If you were a southern rock fan doing your thing in the 1970s, you were certainly listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, and ZZ Top. However, during the decade, there were some other incredibly great bands, but they were and still are relatively obscure. Here are three southern rock bands from the 1970s you’ve probably forgotten about or never heard of.
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Hyrdra
In 1970, Spencer Kirkpatrick founded the overlooked southern rock band Hydra in Atlanta, Georgia. During their seven years together, Hydra released three studio albums: Land of Money, Rock the World, and Live After All These Years. As you might expect, Hydra never hit the mainstream. However, in the south, they were a top-tier regional southern rock band.
A few of their songs we’d recommend checking out include “Take Me For My Music”, “If You Care To Survive”, “Warp 16”, and “It’s So Hard”. Despite never achieving national fame, Hydra contributed to the canon of southern rock exceptionally well. And while you might disagree, we think these guys had the talent to reach the same level as the bands we mentioned above.
Wet Willie
Although they were a fairly underrated band, Wet Willie did achieve some notable success in the United States. The Mobile, Alabama-founded group scored a Top 10 hit on the Hot 100 with their single “Keep On Smilin”. However, that is far from the only phenomenal single the band produced during their time together.
In addition to “Keep On Smilin’”, Wet Willie’s other notable singles include “Country Side Of Life”, “Street Corner Serenade”, and “Leona”. Furthermore, the albums worth mentioning include Dixie Rock, Keep on Smilin‘, and their self-titled album, Wet Willie.
Point Blank
Hailing from Irving, Texas, Point Blank only scored one hit single during its career. That hit single was their 1981 hit, “Nicole”. The song peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 20 on Billboard‘s Rock Tracks. But like Wet Willie, that one song is just the surface. The Texas southern rock band released six albums between 1974 and 1982.
Other than “Nicole”, Point Blank’s catalog consists of incredible southern rock numbers such as “Mean Your Queenie”, “Free Man”, and “Bad Bees”. Notable albums produced by the band include Second Season, Point Blank, On a Roll, and American Exce$$.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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