The civil rights movement began in the early 1950s and ended in the late 1960s. The movement was about African Americans ending racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and racial segregation in the United States. Southern rock then celebrated the end of the civil rights movement as the Black American blues was one of the greatest influences. Southern Rock artists wrote songs specifically directed at promoting Black Americans. On their second album, Lynyrd Skynyrd included a song called “The Ballad of Curtis Loew.”. This song was the one of many that showed appreciation and acceptance to the African Americans. These songs touched the heart of many families and friends that were dealing with discrimination. An article written by Edward Smith titled “Southern Rock and Civil Rights” explains the significance of the song “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” in the early 1970s. “The song featured an old black man with white curly hair who ran a small country corner store and played blues on the guitar for the narrator. The chorus line of “people said he was useless then people all were fools / ‘cause Curtis Loew was the finest picker to ever play the blues” contains the most meaning in the song. “Useless” refers to the racism experienced by the blacks from the South in the Jim Crow laws and pre-Civil Rights Era. The narrator then calls these people “fools” because they failed to see the value of blacks in the South. These “fools” are the people who exploited blacks and fought against the Civil Rights movement. The narrator then praises the blacks when he calls Loew “the finest picker to ever play the blues.” This line not only glorifies the Blues music performed by black artists. It also celebrates the accomplishments of all Black Americans. “The Ballad of Curtis Loew” shows great admiration to blacks and thanks the Blues for its impact on Southern Rock.” The southern rock bands attributed most of their success to Black American influences, especially the blues as they respected and valued African Americans. As southern rock was seen as a genre that showed southern pride it was a big step for the genre showing the world that the artist and fans respect african americans.