100 Songs of the South

By Richard

August 30, 2005 09:45 AM | Link to this

“Orange Sunshine”-Rrchrdgys Rocky Road Music (2005). The ultimate ode to warm bright sunshiny days. You actually feel the heat of Georgia bouncing off everthing it touches including the music.

By Brian Zimmerman

August 30, 2005 10:06 AM | Link to this

Here’s 10 songs (in no particular order) for being deserted in a fertile kudzu patch…

“Going Down South” (‘04, CD title track, self-produced) from Atlanta’s very own Delta Moon.

“Let Your Minds Be Free,” (‘04 CD title track, Mardi Gras Records, Inc) from Soul Rebels…a “new sound” Brass Band w/ Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz & Soul!

“Southland in the Springtime” (‘90, Epic), Indigo Girls CD: Nomads | Indians | Saints

“Mississippi Muddy Water” (‘94, Black Top Records), Maria Muldaur, CD: Meet Me at Midnight

“Iron Mountain” (‘95 BMG Music), Kevin Kinney, CD: MacDougal Blues, produded by Peter Buck

“Gulf Coast Highway” written by Nanci Griffith but sung by many (Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris and Emmylou & Willie (Duets, ‘90)

“Congo Square” (‘95, BMG Music), Sonny Landreth, CD: South of I-10

“Friend Chicken and Gasoline” (‘95, Geffen Records), Southern Culture on the Skids, CD: Dirt Track Date

“Can’t Stop My Heart from Loving You (The Rain Song)” (‘95, A&M Records), Aaron Neville, CD: The Tattooed Heart, classic Neville falsetto!

“Amazing Grace” (‘01, Real World Records), by grammy winning The Blind Boys of Alabama (CD: Spirit of the Century) but to the tune of “House of the Rising Sun” (and managed locally by Atlantan, Charles Driebe) & if you don’t know “House of the Rising Sun” you don’t know caca about Songs of the South!

;)

By JAO

August 30, 2005 12:45 PM | Link to this

Georgia Summertime Love Shack

By Steven Lincoln

August 30, 2005 01:29 PM | Link to this

Some miscellaneous ones that come to mind -

Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia - Vickie Lawrence Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd Dixie - standard The Devil Went Down To Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band The South’s Gonna Do It Again - Charlie Daniels Band Red Dirt Road - Brooks & Dunn

By liz

August 30, 2005 03:18 PM | Link to this

What song could ever hope to beat the Ray Charles version of “Georgia On My Mind”?

By David

August 30, 2005 04:02 PM | Link to this

Remember the Alamo! Don’t forget, Texas was a part of the south and still is. Songs like Deep in the Heart of Texas, Yellow Rose, and many more should make your list.

By Joe

August 30, 2005 09:55 PM | Link to this

By John

August 30, 2005 10:52 PM | Link to this

Off to a good start with Maps and Legends – a misunderstood song. Not so sure why Ying Yang Twins made the list. I suppose the AJC would generally frown on male dominated soft-core porn, but the mass media has decided to facilitate hip hop’s oh so subtle misogyny for fear of being un-cool

butt(?), overall well done.

By MB

August 31, 2005 12:15 PM | Link to this

Sevaral to choose from (All Allman Brothers):

Statesboro Blues Melissia Blue Sky In Memory of Elizabeth Reed Whippin’ Post Midnight Rider Multi-Colored Lady (“Lord, by the way, I’m bound for Rome”)

(just to name a few)

By MB

August 31, 2005 12:25 PM | Link to this

Magnolia - JJ Cale

“Whippoorwill singing, on a soft on a soft summer’s breeze;

Makes me think of my baby, I left down in New Orleans,I left down in New Orleans;

Magnolia you sweet thing, you’re driving me mad, I’ve got to get back to you, babe, You’re the best I ever had…”

By Martha

August 31, 2005 07:11 PM | Link to this

What about Rainy Night in Georgia/Midnight Train to Georgia/Miles & Miles of Texas/Take Me Back to Tulsa/and I’m sure there must be a Paul Davis song about the South that needs to be on the list

By Martha

August 31, 2005 07:22 PM | Link to this

Blue Bayou/Is It True What They Say About Dixie?/Tennessee Waltz/Margaritaville??—Maybe that’s just a Southern state of mind! How about Chattanooga Choo-Choo? Shoot, that’s a travelogue down South.

By Southern Man

September 1, 2005 02:16 PM | Link to this

Martha…..yes….Rainy night in Georgia.

The Night They Drove OLe Dixie Down. Sweet Home Alabama Southern Man

Man, there are so many good Southern Songs. Many on the list I have never even heard of. Where did they get some of these songs?

By Martha

September 1, 2005 07:16 PM | Link to this

Waitin’ for the Robert E. Lee—you can’t get much more Southern than that hallowed name! And it’s about a Mississippi riverboat to boot.

By Nick Marino

September 2, 2005 08:54 AM | Link to this

Hey all —

Nick Marino here, one of the AJC music critics. Glad you’ve been reading our list of Southern songs. You’ve named a lot of songs that are coming up on the list, and at least one — I’m sorry to say — that I wish we would’ve thought of. (Which one? You’ll have to guess.)

David mentioned that we shouldn’t forget Texas, and by now he may be wondering why the Lone Star State hasn’t been represented. That’s because we deliberately left Texas and Louisiana off the list, figuring that each state had its own rich tradition that was separate from the tradition of Southern music as a whole. When we unveil our top 50 this weekend, we’ll also have an online-only list of our favorite songs from Texas and Louisiana. So be sure to look for those.

Until then, keep those comments coming!

By julie warner

September 2, 2005 12:12 PM | Link to this

That “Red Clay Halo” by Gillian Welch is written from the perspective of a young BOY not a girl…listen to the lyrics rather than just the voice singing!

Sorry, huge Welch fan here!

By Bill Hester

September 2, 2005 02:13 PM | Link to this

This is a minor criticism of a feature that I am really enjoying but I would have liked to have seen “Oh Atlanta” by Little Feat on the list.

By Kristen404

September 2, 2005 04:30 PM | Link to this

I hope the “Monster Plantation” jingle from the ride at Six Flags is included.

By George From Virginia

September 2, 2005 09:59 PM | Link to this

“That’s What I Like About the South” Phil Harris, Commander Cody, and others “Night Train” James Brown

By Geoff

September 3, 2005 12:44 AM | Link to this

I would’ve included “Oh My Sweet Carolina” by Ryan Adams. Not only is it a great song full of Southern imagery, but it includes the classic line “All the sweetest winds they blow across the south.”

By robert bohler

September 3, 2005 12:53 AM | Link to this

It takes all kinds, but “Ramblin’ Man” ahead of “Statesboro Blues?” Anything ahead of “Statesboro Blues” but “Summertime?”

By Jonny

September 3, 2005 04:04 AM | Link to this

Disagree? Yes. It is not until number seven that a white Southerner is represented. The man that wrote ‘Dixie’ was a Northerner.

Summertime as # 2? Are you kidding me? Sweet Home Alabama not making the top ten? Outkast in the top ten? Outkast will be forgotten in 20 years and Elvis is not on this list once as far as I can see? Who created this list? I do believe a Northerner created this list. It is that bad.

I challenge that Yank to a duel.

Seriously, this list is very flawed. Outkast is on the list four times??? WTF?!!!

Oh, this makes me want to loot something… this is a joke, right?

By Greg

September 3, 2005 04:19 AM | Link to this

Did I miss Angel from Montgomery??

By martha

September 3, 2005 04:40 AM | Link to this

For me, The favorite is “Georgia, On my Mind” Some say it was written to a girl named Georgia; well, that is ok. But as for me, nothing is as great for the South, as Georgia being sung by the late Ray Charles. That old sweet song, keeps Ga. on my mind. A True Southern song……

By Matthew Young

September 3, 2005 08:45 AM | Link to this

This is so typical of you liberal, nutts at the AJC. You refuse to do anything about the south without making race the focal point. I have news for you - You are the racist. All of white Georgia knows it. You should see the white eyes roll anytime I mention your anti white news paper.You chose to put an anti lynching song #1 simply because of the content. How anyone could list top songs of the south and not have “Sweet Home Alabama” at the top of the list is beyond me! You leftist are a joke but I hope you will remember ” a southern man don’t need you around anyhow”

By chevy

September 3, 2005 08:47 AM | Link to this

After the rap and hip-hop is deleted from the list, and the other bloggers’ suggestions are put in, it’s a pretty good list.

By bob

September 3, 2005 09:21 AM | Link to this

Amen and Amen!

By John

September 3, 2005 10:04 AM | Link to this

I am a music fan of all genres and have never heard of three of your top four choices. Songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Dixie” are appropriate Top 10 songs. “Stars Fell on Alabama” should have been much higher and “My Home’s in Alabama” and “Suwanee River” should have been Top 5 picks.

By Miguelito

September 3, 2005 10:04 AM | Link to this

Hank Williams Sr. did not make it to the top 10 while Outkast is at 6 with “Rosa Parks”? This is preposterous! It is very obvious the AJC had a PC agenda by stacking the top 10 songs with civil rights anthems. This another example of the AJC losing credibility, being out of touch with reality and its readership. Shame!

By Don

September 3, 2005 10:39 AM | Link to this

What a politically correct joke this list is. You think your readership is a group of dumb hicks that needs to be educated by the likes of Cynthia Tucker, Jay Bookman and the people who put together this list.

It’s not that we don’t understand your worldview of viewing everything through a racial prism, it’s that we reject it.

No wonder your circulation numbers continue to decline.

By MB

September 3, 2005 10:43 AM | Link to this

A couple I expected to see that I don’t believe made the list:

John Prine’s - Paradise and John Denver’s - Country Roads (at least I believe KY and WV are still in the South) One more then I’ll Stop, JJ Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze”. “Well I dig them GA peaches, makes me feel right at home…”

By Kyle

September 3, 2005 11:07 AM | Link to this

How can Bubba Sparx be on this list, and REM not be? Not only that, but there were not enough songs by the group Alabama…..I mean what kind of list is this?

By Gary Cooper

September 3, 2005 11:29 AM | Link to this

Whats with all of the hip hop in the top 10??? And where are tradional southern songs by southern people?? I mean I did not see “Song of the South”, “My home’s in Alabama”, and “Southern Star” by the group Alabama. They are from the south and these songs represent the south alot more than the songs by Outkast. I think the ajc is showing their true liberal/politically correct colors. Also the comment about Buddy Jewell was unwarranted. He is doing alot better than most of the American Idol winners and “Sweet Southern Comfort” is a classic that represents the south in every way. One more note. Georgia’s own Alan Jackson is one the greatest artist in Country music and you call his hit “Chattahoochie” a corny song??? What is that??? That song represents one of Georgia’s finest attractions. Also you left out Jackson’s early hit “Midnight in Montgomery” which was a tribute to the late Hank Williams Sr. You guys need to go back and re-write this list. I see that everyone on this forum disagrees with your picks.

By TBS

September 3, 2005 11:56 AM | Link to this

I just moved to Atlanta from Philadelphia to attend graduate school here. Several of my acquaintances back home voiced some uncertainty about Atlanta. “Are you sure you want to go down there?” they’d ask, thinking that traveling 700 miles south was like traveling back in time to an era of racism and intolerance. I was not dissuaded, because I had a different impression of Atlanta. I was convinced that Atlanta was very much a modern city, every bit as sophisticated as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc., and when I read the 100 Songs of the South list I was pleasantly reassured. However, reading some of the readers’ comments was a troublesome experience. The fact that so many of the readers believe that acknowledging the history of racial dynamics in this country and its influence on music invalidates the analysis is hard to believe. There are many people in the United States, and elsewhere in the world, who continue to dismiss the South as backward, and it keeps them from seeing all the wonderful things we find here. But it’s hard to blame them when, after all this time, many of you folks are still fussing about “yankees” and refusing to talk about social politics in any substantive way. You will never shed your global image as old-fashioned and obtuse until more of you get with the program. Most Atlantans know it — it’s time for the rest of you to catch up.

By Don

September 3, 2005 12:38 PM | Link to this

That’s great, somebody from Philadelphia saying Atlanta needs to “get with the program” so people like him will regard us as sufficiently enlightened. I hate to be the one to break it to you and your bigoted friends, but there’s a lot more racial tolerance here than there is in Philadelphia and most Northern cities.

Is this what you mean by “get with the program”?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4651126

By Nick Marino

September 3, 2005 01:01 PM | Link to this

Hi again —

Thanks for your continued comments on our list. I wanted to offer a few points of clarification here as the blog starts to heat up.

Someone asked “What’s with all of the hip hop in the top 10?” There’s only one hip-hop song in the top 10, OutKast’s “Rosa Parks,” which we felt was an important reflection of the South’s presence in the dominant pop music genre of our time. Also, we think it’s just a fabulous song — catchy, smart and deeply musical.

Someone else wondered why Bubba Sparxxx is on the list but R.E.M. is not — actually, they’re both on the list. R.E.M.’s “Maps and Legends” squeaked in at No. 99.

Finally, a third person said that he’s a music fan but hasn’t heard three of our top four songs. I hope he — and anyone else feeling the same — will log onto our interactive presentation and listen to the audio clips of the top five. You may find a new favorite song, or at least better understand why we chose what we chose.

Thanks for reading, y’all.

By Music Fan

September 3, 2005 02:08 PM | Link to this

I liked the list. There are som great songs that didn’t make the cut, but we can agree that it’s tough to narrow a wide pool into a list of just 100 songs.

And just to add my two cents, the person from Philadelphia didn’t say that he (or she?) had a problem with Atlanta. In fact, he said that he thought people from the north were wrong to have that bias. I think what he was trying to say is that the South’s image suffers, and we should try to overcome that. For that matter, I agree with him

By Susan

September 3, 2005 02:18 PM | Link to this

Pretty tough to pare a list like this down to just 100. Some suprising picks though. Among the overlooked songs… Jackson. ‘We got married in a fever. Hotter than a pepper sprout…’

By Hollis

September 3, 2005 04:28 PM | Link to this

Loved the list, but, of course, wish there were some that were overlooked: Randy Newman’s “Louisian 1927” and “Dixie Flyer” chief among them. Also, nothing by Jimmy Buffet??? Maybe next tine. Still the list was great reading — even for a Yankee from Upstate New York. Thanks.

By Marsha

September 3, 2005 06:12 PM | Link to this

Thank you! I SOOOO much enjoyed this. Really glad Georgia on My Mind and Moon River made the list. I listened several times to top 5 and, yes, I can understand your choice…had to be hard though. Keep it up, AJC, you’re a TRUE SOUTHERNER!

By Martha

September 3, 2005 07:21 PM | Link to this

Thanks for not tap-dancin’ around “Dixie”—you get snaps for that! But where oh where are the Paul Davis songs that should be on this list: “I Go Crazy” “65 Love Affair” “Cool Night” “Ride ‘em Cowboy” etc etc? AND HOW COULD YOU OMIT “COUNTRY ROADS” by John Denver?!!! “West Virginia, mountain Mama, take me home, country roads” Remember?

By Martha

September 3, 2005 07:34 PM | Link to this

Is Marino from Southern Italy? And Philly, thanks for your comments but stick with cream cheese, LOL! I agree, the music of the South is black and blues BUT hip-hop and rap: they’re just “passing fancies and in time will go, but oh my dear, South songs are here to stay…”

By Martha

September 3, 2005 07:35 PM | Link to this

OK Posilutely my last post on this: WHERE is ELVIS’ Trilogy??? Have you ever been to Stone Mountain and not shed a tear? Have you no SOUL???

By MB

September 3, 2005 09:31 PM | Link to this

I said I was through, but I changed my mind. How about one from the Bob Dylan of the South, native son Kevin Kenney’s “Honeysuckle Blue”.

By Shaye Lewis

September 3, 2005 11:43 PM | Link to this

No Eagles? Seven Bridges Road is a beautiful, emotive song of teh south if ever I’ve heard one. And yes, waaaay too much rap & hip-hop in my opinion.

By Mike Allen

September 4, 2005 01:04 AM | Link to this

Jimmy Buffet, REM ,Patsy Cline, Elvis,Marshall Tucker, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Indigo Girls and The Atlanta Rythym Section. How could you not find even 1 song from any of these musicians for your list?

By Dave Higgason

September 4, 2005 02:54 AM | Link to this

The heart and soul of the South are reflected in it’s music. I left Atlanta a few years ago to move to Illinois. No one has ever written a song about growing up, living in, or how much they love this state. And, no one ever will.

God Bless the South and all it has done for music.

Dave - Collinsville, IL

By Chip

September 4, 2005 07:19 AM | Link to this

I’m 45 (too young to remember) and from the north (fortunste to be here), and yet I still recognize that one of the South’s finest. Johnny Mercer, is not near the top spot.

By Wil

September 4, 2005 08:15 AM | Link to this

Ramblin’Man was NOT about a gambler who ended up on the wrong end of a gun. It was about a man who simply kept moving around and didn’t care to stay in one place for too long at a time. His FATHER was a gambler who ended up on the wrong end of a gun. Still, a good choice for your list. Thanks for doing it.

By gbk

September 4, 2005 08:39 AM | Link to this

It should have been noted that #17, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” was written by Jim Weatherly, a former Ole Miss Quarterback.

By MB

September 4, 2005 08:51 AM | Link to this

The Atlanta Rythym Section - “Dog Days” (doesn’t get any more southern than that)

By Xenobia Zupinbacher

September 4, 2005 09:16 AM | Link to this

*You didn’t mention “Callin’ Moody Field” that Google says “immortalized” black soldiers’ plight at a South Georgia air base. No name of artist.

By Terri

September 4, 2005 10:04 AM | Link to this

I have to say that it appears Gen X was ignored totally on your list. I am an Atlanta native and when I think of MY South, as a thirty-two year old, I think of REM (“Driver 8” at least!), Drivin’ and Cryin’ (who hasn’t been to a bar in the early 90s and not heard a “Honeysuckle Blue” sing-a-long?…Not to mention “Gotta Move On” which name-checks Lenox Square!). No Guadalcanal Diary? No Pylon? Only one B-52s? My GOD! In the late seventies and early eighties Atlanta and Athens were blessed with the best, most unique and vibrant music scene in the country…and all we have is the overplayed “Love Shack” (I would have preferred “Dirty Back Road”) and one REM, albeit appropriate, “Maps and Legends.” How soon we forget…

By clw

September 4, 2005 10:10 AM | Link to this

Where are the songs listed? Don’t care for the audio version beginning…

By Dave

September 4, 2005 01:34 PM | Link to this

It is obvious political correctness was factored when deciding this list. Especially when it comes to the order.

By Lacy George

September 4, 2005 01:42 PM | Link to this

Thanks so much for this list. Three years after moving away for school, I still find myself missing the South. This list + ~$100 spent at iTunes takes the edge off a bit. :-)

By P. B. Bryant

September 4, 2005 02:39 PM | Link to this

What do critics know anyway? This list is just the epitome of arrogance and political correctness. Does anyone else see the irony of Northerers telling US what OUR top 100 songs should be? You may have won the war, but you will never change our culture and values. FREEBIRD!!!

By JD

September 4, 2005 03:13 PM | Link to this

There are far too many rap songs on this list. Sorry folks but rap is not music and such garbage hardly deserves to be included on a list of the South’s all-time greatest songs. Now, before someone throws the inevitable race card at me, there’s no doubt that Ray Charles deserves to be in the top ten. His music is timeless. But OutKast? Please……

By Jody

September 4, 2005 03:38 PM | Link to this

I’ve got to agree with many of my fellow commentors. I have very diverse music taste and I had not heard of many of these songs. There are several significant southern artists who were not included in this list. And how could any Gen X/Gen Y person not think of Peaches by Presidents of the United States? Song starts out “Goin’ down to GA gonna eat a lot of peaches”. And yes, Drivin’ n Cryin’, how could they be missed? I could go on and on, won’t.

By Shane Harrison

September 4, 2005 03:45 PM | Link to this

Hi folks. Shane Harrison with the AJC’s music staff and one of the list compilers here. Thanks for all your comments. We knew we’d never be able to please everyone - heck, we couldn’t get all the songs we personally wanted on the list, because there are so many great Southern songs. A few of the artists that have been mentioned as missing among the comments are actually on our list: Johnny Cash, R.E.M., Atlanta Rhythm Section, Marshall Tucker Band. I felt a special need to get the Marshall Tucker Band on the list, since I spent part of my early life in their neck of the woods, Roebuck, S.C. And I love “Can’t You See.â€? If we’d had more room, “Heard It in a Love Songâ€? would have been there, too.

Each person’s experience of the South is different. You can’t possibly reflect everyone’s picture of a region as vast and diverse as ours with a list like this, but we did hope to touch on as many experiences as possible. We also just wanted great songs, and doing something like this made us realize how much great music has been made in the South. Growing up in upstate South Carolina, so much of this music surrounded me in my youth. But some of it only came to me later, as I began to understand that my own part of the South was just a small parcel of a vast and incredibly creative region that spawned country, blues and rock ‘n roll.

Thanks for reading and taking the time to post your thoughts. Keep ‘em coming.

By Dave

September 4, 2005 04:46 PM | Link to this

Even witout the catastrophe on the Gulf Coast, Randy Newman’s ‘Louisiana 1927” should be on this list. It’s not even on the Louisiana list - Whqat a shame!

By Thogwummpy

September 4, 2005 05:12 PM | Link to this

First, really shocked that “Doraville” wasn’t on the list at all! Second, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” is no more a Southern Song than “Marching Through Georgia”! Wasn’t written by a Southernor, nor a favorable commentary about the South. How did it get on the list? Well….??? Seems the compilers have an affinity for South-hater Neil Young; who is from Canada. Another pretensious miss by the AJC staff.

By Scott Killingsworth

September 4, 2005 06:14 PM | Link to this

Amazed that something as beautiful and as apt as Southland in the Springtime, by the Indigo Girls, did not make the list. Given the quality of some of the songs that did make the list (Some of which remind me of celebrities who are “famous for being well-known), I wonder whether the AJC’s experts simply are not familiar with this lovely and wistful tune.

By therealsouth

September 4, 2005 07:13 PM | Link to this

The AJC did it again. More nonsense.

By Mark

September 4, 2005 10:01 PM | Link to this

What a joke.

First of all, where are the Black Crowes? While their entire catalog is better than half your list here, an obvious choice like “She Talks to Angels” or “Remedy” would have drastically raised the credibility of this list.

Then, as someone else mentioned, where is Drivin N Cryin? How can you compile a list of the 100 Best Southern Songs and leave out “Honeysuckle Blue”? To the authors of this list, I pose the question “Have you ever seen the Blue Ridge Mountains, boy? Or the Chattahoochee?” The answer is probably not.

Last, I think it is worth mentioning that including “Lil Jon” in this list is utterly absurd. It has nothing to do with race or rap; Outkast didn’t have enough songs on this list. It is clear to me that you over-included such irrelevant Southern rap artists to maintain some sort of P.C. cred. Shame on you for making race an issue.

By David

September 4, 2005 10:46 PM | Link to this

Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog, Great Balls of Fire….

A list of ‘Greatest Southern Songs’ without the above has no credibility.

By GC

September 4, 2005 10:48 PM | Link to this

Thanks for including Dixie in your list. It’s a crying shame that the song has been labeled as “racist” when it’s nothing of the kind. It’s one of the most stirring songs ever written, and was appreciated by both the North and South during the civil war. Lincoln loved it and wanted it to be played often. It was even the theme song of the 1860 Republican national convention that nominated Lincoln. It was written by a black man, an northern minstrel named Daniel Emmett, and it had no racist intent. It’s past time to end the ignorance adn stupidity surrounding one of the greatest songs ever written and to bring it back into the mainstream.

By Victor Roberts

September 4, 2005 11:05 PM | Link to this

Terrific idea for a story! Thanks for a good list and lots to think about. You missed Paul Robeson and Lindy Lou. “Lindy, did you feel that south wind blow last night, Honey, he was kissin’ you sweet in the moonlight…”

Another serious oversight—Robert Johnson and Crossroads Blues. Nope. I just checked again and there it is, just like it should be.

By Victor

September 4, 2005 11:28 PM | Link to this

Some folks are right. Elvis is a pretty conspicuous oversight. But what’s going on with the hostility in some of these comments? This stuff is a matter of opinion, for God’s sake! There’s something a little jarring about people going off on a rant over southern music.

By David

September 4, 2005 11:42 PM | Link to this

The list should be renamed ‘SOME of the Best Southern Songs’ not ‘THE Best Southern Songs.’

By Victor Roberts

September 4, 2005 11:45 PM | Link to this

This list business is addictive, but this is my last post. Time to turn in. How about Todd Snider and Back to the Crossroads?

“I don’t care if I have to crawl, ‘till I ain’t got any kees at all’; I’m goin’ back to the cross roads someday.”

By A Heady Brah

September 5, 2005 03:38 AM | Link to this

why no widespread panic? this list is deemed un-heady.

By Marty

September 5, 2005 05:21 AM | Link to this

You mean to tell me that out of 100 songs Best Songs of the South that there is no Elvis songs in the list.What about Kentucky rain or King Creole?You don’t get much more Southern than Elvis!!

By Deb

September 5, 2005 08:44 AM | Link to this

Rosa Parks above Georgia on My Mind? You can’t be serious … .

By Fred Scanling

September 5, 2005 08:55 AM | Link to this

I knew 27 of the 100 songs. Georgia on my Mind anywhere but #1 is a travesty. There’s not enough Hank Williams or Stephen Foster. What about My Old Kentucky Home, Carry Me Back to Ol’ Virginny, or Hey, Good Lookin’? Where is Tara’s Theme from Gone With The Wind? Tennessee Ernie Ford with 16 Tons? Anybody with Old Man River? How can Tennessee Waltz and Moon River not be even in the top 50? It was a great idea, but the execution was lousy.

By Gwen

September 5, 2005 09:57 AM | Link to this

I can’t believe you included the Allison Krause version of Oh Atlanta. That’s the worst adaptation of a song I’ve ever heard. The original artists were much much better.

On the other hand, it was great to see Allman Brothers multiple times on the list

By Bill

September 5, 2005 09:58 AM | Link to this

“Will The Circle Be Unbroken,” the anthem of the Grand Ole Opry, written by A.P. Carter, is glaringly absent from the list. Could make a solid case for it being #1. Also, “I Saw The Light,” by Hank Williams, should be on the list. Too much hip-hop on the list. It just doesn’t belong. The R&B and blues belong — they are Southern and they are great. But the hip-hop does not belong. As someone else said, not nearly enough Hank Williams. And what about “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra?

I was not impressed with the list. Anybody could pick out the obvious “gimmes” on the list, but there were too many other locks that did not make the list.

By john

September 5, 2005 10:36 AM | Link to this

Putting Rosa Parks above Georgia on My Mind makes this whole list irrelevant.

By John

September 5, 2005 10:42 AM | Link to this

You may find a new favorite song, or at least better understand why we chose what we chose.

Thanks for at least admitting you had an agenda here. As for putting together a truly representative list, you missed the mark by a mile. When people tell you they’ve never heard or heard of certain songs, you know you’re in trouble.

At least if the top 10 had been all familiar to anyone but an eclectic nerd, the arguements could have been over placement on the list. I think you’ve put together some list that should have been titled, Songs you’ve never even heard of, but maybe should have, instead of a truly Top 100.

By Greg

September 5, 2005 11:14 AM | Link to this

I don’t know all the songs on the list, but I am sure this was a hard process, with so many songs to choose from. I agree with somebody’s comment on “Honeysuckle Blue” earlier. It probably should have been on the list. Two that come to mind to me are “Train to Birmingham” by Kevin Welch. The other is a song close to my heart. My dad was in a “local, southern” band in the 1960’s called The James Gang, based in Birmingham (no not Joe Walsh’s group.) My favorite song of his was “Georgia Pines.” It is truly representative of ‘60’s era rock, and if you heard it, it would be on your list. It is the tale of a young man going to the “big city” and his longing to get back to “my Georgia Pines.”

By Marty

September 5, 2005 11:25 AM | Link to this

Lots of omissions, some pretty glaring. Some of these songs seem to be on the list more because they are southern artists, rather than about the region. Without even digging into my record collection here’s some worthy contenders. Proud Mary Boll Weevil or Cottonfields-Leadbelly or dozens of other artists. Alabama Bound-many blues artists no Jimmy Buffett Oh Atlanta by Little Feat Parchman Farm Blues-Bukka White or others no civil rights songs by Bob Dylan (i.e. Only A Pawn In Their Game or Ballad Of Medger Evers) or the scathing condemnation of segregation/racism that made Mississippi an unsafe place for folk singer Phil Ochs to set foot in: Here’s To The State of Mississippi.

By Chasbo

September 5, 2005 02:21 PM | Link to this

I read your list. Sure helps circulation to be controversial, doesn’t it? I guess when a newspaper (“just the facts as they are, Madam”) decides to pass on Art ( things as they should be) you should expect the ratings to be part of the editorial page, and not in the arts section. Too bad it isn’t, and your caveat is a bit too self serving….. But then the AJC gave up this sort of journalistic discipline back during the days of Ralph McGill. Now it spills over into other areas besides politics. Good concept, ridiculously biased execution; maybe somebody else will develop a more representative list. Anybody got a website out there where you could vote on this?

By LaShanda

September 5, 2005 03:46 PM | Link to this

What about “Georgia on a Fast Train, Baby!” by Billy Joe Shaver? “I’ve been to Georgia on a fast train,baby, I wasn’t born no yesterday, Got a good Christian raisin’, An eighth grade education, Ain’t no need in y’all treatin’ me this way!”

By LM

September 5, 2005 03:56 PM | Link to this

“Mississippi Queen,” if you know what I mean, should be very high on this list. It’s only one of the most recognizable, energetic rock songs ever recorded. Sheesh.

By Drewbe

September 5, 2005 06:26 PM | Link to this

It seems that no one is willing to defend the legitimacy of rap as an important and relavent commentary on social and political issues that have affected the south and the country over the past quarter century. Maybe if y’all bought an actual CD and listened to the lyrics rather than relying on the one single played ad nauseum on the radio, you would appreciate that sometimes even rappers can send some prolific messages.

By Drewbe

September 5, 2005 06:30 PM | Link to this

…and another thing. what makes great music great and more than just the melody. it is entirely the message. I thank the AJC for considering the cultural impact of a song in compiling their list. Anything less would reduce them to the status of uninformed bloggers

By Barry Fitzpatrick

September 5, 2005 07:13 PM | Link to this

Overall, a great list. However, “Dog Days” by ARS deserved inclusion.

By Southern Man

September 5, 2005 07:14 PM | Link to this

I did not see the following:

“Song of the South” by Alabama; “Suwanee River” by Stephen Foster; and “All I Can Do Is Write It In A Song” by Lynyrd Skynyrd., an ode to the environvent and the changing South.

I was happy to see the much demonized “Dixie” on your list. Its lyrics should have been published as well, to show that it is not a racist song. Abe Lincoln even loved it. I get goose bumps when I hear it.

By SB

September 5, 2005 07:16 PM | Link to this

Yes, Drewbe…Bubba Sparxxs’ “Ugly” contributes greatly to the social and political issues of the South and the message warrants it to be in the top 100. Are you kidding me? It’s not that rap doesn’t have its place on this list but its clear the AJC has an agenda and should’ve had a clear methodology to its rating system before publishing this list. They should take this one as a mulligan and create one that has some meaning.

By mikeg761

September 5, 2005 09:49 PM | Link to this

Great list, but two glaring omissions:(1) Green Grass & High Tides- The Outlaws and (2) Down South Jukin’- Lynyrd Skynyrd.

By BP

September 6, 2005 12:27 AM | Link to this

Why do Texas and Louisiana have their own categories, when Tennessee can lay claim to having birthed the music genres of rock and roll, country, bluegrass, and gospel? I would bet anything that there are more “Tennessee” songs than there are TX and LA songs. Many more.

Other glaring omissions from the AJC’s sorry list: “Memphis, Tennessee” by Al Green and “My Tennessee Mountain Home,” by Dolly Parton.

By DW

September 6, 2005 05:34 AM | Link to this

I am incensed and infuriated that, in a list of 100 songs supposedly evocative of a grand region and a grand diverse people, that your pick for top song is an ode to the divisiveness and stereotypical baseness that we all are struggling to overcome. Seems that a paper from the “capitol city of the South” and “the city too busy to hate” when given the opportunity to celebrate that region, highlight its bountiful offerings, and evoke its wonderful aura and accomplishments has chosen to wallow in the shame and blame game.

By Hooah

September 6, 2005 06:00 AM | Link to this

Can’t even pull the dang list up on your interactive thingamajiggy, but from all the comments, I get the jist. The list was compiled so as 1) not to offend anyone south of the 400/85/75 interchange, especially So-So Def Records employees; 2) mildly tittilate the Buckhead Biff and Buffy crowd; 3) challenge the mental capacity of pickup truck owners; and, 4) to secretly test the use of a dartboard as a scientific tool to define musical taste.

By Jonathan Langston

September 6, 2005 06:43 AM | Link to this

I didn’t see “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” by John Denver. Maybe I missed it, but that should have atleast made it into the top 10.

By GK

September 6, 2005 07:59 AM | Link to this

Congratulations on your timing. Omiting Louisiana from a list of southern music—no gymnastic rationalisation can explain that!!! (Not that I noticed Florida either…) I didn’t study the list forensically, but its missing the bass—its largely nostalgia—missing the profundity. Where is the blues? (tokenism aside). Jimmy Rogers? Sun Records?, Carter Family? And, you can make a case for Texas (kinda) but Lightnin’ Hopkins?—that’s southern music.

By georgiaboy

September 6, 2005 08:11 AM | Link to this

Lists like this are always arbitrary; however, yours contains way too much hip-hop. Of course, i understand why, just as I understand you #1 selection. Oh, Atlanta. Nevetheless, any list of so-called “Songs of the Soth” that doesn’t include the following is just plain insufficient: “Southern Moon” and “Down South” by the Delmore Brothers, Rodney Crowell’s “Jewel of the South” and Doc and Merle Watson’s “Bright Sunny South.”

By Scott

September 6, 2005 08:29 AM | Link to this

You made a huge mistake naming this list “the top 100”. first off no mention of Elvis Presley. Without him there is no music. Without him we’d still be in the big band era. Secondly, how can rap be called music? where are the musicians. i could stick a microphone to my dogs mouth and get better noise.

By Marcman

September 6, 2005 08:29 AM | Link to this

I was not going to write on this subject, but this is crazy. Everyone is saying OUTKAST shouldn’t be on this list, but OLD YANK DOODLE(figure of speach) should be on here a million times, get a life times are changing everything is not about race, music is music. I like all types personally. It seems like it’s tons of southern people that always have to come out and make everything retro race issue. Build a time machine and go back to the 60’s.

By joyous

September 6, 2005 08:31 AM | Link to this

The Indigo Girls’ “Southland in the Springtime” should have been there…They are from the south and this song is truly a tribute to how beautiful it can be here: “In Georgia nights are softer than a whisper/Beneath a quilt somebody’s mother made by hand/With the farmland like a tapestry passed down through generations/And the peach trees stitched across the land/There’ll be cider up near Helen off the roadside/And boiled peanuts in a bag to warm your fingers/And the smoke from the chimneys meets its maker in the sky/ With a song that winter wrote whose melody lingers”

By PB

September 6, 2005 09:58 AM | Link to this

Did I miss this or did I not see one of B.B. King’s songs on this list? Great to see Outkast, Ying Yang Twins, and others rated as contributing more than he, Elvis, or others mentioned that were left off.

By Lateef Baaset

September 6, 2005 10:30 AM | Link to this

Forget “Alabama” by Neil Young. Did I miss “Southern Man”? Just as poignet as “Forbidden Fruit”. How could there be “Sweet Home Alabama” without “Southern Man”? And I just love OutKast, but I can’t believe you got “Rosa Parks” ahead of “Georgia On My Mind”! Ask ten people to hum a few bars of Ray, then ask the same about OutKast…no comparrison.

By Will

September 6, 2005 10:44 AM | Link to this

How can Sweet Home not be in the top 10 if not top 5 and I have never even heard of the #1 song. I also don’t understand how Devil went down to Georgia wasn’t higher than it was.

By Rebel Joe

September 6, 2005 11:09 AM | Link to this

I have to agree or disagree…Outcast? Ans some of the other songs I have never even heard of before now.

Battle Hymn of the Republic.

By ADL

September 6, 2005 11:14 AM | Link to this

AJC Top 100 PC Songs of the “South”

WTF???

By R E Lee

September 6, 2005 11:24 AM | Link to this

You have got to be kidding…..The top ten….I have only heard of maybe 3. I doubt very seriously that anyone wrote in and voted heavily for the top 5. This was surely made up by the AJC. I would like the AJC to show the numbers. Because no one is buying what the AJC is selling.

By PJ

September 6, 2005 11:49 AM | Link to this

Let’s see…four of the top five greatest songs about the south are about racism or civil rights. That’s pretty much what I would expect from the AJC. To paraphase song number 14 - boo, boo, boo.

By Lisa

September 6, 2005 12:52 PM | Link to this

HOW could you leave out “The Ballad OF Curtis Low”?

By Eric Smithey

September 6, 2005 01:01 PM | Link to this

No way. What about the legendary song, Summertime, from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess?!

By Larry Williams

September 6, 2005 01:14 PM | Link to this

Actually about 25 of my picks are there. But……… How can you leave out the Bellamy Brothers “You Ain’t Just Whistling Dixie”?? 100% southern. Nothing deragotory. Nothing racial. All good southern images and what a beautiful melody.

“Pine trees grow so tall in the bright sunshine, a young boy steals his daddy’s fishing line……………”

I can’t believe you left that out….. I guess not everyone hears the best music!

By georgiaboy

September 6, 2005 01:15 PM | Link to this

One other comment: Selecting Glen Campbell’s version of “Southern Nights” instead of Allen Toussaint’s exquisitely beautiful original shows that you obviously haven’t heard it — in which case you have no business compiling such a list!

By SB

September 6, 2005 01:26 PM | Link to this

Nothing by Alabama?

By Charles

September 6, 2005 01:47 PM | Link to this

No Thunder Road? Your list is garbage.

By DA

September 6, 2005 01:59 PM | Link to this

Southern Rain—Cowbiy Junkies—why is it so many Canadians love the south?

By Constance

September 6, 2005 02:02 PM | Link to this

Now that was just ugly. Everyone has different taste. Some people like rap and others like country. To each its own. Thats the reason this is called an opinion. I dont think that the staff at AJC just surveyed blacks or whites. There is all kinds of music on the list. Maybe if you stayed a distance from your dogs face instead of tonguing it. You wouldnt be able to compare it to rap music. Grow up or get your own private country playing island. I am fine here because I listen to my music and let others listen to theirs.

By mackj

September 6, 2005 02:03 PM | Link to this

What a big, fat, flammin’ wagon load of PC crap! Obviously, having a large amount of controversy helps your ratings, but to display the degree of total incompetence that you guys displayed in putting together this list of quota-inspired nonsense is criminal. How can you geniuses call Rap & Hip-hop’s foul grunt-fest music? It’s not music if it can be duplicated by combining pig grunts, random elephant snorts, and the aftermath of a train wreck with a 2-minute interview with a raging, foul-mouthed, semi-literate basketball star. Way to go, AJC. Your mediocrity has reached perfection.

By Sara

September 6, 2005 02:28 PM | Link to this

Mackj… I guess thats you that I have seen with the confederate flag. We are in a new time. You dont like rap and hip hop because you are too old to understand it. I bet your kids and other young family members listen to it….even if they do it when you are not around :)

By Heather

September 6, 2005 02:52 PM | Link to this

This forum got blow out of contenient. there is no way that anyone can agree with the entire list. Some of the songs I have never heard of. However, I love Georgia on my mind, Sweet home Alabama, Rosa Parks, among others. I love some country songs when I can relate, I love some rap songs when i can relate. I am open to all types of music.I think that Rosa Parks made the top 10 because thats something that the younger kids can relate to. After all this is about all of us and not just one age category. We have to respect that whats good for some, is not good for all. I agree with TBS/Phillie. You guys want Georgia to be like it was for your grand parents. Sorry to tell you, but that will never happen. The younger generation black and white will never allow that. Fortunately they have grown up together and respect one another. Too bad the olders ones cant.I was warned about the south before I moved here, but I love it here. I love my friends, blacks/whites/asians/ all.

By Scott

September 6, 2005 03:42 PM | Link to this

No one was, has or will ever be more influential on the music world than Elvis Presley was you ingrate. Educate yourself before you speak. The fact of the matter is 95% of todays music is a joke. If you don’t like the south get out. We didn’t ask you to come here to begin with. That was me you saw with the Confederate flag. Which one were you? The one with the malcolm x hat or the one with the tupac shirt. Stop telling people what they can and can not display. If you don’t like it don’t look at it.

By mackj

September 6, 2005 04:08 PM | Link to this

Sara - thanks for the advice…you’re right, of course. I don’t ‘understand’ rap or hip-hop, nor do I ‘understand’ the ramblings of the blind-drunk wino on the sidewalk today who blathered endlessly until given a dollar to go away. Nor, for that matter, am I able to comprehend the noise generated by a room filled with screeching parrots. My understanding is not the point…whether or not the barn yard noises, labeled as rap/hip hop, is actually music is the point. As for my children listening to that anti-social plop, the authorities have not allowed me to reproduce so your theory is moot. Finally, as for flags, I don’t currently own a Confederate flag but it’s on my Christmas wish list if you’re looking for something.

By Cheryl Swofford

September 6, 2005 06:02 PM | Link to this

Can’t believe some songs of Elvis Presley didn’t make the list. His “American Trilogy” is the all-time greatest southern song; it includes, but is much more than just “Dixie,” which was #6. It’s the perfect ending for the laser shows at Stone Mountain. Don’t you even know what’s in your very southern back yard musically, what people flock to hear nightly. His “In the Ghetto” was relevant to ghettos everywhere, not just the Memphis ghetto he lived in as a boy. His mother picked cotton in Mississippi while carrying the baby Elvis. His music was purely southern, blending many southern genres. Then there’s the fact that he’s the King of Rock ‘n Roll. Hundreds help feed their families and help us enjoy life by imitating him. What an oversight to exclude his music from the top 100!

By Scott

September 6, 2005 06:13 PM | Link to this

Cheryl Swofford you go girl

By Cheryl Swofford

September 6, 2005 06:24 PM | Link to this

After I got over the shock of Elvis so unjustly not having a top 100 southern song (“American Trilogy,” “Kentucky Rain,” “In the Ghetto,” etc, I realized that Hank Sr (at least there was a good AJC book review about him), Jerry Lee Lewis, Garth Brooks, REM, Willie Nelson, John Denver, The Eagles, & Jimmy Buffett were slighted. Glad to see “Sweet Southern Comfort” & some others,” but what about Tim McGraw’s “The Ride,” Johnny & June’s “Jackson,” etc, etc. And Faith Hill & Shanie Twain & more Dolly Parton, etc.

By Tim Burt

September 6, 2005 07:02 PM | Link to this

No Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle or Slobberbone. At least you got a Drive By Truckers song in there.

By Donald Fay

September 6, 2005 07:25 PM | Link to this

Did you really listen to all the songs closely? Gillian Welch’s “Red Clay Halo” has a male point of view: “The girls all dance with the boys from the city, but they [the girls] won’t dance with me.” Sounds like a rural guy’s lament to me.

By Alex

September 6, 2005 11:09 PM | Link to this

Christ, with all the serious things to fret over these days, I can’t believe how people can actually get worked up over an arbitrary list of good songs. Really, does it make any bit of difference to anyone’s life if the list is called “100 Greatest” or “100 Great, but not Tops” or “84 Good, 11 Great, and 5 Awful Southern Songs.”

And to those who feel there’s an over representation of Hip Hop on the list, I’d suggest that maybe not everyone’s experience in the South is identical to yours. Thus, they might express themselves in slightly differently ways than Molly Hatchet does. But clearly, their work appeals to a broad group of Southerners. While OutKast might not speak to your experiences or tastes in art, they obviously do to plenty of other folks.

That said… where’s all the Elvis?

Really cool to see the Drive-by Truckers on the list. Pretty much any of their songs could have made it.

By Anita

September 7, 2005 01:55 PM | Link to this

Sounds like a few GREAT CD’s….I’m ready for my copy. Is it for sale yet?

By skydog

September 7, 2005 02:43 PM | Link to this

I must’ve missed two of my favorites. “Calling all Cows” and “Party til the Cows Come Home”.

By Keysha

September 9, 2005 09:52 AM | Link to this

What happened to Alabama…’Song, song of the south, sweet potato pie and shut my mouth…’?

By W T

September 9, 2005 10:33 AM | Link to this

The AJC grossly missed on its review of “Genius Loves Company”. The AJC gave it a weak review. What a great CD (album)- triple platinum. It also won eight Grammy awards, including Album of the Year and Song of the Year. This “list” further confirms that the AJC staff wouldn’t know quality music if it hit them in the face.

By Steve Anderson

September 9, 2005 04:22 PM | Link to this

I’m curious as to why there’s no writer’s credit for Georgia On My Mind. That song was written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell in 1930.