Southern Man (song)
Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their song "Sweet Home Alabama" in response to "Southern Man" and "Alabama" from Young's 1972 album "Harvest". Young has said that he is a fan of both "Sweet Home Alabama" and Ronnie Van Zant, the lead vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. "They play like they mean it," Young said in 1976. "I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs." Young has also been known to play "Sweet Home Alabama" in concert occasionally. To demonstrate this camaraderie, Van Zant frequently wore a Neil Young "Tonight's the Night" T-shirt while performing "Sweet Home Alabama". Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot can often be seen reciprocating by wearing a Jack Daniel's-styled Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt (including at the "Live Rust" concert).
Alabama (American band)
By the late 1980s, Alabama's sales slowed down considerably, with only their major albums going gold. The group's popularity was mostly eclipsed by more traditional-sounding artists such as Ricky Skaggs, Randy Travis, George Strait, and Dwight Yoakam. Despite this, they continued to be a popular touring act, and the band issued their first live album, "Alabama Live", in 1988. For 1989's "Southern Star", the band decided to part ways with longtime producer Shedd, instead splitting production duties between Josh Leo and Larry Lee, and the other half with Barry Beckett. "Song of the South" was another number one, and the album's remaining singles—"If I Had You", "High Cotton", and "Southern Star"—were number ones in both the U.S. and Canada. That year, Alabama were named by "Billboard" the Country Artist of the 1980s and the ACA voted the band the Artist of the Decade.