Guest Book

This will be a long rambling post and is just my little bit on the ABB/LS business. If they think it will draw a crowd and make money bless 'em. If one can remember back to the late 60's early 70's, concert bills were usually diverse so bands could expose their music to the fans of other acts. Think about 6/27/71 at the Fillmore. The Beach Boys of all people were on the bill with the ABB, Albert King and others. While we think everyone is in love with "our guys" the concert grosses of the last few years indicate the band needs to both expand the fan base (Los Lonely Boys, Galactic, Karl Dnson, Chris Robinson are classic examples) and reconnect with any previous fans who might have loved the ABB and somebody else, i.e. LS. Makes perfect sense to me. Secondly, if you weren't living in the south in the early 70's it's hard to realize how much both of the bands spoke to Southern culture. The ABB was the band of the "New South", Jimmy Carter, progressive politics and social mores, and a real connection to a larger world. They were a symbol of a new urban/suburban south. Having arguably the best band in the world being from the south was a symbol that we were full participants in the new culture that America seemed to be birthing. We didn't have to take a backseat to anybody. LS was just as important in a different way. Ronnie VanZant was a voice for the Southerner who had been dislocated by progress, while still wanting to participate in it. He was the voice of the rural, rough and ready honky tonk, a real no nonsense approach to music and life. The band became the voice of reaction, not because of RVZ's lyrics, but because so many of their listeners wre dislocated from mainline society, and the raw aggression of LS approach to rock and roll was a more easily marketable. I think you can argue that for many working class southerners, LS was as much the voice of a generation as Springsteen or Cobain. Not to mention the band at its peak was an absolute killer. LS and the ABB are the yin and yang of southern culture. Does this mean we have to like both-NO-but a failure to appreciate both is to fail to appreciate fully the roots of our own favorite band. I'm looking forward to seeing the bands on tour-lots of good songs, probably a lot of fun for anyone who isn't a purist. See ya at Mud Island