Good Old Boys is Newman’s fourth studio album on Reprise Records, released September 10, 1974. It was his first album to obtain major commercial success, peaking at number 36 on the Billboard 200. The premiere live performance of the album took place at Symphony Hall in Atlanta in October of 1974, with guest Ry Cooder and Newman conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Good Old Boys was initially envisioned as a concept album about a character named Johnny Cutler, an everyman from the Deep South. Newman made a demo of these songs on Feb 1, 1973, and they were eventually released as the bonus CD for the 2002 reissue of the record, titled Johnny Cutler’s Birthday. These demos make their vinyl debut in this expanded 2LP set.

As on Newman’s previous release, he addresses generally taboo topics such as slavery and racism, most stringently on the opening track, “Rednecks,” a simultaneous satire on institutional racism in the south and the hypocrisy of the northern states in response.