Gangstabilly [Original recording remastered]

Amazon.com
These Alabama rockers achieved critical acclaim for 2001’s double-CD Southern Rock Opera, a two-act, Tommy-goes-to-Dixie opus juxtaposing the tragedy of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the life of the Truckers’ prolific songwriter and enigmatic vocalist Patterson Hood. But long out of print even before Opera’s release is the simpler and more impulsive 1998 debut Gangstabilly (also remastered and re-released on New West Records), a 48-hour live-in-the-studio jam session of boiled-over twang, double-barrel rock and roll and South-deprecating wit. While nothing is off-limits in Hood's Deep South reconnaissance--Faberge cologne, domestic violence, Led Zeppelin, Republicans in hell, Porter Wagoner, baloney sandwiches and '68 Bonnevilles--the Truckers tread on the imagery with reverence rather than mockery. A tribute to late actor "Steve McQueen" is faster than the car-chase scene in Bullitt. The crudeness-meets-reality of "Buttholeville" is as much white heat as it is white trash. And Hood’s "The Living Bubba," about an Atlanta musician dying of AIDS who "can’t die now cuz I got another show," turns from an earnest tribute to a "no preachin', no self-servin'" message from a band with a conscience--and a future. - Scott Holter

Product Description
Re-issue of long out of print CD from the Drive-By Truckers. Re-mastered with up-dated linner notes from Patterson Hood.

Gangstabilly,The Drive-By Truckers,New West Records,Alternative Country-Rock,Indie Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Gangstabilly [Original recording remastered]

Average customer rating:

Old Skool Truckers
Nice Tunes and Some Noisy Rockin' Ones
Authentic Southern Music for Modern Times

Gangstabilly
Drive-By Truckers
Manufacturer: New West Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Country Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Pizza Deliverance
Southern Rock Opera (Dig)
The Dirty South
A Blessing And A Curse
Decoration Day

ASIN: B0006ULW0G
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

Wife Beater
Demonic Possession
The Tough Sell
The Living Bubba
Late For Church
Panties In Your Purse
Why Henry Drinks
18 Wheels Of Love
Steve McQueen
Buttholeville
Sandwiches For The Road

Amazon.com

These Alabama rockers achieved critical acclaim for 2001's double-CD Southern Rock Opera, a two-act, Tommy-goes-to-Dixie opus juxtaposing the tragedy of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the life of the Truckers' prolific songwriter and enigmatic vocalist Patterson Hood. But long out of print even before Opera's release is the simpler and more impulsive 1998 debut Gangstabilly (also remastered and re-released on New West Records), a 48-hour live-in-the-studio jam session of boiled-over twang, double-barrel rock and roll and South-deprecating wit. While nothing is off-limits in Hood's Deep South reconnaissance--Faberge cologne, domestic violence, Led Zeppelin, Republicans in hell, Porter Wagoner, baloney sandwiches and '68 Bonnevilles--the Truckers tread on the imagery with reverence rather than mockery. A tribute to late actor "Steve McQueen" is faster than the car-chase scene in Bullitt. The crudeness-meets-reality of "Buttholeville" is as much white heat as it is white trash. And Hood's "The Living Bubba," about an Atlanta musician dying of AIDS who "can't die now cuz I got another show," turns from an earnest tribute to a "no preachin', no self-servin'" message from a band with a conscience--and a future. - Scott Holter

Album Description

Re-issue of long out of print CD from the Drive-By Truckers. Re-mastered with up-dated linner notes from Patterson Hood.

Customer Reviews:

Old Skool Truckers.......2006-12-26

In my mind, I seperate Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverence from everything that was to come after... A different line-up and a different attitude. This was the first disc, and probably the most raw. You can tell that it was recorded in someone's house by a bunch of talented but young musicians. If you like DBT, I would recommend it, for sure. But you have to keep it in context- a lower budget fledgling band just starting to get fired up.

Nice Tunes and Some Noisy Rockin' Ones.......2005-06-01

You can almost divide this album up into jangly and rockin' tunes. I was really surprised by this album when I got it. Pleasantly. "The Tough Sale" sort of reminds me of U2's "Bullet the Blue Sky." Not that it sounds like it or anything, but just sort of how the story is laid out. At first, that song was sort of annoying, but it kept drawing me in. I think the lyrics are pure poetry.

A lot of songs on this album hit me right in the gut. "The Living Bubba" is a true story about a musician friend of Patterson's who had AIDS but nevertheless continued on playing shows and not giving up on living. Cooley's "Panties in Your Purse" is another song that is put together lyricly well.

The second side is more rocking, but it is also kind of jarring to me. I don't know if there wasn't just another album they could have saved these for, or what. But "Steve McQueen" and "Buttholeville" just don't do it for me musically like "Sandwiches for the Road" does. "Sandwiches" is the final track on the CD, and it leaves the listener with the simple message, "Nothing can hurt you but yourself." And what a fantastic gem of country-rock Zen it is.

Authentic Southern Music for Modern Times.......2005-02-25

The recording and the band on this CD are not so well polished and the line-up is not the same as the current DBT, but this is an excellent piece of work. The pedal-steel player (no longer with the band) does a great job and provides a flavor missing from the band's most recent efforts. There is a sense of spontaneity in this live-in-the-studio performance. The songs are well crafted, provocative and entertaining. The entire package strikes me as very genuine. These guys represent a substantial segment of the modern South, without affectation or posing. The rough edges of the production work well with the content of the text and the timbre of the tunes. This is one very fine CD.

Average customer rating:

An Auspicious Debut
ganstabilly: a hum dinger of a good time
The real deal
Authentic, Amazing and Little Bit Freightening
this record is so good, you'll slap your momma!

Gangstabilly
Drive-By Truckers
Manufacturer: Soul Dump
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alt-Country & Americana | Country | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00004X0MD
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Tracks:

Wife Beater
Demonic Possession
Tough Sell
Living Bubba
Late for Church
Panties in Your Purse
Why Henry Drinks
18 Wheels of Love
Steve McQueen
Buttholeville
Sandwiches for the Road

Customer Reviews:

An Auspicious Debut.......2002-08-24

I became a Drive By Truckers fan about 6 months ago when I acquired Southern Rock Opera and was instantly transported back to the York Terrace of the late 70s and early 80s ("when dinosaurs still roamed the earth"). In case you aren't familiar with it, York Terrace is (or at least was) a working class neighborhood in a town (which shall remain anonymous) in southeastern Virginia. While much of SRO is based on events that took place in the Deep South, it does a remarkable job of conjuring up the essence of life in the Terrace two decades ago as well. Lyrically and musically SRO is a masterpiece that I simply cannot recommend highly enough - particularly to anyone who came of age in the South of the 70s and 80s.

It was therefore with considerable excitement that a few months after acquiring SRO, I began to explore the Drive By Truckers' hard-to-find back catalogue. I just had to know whether the DBT had always been so good or whether SRO was the product of a gradual ascent to greatness. After a few listens to their debut album, Gangstabilly, I had my initially somewhat disappointing answer - the DBT simply did not start out with the consistent songwriting skills they would later display on SRO.

Still, Gangstabilly is by no means a bad album. To the contrary, most of the songs on it are quite good and several are exceptional. The opening cut, 'Wife Beater', pulls you in immediately with its southern gospel-inflected chorus, 'don't go back to him, he's a wife beater'. 'The Living Bubba' is an arresting up-tempo ballad that tells the tale of a musician with AIDS that will be painful to listen to for anyone who has lost someone close to them to that awful disease. 'Demonic Possession' is an upbeat number which features some mighty fine guitar pickin' and will at the very minimum have you gleefully stomping your feet, and might even get you dancing around the room if you are prone to such displays. 'Steve McQueen' is a catchy homage to the action movie star of the same name and will have you singing along in no time. 'Panties in Your Purse' is yet another wonderful DBT song that sounds like it was inspired by events that went down in the Terrace back in the day.

So, don't let anyone tell you Gangstabilly isn't worth owning. This is a fine album - just don't expect the songs to be as consistently good and flow together as seamlessly as they do on SRO. Of course, if you or I only listened to albums as good as SRO, we'd have mighty small album collections, wouldn't we? So, do the searching you need to do to get your hands on Gangstabilly and enjoy it for what it is - a fine debut from a band that would soon become even better.

ganstabilly: a hum dinger of a good time.......2000-12-12

My first time listening to DBT, I was flabbergasted. I thought, me liking country-punk, am I dreaming? Well bend me over and make me sqeal like a pig! Them thar long-haul thugs kin play a mean fiddle and g'tar. "Bulldozers and Dirt" sho' raises a ruckus in my hay loft. Be the first on your acre to rustle up this album.

The real deal.......1999-04-07

This is REAL music - real stories, real scary, real funny. Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and company write songs about real southern life, and the music is alternately blisterting and haunting. Catch this band live! They're even better on stage than on this remarkable album. "Nine Bullets" and "Wife Beater" will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. "Steve McQueen" will make you laugh while you dance around. This is a great band that's only getting better..

Authentic, Amazing and Little Bit Freightening.......1998-08-29

Gangstabilly is one of those rare albums that is haunting and at the same time a wild good time. The 'Truckers don't mince words while handling subjects like wifebeating, living with AIDS and hero worship with humanity and humor.

What can't be escaped from listening to this record is the fact that this is one hell of a great band. It's a shame but I don't think Nashville could ever handle these guys. But if they can't, you should. By this CD. Support this band becuase it's hard as hell to find music this worthwhile.

this record is so good, you'll slap your momma!.......1998-06-23

The best way to describe this record is REAL. This is the real deal, with great songs that sway like a breeze at times, and rock like a tornado at others. They will make you forget that nashville is still trying to make records.