WHO KNEW?

Jerry Reed isn't a name that you'd normally associate with rockabilly. Plenty of country artists had rockabilly phases early in their career, and he did do "Amos Moses," a great swamp rock song with some fine chicken pickin'. But he followed that up with roles in crappy movie after crappy movie, including co-starring roles in not one, but three, count 'em three, Smokey and the Bandit movies. Yee gawd. That may be the reason it never occurred to me to look at his early career. But rock he did, at least on one record.  

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

Listen:
Jerry Reed - When I Found You mp3 at ATumblr (?)
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses mp3 at The Walrus

THE GATOR'S GOT YOUR GRANNY

A friend of mine posted a video of Tony Joe White doing "Polk Salad Annie" a couple days ago, and I've been on a swamp rock thing since. It reminded me again how lucky I was to have been exposed to AM radio. This sucker was a hit in 1969, as was Creedence's "Green River", and a year or so later, Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses". It would seem that it was the era that swamp broke, but those were but three. Not quite the critical mass. But you know what? If it wasn't for the limited musical outlets back then, I may never have heard it. Record companies and radio stations wouldn't have pulled out all the stops to cram everything into one radio format, So, now, if you want to bail and go listen to the same stuff you always listen to, you go on right ahead. I'll be over hear, listening to Mr. Laid Back Badass and his swamp buddies.

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

Listen:
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie mp3 at AM Then FM
Tony Joe White - Roosevelt and Ira Lee mp3 at Boogie Woogie Flu
Dale Hawkins - Susie Q mp3 at Rocky52.net
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses mp3 at The Walrus
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle mp3 at 8106
Blue Ridge Rangers - Working on a Building mp3 at Dr. Mooneys 115th Dream
Southern Culture on the Skids - Tobacco Road mp3 at BillyChic.com

HERE COME AMOS!

The best that I can figure, there are a few swamp rock commonalities. Used in varying degrees, these would include a Southern drawl, fringe leather anything, sideburns, a laid back pace, and swamp or Southern imagery. These aren't all present in all swamp rock artists, or at all times, but they do pop up pretty frequently. The one thing that really is essential is that guitar; there's something about it, the tone, the reverb, or the picking. It sounds kinda damp. All of the songs below have some variation of that, though I'm not sure all would be classified as straight up swamp rock. But these are the artists that came to mind when I heard Roy Head's "Treat Her Right" today.

The bonanza here, at least for Southern Culture on the Skids fiends, is over thirty of their live sets available at the Internet Archive. I'm not a fiend, but if I was, I'd be digging it. My own preference for Southern Culture On The Skids, is to hear them serendipitously, and like them from afar, until I run out of things to dig into. They can get on that list right behind Tony Joe White.

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

Listen:
Dale Hawkins - Susie Q mp3 at Rocky52.net
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie mp3 at Funky 16 Corners
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses mp3 at The Walrus
Roy Head & the Traits - Treat Her Right mp3 at Friday Night in Athens
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Run Through the Jungle mp3 at 8106
Blue Ridge Rangers - Working on a Building mp3 at Dr. Mooneys 115th Dream
Southern Culture on the Skids - Tobacco Road mp3 at BillyChic.com
Southern Culture on the Skids - Too Much Pork For Just One mp3 at PublicCollectors
Live sets by Southern Culture on the Skids:
Southern Culture on the Skids - Live at the Berkeley Cafe 2009 at the Internet Archive
(NOTE: 38 songs, scroll to bottom for individual mp3s or single zip)
Southern Culture on the Skids - Over thirty additional live sets at Internet Archive
Southern Culture on the Skids official site
Watch:
Tony Joe White - Polk Salad Annie video at YouTube
Jerry Reed - Amos Moses video at YouTube
Southern Culture On The Skids - Camel Walk video at YouTube