100 Songs of the South

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution music staff revealed its 100 Best Songs of the South...

Just try. Try to name a part of the country -- or the world, for that matter -- that's done more for music in the last 150 years than these Southern United States.

You cain't, child. There ain't none.

We birthed the blues. We launched rock 'n' roll. We've been the seat of gospel, the bastion of bluegrass, the home to the world's hottest hip-hop. We've dug deep down to our Nappy Roots, fostered Stephen Foster, screamed "Sweet Home Alabama" and gotten straight-up Ludacris, from Memphis to Mobile to Uncle Tupelo.

Southern music encompasses all kinds of styles, yet it hangs together as a coherent genre. Nobody's ever heard of New England music or Midwestern music, but down here we know that rock can have soul and rap can be country, and even wimpy folk can count so long as it's got Carolina in its mind. Southern music's more of a sensibility than a sound.

Here's a sample of this rich list from Access Atlanta:

10. "Coat of Many Colors" -- Dolly Parton (1971). A poignant tale of Parton's dirt-poor but love-rich upbringing in the East Tennessee mountains. It would have sounded weepy coming from anyone else, but Parton turns sadness into sublime beauty.

9. "Georgia on My Mind" -- Ray Charles (1960). Thanks to the late, great Albany, Ga., native's wonderfully earnest delivery, this old, sweet song -- like Charles -- will forever stay on our minds.

8. "Rosa Parks" -- OutKast (1998). New York-spawned hip-hop takes a seat on the front porch as its country cousins Dre and Big Boi spin a wickedly melodic tale over an acoustic guitar, a harmonica and a knee slap.

7. "Rocky Top" -- The Osborne Brothers (1968). It sounds like a traditional bluegrass tune, but it was written by pop and country songwriters Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, the married team behind many Everly Brothers' hits. Boudleaux, a classically trained violinist, once played with the Atlanta Symphony.

and ninety three others