Billy Bob Thornton's Top Ten Southern Rock Albums
by Michael Buffalo Smith
In keeping with our ongoing lists of favorite Southern Rock albums, we present the list of actor/musician Billy Bob Thornton. Billy joins our list of other musicians and their favorite albums.
Billy Bob Thornton told me that he has around 5,000-6,000 records in his collection, with a huge part of them being good ol’ Southern Rock. Growing up in the South, he got it honest, as far as his love for the sounds of The Allman Brothers and ZZ Top.
The following is Billy Bob's Top Ten list of Southern Rock albums. This was no rush job either. He sat and thought long and hard before naming each LP.
1. Fillmore East The Allman Brothers Band
“The best one of all. Nobody else comes close. My favorite band, bar none. Fillmore East made me want to play music. It made me want to go to concerts. It put me in a creek at 3 o’clock in the morning — sometimes I got a notion to go someplace else in another space, if you know what I mean.”
2. Honest to Goodness Grinderswitch
“Their first record. Paul Hornsby produced it and Dickey Betts was a guest on it. “Kiss the Blues Goodbye” and “Peach County Jamboree.” What a great record.”
3. Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd
“I just love that record. Ronnie Van Zant was a hell of a singer.”
4. Where We All Belong The Marshall Tucker Band
“That was one of my all time favorites. ‘This Ol’ Cowboy’ and ‘24 Hours at a Time.’ And all of that live stuff was amazing. I’m crazy about that record.”
5. High and Mighty Gov’t Mule
“I love Warren.”
6. Drippin’ Wet Wet Willie
"An amazing live record with Jimmy Hall singing his heart out."
7. (Tie) Eat a Peach and Idlewild South The Allman Brothers
"It's hard to pick just one Allman Brothers album. I can't do it."
8. Black Oak Arkansas Black Oak Arkansas
“That was a huge thing for us. It’s the one that’s got the map of Arkansas, and they’re standing up on a truck. They’re kind of unsung heroes sometimes. There’s a song on that album that I think is one of the coolest damn songs I heard in my life. It’s called “Uncle Lijah.” I love that song. I still play it all the time. It’s a terrific record.”
9. Rio Grande Mud ZZ Top
“Chevrolet,” “Just Got Paid,” “Barbeque,” all of the songs were great.
10. Boz Scaggs Boz Scaggs
“The one with “Loan Me a Dime.” Duane Allman and all the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section played on it. Sometimes in the studio I'll put it on and just kick back. Amazing stuff."
Billy Bob inducts ZZ Top into the VH1 Rock Honors.
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