Gold & Platinum (1979)
I originally dismissed (or more accurately, ignored) this band because I was SO SO SO sick of hearing “Free Bird”. But that’s as unfair as dismissing Led Zep because you think “Stairway” is overplayed. Of course it is, but there’s plenty of other music worth playing. Not the band’s fault that radio stations don’t understand this the way their fans do. So I listened to these songs, and came to the conclusion that in their brief career these Proud-to-be-Southerners pulled off quite a neat trick: They showed the difference between being a Redneck and a Proud Southerner. Intelligent, angry, faithful, and Pro-Humanity. And they weren’t afraid to take on Neil Young’s swipe at Southerners, either. Amen.
(“Gimme Back My Bullets”, “Simple Man”, “Saturday Night Special”)
Grade: A