kirk west photo By Steve Newton The spirit of southern rock was alive and well when I was a music-crazed teenager in the seventies. Skynyrd, Hatchet, Blackfoot, Outlaws, Allmans: I ate it up. Then the eighties came along and the sound of the south took a nosedive, popularity-wise. But back in the early '90s the … Continue reading That time I asked Warren Haynes if the spirit of southern rock was alive and well in 1994
Tag: Blackfoot
Album review: Spirit, Spirit of ’84 (1984)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, SEPT. 28, 1984 By Steve Newton With an all-star lineup that includes Howard Leese (Heart), Alan Gratzer and Neil Doughty (REO Speedwagon), Jeff Baxter and Keith Knudson (former Doobie Brothers), and Bob Welch, the ghost of Spirit has made a successful materialization in the 1980s. The late-sixties L.A. band reunited last year … Continue reading Album review: Spirit, Spirit of ’84 (1984)
Album review: Blackfoot, Siogo (1983)
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JUNE 24, 1983 By Steve Newton Former Uriah Heep keyboardist Ken Hensley has become the fifth Blackfoot member on their sixth studio album, Siogo. While I was a little worried that the overpowering organ sound he'd often wielded in his former band might drown out the gritty guitars of Rickey Medlocke and … Continue reading Album review: Blackfoot, Siogo (1983)
That time I asked Dickey Betts if the Allman Brothers were the originators of “southern rock”
By Steve Newton I've been a big fan of "southern rock" since I first heard the Allman Brothers Band's version of "One Way Out" on the Eat a Peach album back in high school. Some of my other fave bands in the seventies were Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet, and Blackfoot. So when I … Continue reading That time I asked Dickey Betts if the Allman Brothers were the originators of “southern rock”
Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1983
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, JAN. 13, 1984 By Steve Newton Stevie Ray Vaughan Texas Flood “Texas Flood is by far my most played album these days. It’s one of those rare albums where every song is a winner…if your’re a fanatic of electric blues guitar, you’ve got to have this record.” Gary Moore Corridors … Continue reading Newt’s Top 10 albums of 1983
Rickey Medlocke on reuniting with Skynyrd, the plane crash, and the rebel flag
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON AUG. 21, 1997 By Steve Newton October 20, 1977, is a day branded by sadness for southern-rock fans. That’s when Lynyrd Skynyrd’s rented plane, short on fuel, crashed into a Mississippi swamp en route to a gig at Louisiana University. Vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines died in the crash—along … Continue reading Rickey Medlocke on reuniting with Skynyrd, the plane crash, and the rebel flag
Horror review: Straw Dogs
ORIGINALLY POSTED ON STRAIGHT.COM, SEPT. 16, 2011 By Steve Newton In this remake of Sam Peckinpah’s controversial 1971 payback epic starring Dustin Hoffman, pretty-boy Hollywood screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) and his sexy actor wife, Amy (Kate Bosworth), power their sleek silver Jag into the Mississippi burgh of Blackwater. They are there to fix up … Continue reading Horror review: Straw Dogs