|
RockinTrivia Test your knowledge |
RockinForum Add your comments |
|
|||||||||||
| |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
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 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 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 songs, "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.