The fear, confronted with a two-CD set celebrating the music of the Deep South in the early 70s, is that most of it will be taken up with guitar solos. Delta Swamp Rock duly features a couple of tracks from Lynyrd Skynyrd and three from the Allman Brothers, but soloing, choogling, boogying and other bearded self-indulgences are banished across 25 songs of soul- and country-inflected rock. Joe South's version of Hush is a dancefloor belter; Cher's foghorn of a voice is oddly suited to Dr John's I Walk on Gilded Splinters; Bobbie Gentry's contributions are a delight. The Skynyrd choices seem a bit odd at first – one is sung by their original drummer, which is a bit like picking a Pete Best number to represent the Beatles on a compilation of British 60s rock – but by being songs rather than instrumental showcases they serve the set far better than, say, Freebird would have. Delta Swamp Rock expertly merges the familiar and the forgotten to wonderful effect.
DISC 1:
01. Lynyrd Skynyrd – The Seasons
02. Barefoot Jerry – Smokies
03. Joe South – Hush
04. Bobbie Gentry – Papa, Wont You Let Me Go to Town with You
05. Area Code 615 – Stone Fox Chase
06. Duane and Gregg Allman – God Rest his Soul
07. Cher – I Walk on Guilded Splinters
08. Cowboy – Please Be with Me
09. The Allman Brothers – Ain’t Wastin Time No More
10. Link Wray – Be What You Want To
11. Boz Scaggs – I’ll Be Long Gone
12. Lynyrd Skynyrd – Comin’ Home
13. Bobbie Gentry – Seasons Come, Seasons Go
DISC 2:
01. Leon Russell – Out in the Woods
02. Tony Joe White – Polk Salad Annie
03. Barefoot Jerry – Come to me Tonight
04. Duane and Gregg Allman – Morning Dew
05. Dan Penn – If Love Was Money
06. Linda Ronstadt – I Won’t Be Hangin Round
07. Waylon Jennings – Big D
08. Big Star – Thirteen
09. Bobbie Gentry – Mississippi Delta
10. Travis Wammack – I Forgot to Remember to Forget
11. Johnny Cash – If I Were A Carpenter
12. Billy Vera – I’m Leavin Here Tomorrow, Mama http://www.fileserve.com/file/7cMx5DB
