Thursday, 21 March 2013

Great Rock Albums of 1978: Molly Hatchet


Before 1978, the term Southern Rock was attributed to bands such as The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Charlie Daniels Band. However, in 1978, a new force came out of the Jacksonville Florida area and it was called Molly Hatchet. Molly Hatchet, supposedly named after an axe murderess, brought a fresh southern boogie hard rock sound to music and it became a favourite among rockers and later metalheads.
For many years, I thought that their debut album was actually called "Bounty Hunter" after the first track on the album and most well known one. I now know that its actually self titled and I know further that it completely kicks ass. It's not just the music either. The album cover was a painting by Frank Franzetta and it was the first of at least four Molly Hatchet albums to use Franzetta paintings on the covers. I was so impressed with these paintings, that when I was teaching at a school seven or eight years ago, I tried to get the art teacher to teach my class about Franzetta's work.
Track Listing:
1. Bounty Hunter
2. Gator Country
3. Big Apple
4. The Creeper
5. The Price You Pay
6. Dreams I'll Never See
7. I'll Be Running
8. Cheatin' Woman
9. Trust Your Old Friend
Molly Hatchet
Danny Joe Brown- vocals
Dave Hlubeck- guitar
Duane Roland- guitar
Steve Holland- guitar
Banner Thomas- bass
Bruce Crump- drums
A metal buddy of mine once said that Molly Hatchet was one of those bands metalheads hid under their leather when they bought their albums. I never did, I didn't care who saw that I was buying a Molly Hatchet album. The first album from them would set the stage for better things to come as they would establish themselves as the new kings of southern rock.
Next post: Bob Seger- Stranger in Town
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