Southern Rock Appendix LP

Plus occult rock bands & metal songs inspired by D&D

Last weekend I went to a record show.¹ One of the items I picked up was the debut album from the southern rock band Doc Holliday. I had heard of them from the Sea of Tranquility YouTube channel and Martin Popoff but never had any of their albums. The album cover had a cool variation of the caduceus, but with a winged sword instead of a staff and with the snakes looking much more menacing.

Caduceus variation to legitimize the use of “Doc” in the band name

The cover definitely gives off a strong Appendix LP vibe. I’ve given the record several spins already. Musically, it shares aspects of Blackfoot, the Outlaws, and Molly Hatchet. The lyrics cover typical southern rock topics (whiskey, Dixie, moonshine, boogie, etc.), so no fantasy RPG inspiration there. A strong album and fun listen nonetheless.

I’m a fan of many southern rock bands, but I have found the genre typically only provides Appendix LP content via album covers and song titles. I’ve talked before about Molly Hatchet’s self-titled and Flirtin’ with Disaster records when discussing album covers that feature Frank Frazetta art. The band’s other album with a Frazetta masterpiece is Beatin’ the Odds:

This painting is called Berserker, and it was first printed as the cover to the Conan the Conqueror paperback. The original oil painting was sold to Kirk Hammett of Metallica for $1 Million in 2009.

Blackfoot has a terrific song called “Fire of the Dragon” from their classic Marauder album. The lyrics, however, are metaphorical, describing drug use. So really only the song and album title have seeds of Appendix LP inspiration.

The one southern rock exception I have found is “Green Grass and High Tides” by the Outlaws. I profiled this song in the “OccasionaLP” sidebar of songs by artists who rarely ventured into Appendix LP territory that I included in the first issue of the Critical Hit Parader zine. I noted that although the song was written as a tribute to fallen rockers, when taken literally, it immerses the listener in an epic soundscape of castles, kings, and queens and the power of music to cast a spell of enchantment.

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Occult Rock Bands

Esoteric, mystical, and supernatural subjects make for fascinating material in both tabletop roleplaying games and rock music. Metal Hammer recently published a list of current underground rock bands with occult predilections…

The descriptions of two of the bands reference Roky Erickson, and that suits me just fine.

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Metal Songs Inspired by D&D

Metal Hammer also recently published a list of songs influenced by D&D…

The entry for Gygax in the article mistakenly repeats the description for Orcrypt, so I took the liberty of writing up my own description:

Gygax – Dice Throwers & Rock n’ Rollers (2018)

These D&D-inspired, 70s-styled rockers provide the Critical Hit Parader call to arms for these challenging times: “Dice throwers and rock n rollers / We need you more than ever now.”

1. Here’s an article with good tips for attending a record show:

Tips for Attending Your First Record Show