''Southern Rock Opera'' is the third studio album by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...

, released in 2001. A double album covering an ambitious range of subject matter from the politics of race to 1970s stadium rock, ''Southern Rock Opera'' either imagines, or filters, every topic through the context of legendary Southern band Lynyrd Skynyrd. The record was originally self-released on Soul Dump Records. The album was re-released on July 16, 2002 by

Lost Highway Records Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nas ...

. The album was financed by issuing promissory notes in exchange for loans from fans, family and friends of the band. The album's artwork was done by Richmond, Virginia artist

Wes Freed Wes Freed (April 25, 1964 – September 4, 2022) was an American outsider artist. His works appeared on album covers of Lauren Hoffman and numerous American rock bands, including Cracker and the Drive-By Truckers. Early life Freed was ...

Origin and making of the album

The idea for ''Southern Rock Opera'' pre-dates the band's formation in 1996. ''Southern Rock Opera'' began in a long discussion between Drive-By Truckers' frontman

Patterson Hood Patterson David Hood (born March 24, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and co-founder of the band Drive-By Truckers. Early life Hood was born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the son of Jan Patterson Adams and David Hood, the longtime bassist ...

and former Truckers bassist and producer Earl Hicks, during a road trip. The pair discussed writing a semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

screenplay about growing up in the South and about the plane crash that almost ended the career of the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, taking singer

Ronnie Van Zant Ronald Wayne Van Zant (January 15, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known as the original lead vocalist, primary lyricist and a founding member of the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He is the older brother of current ...

, guitarist Steve Gaines, and Gaines' back-up-singer sister

Cassie Gaines Cassie LaRue Gaines (January 9, 1948 – October 20, 1977) was an American singer, best known for her work with Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Biography Gaines was invited by JoJo Billingsley and Ronnie Van Zant to join Lynyrd Skynyrd as a ...

. Soon after this discussion, Hood formed Drive-By Truckers. The Truckers recorded two studio albums and one live album during the four years between their formation and the actual recording of ''Southern Rock Opera''. During these years, Drive-By's principal songwriters Hood, Mike Cooley, and Rob Malone continued to contribute songs to "The Rock Opera", as they had come to call it. After the release of their live album '' Alabama Ass Whuppin''', Drive-By Truckers began recording what they hoped would be their

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

: ''Southern Rock Opera''. According to Patterson Hood, "(the album) was recorded in Birmingham, upstairs in a uniform shop during an early September heat wave, with no air-conditioning. We had to turn the fans off when we were recording, and we worked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. So ''Southern Rock Opera'' was fun to write, but we had a miserable time making it." After the album was finished, however, the troubles continued for The Truckers when they ran out of funding for the immense project. To resolve the problem, and to avoid "any fine print crap", as Hood put it, the band took a non-traditional approach. The Truckers made a prospectus and solicited investors, with a promise of 15% interest, to pay for the manufacturing and distribution of ''Southern Rock Opera''. The approach worked. Through their fan-based online news group and by sheer word of mouth, The Truckers were able to raise $23,000. This allowed them to print about 5,000 copies of the album, and buy a "new" used van for touring. Notably included in the group, dubbed "The DBT Investors", was

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJo" Hermann, and g ...

bassist and fellow

Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Dave Schools David Allen Schools (born December 11, 1964) is a bass player and founding member of American rock band Widespread Panic. He is also a record producer, songwriter and journalist with articles published in a wide variety of music magazines. Schoo ...

. ''Southern Rock Opera'' was finally released on September 12, 2001 on Soul Dump Records. One day after

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

Critical reception

The album was voted the 22nd best of the year in the Pazz & Jop music critic poll of 2002. The poll founder, Robert Christgau, named it his 23rd favorite album of 2001. '' Rhapsody (online music service)'' ranked the album #6 on its "Rock's Best Albums of the Decade" list. The album was also included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''.

Re-release

The critical praise for ''Southern Rock Opera'' created no shortage of buzz around the album and the band. The Truckers did not have the means to press the necessary number of copies of the album on their own. In order to meet demand, Drive-By Truckers signed a large-scale distribution deal with

. ''Southern Rock Opera'' was re-released, this time worldwide, on July 16, 2002.

Track listing

Disc one: Act one: Betamax Guillotine

Disc two: Act two

Personnel

Band

* Mike Cooley – lyrics, guitar, ambience, vocals *Earl Hicks – bass *

– lyrics, guitar, ambience, vocals, storytelling *Rob Malone – lyrics, guitar, ambience, vocals *Brad Morgan – drums

Guest performers

*Kelly Hogan – backing vocals on "Cassie's Brother" and "Angels And Fuselage" (as Cassie Gaines) *Anne Richmond Boston – 1st group vocal *Jyl Freed – 2nd group vocal *Amy Pike – 3rd group vocal

Crew

*David Barbe, Dick Cooper, Drive-By Truckers – production *Rodney Mills – mastering *Dick Cooper, Earl Hicks – engineering *Wes Freed, Patrick Hood – artwork, photography, cover art *Patterson, Lilla Hood – art direction, design, adaptation, liner notes

References

External links

Lyrics
* ttp://www.losthighwayrecords.com/home.html Lost Highway Records' official websitebr>Patterson Hood's MSN Music article on Lynyrd Skynyrd's 2006 Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame induction
{{Authority control 2001 albums Drive-By Truckers albums Rock operas