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Drive-By Truckers
Sweet home Alabama.
Anyone who'd do a concept album using Lynyrd Skynyrd as a metaphor for the rise and fall of Southern culture in the '70s has some deep roots. Cooley, Hood and Tucker hail from Northern Alabama, The Shoals region, as in Muscle Shoals. Hood, the son of Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section bassist David Hood and Cooley, whose grand-dad was legendary Western Swing fiddler, Spade Cooley, certainly have the pedigree.
Drive-By Trucker's three guitar line-up and songs about down-and-outers earned them a following shortly after Cooley and Hood began playing together in '96. Two year's later, they issued "Gangstabilly" ('98) followed by "Pizza Deliverance" ('99). A nationwide tour resulted in '00's "Alabama Ass-Whuppin'." The live set was re-release by Terminus Records in '02.
"Southern Rock Opera," using Skynyrd as a touchstone, earned the band good reviews and national press - including Rolling Stone magazine. But it always seems just when things start moving somebody throws sawdust under the sled. Guitarist Rob Malone left, replaced for a good long time (five years), by Jason Isbell.
'03's "Decoration Day" dealt with people who were faced with tough times and hard decisions. Earl Hicks, the band's bassist also made a difficult choice when he too left the group before the end of '03. Studio bassist Shonna Tucker, then Isbell's wife, stepped in.
The next year "The Dirty South" was released. The album referenced a number of uniquely Southern themes, people and places, including Sam Phillips and Sun Records ("Carl Perkins' Cadillac"). Touring took most of the band's time and energies through '05 with their seventh release "A Blessing And A Curse" landing in early '06. The album marked a move from Southern Rock to a more straight-ahead sound. Also, John Neff, who had played off and on with the band since '98 was installed as an "unofficial" sixth member. It proved to be a timely addition. In the spring of '07 Isbell announced he was leaving and the split was termed "amicable." As a result, Neff became a full-time member.
"Brighter Than Creation's Dark" arrived in early '08. The album took its title from a line in Cooley's song "Checkout Time In Vegas."
Drive-By Truckers issued their second live album, "Live From Austin TX" the following year. Then came "The Fine Print: A Collection Of Oddities and Rarities," which was just that and b-sides recorded during the "Decoration Day" and "Dirty South" sessions.
Having cleared the decks, the band went back to recording original material. For people into numbers, the '10 release "The Big To-Do," was the group's tenth album. There were also 10 letters in the title.
During "The Big To-Do" sessions the band also laid down tracks for what eventually became '11's R&B leaning "Go-Go Boots" album.
After an intense creative period, the Drive-By Truckers fell back on their catalog issuing "Ugly Buildings, Whores, and Politicians: Greatest Hits 1998-2009" later in the year.
Studio Albums:
1998 Gangstabilly (re-released in 2005)
1999 Pizza Deliverance (re-released in 2005)
2001 Southern Rock Opera (re-released in 2002)
2003 Decoration Day
2004 The Dirty South
2006 A Blessing And A Curse
2008 Brighter Than Creation's Dark
2010 The Big To-Do (highest charting album -#22 US)
2011 Go-Go Boots
Live Albums:
Alabama Ass Whuppin' (2000)
Live From Austin, TX (2009)
Collections:
The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities (2009)
Ugly Buildings, Whores, and Politicians: Greatest Hits 1998-2009 (2011)
Drive-By Trucker's hard-scrabble Alt. Country is an acquired taste. If spoken-word tales of woe backed by jagged guitars is of interest then check out the early albums.
"The Dirty South" marks both a sonic and stylistic change toward a more mainstream Rock sound. "A Blessing And A Curse" completes the transformation with touches of Neil Young (the title track), Tom Petty ("Daylight") and even the Faces ("Aftermath USA). It stands as their best album.
"Brighter Than Creation's Dark" keeps much of "A Blessing And A Curse's" best traits while adding traditional Country elements. "Perfect Timing" could have been done by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a steel pedal guitar drives "Lisa's Birthday." "Two Daughters And A Beautiful Wife" and "That Man I Shot" acknowledges two sides of Neil Young, the balladeer and the Grunge Rocker. A couple cuts, "Daddy Needs A Drink" and "The Home Front" land on the Eagles turf. But Drive-By Truckers step into their own on the great fuzz Rocker "3 Times Down," the ballad "I'm Sorry Huston" and "Home Field Advantage," the latter two with vocals by Tucker.
Some band's have a killer track that their album hangs on or they record a song with the idea it'll be a single. The rest of the set is a disappointment. Despite the title, "The Big To-Do" goes in a different direction. Rather than reach for a dazzling hook or catchy riff, dark themes are countered by buoyant melodies - it would be too depressing otherwise. "Drag The Lake Charlie" talks of a rogue who has drowned/permanently disappeared (hopefully) and "This F***ing Job," well, the title says it.
There's a touch of late-70's Fleetwood Mac on "(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So" but the Drive-By Truckers stay near their Alt. Country core employing boogie ("Get Downtown") and Gospel ("You Got Another") tinges. Here, the whole is greater than the sum of the impressive parts.
"Go-Go Boots" opens with a Byrds-influenced track that seems to have dropped directly from the era when Go-Go boots were first popular. Then "I Do Believe" sounds like Tom Petty channeling the Byrds. But Country Rock gives way to the rural route especially on "Cartoon Gold," a Waylon Jennings inspired track, "The Weakest Man" and "Pulaski." The R&B material is usually on a slow simmer, as opposed to punchy and driving, with lyrical twists - "Used to party till I coughed up a lung" (from "Used To Be A Cop").