Artist: MOLLY HATCHET
Album: MOLLY HATCHET RE-RELEASE (DIGI)

Year: 1978/ 2008
Media type: CD

How odd. But we have to start with a plane crash. On October 20, 1977. The one that devastated Lynyrd Skynyrd. Not only did this happen just as the great band were about to become one of the biggest names in the world, but it also left a void in the southern rock genre. Skynyrd had been undisputed masters of the redneck country for the previous few years. Who could possibly pick up the Confederate masthead and run full tilt into the onrushing storm? Was there a band who were capable of, if not taking over from these fallen icons, at least ensuring the south had a visible musical leader? Yes, there was. The name was Hatchet. Molly Hatchet.

Not some mysterious female rival to Janis Joplin, the band called themselves after an allegedly notorious prostitute, who apparently welcomed clients with sexual favours, before chopping off their heads. But Hatchet shared with Skynyrd more than the fact they’d named themselves after a real person. They were contemporaries from the same area of America Jacksonville, Florida. And the scene was incestuous, to say the least.

Whatever the truth of the dream, the fact is that Hatchet were now the great hope for southern rock. Werman personally took them under his wing, and in 1978 they released a landmark album. Just titled ‘Molly Hatchet’ that debut underlined why so many believed they were the band to take the genre into the 1980s. This was no bunch of wet rookies, barely able to do up their proverbial musical shoelaces. Hatchet were controlled, commanding and creative. They took the chance and ran it straight into the end zone. Touchdown. Conversion. It was also heavily inspired by the Skynyrd sound, something Hlubek pointed out was far from coincidental:

“We used their equipment in the studio. And (Skynyrd singer) Ronnie Van Zant was supposed to be our producer. He had arranged and gone ahead and rehearsed us. We cut our original tapes for that first album in Skynyrd’s eight-track studio in Jacksonville. We were going to be Ronnie’s first project other than Lynyrd Skynyrd. The only thing that he made us promise him is that we would give him gold and platinum, like his band. He said, ‘I’ll see you when I come back from this tour. We’ll finish the record and put it out there and see how it goes’. That was 1977. What happened was that Ronnie never came back.”

Listening now to the album, it’s clearly influenced by the band who were the big brothers to everyone on the scene. However, Hatchet weren’t trying to step into Skynyrd’s imprint. They had their own take on southern rock. While their mentors might have been closely tied to rootsy blues and country music to a certain extent, Hatchet were going for a crisper, sharper, more metallic sound. They had a modern edge and variety. Today, listening to this stunning debut, with the first of a number of sleeves featuring the unique artwork of fantasy painter Frank Frazetta (there’s another story), the talent shines through. From ‘Bounty Hunter’ to ‘Gator Country’ and ‘Dreams I’ll Never See’ (a cover, written by another southern great Gregg Allman), the record sounds as fresh and valuable today as it did in 1978, when first released. At the time, it might not have been a chart blazer, only reaching number 64 in America, but it laid the foundation stone for what was to come.

TRACKLIST:

01 Bounty Hunter
02 Gator Country
03 Big Apple
04 The Creeper
05 The Price You Pay
06 Dreams Iґll never See
07 Iґll Be Running
08 Cheatin`Woman
09 Trust Your Old Friend

LINE-UP:

Danny Joe Brown - vocals
Bruce Crump - drums
Dave Hlubek - guitar
Steve Holland - guitar
Duane Roland - guitar
Banner Thomas - bass

Additional personnel:

Thomas Powell - bass
Tom Werman - percussion
Jai Winding - keyboard