STEP TWO: BANK ON LOCALE

Back when I was still in school, music freaks were plentiful. As most of them were around at the cusp of the FM radio format , the music that was the biggest was guitar driven and blues based. And somehow, despite being in Southern California, there was some sort of weird attachment to Southern rock, specifically the Allman Brothers, the Charlie Daniels Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Marshall Tucker Band. (Is it any wonder I became a punk rock convert after seeing the Ramones?) Quite frankly, I've heard enough of all of those bands to last a lifetime. It wasn't just the records. Every goddamn party band seemed to include some of those bands in their set, and the most popular band, Hit 'n' Run, were known to cover the entire Allman Brothers' Live At Fillmore East LP. So, you'll excuse me if I'm not particular to muttonchops and confederate flags. When Lynyrd Skynyrd dissed Neil Young in "Sweet Home Alabama," they unknowingly drew the battle lines. Skynyrd or Neil? Textbook no-brainer there.

That all said, the best of that bunch was the Allman Brothers. So I was a bit curious when I happened on a song by Duane and Gregg Allman's first band, the ridiculously named Allman Joys. (Their name was originally the Escorts. Go figure. Sometimes you feel like a nut.) The song below bears no resemblance to their later band, otherwise I wouldn't be posting it. What it does sound like is one of the fourteen million garage bands of that era. Lacking the punch of the Music Machine, Count Five, and that lot, it went, as you can guess, nowhere. But it's nifty enough that it made the list here. An interesting side note is that the guy who discovered them and was the first to produce them, was J.D. Loudermilk, a name many of you will recognize as the guy who wrote "Tobacco Road," a hit for the Nashville Teens, and recorded by many, many others.

The other song down there is the Sir Douglas Quintet, doing a cover of Andre Williams's "Bacon Fat." That ought to excite about four of you. But i ran across it and it's as good a reason as any to hep you to Doug Sahm Month, going on at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban. Check it out for a bunch of his neat early non-hit stuff.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Allman Joys - I'm Sending You Back mp3 at M.Brown
Sir Douglas Quintet - Bacon Fat mp3 at Rock 'n' Soul Ichiban