...the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd show.

The BBC broadcasted a piece about Southern Rock, over the weekend. I recorded and watched it and it should really have been called the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd show. Absolutely no complaints from me on that point.
I have albums from both bands, one or two from the Allman Brothers and five Lynyrd Skynyrd albums. My first Skynyrd acquisition was "First...and Last" and whilst it is an odd album, it does have "Comin' Home" on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i048vKpaALU
Of course there are the obligatory hits, "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Freebird" dedicated to Ronnie's hero, Duane Allman, but "Comin' Home" has everything, great lyrics, a melancholy feel to it, musical craftsmanship, an easy feel and lots of bite when needed and it couldn't come from anywhere else but the Southern States of America. Lynyrd Skynyrd were far more than a redneck Southern band, they fused blues, jazz, rock and country into something fresh but with some heritage to it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT3XYUegiNs
I love Lynyrd Skynyrd, I love "Sweet Home Alabama", enough that I had to learn it on the guitar and the solos in it are sods to play. This is a band that I have actually loved more as time has gone on, I appreciate them far more now than at 15 years old and it seems to get stronger year on year. Just for the record, nothing against the reincarnation of the band but it is the 1976 version that I love.

Freebird live in 1976: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuZyMx2NXZM

Now the Allman Brothers were a different kettle of fish, they didn't have the big song until "Top Gear" used "Jessica" as it's theme song and whilst it is a great song, they have done better and they have a phenomenal singer in Greg Allman but it was his brother, Duane Allman that made the band so special and it makes his death at the age of 24, all the more tragic. His guitar playing is both intuitive and easy with an abundance of technical ability but his tone and feel are gifts, they can't be learned, those are talents you are born with.
For those that aren't familiar with the Allman Brothers and Duane Allman, he was dead by the time "Jessica" was written and released but you will be more familiar Derek and the Dominoes, "Layla". That song started life as a ballad and it was Duane Allman that wrote the rock riff and it is his slide guitar solo that sparkles and dazzles, Clapton's best song after Cream split and he wasn't the person that made it special, Duane Allman was.
Here is the Allman Brothers and a song called "Dreams" just to show how smooth Duane's playing was: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyhyor0yU3o
You know that he is jamming that, he's in the zone, playing from the heart and the tone and fluidity of his playing is simply beautiful. I originally heard this song covered by Molly Hatchet, their's is a fine version but the original is in a whole new league.
Here is "Little Martha" and the story behind this song is that Jimi Hendrix showed him this song in a dream and he woke up and wrote it down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmSPCOby-1A

The Allman Brothers were a mixed band, at a time when segregation and racism in the Southern states was the norm. They had a black drummer and championed black music, they were ahead of the curve in so many ways, Duane Allman was a musician, the talisman of the band, the older brother and leader and this was his dream. He worked in mixed studios, recorded for black artists and loved the blues, he should have been the future.

Ronnie Van Zant, leader of Lynyrd Skynyrd was widely considered to be racist, even the BBC documentary  held up "Sweet Home Alabama" as proof of that with the lyric,
"In Birmingham they love the Governor
We all did what we could do"
Wallace was the Governor and he supported segregation and the assumption, from the BBC, was that the "We all did what we could do" line was in support of him but what they missed was the full line,
"In Birmingham they love the Guv'nor (Boo, Boo, Boo)
"We all did what we could do"
It was a sarcastic line and without the "Boo, Boo, Boo" it becomes a racist line in support of Wallace, that was very lazy journalism on the part of the BBC, so I checked some more into Ronnie Van Zant and whilst Skynyrd did fly the confederate flag in the early days, Ronnie wasn't comfortable with the meaning behind it and stopped using it as a backdrop as well as dropping "Dixie" as the opening song they came on to. Ronnie Van Zant sang about ecology, cared about racism, thought there should be more gun control and disliked drugs and in his spare time at school he was a poet. So this hard drinking, gun toting wild man of rock was all of that as well and despite coming from a Republican family, he supported Jimmy Carter in his Presidential run (as did the Allman Brothers Band), a Democrat.
It seems to be very easy to tar someone with the racism moniker, particularly when they are born in what was considered the last bastion of racism, all you need to do take a few badly used symbols, mis-quote a lyric and feed peoples prejudices.

Southern Rock was epitomized by those two bands. I went on to adore the Georgia Satellites (a seriously good live band), Blackfoot, Molly Hatchett, 38 Special, the Marshall Tucker Band, Ozark Mountain Daredevils and many other obscure and brilliant groups but it all goes back to the founding fathers, Duane Allman and Ronnie Van Zant, the guys that pooled all the influences into the blender and concocted a powerful brew, a new kind of moonshine that gave rise to a new kind of South.

Duane Allman was killed in a motorbike crash in 1971 at the age of 24.

Ronnie Van Zant was killed in 1976 in a plane crash at the age of 29.

Matt Dolphin...naturally a very endearing performer...

I bumped into an old friend, Matt Dolphin, at a party the other week. I can't remember how I met him originally, 25 or more years ago but he left the area and life kind of gets in the way of old friendships, children take priority and your life takes a different turn and so you lose contact with all but a few core friends and that is usually luck more than judgement. Fortunately Matt has retained a close friendship with other friends from the old group, friends that we share.
He is one of those people that I should hate. He is a year or two younger than me, a full head of dark hair, showing a scant few of the lines and years that are etched on my face, good looking and slim and the sort of person you would dislike through jealousy, if they weren't so nice. Matt was always a gentleman, softly spoken and someone it was and is, always a pleasure to meet. I saw him perform "back in the day" and whilst I don't remember too much about the songs or music, I do remember his voice, a deep rich baritone at a time when everyone was trying to hit the highest notes possible, he simply sang the song without the histrionics and drama of "will he or won't he hit the note this time", it was less about him and more about the music, he did whatever the music needed.

Anyway, he is a singer/songwriter now and I found out he was playing in London this Saturday just gone, so a group of us went up to see him perform. I checked him out on YouTube and was very pleased to hear the voice is still in great form but he has written some quite amazing songs, the sort that I would have bought regardless of friendship. I played them to my youngest daughter and she decided that her boyfriend would like it so the two of them and another friend also came to see him. He has that youth demographic nailed then...cool where I am the epitome of uncool, talented where I am decidedly less than talented and where I sing, they laugh, he sings and they tell me how good his falsetto and range is.
It was a nice venue near Euston, the Pack and Carriage, intimate and perfectly suited to the singer/songwriter vibe, sofas and chairs all round, the chitter chatter of earnest conversations from the coiffured bearded and mustachioed clientele and obscure and delicious looking ales and beers that I avoided as I am currently in training...apparently...

Matt's set was short, 1/2 an hour and he is naturally a very endearing performer, not showy as the songs speak for themselves. His guitar playing is very good, lots of finger picking and some hypnotic patterns and the voice was excellent. The set was surprisingly varied, he even produced a banjo for one song and unlike the showier performers that entertain, his is a journey that you are all making together, you are drawn in.

Ignore the drums in the picture above, the whole set was just him.

Grace of the Winds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O7YK8EBgiU
Deptford Shore: https://www.facebook.com/mattdolphinmusic/videos

I did try to pin Matt down on comparisons but he wouldn't be pinned down, I can see that he writes for himself and any comparisons can be drawn by other people. I heard shades of many people in his playing and singing, I would compare him to Ryley Walker in attitude, where Walker is very American, I think Matt sounds more English, I am sure other people will hear different things but he is more the future than the past, very introspective and thoughtful, it does leave you wondering why he isn't better known.

The interesting thing was after his set, he came and sat with us but as we were talking and it was getting loud inside, we all went outside to talk. He couldn't help himself, he kept glancing through the window to see who was playing and in the end he had to go back inside, he was torn between his friends and the playing musicians. He will probably feel bad that I noticed, particularly as we sloped off without saying goodbye, my daughter's friends had a trek back and time was slipping for them so we had to dash but it was very nice to see someone so genuinely supportive of other musicians, having said that, I think his material was stronger than the others but that may be a friend talking but judge for yourself, he has a couple of CD's available to buy or download (I bought them):

http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review/25688/M/

If you get the chance, go and see him play and be sure to say hello, you can check his Facebook page for dates: https://www.facebook.com/mattdolphinmusic/