Hearing SBR live was like a dream come true! Ideally they would play all of it but better to play some than none!
I've lived in Montgomery my whole life and my familys hunting land is just off of woodley rd so I know for a fact that the pictures are from there. And from talking with grandparents and their friends I can confirm that woodley was known as 7 bridges rd back in the day, now there are few more new smaller bridges though. But the hank jr thing with that rd leading to his dads grave is bogus. Woodley ends/begins at the Coverdale neighborhood which has had the same layout since atleast the 30's. It actually leads to F.Scott Fitzgeralds old house a few streets up, but at no point when hank was buried has it led you there. It'll get you a few miles from it but not there without getting on pre existing named main streets.
Thanks for the inside info, Tkenned6 - and welcome to the Border.
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Suzanne
I appreciate the info too, Tkenned6 and welcome to The Border. I absolutely LOVE this song so it's interesting to hear the background for it.
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
Funny! Our "Glenn" tells the Hank Jr. story every night leading into SBR. I thought he made the whole thing up, but I guess he did via Hank Jr.!
That' funny, 7Bridges. Guess your bandmate knows more than you think!
"People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016
I've lived in Montgomery, AL virtually all of my life, been a pro musician for 40 years now, and I can assure you 100% that "Seven Bridges Road" is Woodley Rd in Montgomery, AL, just went over it yesterday. All the local folk knew that when the Eagles version came out in 1980. If you'll check the Wikipedia page for the song, it has a lot of updated info that clarifies everything.
"SBR" songwriter Steve Young's dad brought his family here for a time in 1963 & he wrote the song while here & visited Woodley Rd many times. The former State of Alabama Attorney General Jimmy Evans was a friend of his in their youth & he remembers him writing the earliest version of the song & performing it here locally. Steve mentioned being here & writing the song in many interviews & has discussed the road many times, although he hadn't called it by its actual name in any interview as he probably forgot the name.
Hank Williams Jr (who is not a junior, btw --- that was a marketing ploy by his mom Audrey) tried to change history by stating that "SBR" was about the road that leads to Oakwood Cemetery in town where his dad Hank Sr (who is not a senior) & his mom are buried, but there are 2 roads that lead to Oakwood Cemetery, and combined they have a total of 3 bridges, no farmlands since the 1930's, they both go due NORTH (not "southward as you go") & there are no oaks hanging over the roads or "moss in the trees". Purely Hank Jr fiction.
I travel over the 7th bridge on Woodley Rd many times, sometimes daily for a week or so as it's part of a connecting path of rural roads to get you from east to west below Montgomery & avoid the traffic on East South Blvd. It's not a quicker drive, but it's a way-better drive, very peaceful & beautiful.
"Southward as you go" on Woodley Rd from Montgomery's East South Blvd, go appx 3 miles & you'll cross over 3 pairs of bridges pretty close to each other (bridges 1 thru 6), then you go appx 2 more miles & the 7th bridge sits all by itself. These are small creek/wetlands bridges that are maybe 50'L & some of them look to be 50 years old or more. The 7th bridge is next to cattle baron Bubba Trotman's ranch, which occupies about 2,000 acres bracketed by Woodley Rd on the west & Trotman Rd on the south. I saw one of his cows loose the other day right next to & almost under the 7th bridge & called them to come get it.
@BamaMarv: Howdy neighbor! I'm about 125 miles north, closer to the Huntsville area. I knew SBR was the road to the cemetery where Hank is buried. I've never been to the cemetery, but I know where it is.
Stay cool down there! Lord, but summer is upon us!
Thanks for the info, BM! Very interesting stuff!
"They will never forget you 'till somebody new comes along"
1948-2016 Gone but not forgotten