Search - :: Little Piece Of Dixie

Fantastic

joe | 06/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I saw BBS a couple months ago with Cross Canadian Ragweed at the Birchmere in Alexandria, VA. They Rocked! Its nice, in this day and age to see a truely Southern Rock band in the tradition of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Refreshing to say the least. Their latest CD is well worth the buy and I give it five stars. Check them out in concert and buy thier stuff if you like good Southern Rock with a country feel."

Very Good, Should Have Been Great

Scott D. Bessey | Green Bay, WI | 06/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First and foremost, I'm a HUGE Blackberry Smoke fan. My brother initially introduced me to them, and after he played "Bad Luck Ain't No Crime" for me (a solid record by most accounts, but nothing that harkens the rebirth of Skynyrd), I liked the band enough to check them out live when they played a show nearby (Scandanavia, WI). Seeing this band live, for anybody who hasn't seen them, is an entirely different animal. There's certain styles of music that are just meant to be heard in person, and 'Smoke's brand of southern fried, David Allen Coe meets AC/DC, honky-tonkin' hard rock is certainly one of them. With a beer in hand, amongst friends, music really doesn't get much better. After seeing them three more times over the last two years, I eagerly anticipated the release of their sophomore effort, "Little Piece of Dixie".



In almost all areas, the new record far surpasses their debut. Excellent production, solid songwriting, catchy hooks, it's all there. A little more country than hard rock this time around, but I am more than fine with that. In the studio especially, a little more of that honky tonk seems to capture a little more of that "magic" that live 'Smoke shows have in abundance. Smoke's fans who dig the hard rock side of the band's repertoire may be a little disppointed, as the power chords are slightly harder to find on this release (but trust me, they are certainly still there).



My only disappointment has nothing to do with what this album has, it a song that is DOESN'T have that bothers me. A few months ago, Blackberry Smoke released a song online, on people magazine's website, called "Little Piece of Dixie". For those who haven't heard, it's a fantastic song. Upbeat, riffy, catchy, it really has it all. After hearing it, I immediately liked it to the point where I truely beleived that this was the song that would shoot them into the mainstream (for better or for worse). It is the best song I've ever heard by the band, unquestionably. It's a Southern-pop-rock masterpiece. A few weeks later, I heard the new album would be called "Little Piece of Dixie", same as the new 'Smoke song that I loved so much. I thought, "certainly makes sense", and prepared for the song to be the first cut on the new album that shares its title.



However, much to my (and my brother's) surprise, when the track list was released, we were shocked to learn that the song "Little Piece of Dixie" would not be included on the new album "Little Piece of Dixie". This makes no sense to me; but I'm hoping there's a good reason for it - maybe the song wasn't finished in time to make the cut? Whatever the reason, when I burn a copy to CD for myself (I purchased the download from Amazon), I will include the title track of the album that would be a five-star southern-rock masterpiece if only it was ACTUALLY included!! I suggest that everybody else downloads the song, and does the same. You won't be disappointed."