DBT TRacks - Week #7 - Ronnie & Neil

[Clams]

Ronnie & Neil was the first DBT song to bowl me over. A true "holy shit" moment, as in "Wow, these guys really get it!" I had no idea that people still made rock songs like this. Part U.S. history lesson, part classic rock lesson. It's got all sorts of dualities running through it, and is arguably the centerpiece of SRO. I like it best with Days of Graduation as an intro. And live on stage, this one always takes the rock show up a level or two, or three.


Church blew up in Birmingham
Four little black girls killed for no goddamn good reason
All this hate and violence can't come to no good end
A stain on the good name.
A whole lot of good people dragged threw the blood and glass
Blood stains on their good names and all of us take the blame

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Wilson Pickett comes to town
To record that sweet soul music, to get that Muscle Shoals sound

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Aretha Franklin comes to town
To record that sweet soul music, to get that Muscle Shoals sound

And out in California, a rock star from Canada writes a couple of great songs about the
Bad shit that went down
"Southern Man" and "Alabama" certainly told some truth
But there were a lot of good folks down here and Neil Young wasn't around

Meanwhile in North Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd came to town
To record with Jimmy Johnson at Muscle Shoals Sound
And they met some real good people, not racist pieces of shit
And they wrote a song about it and that song became a hit

Ronnie and Neil Ronnie and Neil
Rock stars today ain't half as real
Speaking there minds on how they feel
Let them guitars blast for Ronnie and Neil

Now Ronnie and Neil became good friends their feud was just in song
Skynyrd was a bunch of Neil Young fans and Neil he loved that song
So He wrote "Powderfinger" for Skynyrd to record
But Ronnie ended up singing "Sweet Home Alabama" to the lord

And Neil helped carry Ronnie in his casket to the ground
And to my way of thinking, us southern men need both of them around

Ronnie and Neil Ronnie and Neil
Rock stars today ain't half as real
Speaking their minds on how they feel
Let them guitars blast for Ronnie and Neil

[never going back]

Absolutely fantastic song. I think the songs like this are the heart and soul of dbt.

[Tequila Cowboy]

The song is near perfection. For the most part my favorite DBT songs tell a real story with a real heart and this one has that in spades. Doesn't hurt that the song just fucking rocks either!

[PeterJ]

I do a music portion in my class every year, and I use Southern Man, Sweet Home Alabama, and Ronnie and Neil. When I asked them to tell me what they saw as they heard the song, one of my students said a bunch of guys in flannel shirts playing rock music in the woods.

This was the first official album I got, and blasted the shit outta this song when it came on for the first time.

[Smitty]

my favorite DBT cover

[beantownbubba]

Nice one Smitty! Starts off slow but comes 'round most excellently. Glad u seem to have tamed that mean ole virus.

Clams, what else is there to say about this one other than that it's great?

[Duke Silver]

I want the main riff to be the theme song that plays when I'm just out walking around.

[Swamp]

Ronnie & Neil was the first DBT song to bowl me over. A true "holy shit" moment, as in "Wow, these guys really get it!"

My thoughts exactly. I was still listening to Graduation Day as I read the lyrics to Ronnie &
Neil. I immediately hit the skip button. After hearing it, I ran in the den to looked up
their web site and they were playing the Freebird the next night. The rest as they
say.........

[Lurleen McQueen]

Okay, so I am a BIG Nerd, but my favorite part of Ronnie & Neil is listening in the car alone and hearing the opening notes and playing air guitar and air drums on the steering wheel and counting 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4 CUE COOLEY guitar slide - bangs head and does the windmill with her air guitar - fellow drivers in other cars staring and moving out of the way. Good times.

[Iowan]

The first time I really heard this song was when my buddies and I were in a total DBT immersion. After I bought ABAAC and we were totally blown away, my buddy picked up DD and SRO. We grabbed a case of Busch Light, and started cruising gravel roads, and just cranked the shit out of Southern Rock Opera. When they launched into Ronnie and Neil, it was insta-goosebumps.

[Clams]

Clams, what else is there to say about this one other than that it's great?

Well BTB, see below....

The first time I really heard this song was when my buddies and I were in a total DBT immersion. After I bought ABAAC and we were totally blown away, my buddy picked up DD and SRO. We grabbed a case of Busch Light, and started cruising gravel roads, and just cranked the shit out of Southern Rock Opera. When they launched into Ronnie and Neil, it was insta-goosebumps.

Okay, so I am a BIG Nerd, but my favorite part of Ronnie & Neil is listening in the car alone and hearing the opening notes and playing air guitar and air drums on the steering wheel and counting 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4 CUE COOLEY guitar slide - bangs head and does the windmill with her air guitar - fellow drivers in other cars staring and moving out of the way. Good times.

Ronnie & Neil was the first DBT song to bowl me over. A true "holy shit" moment, as in "Wow, these guys really get it!"

My thoughts exactly. I was still listening to Graduation Day as I read the lyrics to Ronnie &
Neil. I immediately hit the skip button. After hearing it, I ran in the den to looked up
their web site and they were playing the Freebird the next night. The rest as they
say.........

I want the main riff to be the theme song that plays when I'm just out walking around.

my favorite part of the song is when it drops out to just EZB on the kick drum during "Sweet Home Alabama to the lord!" That simple kick drum evokes a lot of what we know about southern rock somehow

I do a music portion in my class every year, and I use Southern Man, Sweet Home Alabama, and Ronnie and Neil. When I asked them to tell me what they saw as they heard the song, one of my students said a bunch of guys in flannel shirts playing rock music in the woods.

I love reading shit like that!

[Clams]

Lots of good Neil/Ronnie stuff here, including some DBT references...

http://thrasherswheat.org/jammin/lynyrd.htm

[RevMatt]

One night last fall I picked up my fourteen year old son from his mother's house. When he got in the car I slipped Second Helping into the cd player.

"I don't like Lynyrd Skynyrd anymore," my son said. I was a concerned. This was a kid who asked for an electric guitar three years earlier just so he could learn "Sweet Home Alabama."

"Why not?"

"They're racist. 'Sweet Home Alabama' is a song defending racism."

"Who told you that?"

"My history teacher. He saw my Skynyrd shirt and told me they were racist."

"That's not true. In fact, 'Sweet Home Alabama' is the opposite."

I started telling my son how Lynyrd Skynyrd went to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the early days of the band to record some demos. That the band expected the people in Alabama to be racist but it turned out that white and black musicians had been working together at Fame Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios since 1959. That was what inspired them to write "Sweet Home Alabama. As I rambled on, I could see that my son was tuning me out. I reached over and grabbed a cd.

"Here, you've got to listen to this album. It is called Southern Rock Opera by Drive By Truckers. This album tells the whole story. One of the guitarists and singers is Patterson Hood. His Dad played bass in The Swampers, the band mentioned in the fourth verse of "Sweet Home Alabama."

My son borrowed the cd for a couple of weeks and started listening to Skynyrd again. A few months later he told me how he showed up his history teacher.

"How's that?" I asked.

"He didn't believe me when I told him that in 1982 George Wallace got over 90% of the black vote. I told him to look it up. He did. He told the whole class that I was right."

[Steve French]

Okay, so I am a BIG Nerd, but my favorite part of Ronnie & Neil is listening in the car alone and hearing the opening notes and playing air guitar and air drums on the steering wheel and counting 1-2-3-4, 2-2-3-4, 3-2-3-4 CUE COOLEY guitar slide - bangs head and does the windmill with her air guitar - fellow drivers in other cars staring and moving out of the way. Good times.

one of the reasons I love commuting by car. there is a screen of invisibility. No other driver or motorist can see you. So you can sing as loud as you want, play air drums and guitar and no one will ever know.

that's right, right?

otherwise it might be a trifle embarrassing....

[beantownbubba]

Yeah, Clams, i got it. I'm slow, but i'm stupid.

Love that story, rev. matt.

[Nobody Girl]

my favorite part of the song is when it drops out to just EZB on the kick drum during "Sweet Home Alabama to the lord!"

Yes, yes, yes!

[Nobody Girl]

I want the main riff to be the theme song that plays when I'm just out walking around.

It would be awesome if everyone had their own personal theme music.

[Swamp]

According to Terry Jaymes of the Lex & Terry radio show, all southerners are racist.

[Penny Lane]

One night last fall I picked up my fourteen year old son from his mother's house. When he got in the car I slipped Second Helping into the cd player.

"I don't like Lynyrd Skynyrd anymore," my son said. I was a concerned. This was a kid who asked for an electric guitar three years earlier just so he could learn "Sweet Home Alabama."

"Why not?"

"They're racist. 'Sweet Home Alabama' is a song defending racism."

"Who told you that?"

"My history teacher. He saw my Skynyrd shirt and told me they were racist."

"That's not true. In fact, 'Sweet Home Alabama' is the opposite."

I started telling my son how Lynyrd Skynyrd went to Muscle Shoals, Alabama in the early days of the band to record some demos. That the band expected the people in Alabama to be racist but it turned out that white and black musicians had been working together at Fame Studios and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios since 1959. That was what inspired them to write "Sweet Home Alabama. As I rambled on, I could see that my son was tuning me out. I reached over and grabbed a cd.

"Here, you've got to listen to this album. It is called Southern Rock Opera by Drive By Truckers. This album tells the whole story. One of the guitarists and singers is Patterson Hood. His Dad played bass in The Swampers, the band mentioned in the fourth verse of "Sweet Home Alabama."

My son borrowed the cd for a couple of weeks and started listening to Skynyrd again. A few months later he told me how he showed up his history teacher.

"How's that?" I asked.

"He didn't believe me when I told him that in 1982 George Wallace got over 90% of the black vote. I told him to look it up. He did. He told the whole class that I was right."

great story, Matt...

luv this thread, luv that song....picturing lurleen air guitaring now.

[Jeremy]

This song should be played live at everyone of there shows. Just lets you know that SRO is going to be a different type of album.

[RevMatt]

According to Terry Jaymes of the Lex & Terry radio show, all southerners are racist.

The truth is, the northern industrial cities have been very racist, so much so that since 1980 many African Americans have moved to places like Atlanta or Charlotte to escape racism. Read your history, starting with the draft riots in NYC during the Civil War. As Patterson says, "Racism is a worldwide problem and it's not just black and white, but thanks to George Wallace it is always a little more convenient to play it with a Southern accent."

[helmespc]

This song should be played live at everyone of there shows. Just lets you know that SRO is going to be a different type of album.

Maybe not every show.... but I've been to many shows in the past 6 years and not seen them play it since the first time I saw them back in 05.

[Jeremy]

This song should be played live at everyone of there shows. Just lets you know that SRO is going to be a different type of album.

Maybe not every show.... but I've been to many shows in the past 6 years and not seen them play it since the first time I saw them back in 05.

Well, yeah not everyone,but for the person who is seeing a show for the first time I would want them to hear it,lol, but I have seen it a ton live and is def one song I never get tired of hearing.

[one belt loop]

I would totally vote for Lurleen in an air guitar competition.

[4sooner]

Great call on this one clams.
The first DBT song I ever heard was Gravity's Gone on Sirius Outlaw Country. ABAAC had just come out so Best Buy in OKC actually had it in stock. Liked the album and thought it would be worth it to pay close attention to the radio to see if these guys had anything else worth listening to. A month or so later OC played Ronnie & Neil while I was sitting here at my computer at work.
I stopped what I was doing, went to Amazon and ordered the entire catalogue.

[Son of Swamp]

this song is obviously about heroin.

[kendix]

According to Terry Jaymes of the Lex & Terry radio show, all southerners are racist.

The truth is, the northern industrial cities have been very racist, so much so that since 1980 many African Americans have moved to places like Atlanta or Charlotte to escape racism. Read your history, starting with the draft riots in NYC during the Civil War. As Patterson says, "Racism is a worldwide problem and it's not just black and white, but thanks to George Wallace it is always a little more convenient to play it with a Southern accent."

Definitely. I live in the Oakland and I don't think many places are more subtly racist than the Bay Area--a so-called liberal stronghold. They talk nonstop about how important it is to implement government policy to fix racism and never say or think anything racist, but most are deathly afraid to step foot into any neighborhood where non-white people live. Friends who come to Oakland from SF for the first time can't believe we have things like coffee shops and restaurants and don't have to wear bulletproof vests when leaving the house.

The first time I really heard this song was when my buddies and I were in a total DBT immersion. After I bought ABAAC and we were totally blown away, my buddy picked up DD and SRO. We grabbed a case of Busch Light, and started cruising gravel roads, and just cranked the shit out of Southern Rock Opera. When they launched into Ronnie and Neil, it was insta-goosebumps.

I can't put into words how much I identify with that story.

[The Lynx]

Ive sat in my car in 100 degree weather just to finish the entire Southern rock opera in one sitting... and then listen to ronnie and neil 'one more time'.

[Fool No Where]

The 7/23 Shoals Theater version may be the best R & N I've ever seen (opposite of stealth bragging). Played immediately after Buttholeville, Patterson introduced it as a peace offering to the dear sweet Jimmy Johnson.

[Mrs Swamp]