and recorded an album. You may not know it, but Muscle Shoals has produced some of the best R&B and Soul music in America. Little Richard, Wilson Picket, Clarence Carter, Aretha Franklin, and tons more legendary musicians recorded their with the house band. Everyone wanted to a piece of the Muscle Shoals Sound.
When Skynyrd was in town recording, Ronnie Van Zandt was blown away by how different the images you saw on the evening news were from what he saw. He saw a bunch of black and white musicians playing together, loving each other, and making beautiful music. That never made the news, so he wrote “Sweet Home Alabama” to show the other side of the story.
Flash forward 30 some odd years, and Patterson Hood wrote a song about the things I just typed, and addressed the supposed feud between Ronnie and Neal. That song is “Ronnie and Neil” and it’ll rock your fucking cock off while giving you a history lesson. It’s on Southern Rock Opera, which is mandatory ownership for any rock fan.
