Noteworthy for their three guitars lineup, the 'Truckers' are often associated with the Southern rock movement of the 70s and "jam" bands but are too cerebral and irreverent to sit squarely in either genre. Their lyrics often revolve around the working class trying to survive in economically-depressed small towns of the South.
Co-founded by Patterson Hood (son of bassist David Hood of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) and longtime friend and musical partner Mike Cooley in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. The two men had played in various other bands including Adam's House Cat which was chosen as a top ten Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s.
Together with a revolving group of musicians, Drive-By Truckers put out their first two albums, Gangstabilly (1998) and Pizza Deliverance (1999). Following their second release, the band embarked on a nationwide tour, resulting in a live album called Alabama Ass Whuppin' (released in 2000 by Second Heaven Records, re-released in 2002 by Terminus Records). They had an entertaining and informational website long before most bands had begun taking advantage of the internet as a promotional tool, and together with constant touring, they quickly developed a large and dedicated fan base both on and off-line.
After three years on the road a tight-knit group of musicians emerged and they began work on 2001's Southern Rock Opera. Southern Rock Opera is a double album executed as a song cycle. The album loosely uses the rise and literal fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd as a metaphor for the culture of the American South.
Self released on their own Soul Dump Records on September 12, 2001, Southern Rock Opera, quickly accumulated praise from fans and critics alike, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone. To take advantage of the positive reception, Southern Rock Opera was re-issued by Mercury and Lost Highway Records in July 2002. Soon after, Drive-By Truckers were named Band of the Year by No Depression.
Before they could record a follow-up to Southern Rock Opera, guitarist Rob Malone left and was replaced guitarist and songwriter, Jason Isbell. Originally from Greenhill, Alabama, during his five years with Drive-By Truckers, Isbell contributed a number of significant songs to the albums he worked on.
Due to changes at Lost Highway, the Truckers were released from their contract and signed with Austin-based record label New West, for the follow-up to Southern Rock Opera, 2003's Decoration Day. Like its predecessor, the album received broad praise from fans and critics alike. Although it isn't a concept album, the songs of Decoration Day explore a common theme of hard decisions in the context of marriage, incest, break-ups, revenge, murder, and suicide are major themes.
After years of producing and playing with Drive-By Truckers, bassist Earl Hicks left the band on December 22, 2003. Hicks was immediately replaced by studio bassist Shonna Tucker, then wife of guitarist Jason Isbell. Tucker had previously guested on Decoration Day playing upright bass on the Cooley-penned track, "Sounds Better in the Song".
In 2004, Drive-By Truckers released The Dirty South. Like Southern Rock Opera, The Dirty South was a concept album. The Dirty South further explored the mythology of the South, with songs focusing on Sam Phillips and the Sun Records crowd, John Henry and his hammer, and a three-song suite about Sheriff Buford Pusser.
After touring throughout 2004 and 2005, Drive-By Truckers found their way to the Fidelitorium Recording Studio in Forsyth County, North Carolina during late 2005. These recording sessions, once again produced by David Barbe, resulted in the band's seventh LP, A Blessing and a Curse.
Released on April 18, 2006, A Blessing and a Curse showcased Drive-By Truckers' ability to branch out into new territory, and can be seen as the band's attempt at shaking labeling by critics, detractors, fans, and followers, particularly the Southern rock label that has haunted the band since Southern Rock Opera. The album sounds less like Skynyrd, and more closely resembles the bare-bones British rock of the early 1970s such as The Rolling Stones and Faces. Tom Petty's influence on the band's sound is more prominent on this album as well.
In 2006, Drive-By Truckers reunited, both on-stage and on-record, with Athens-based pedal steel guitarist, John Neff. Neff first played with the band on their 1998 debut LP, Gangstabilly, and played pedal steel on three subsequent albums, 1999's Pizza Deliverance, and 2003's Decoration Day. Neff was featured heavily on the 2006 release, A Blessing and a Curse. During the next year, Neff began touring with the band as an unofficial sixth member.
On April 5, 2007 Jason Isbell announced that he was no longer a member of the band. The following day, Patterson Hood confirmed the break on the official site. In his letter to the fans, Hood described the parting of ways as "amicable" and expressed the hope that fans would continue to support Drive-By Truckers as well as Jason's solo efforts. In the same letter, Hood announced that John Neff would become a full-time member playing both guitar and pedal steel.
Shortly after Isbell's departure, on April 20, 2007, Patterson Hood announced via the band's website that a longtime friend of The Hood Family, Spooner Oldham, would be joining the band playing keyboard for a string of acoustic performances called The Dirt Underneath Tour.
Drive-By Truckers performed as backup musicians for Bettye LaVette's 2007 album, The Scene of the Crime. The album went to #1 on Billboard's Blues Chart and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Partly as a result of this collaboration, the Truckers went on to act as the backing band for Booker T Jones for his first recording in more than a decade. The album, Potato Hole, was well received by critics and it resulted in numerous shows together.
On January 22, 2008, the Drive-By Truckers' eighth album, Brighter Than Creation's Dark (named after a line in a Cooley song entitled "Checkout Time in Vegas"), was released in the US and went to #37 on the Billboard 200 album charts. Once again, David Barbe produced the album and artist Wes Freed provided the artwork. The album has nineteen tracks and features the first song contributions from bassist Shonna Tucker.
The band's ninth album "The Big To-Do" was issued on March 26, 2010 on ATO Records, the label founded by Dave Matthews and home to such artists as My Morning Jacket, Radiohead, The Whigs and Brendan Benson.
Where the Devil Don't Stay
Drive-By Truckers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Prohibition was the talk, but the rich folks walked to the woods where my Daddy stayed
Jugs and jars from shiners, these old boys here, they ain't miners
They came from the twenty-niners
It didn't take a hole in the ground to put the bottom in their face
Back in the thirties when the dust bowl dried
And the woods in Alabama didn't see no light
My Daddy played poker by a hard wood fire
Squeezing all his luck from a hot copper wire
Scrap like a wildcat fights till the end
Trap a wildcat and take his skin
Deal from the bottom, put the ace in the hole
One hand on the jug but you never do know
Son come running
You better come quick
This rotgut moonshine is making me sick
Your Mama called the law and they're gonna take me away
Down so far even the Devil won't stay
Where I call to the Lord with all my soul
I can hear him rattling the chains on the door
He couldn't get in I could see he tried
Through the shadows of the cage around the forty watt light
Daddy tell me another story
Tell me about the lows and the highs
Tell me how to tell the difference between what they tell me is the truth or a lie
Tell me why the ones who have so much make the ones who don't go mad
With the same skin stretched over their white bones and the same jug in their hand
My Daddy played poker on a stump in the woods back when the world was gray
Before black and white went and chose up sides and gave a little bit of both their way
The only blood that's any cleaner is the blood that's blue or greener
Without either you just get meaner and the blood you gave gives you away
The lyrics of Where the Devil Don't Stay by the Drive-By Truckers speak to the hard, gritty life of the South in the early 20th century. The song tells a story of the singer's father playing poker on a stump in the woods in the Prohibition era. The rich people would come to the woods to get illegal alcohol from the shiners. The lyrics describe this scene as one where the men were tough and had bottomless jugs and jars of moonshine. The song also talks about the struggles of the Southerners during the Great Depression and the harsh conditions they had to face.
The lyrics convey a sense of desperation, as the men in the woods try to make a living by any means necessary, even if it means breaking the law. The chorus of the song changes the tone, as the singer's father is arrested for making moonshine and is taken away in the middle of the night. The desperation is heightened when the man calls out to the Lord, trying to get some comfort and relief from his troubles. The Devil is also mentioned, as a symbol of the challenges and hard times that the Southerners had to face.
Overall, the song is a depiction of a harsh and unforgiving world where people are forced to fight for survival. It is a reminder of how tough the South was in the early 20th century and how far Americans have come since then.
Line by Line Meaning
My Daddy played poker on a stump in the woods back in his younger days
My father gambled in hidden places long ago
Prohibition was the talk, but the rich folks walked to the woods where my Daddy stayed
During the prohibition era, rich folks secretly walked to the woods where my father was gambling
Jugs and jars from shiners, these old boys here, they ain't miners, They came from the twenty-niners, It didn't take a hole in the ground to put the bottom in their face
These old men used to drink illegally brewed alcohol, and they didn't need mines to dig to have a good time
Back in the thirties when the dust bowl dried, And the woods in Alabama didn't see no light, My Daddy played poker by a hard wood fire, Squeezing all his luck from a hot copper wire
During the Great Depression, my father played poker for money around a wood fire, and tried his luck with a warm electric wire
Scrap like a wildcat fights till the end, Trap a wildcat and take his skin, Deal from the bottom, put the ace in the hole, One hand on the jug but you never do know
Fight like a wildcat, till the end, cheating by hiding a card at the bottom, always drinking but never really knowing what will happen
Son come running, You better come quick, This rotgut moonshine is making me sick, Your Mama called the law and they're gonna take me away, Down so far even the Devil won't stay
My father says he drank illegal alcohol and it made him sick, and now he will be arrested and go to jail, so much so that he believes even the devil won't stay with him
Where I call to the Lord with all my soul, I can hear him rattling the chains on the door, He couldn't get in I could see he tried, Through the shadows of the cage around the forty watt light
I cry out to God, and hear the devil trying to come in, but he can't because of the light of hope that surrounds me
Daddy tell me another story, Tell me about the lows and the highs, Tell me how to tell the difference between what they tell me is the truth or a lie, Tell me why the ones who have so much make the ones who don't go mad, With the same skin stretched over their white bones and the same jug in their hand
Please father, share with me another story, teach me how to differentiate between truth and lies, explain why those who have much drive those who don't to madness, even if they share the same features and drink from the same jug
My Daddy played poker on a stump in the woods back when the world was gray, Before black and white went and chose up sides and gave a little bit of both their way, The only blood that's any cleaner is the blood that's blue or greener, Without either you just get meaner and the blood you gave gives you away
My father gambled in secret before the world became divided and offered some to everyone. Only the blood of nobles is considered pure, and without it, people become mean, and the way they behave shows their true colors
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Written by: JOHN MICHAEL COOLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind