Mostly as a result of their 2001 two-CD opus,
Southern Rock Opera, the Athens, Georgia-based Drive By Truckers are often lumped with bands who embody the narrowest definitions of Southern rock. Main songwriter and guitarist Patterson Hood insists, however, that the Truckers (
www.drivebytruckers.com/) fit that category “only if you include groups like R.E.M. (
www.remhq.com/) in that legacy.” With its emphasis on alternative pop, classic rock, and singer-songwriter fare, Hood’s list of favorite albums bolsters that assertion. The Truckers’ latest album,
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, is scheduled for release in January.
1) Tom Waits: Swordfishtrombones
“This one could have just as easily been Rain Dogs or Blue Valentine, but alas it had to be this one. Tomorrow it might be Rain Dogs, or hell, even Alice, but inevitably a few days later it will once again be this one. It’s still growing on me 24 years later.”
2) Todd Rundgren: Something / Anything?
“This may be the single most important record of my childhood, since the age of 12, anyway. ‘Hello It’s Me’ is easily one of my top three favorite songs. I probably learned more about songwriting from this album than from any other record.”
3) Big Star: 3rd (vinyl reissue)
“I always liked Radio City better until hearing this sequence on vinyl. It’s still pretty dang close, but this version is a revelation and as good as any record on earth. But then again so is Radio City. ‘Kangaroo’ is in my top five all-time favorite song list.”
4) The Glands: The Glands
“The best album ever to come out of Athens, Georgia, or maybe even all of Georgia. It’s the best album so far this century, unless you count 2000 as last century. It’s a little hard to find—it’s on Capricorn Records—but worth however much trouble it is. In 10 years it may well move up on my list.”
5) Bob Dylan and the Band: The Basement Tapes
“I almost put the Band’s brown self-titled album here, but today I liked this one best. American music never sounded better.”
6) Neil Young: Tonight’s The Night
“Rust Never Sleeps could have easily gone here, but this one has ‘Albuquerque’ which might have my second favorite chorus ever written. It sounds like he did it on a bet. And won.”
7) The Rolling Stones: Exile On Main Street
“Here I could substitute Sticky Fingers, Let It Bleed, Beggars Banquet―or Liz Phair’s Exile In Guyville―but tonight I didn’t.”
8) Eddie Hinton: Dear Y'all (The Songwriter Sessions Vol. 1)
“Another one that’s hard to find―it’s on Zane Records, a U.K. label, so you have to have it imported―but it’s as great a bunch of soul songs as ever written, stripped down to songwriter demo essentials. It gets better with every listen, a thousand listens later.”
9) The Replacements: Tim
“This crappy little album inspired me to drop out of college and form Adam’s House Cat with my roommate Mike Cooley back in 1985. Let It Be might be a better album, but this one is why I’m here doing this tonight.”
10) John Lennon: Plastic Ono Band
“I had to have a Beatle album, and this is my favorite one. Rubber Soul and Band on the Run rank pretty high too.”
11) Gillian Welch: Time (The Revelator)
“I was initially a doubter, but this one won me over in such a big way that it has become almost an obsession. It’s some of the best songwriting I’ve ever heard, stripped to essentials and played like a hoedown in a madman’s head. Hundreds of people have written a song about Elvis (I’ve written two or three myself), but hers is the best on earth and it’s an average song on this album.”
12) Bruce Springsteen: The River
“I ran away from home to see Bruce on Friday the 13th, 1981, in Starkville, Mississippi. It changed my life and definitely changed the way I perceive a rock show. Darkness on the Edge of Town is more consistent and Nebraska is probably better, but I was 16 and this is the one for me.”
13) Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates
“The ultimate ‘Sunday morning coming down’ album. About as beautiful as any record ever made. If it ended after the first three songs I would still include it on this list.”