Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
Often described as a more radio-friendly version of Lynyrd Skynyrd or the Allman Brothers, the Atlanta Rhythm Section was one of many Southern rock bands to hit the upper reaches of the charts during the late '70s. Hailing from the small town of Doraville, Georgia, the beginning of the Atlanta Rhythm Section can be traced back to 1970. It was... [+] Read More
Genre: Country
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
A talented and showy fiddler, Charlie Daniels and his band fuse hardcore country with a hard-edged Southern rock boogie and blues. The group -- which has had a rotating cast of musicians over the years -- has always been known for their instrumental dexterity, but they were also notorious for their down-home, good-old-boy attitude; in the early... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Combining a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching power chords and a flair for the absurd, Cheap Trick provided the necessary links between '60s pop, heavy metal, and punk. Led by guitarist Rick Nielsen, the band's early albums were filled with highly melodic, well-written songs that drew equally from the crafted pop of the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
Dickey Betts joined the Allman Brothers Band as second lead guitarist and singer in the late '60s. In addition to matching bandleader Duane Allman lick for lick, Betts also wrote such memorable songs as "Revival" (number 92, 1971) and the instrumental tour de force "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." After Duane Allman was killed in a road... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s, 90s
Featuring ex-Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Brad Gillis and former Montrose keyboardist Alan Fitzgerald, Night Ranger was one of the most popular mainstream hard rock bands of the mid-'80s. The group formed in the early '80s in San Francisco; in addition to Gillis and Fitzgerald, the members included Jack Blades (vocals, bass), Jeff Watson (guitar),... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 80s
Rossington Collins Band were spawned by one of rock music's most well-known tragedies -- in October of 1979, two years after the plane crash that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, new guitarist Steve Gaines, and his sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines, surviving members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins (guitars), Leon Wilkeson... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar projects. Guitarist Steve Morse and bassist Andy West played together as high school students in Augusta, Georgia in a conventional rock band called Dixie Grit. When Morse... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s
One of the major Southern rock bands of the '70s, the Marshall Tucker Band was formed in Spartanburg, SC, in 1971 by singer Doug Gray, guitarist Toy Caldwell (born 1948, died February 25, 1993), his brother bassist Tommy Caldwell (born 1950, died April 4, 1980), guitarist George McCorkle, drummer Paul Riddle, and reed player Jerry Eubanks. The... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s, 90s
Southern rock unit the Outlaws was formed in Tampa, FL in 1972 by singers/guitarists Hughie Thomasson and Henry Paul, bassist Frank O'Keefe, and drummer Monte Yoho. With the 1973 addition of guitarist Billy Jones, the lineup was complete, and after a year of intense touring the band became the first act signed to Arista under Clive Davis; the... [+] Read More
Genre: Rock/Pop
Decades Active: 70s, 80s
Wet Willie were, after the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the hardest-rocking of the Southern bands to come to national attention in the early '70s. For seven years, from 1971 until 1978, they produced an enviable array of albums awash in good-time music, rollicking high-energy blues-rock, and white Southern soul, and for their trouble... [+] Read More
