Molly Hatchet - Beatin' The Odds [8]

Title: Molly Hatchet - Beatin' The Odds
Year/Genre/Sub-Genre/City: 1980, Southern Rock, Hard Rock, Jacksonville, Florida 10/26
Matrix #: FE 36572 (Epic US; label AL 36572; runout not legible in photo)
Condition: EX (LM) | Members: Molly Hatchet (N/A) | Producer: Tom Werman
Cultural Facts: [8]

1. Named Out of a Tractor Hat: Back when they were changing band names every couple of weeks to keep working Jacksonville's dozen rock clubs, each member wrote three names and dropped them into a John Deere hat. The last slip left in the hat was Molly Hatchet, which founder Dave Hlubek said came from Hatchet Molly, a legendary axe murderess. Fans started printing bumper stickers before the band could change it again.
2. Hired After Three Songs: Jimmy Farrar was back home in LaGrange, Georgia working a regular job and singing in a bar band called Raw Energy when a former Hatchet roadie got his tape to the band's management. Molly Hatchet rented a club called the Warehouse, set up their whole stage, heard him sing three songs and hired him on the spot. Beatin' The Odds was his first album with them, replacing Danny Joe Brown, who had left over health problems.
3. Ronnie Van Zant's Unfinished Project: Before they had a record deal, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Ronnie Van Zant took the band under his wing, let them cut songs in Skynyrd's studio and was lined up to produce them. Drummer Bruce Crump later said the plan ended when the 1977 Skynyrd plane crash killed Van Zant. The band went on to work with Tom Werman, who produced this album.