Billy Bob Thornton’s favourite southern rock albums
If you ask him, Billy Bob Thornton has always been a musician masquerading as an actor. Born in the heartland of America, Thornton was raised on the swampy boogie drive of southern rock, the country’s most patriotic rock genre. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Thornton split his time almost equally between music and film, having performed in the ZZ Top cover band Tres Hombres and in the South African band Jack Hammer before breaking into movies.
Thornton has been so committed to his musical identity that he’s caused some awkward encounters when his acting career comes up. His notorious 2009 interview with CBC Radio programme Q notwithstanding, Thornton’s dedication to music has remained genuine for the better part of five decades.
When Thornton sat down with southern rock musicologist Michael Buffalo Smith, the topic naturally turned to the pair’s shared affinity for the genre. Thornton claimed that, of the thousands of records that he owns, the majority were from bands that specialised in the southern style. Thornton gave a thorough list of his favourite records, representing the full scope of southern rock.
Topping the list was a no-brainer: The Allman Brothers Band’s iconic 1971 live album At Fillmore East. “The best one of all. Nobody else comes close,” Thornton claimed. “My favourite 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.”
It wasn’t the only Allman Brothers record to make the cut. Further down the list, Thornton gave praise to both 1970’s Idlewild South and 1972’s Eat a Peach, with both records being included at Thornton’s number seven spot. “It’s hard to pick just one Allman Brothers album,” he claimed. “I can’t do it.”
While compiling the list, Thornton gave shout-outs to lesser-known artists of the genre, like Wet Willie and Grinderswitch. Of course, there was room for Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top, two of the biggest cornerstones of the genre. But Thornton also made sure to shout out to his home state of Arkansas and some of their proudest sons: Black Oak Arkansas.
“That was a huge thing for us,” Thornton explained. “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.”
Check out Billy Bob Thornton’s favourite southern rock albums down below.
Billy Bob Thornton’s favourite southern rock albums
- At Fillmore East – The Allman Brothers Band
- Honest to Goodness – Grinderswitch
- Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd – Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Where We All Belong – The Marshall Tucker Band
- High and Mighty – Gov’t Mule
- Drippin’ Wet – Wet Willie
- (Tie) Eat a Peach and Idlewild South – The Allman Brothers Band
- Black Oak Arkansas – Black Oak Arkansas
- Rio Grande Mud – ZZ Top
- Boz Scaggs – Boz Scaggs
