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.”
Photo by: Richard McCaffrey/ Michael Ochs Archive/ Getty Images
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Picture taken in 1974 in Stockholm shows the Swedish pop group Abba with its members (L-R) Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus posing after winning the Swedish branch of the Eurovision Song Contest with their song "Waterloo". – Sweden's legendary disco group ABBA announced on April 27, 2018 that they have reunited to record two new songs, 35 years after their last single. The quartet split up in 1982 after dominating the disco scene for more than a decade with hits like "Waterloo", "Dancing Queen", "Mamma Mia" and "Super Trouper". (Photo by Olle LINDEBORG / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT (Photo credit should read OLLE LINDEBORG/AFP via Getty Images) -
IN CONCERT – Airdate: March 1, 1974. (Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images) LINDA RONSTADT -
HOLLYWOOD, CA – 1979: Teens dance to the music at the 1979 Hollywood High School prom held in Hollywood, California. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images) -
British musician Christine McVie, of the group Fleetwood Mac, performs onstage at the Alpine Valley Music Theater, East Troy, Wisconsin, July 19, 1978. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) -
Singer Patsy Cline poses for a portrait circa 1961. Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images -
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BLOOMINGTON, MN – SEPTEMBER 4: Tom Petty performs on the Touring The Great Wide Open Tour at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota on September 4, 1991. (Photo by Jim Steinfeldt/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) -
AUSTIN, TX – FEBRUARY 28: <> at ACL Live on February 28, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images)