1. Steve Youn… Read Full Bio ↴There are multiple artists using the name Steve Young.
1. Steve Young (July 12, 1942 – March 17, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter and guitarist, known for his song "Seven Bridges Road" (on Rock Salt & Nails & Seven Bridges Road). He was a pioneer of the country rock, Americana, and alternative country sounds, and also a vital force behind the "outlaw movement" that gave support to the careers of Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Jr. and more. Young was also featured in the 1975 Outlaw Country documentary Heartworn Highways. He was the subject of the song "The All Golden" by Van Dyke Parks. Young's first album, Rock Salt & Nails, on A&M, was performed on and supported by Gram Parsons, Gene Clark and other musicians from the 1969 musical community in Southern California.
Steve Young has never fit comfortably into categories. He follows his own musical and spiritual quest, weaving together Southern roots with a wide experience of life, and creating new traditions in American music.
Young was born in Georgia and grew up in Alabama, Georgia and Texas in a family which moved frequently in search of work. By the time he had completed high school in Beaumont, Texas, he was playing guitar and writing songs which incorporated influences of folk , country , gospel, and blues musicians and people like Hank Williams , Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and others. Once as a teenager he was blown away by seeing Carlos Montoya , a Flamenco Guitarist. He managed to use that too!
By his late teens, Young was back in Alabama, where he established some reputation on the local music scene. However, the wandering spirit soon took over again. He immersed himself briefly in the Greenwich Village folk scene, at a time when Bob Dylan and others were just being noticed.
Returning to Alabama, Steve found that "my New York folk-protest songs didn't fly in the South." Searching for more receptive audiences, he made short forays to California and other locations before moving to the West Coast in 1964.
In California, he worked with musicians like Van Dyke Parks and Stephen Stills, at one point holding a day job as a mailman. A major-label record deal led to a short-lived stint with a psychedelic country-folk band, Stone Country.
Settling into a solo career, Steve Young became an integral part of the movement which defined the California country-rock sound. Appearing on Steve's 1969 classic album, Rock, Salt & Nails were fellow pioneers like Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, Bernie Leadon and Gram Parsons.
Through 12 albums and countless live performances, Steve Young's music has remained fresh and aggressive, with a sense of deepening spirituality, and a consistent intellectual and artistic challenge, to himself and to his audience.
Many of the stars of the music industry have recorded Steve Young songs, and in some cases forged a career image around them. "Lonesome, Orn'ry & Mean," for example, became the signature tune for 'Outlaw' Waylon Jennings. Hank Williams Jr.'s cover of "Montgomery In The Rain" remains a classic.
Certainly the most-covered Steve Young song of all is "Seven Bridges Road," which has been recorded at various times by artists like Joan Baez, Rita Coolidge, Ian Matthews, the Eagles, Ricochet, and, most recently, Dolly Parton.
While Steve Young songs have brought commercial success to others, Young has never been close enough to the mainstream to sustain his occasional brushes with stardom . He has been unwilling to accept the loss of artistic control that the industry expects of its stars.
And while Steve has lived in country music towns like Nashville and Austin, and his songs have had a strong impact on the direction of country music, he rejects the country label for himself. Young is in many ways a cultural dynamic in himself.
Part Cherokee (from his father) by birth, steeped in Baptist fundamentalism as a child, yet attracted to a Zen spirituality, the young man from the South with a nomadic spirit went on to create a unique form of American roots music with a truly global perspective.
Steve Young has literally toured the world. He has performed in many countries of Europe, in Australia and New Zealand, in Micronesia, China and Mongolia, in Egypt and East Africa and beyond. Wherever he has gone, he has filled the dual role of ambassador for American music and student of the cultures of others.
Young's live performances express the depth and power of his vision. He draws on his own songs, on Southern folk songs from varied traditions, on collaborations and on the best of contemporary songwriters such as J.D. Loudermilk, David Olney and others.
Steve passed away on March 17, 2016 at age 73
2. 'Steve Young' is also a pseudonym of Peter Friel, ambient tape musician.
Alabama Highway
Steve Young Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm Riding Down by Your old Shack Today
Riding On Down This Alabama Highway
I'm Riding Down by Your Old Shack Today
Lord, I've Worked All Out In Your Cotton Fields
Lord, I've Worked All Out In Your Cotton Fields
Worked So Hard Lord, I Thought It Was Unreal
Alabama Highway, Take Me On Neath the Moonlight Toward The Day
Turn Supernatural, Take Me to the Stars, And Let Me Play
I Wanna Be Free, Alabama Highway
Yes I've Loved You, I've Loved You Dixieland
Yes I've Loved You, I've Loved You Dixieland
I Wonder Why You Never Give Me A Helping Hand
Cause I've Loved You, I've Loved You Dixieland
Alabama Highway,
Take Me On
Neath the Moonlight Toward the day ,..
I wanna be free ,.. Alabama Highway
The lyrics of Steve Young's song "Alabama Highway" describe the singer's journey down the road towards his past, towards memories and feelings of nostalgia that he associates with his home state of Alabama. He is "riding down" towards an "old shack" that holds importance for him, perhaps a symbol of his past life and experiences. The tone is wistful and melancholic, as he thinks of the hard work he did in the cotton fields and the love he had for the land, despite the fact that it did not always reciprocate his feelings. He expresses a desire to be free, to let go of the burdens and frustrations of the past and find peace on this mythical road.
There is a sense of spiritual longing in the song, as Young refers to the road as "supernatural" and asks it to take him to the stars. This reflects a belief in the healing power of nature and the universe, and suggests that the singer is seeking comfort and guidance from a larger force. It is unclear whether he finds what he is looking for, as the song ends on a note of uncertainty. However, the journey itself is seen as significant and transformative, as he seeks to come to terms with his past and find a way forward.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm Riding Down by Your old Shack Today
I am traveling down to your old shack today.
Riding On Down This Alabama Highway
I am cruising down this Alabama Highway.
Lord, I've Worked All Out In Your Cotton Fields
I have labored intensively in your cotton fields.
Worked So Hard Lord, I Thought It Was Unreal
I worked so hard, that it almost seemed unrealistic.
Alabama Highway, Take Me On Neath the Moonlight Toward The Day
Alabama Highway, lead me through the evening under the moonlit sky towards the dawn of the day.
Turn Supernatural, Take Me to the Stars, And Let Me Play
Magically transport me to the stars and let me play gloriously.
I Wanna Be Free, Alabama Highway
I want to be unbounded, Alabama Highway.
Yes I've Loved You, I've Loved You Dixieland
I have adored you, I have worshipped you, Dixieland.
I Wonder Why You Never Give Me A Helping Hand
I am curious why you have never provided me any assistance.
Contributed by Landon O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mikevelotas4593
I rate Steve Young right up there with Towns! Music and lyrics that test right into you heart and mind!!! My favorite songwriter ever! Folks still singing his tunes today…. They should make a movie in this man. He is truly an Alabama gem!!
@MP-ve4cj
I'm English and like many I would imagine, first discovered this gem on the Heartworn Highways documentary. Steve Young didn't get the recognition that he deserved which is a real shame. Great song. Great songwriter.
@roofermarc1
Love this song. Ever since watching heartworn highways I've listened to Steve young over and over. Rip
@Astralpains
I found Steves first record on a shelf somewhere in new jersey while traveling for music myself. An ex girlfriend stole it eventually but every now and then i think about the long nights id have with that record. Rip Steve.
@zeitgeist6995
Underrated musician and underrated song, the entirety of Heartworn Highways is a treasure. Cry everytime I watch it.
@amandafoulk6625
I just keep coming to this when I just wanna feel a certain way. It haunts me in the best way.
@Cottonswabs15
3:03 🤣the police shaking his head as they drive by always gets me.
@endbfududb
I've watched heartworn highways for years. It's very dear to my heart with many great performances by some of the greats. This one has begun to outshine Townes a little for me. I adore Townes.
@user-ep4xb9ci9y
Such a great song. One of my absolute favorites
@TamblynJ
What a tune. Incredible emotion.