Wayne Young Song Chosen As Alabama State Rock 'N' Song

Wayne Young, long-time Louisville rocker and songwriter, has scored a hit with a tune he wrote some years back for Midnight Special, a band he was performing with. The song, originally titled "Rock 'n' Roll Is The Answer," was recut by the Shufflin' Grandads as "Alabama Rock 'n' Roll Is the Answer" and submitted to a song contest run by Birmingham station WZRR-FM.

Several Alabama writers came with tunes, but the resulting efforts "had a real twang," unsuitable for a rock 'n' roll tune, according to WZRR DJ Tony Kurre, who had met the members of the Grandads when he was working in Louisville.

The tune, which was donated, is a hard-edged rock tune and has been recut at least "ten times," according to Young, either by Midnight Special or the Grandads and pitched to various labels. As is the case with many songs, this tune has traveled and evolved over the years, notes Young, which is an indication of the song's fundamental quality.