Songs of the South: Alabama

Alabama is filled with southern hospitality, great food, beautiful pine forests and more contradictions than the Old Testament. The state hosted the first capital of the Confederacy in Montgomery and provided it with over 120,000 troops, virtually the entire white male population of fighting age. Even today, Alabama is known as the Heart of Dixie and honors its Civil War dead with its state bird, the Yellowhammer. They make rockets, satellites and lasers there, yet more than 50% of the state is rural and agriculture is its largest industry. It's a state filled with contradictions, but that just adds to our fascination with it, and that carries over into our love for their music.

- Eating fried green tomatoes will help you develop that slow-cadence, Alabama coast drawl.

Alabama is also noted for its contributions to blues, country, rock, bluegrass and jazz. But before we get to those topics, let's look at songs about the state itself.

Songs About Alabama
On the Thursday evening of December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks got on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama to go home from her job at the Montgomery Fair department store. During her trip home, she refused to follow the bus driver's instruction to give up her seat to a white passenger. While her's wasn't the first act of defiance to Jim Crow laws, it became a seminal event in the U.S. Civil Rights movement. Some in the state tried to fight it, but segregation was finally defeated with the passage of the U.S. Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968.

- There were several Selma to Montgomery marches, and collectively they were the largest long distance marches of the civil rights movement.

Many artists wrote songs in support of civil rights for all, but Neil Young struck a nerve with two songs: "Southern Man" in 1970 and "Alabama" in 1972. Lynyrd Skynyrd responded with "Sweet Home Alabama", which extolled the many virtues of the state. While that song didn't defend segregation, it did seem to offer quiet resignation to it with its comment about the attitudes of its then governor, George Wallace. "Sweet Home Alabama" is almost a state anthem now, and it's both loved and hated because of its own characterizations of the state. Most people have never even heard the other response song by Randy Newman, "Rednecks". That song turns those liberal-elitist views back on themselves.

Aside from politics, there are many other kinds of songs about Alabama; there are, perhaps, more songs about this state than any other. In these songs too, you'll hear the many sides of Alabama. Jason Isbell sings about loss in "Alabama Pines", and The Eagles tell a similar story in "Seven Bridges Road". Ram Jam sings the Lead Belly song "Black Betty" that could be about love for any number of subjects, while the band Alabama makes it clear they love the state itself in "My Home's In Alabama". Randy Newman sings of his love for the state in "Birmingham", and Jimmy Buffett shows his love for Mobile (and his favorite bar) in "Bama Breeze". Finally, John Prine sings a sad song about wasted love in "Angel from Montgomery".

Country Music
There is no one more revered in Alabama than Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. With 323 wins, thirteen conference championships and six national championships, he retired in 1982 and died the next year.

- Paul "Bear" Bryant (11 September 1913 - 26 January 1983)

Alabaman Carter Hamrick shows that love for Bryant and Alabama football in "Roll Tide Roll". Although he's a Louisianan, Trace Adkins shows it in "Ala-Freekin'-Bama".

But Alabama offers so much more than football, like heartache for example. Hank Williams Sr, from Mount Olive gives us lessons with "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". "(I Hear That) Lonesome Whistle", and he does his best Jimmie Rogers yodel in "Lovesick Blues". In that same time frame, the Delmore Brothers, from Elkmont did "Blues Stay Away from Me". Emmylou Harris, from Birmingham reaches way back to show us another kind of heartache in "Didn't Leave Nothin' But the Baby", and then in a much newer song, the bittersweet "Red Dirt Girl". The Band Perry, from Mobile explains what it's like to realize you've made your move too soon in "Postcard from Paris", and yet another kind of heartache in "If I Die Young". But The Band (who are from Canada) wrote and recorded what may be the ultimate southern heartache song with "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

The other side of heartache is contentment, and Little Big Town from Homewood shows us that in a play on words song, "Sober", then comes back with another in "Girl Crush". Shelby Lynne from Mobile give us another wordplay love song with "Killin' Kind", but Sonny James from Hackleburg gives us one that's simple and sweet with "I'll Never Find Another You". Finally, the band Alabama, from Ft. Payne shows us what love of country music is in "Mountain Music" and what love for home is in "Song of the South".

Southern Rock
Muscle Shoals Sound Studio is in Sheffield, in the northwest corner of the state and it's one of the most famous (and most prolific) music studios in history. The list of artists who recorded there is impressive and widely varied, and includes Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, The Staple Singers, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Elton John, Boz Scaggs, Willie Nelson, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Dr. Hook and Glenn Frey. Founded by a group of musicians called the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (The Swampers), their work with Aretha Franklin in 1967 elevated her from soul singer to superstar with "I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)". The stories of magical recording sessions go on and on, from the Rolling Stones "Wild Horses", to Paul Simon's "Loves Me Like a Rock", and from Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Give Me Three Steps" to Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody".

- The first "Muscle Shoals Sound" music studio crew

One of the most famous southern rock bands was Wet Willie, from Mobile, and they show you why with "Shout Bama Lama", "Keep On Smilin'" and "Dixie Rock". The Drive-By Truckers, from Alabama and Georgia give you the other side of that southern duality in "The Three Great Alabama Icons". Wilson Pickett, from Prattville, rocks out with "Mustang Sally" and "In the Midnight Hour".

Gospel and Soul
The Blind Boys of Alabama, from Talladega have been performing gospel music since WW2, and their popularity continues to grow with songs like "Way Down in the Hole" and "I'll Find A Way (To Carry it All)". Alabama Shakes, from Athens brings new life to soul music with "Hold On" and "Shoegaze". St. Paul and the Broken Bones, from Birmingham adds to that with "Broken Bones and Pocket Change", while Anderson East, from Athens shows southern soul with "Devil in Me" and "Learning". Martha Reeves, from Eufaula shows us where soul came from with "Dancing in the Street" and "Nowhere to Run", while Percy Sledge, from Leighton hits home with "When a Man Loves a Woman". Finally, Lionel Richie (from Tuskegee) and the Commodores close this set with the funky "Brick House".

Folk and Bluegrass

- Fried chicken dinner with trimmings - it's stick to your ribs goodness.

For some, bluegrass music will always be popular, and Act of Congress, from Birmingham show us why with "Five Minutes of Fame". Emmylou Harris, from Birmingham performs Gold Watch and Chain", while the Valley Road Bluegrass Band, from Calhoun county give a bluegrass twist to an old Oakridge Boys song, "They Baptized Jesse Taylor". Finally, the Foggy Hollow band from Webster's Chapel plays a traditional tune from the turn of the 20th century, "Lonesome Pines".

Blues and Jazz
Dinah Washington, from Tuscaloosa was famous for her vocals in R&B and jazz music, and it shows here in her song, "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes". Another female artist from Alabama is Big Mama Thornton, from Ariton. She's legendary in blues music, and she shows why with songs like "Hound Dog" and "Ball and Chain". Some say W.C. Handy, from Florence is the father of the blues, and you can see why with his 1919 song, "Yellow Dog Blues" and his 1914 song, "St. Louis Blues".

Alabama Artists:
Here's a list of some of the most famous musicians from Alabama. Each artist is listed with one - three songs to give you a sampler of their music. The list is long, but not comprehensive. Think of it as a primer. You can find a complete list of the members of the Alabama Musician's Hall of fame right here.

Alabama (band), country
"Mountain Music", "Song of the South", "The Closer You Get"

Alabama Shakes (band), soul, blues rock and southern rock
"Hold On", "Always Alright", "Shoegaze"

Ernest Ashworth, country singer
"Talk Back Trembling Lips", "I Take the Chance"

Blind Boys of Alabama, gospel singers
"I'll Find a Way (To Carry it All)", "Way Down in the Hole",
"Spirit in the Sky"

Nat King Cole, jazz pianist and pop singer
"Unforgettable", "Straighten Up and Fly Right", "Route 66"

Delmore Brothers, country duo
"Freight Train Boogie", "Blues Stay Away From Me"

W.C. Handy, blues composer and musician
"St. Louis Blues", "Yellow Dog Blues"

Emmylou Harris, country singer
"Boulder to Birmingham", "Two More Bottles of Wine"
"Ballad of a Runaway Horse"

Sonny James, country singer
"I'll Never Find Another You", "Abiline"

Chuck Leavell (Allman Brothers band), rock pianist
"Whipping Post", "Ramblin' Man""Every Hungry Woman"

Wilson Pickett, motown and soul singer
"Land of 1,000 Dances", "Midnight Hour", "Mustang Sally"

Martha Reeves (Martha & The Vandellas), motown and soul
"Dancing in the Street", "Nowhere to Run", "Heat Wave"

Lionel Richie (The Commodores), soul & funk
"Three Times a Lady", "Brick House", "Easy"

Tommy Shaw (Styx band), rock guitarist and singer
"Too Much Time on My Hands", "Come Sail Away",
"Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)"

Percy Sledge, soul singer
"When a Man Loves a Woman", "Dark End of the Street"

Dinah Washington, jazz and blues singer
"What a Diff'rence a Day Makes", "Am I Blue?"

Hank Williams Sr, country singer
"Alabama Waltz", "Your Cheatin' Heart", "Howlin' at the Moon"

Tammy Wynette, country singer
"Stand by Your Man", "I Don't Want to Play House",
"(We're Not)The Jet Set"

- And for dessert, your choice of buttermilk or black bottom pie.

Featured song for this page: Chubby Wise plays the
"Lee Highway Blues"