It’s summer, which means it’s time to whip out the 70s rock playlists. Whether you’re a rock dad or not, you can definitely feel that essence when you listen to these Southern rock hits.
“Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd
This song is Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s signature song and a Southern rock staple.
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As band member Johnny Van Zant explained, while “Free Bird” has meant different things for different fans, it’s really a love song at heart.
“For years Skynyrd has always closed the show with that song and the song has different meanings for different people,” he shared on the band’s Live From Freedom Hall DVD. “This kid was telling me that they used it for their graduation song and not too long ago somebody told me that they used it at a funeral. And really it’s a love song, it’s one of the few that Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ever had. It’s about a guy and a girl…”
“Midnight Rider” by Allman Brothers Band
Greg Allman came up with the idea for “Midnight Rider” pretty spontaneously. He felt like the band needed new material to play. Therefore, he sought the group’s roadie, Kim Payne, to help him with this one.
“We were getting high, and, honestly, [Payne] was starting to irritate me – because he was singing this song over and over,” he shared with Thomas Coll. “And I got sick of hearing the band play the same sh*t over and over again until they got it right. So I just threw out the line, ‘I’ve gone past the point of caring / some old bed I’ll soon be sharing.’”
“The Devil Went Down To Georgia” by Charlie Daniels Band
This one is a classic. As Charlie Daniels explained to SongFacts, this song was created as the band’s designated “fiddle song,” which they, strangely, didn’t have at the time.
“We had gone in and rehearsed, written, and recorded the music for our ‘Million Mile Reflections’ album, and all of a sudden we said, ‘We don’t have a fiddle song,’” he shared. “…The idea may have come from an old poem that Stephen Vincent Benet wrote many, many years ago. He didn’t use that line, but I just started, and the band started playing, and first thing you know we had it down.”
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