Drive-By Truckers
Alabama Ass Whuppin’
Reviewed by: Jane Roser
Recorded in 1999 and originally released in 2000, Alabama Ass Whuppin‘ (I just love saying that) was the Truckers third album and has been out of print for several years, the master copies lost and only recently found. Re-mastered by Greg Calbi, with new artwork by the always incredible Wes Freed and released on ATO Records, Alabama Ass Whuppin‘ is a DBT fan’s Holy Grail. Twelve electric, rocking tracks, including well-known songs such as ‘Buttholeville’, ‘The Living Bubba’ and ‘Steve McQueen’- “The coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen.”
‘People Who Died’ is a Jim Carroll tune, which you’ll recall if you saw Leonardo DiCaprio in The Basketball Diaries. ‘The Living Bubba’ pays homage to the great Georgia musician Gregory Dean Smalley, whom DBT frontman Patterson Hood was a fan of. Smalley was dying of AIDS and would play several shows a week, not letting his ailment hinder him from living out his dream.
Raw and dirty to the core, Alabama Ass Whuppin‘ is not your mama’s southern rock. As Hood says in the original album’s liner notes it’s “left rough and ragged just like the devil intended”. This re-issue cleans the edges up a bit, but leaves your boots muddy enough to make you look like a badass.
Rating: Iconic
