Guitar Rock is rooted in southern soil. Somehow, however, the phrase “southern guitar rock” didn’t emerge until 1971, with the Allman Brothers Band. They are the ones who established the guitar as southern rock’s central instrument.
For us, the sound rings more true than any other rock and here are 10 guitarists who’ve worked the genre brilliantly, some of whom are pioneers, and others who are currently furthering the tradition.
Warren Haynes
Along with his friend Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes has carried the southern rock torch with grace, dignity, and boundless talent. With his power trio, Gov’t Mule, Haynes offers up burly blues-rock fitted with punchy riffs, jazz-like time signatures, and incendiary slide work. Haynes’ stints with the Allman Brothers, when that duty calls, have been no less impressive.
Rich Robinson
Inspired by Nick Drake, Rich Robinson has employed a range of alternate tunings in shaping the Black Crowes’ guitar-centric sound. Alternating between his go-to Goldtop and his beloved ES-335, Robinson came roaring out of the gates on 1989’s Shake Your Money Maker, offering up infectious riff-rock in the tradition of the Faces and ’70s-era Rolling Stones. The Crowes put new blood into southern rock at a time when the genre most needed it.
Duane Allman
No guitarist is more closely associated with southern rock than Duane Allman. Inspired by Blind Willie McTell, Allman’s muscular tone and stinging bottleneck runs forged a template for every aspiring slide player who’s come in his wake. Employing a ’58 Les Paul sunburst as his go-to guitar, Allman fused blues, jazz, and rock in ways that dazzle to this day.
Billy Gibbons
Texas boogie would likely have an altogether different sound (and look) were it not for the pioneering ways of ZZ Top. Playing his beloved “Pearly Gates” (a ’59 Les Paul), Gibbons continues to draw from a seemingly bottomless bag of blues-rock riffs. It’s worth noting, as well, that no guitarist has made better use of pinched harmonics in his solos.
Gary Rossington
Harder rocking, more “boogie” oriented, and less jazzy than the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd occupied (and continues to occupy) its own niche of southern rock. At the center of the band’s sound is Gary Rossington, whose guitar playing can soar or turn swampy, depending on the song at hand. Rossington’s biting Les Paul, coupled with the Firebird sting of the late, great Allen Collins, formed a greasy tangle on such classics as “Sweet Home Alabama” and “The Ballad of Curtis Loew.”
Dickey Betts
As shown on At Fillmore East, Dickey Betts and Duane Allman could weave and spark like dual-guitar twins tethered to a telepathic command center. Following Allman’s tragic death, Betts emerged as a six-string stylist in his own right, often injecting country-tinged charm and a casual vibe into the Brothers’ material. Betts’ joyous instrumental, “Jessica,” boasts one of rock’s most memorable riffs.
Toy Caldwell
Toy Caldwell’s deceptively facile fretwork, coupled with bandmate Jerry Eubank’s languid flute lines, was a key component in the Marshall Tucker Band’s beautifully airy brand of southern rock. The classic-rock staples “Can’t You See” and “Take the Highway” are packed with Caldwell’s subtly expressive playing, while “My Jesus Told Me So,” from the band’s debut, remains one of southern music’s most affecting gospel-rock tracks.
Derek Trucks
The southern tradition of incendiary slide guitar and astral improvisations has no better torch-bearer than Derek Trucks. Captivated by the Allman Brothers Band’s At Fillmore East, Trucks (who’s the nephew of original Brothers drummer Butch Trucks) began playing slide at age nine and never looked back. With an SG as his choice instrument, Trucks adds elements of horn-based jazz and classical Indian music to his sensational fretwork.
J.J. Cale
Had J.J. Cale done nothing but write “After Midnight,” “Cocaine,” and “Call Me the Breeze,” his place in rock history would be assured. Beginning with Naturally, his 1971 one-man-band album, Cale established a style centered on murky vocals and groove-oriented guitar lines that merge country, blues and jazz. The term “laidback” has never been more aptly applied.
Patterson Hood
With their heady mix of fuzzed-up riff rock, rootsy acoustic shuffles and Crazy Horse-like excursions into the wild blue yonder, the Drive-By Truckers offer up an especially ambitious brand of southern rock. Favoring SGs and Gold Top Deluxes, frontman Patterson Hood generally tunes down a whole step in order to achieve the Truckers’ distinctive sound. The band’s sprawling 2001 opus, Southern Rock Opera, paid conscious tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Allmans, and the Marshall Tucker Band.
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