Posted on 03/30/2005 4:35:33 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Maybe it was during the Grammy Awards, when an all-star band jammed to this song onstage, reminding us of a time when you had to play an instrument to be considered a musician. Maybe it was when I was at P.J. Clarke's on State Street on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day, and green-clad revelers of all ages started dancing when the song came on the jukebox. I didn't see a man who danced with his wife, but I did see a girl who wasn't born when the song was released -- and she was singing along with every word, as if it had been her homecoming theme.
Maybe it was when I heard the song as the theme for a NASCAR video game.
Maybe it was when Hilary and Hailey Duff appeared at an event at the W Hotel City Center on Adams a couple of weeks ago, and the crowd went wild when DJ AM incorporated the song's famous opening riff into his mix.
Maybe it was when the song popped up during a screening of the upcoming Matthew McConaughey-Penelope Cruz movie "Sahara" -- just the latest of many, many, many films to use this tune on the soundtrack.
Maybe it was all those factors, building to a crescendo.
All I know is that somewhere along the way, it hit me.
"Sweet Home Alabama" is the greatest rock and roll song of all time.
Some Lynyrd Skynyrd purists will tell you that "Sweet Home Alabama" isn't even the greatest Skynyrd song of all time, that the honors should go to "Tuesday's Gone" or some lesser-known album cut. (But probably not the overrated "Freebird.") Still, no Lynyrd Skynyrd song, and few rock songs from any band, have cut such a wide and lasting swath through the popular culture, while somehow retaining power and freshness.
'Big wheels keep on turnin' '
When I hear the first notes of "Stairway to Heaven" or "Smoke on the Water," I lunge for the radio dial. Enough is enough. When I hear the first notes of "Sweet Home Alabama," well, I turn it up.
The opening guitar lick is one of the most recognizable and electrifying intros in the history of popular music, right up there with the first notes of "Ohio," "Layla," "Baba O'Reilly" and "Revolution."
The lead vocals are muscular and clear and unapologetic.
Everybody knows the first line: "Big wheels keep on turnin.' " Not everybody knows the second line ("Carry me home to see my kin"), but it doesn't matter, you can keep singing anyway and catch up with "And I think it's a sin, yeah."
The chorus is just about perfect. You cannot and should not resist singing along with it.
The guitar work is killer.
The chick-singer background work is heavenly.
The lyrics matter. Yes, they're a bit incendiary. The founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were from Florida, and they embraced the Confederate flag as a stage prop. "Sweet Home Alabama" was written in part as a response to Neil Young's "Southern Man," and it includes a line seemingly sympathetic to Gov. George Wallace. But Ronnie Van Zant and his bandmates in Skynyrd also recorded "The Ballad of Curtis Lowe," an important song that embraced black music and spoke of the young Van Zant's rebellion against institutional racism.
It's everywhere
Taken as a whole and in the context of the times, "Sweet Home Alabama" is not in any way a racist song. Neil Young understood that, and so did Jimmy Carter, a liberal who welcomed the band's support.
Enough with the defense. If I'm casting my vote for the song with the best message about tolerance and peace and love, I could come up with countless better selections, from "Turn! Turn! Turn!" by the Byrds to "What's Going On?" by Marvin Gaye.
But we're talking pure rock. And as piece of pure rock, "Sweet Home Alabama" kicks ass.
It's also a pop culture touchstone, more so now than 30 years ago. "Sweet Home Alabama" has been featured in "Forrest Gump," "The Girl Next Door" and "To Die For," among other films. Of course there's also the movie "Sweet Home Alabama," with a cover version from Jewel.
In "Con Air," when the inmates take over the plane and party to the sounds of "Alabama," Steve Buscemi's Garland Greene character makes the immortal observation: "Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash."
Then there's the scene in "8 Mile" when Eminem's B-Rabbit customizes the lyrics to reflect the sad state of his own life: "Cuz I live at home in a trailer/Mom I'm comin' home to you!"
Over the last five decades, there have been enough great rock and roll songs to make an iPod cry. Rolling Stone magazine recently listed its top 500, with Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" at the top. I could list 100 stronger contenders, from "Won't Get Fooled Again" to "Smells Like Teen Spirit" to "Hey Jude" to "November Rain" -- but none surpasses "Sweet Home Alabama."
Turn it up.
Jennifer Rush - Ring of Ice and The Power of Love
Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom and Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY I GOT LOVE IN MY TUMMY by the Eighteen Ten Fruitgum Company. Just gotta love inuendo.
If that's your criteria: Meatloaf, "Paradise by the Dashboad Lights" (not my choice of best, but better than Billy Ocean.)
I'm Haemorrhaging (in F#) by Cerebral Corps
I'm about half way through his biography "Shakey." I'm not sure he has matured much, either personally or politically. I am particularly disturbed by the fact that every other sentence contains the word "f**k" in the many interviews of him by the author. I am coming away with the distinct impression that Neil is not a very likeable fellow, though I enjoy much of his music.
By the way, many people may not know that his father, Scott Young, is a revered author in Canada and arguably more famous than Neil there.
I prefer "Stranglehold."
"Wango Tango."
I'm considering (time permitting) going through this whole thread and posting the music for those not familiar with it. It is for illustrative purposes only...and in no way condones the illegal downloading of music ;-)
Alabama Bump
Dude. We're talking Rock here, not lounge acts.
I saw GT in '82 when he was the start of a 3 band bill in San Diego.
George Thoroughgood and the Delaware Destroyers
J. Giles Band
The Rolling Stones
The concert went from flat out bitchin' to Whammer Jammin' to "they suck live".
GT&TDD played in the late afternoon and I was seated next to a bunch of Marines out of Camp Pendleton that were taking his drinking tunes for gospel. Every time a nice looking gal got within earshot, they would yell "Show your ****" and about a third of the time got their way.
'Don't Be Cruel'
Hey, I'm an old guy.
Best licks, IMHO:
"Gimme Shelter" - Stones
"Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" - Stones again
"Layla" - Derek and the Dominoes
"Won't Get Fooled Again" - Who, and my vote for all time best, most powerful Rock song, followed by "Behind Blue Eyes" from the same album (Who's Next)
Well dude....that's what picks me up when I'm feelin blue....Oh alright, anything from Led Zep's BBC recordings...
Don't forget "Funk 49" from the same album - a great riff.
I remember seeing the James Gang and 5-Man Electrical Band in one show in Chicago in 1971, at the Arie Crown Theater, I believe. Awesome show...
LOL! I've been making notes of oldies I'd forgotten, couldn't find, or had lost use of (on vinyl). Time to add some stuff to my playlist!
They say de gustibus non es disputatum but frankly the only dispute here is whether or not this is the stupidest sentence ever written.
George Thorogood song...
"Dog Eat Dog."
"Weekends" by Wet Willy.
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