Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Second Helping Hits the Big 50

Today, another classic ’70s rock gem turns 50. On April 15, 1974, Lynyrd Skynyrd released their sophomore album Second Helping. To the casual listener, it’s best known for Sweet Home Alabama, which became the group’s biggest hit single. While it hasn’t exactly suffered from obscurity on radio waves and I still enjoy it, there’s more to the album than its defining song, so let’s take a closer look!

Since I’d like to do this celebratory post in the order of the tracks, ironically, we’re right back to Sweet Home Alabama, the album’s opener. It was co-written by Skynyrd guitarists Ed King and Gary Rossington with lyrics by lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, none of whom were from Alabama. The song was a response to Neil Young’s Southern Man, which they felt unfairly had characterized all Southerners as rednecks. Ol’ Neil in subsequent interviews agreed, and despite the public dissing, they remained good friends. Turn it up!

With one of Skynyrd’s signature songs out of the way (the other one being Free Bird), let’s highlight some of other great great tracks on the album. Don’t Ask Me No Questions, a fun boogie rocker and the album’s first single, was co-written by Van Zant and Rossington. Unlike Sweet Home Alabama, it missed the charts altogether, which is a shame. Yeah, it’s a simple riff and in that sense perhaps less sophisticated than Alabama but rock doesn’t need to be complicated to be neat!

Closing out Side one is Workin’ for MCA. Co-written by King and Van Zant, the song recalls Skynyrd’s signing with the record label. The “Yankee slicker” is Al Kooper, the man who discovered and signed the band, and who produced their first three albums. The reference to “seven years of hard luck” acknowledges Skynyrd’s early period from 1966 to 1973 when they didn’t have a label deal. They also went through a series of names before becoming Leonard Skinnerd in 1969, which subsequently was changed to Lynyrd Skynyrd.

This brings us to Side two and the great The Ballad of Curtis Loew. Co-written by co-founder and Skynyrd’s third guitarist Allen Collins and Van Zant, the song is about a composite of different people, including Skynyrd lead guitarist Ricky Medlocke‘s grandfather, Shorty Medlocke, according to Songfacts. Medlocke wasn’t part of Skynyrd’s line-up at the time they recorded it. “The original version of the band only played ‘Curtis Loew’ one time on stage,” recalled Ed King. “We were playing in a basement in some hotel and thought we’d try it. We never played it again until the Tribute Tour with Johnny Van Zant.”

The lyrics of The Needle and the Spoon, a deep cut penned by Collins and Van Zant, leave no doubt what the song is about. Van Zant who was struggling with addictions to heroin and cocaine himself knew what he was writing about. Songfacts notes, In 2015, Guitar World honored guitarist Allen Collins’ solo, and his use of the wah-wah pedal to inject the Southern rock song with a hit of ’70s psychedelia, by ranking it at #19 on the magazine’s list of greatest wah solos of all time.

This leaves us with one more track, Skynyrd’s great rendition of J.J. Cale’s Call Me the Breeze. Cale included the song on his October 1971 debut album Naturally. Songfacts explains, When Lynyrd Skynyrd covered this song, it once again financed Cale’s lifestyle, allowing him to release albums in a leisurely fashion and without concern for hit potential. Another key supporter was Eric Clapton, who not only helped Cale get his first record deal but who also covered some of the Oklahoma guitarist’s songs, most notably After Midnight.

While reviews of Second Helping at the time of its were mixed, contemporary assessments are more favorable. The album climbed to no. 12 in the U.S. on the Billboard 200 and no. 9 in Canada. It also quickly reached Gold status (500,000 certified sold units) in the U.S. by September 1974 and hit 2x Platinum (2 million certified sold units) in July 1987. As such, ranks among Skynyrd’s most successful albums.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; RIAA website; YouTube; Spotify

50 Years On, Still Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd

Another classic album has hit the big 50. While despite my preview in early January I cheerfully missed the actual anniversary date by about six weeks, I still felt Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) deserved a dedicated celebratory post. Released on August 13, 1973, it features some of the southern rock band’s most beloved songs and is my favorite together with their April 1974 sophomore album Second Helping.

Lynyrd Skynyrd originally were formed in 1964 as My Backyard, featuring Ronnie Van Zant (lead vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass) and Bob Burns (drums). After five years of touring and various line-up changes, they changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. While by 1970 they had become a top band in the Jackson, Fla. area, it would still take them another three years before recording their first album. A key moment happened in 1972, when producer Al Kooper discovered Skynyrd and signed them to his Sounds of the South label.

Most of the songs on (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) had been part of the band’s live set for some time. They still decided to meticulously rehearse and perfectionate the songs before entering the studio. Kooper later said he was impressed how well the group was prepared for the recording sessions. According to Wikipedia, citing a 2018 film documentary (If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd, directed by Stephen Kijak), “every note was immutable and absolutely no improvisation was allowed.”

In addition to Van Zant, Rossington, Collins and Burns, the group’s line-up on the album included Billy Powell (keyboards) and Ed King (bass). Only a few months prior to the start of the recording sessions, King had replaced Leon Wilkeson who would rejoin the fold after the album’s release, with Ed King switching to co-lead guitarist.

Time for some music! A good way to start is Side one (speaking in vinyl terms) and Tuesday’s Gone. Co-written by Van Zant and Collins, the song features Kooper on Mellotron, which he used to add the upfront string sounds to the chorus. He’s credited as “Roosevelt Gook” and also plays different instruments on various other tracks. Notably, Atlanta Rhythm Section drummer Robert Nix manned the skins on this track instead of Bob Burns.

Gimme Three Steps, another Van Zant-Collins co-write, became the album’s first single on November 5, 1973. While the lyrics are kind of hilarious, they are based on a true story. Songfacts notes Rossington recalled Ronnie Van Zant, who was about 18 at the time, used a fake ID to get in a bar while his younger bandmates Rossington and Allen Collins waited for him in a truck. Van Zant danced with a girl named Linda, whose boyfriend, who was not too happy about it, came up to Ronnie and reached for something in his boot. Figuring he was going for a gun, Van Zant told him: “If you’re going to shoot me it’s going to be in the ass or the elbows… just gimme a few steps and I’ll be gone.” He ran to the truck, and he, Rossington, and Collins wrote this song that night.

Next up: Simple Man, the final track on Side one, co-written by Rossington and Van Zant. Songfacts explains, Shortly after Ronnie Van Zant’s grandmother and Gary Rossington’s mother died, they got together in Van Zant’s apartment and started telling stories about them. Rossington came up with a chord progression, and Van Zant wrote the lyrics based on advice the women had given them over the years. They wrote it in about an hour. To date, Simple Man has more than 403 million streams on Spotify, making it the third most streamed Skynyrd song on the platform. As you might have expected, Sweet Home Alabama leads with more than 1.16 billion streams. Can you guess the no. 2 song? Hint: It’s also on this very album!

This brings us to Side two, which kicks off with Things Goin’ On, another Rossington-Van Zant co-write. Songfacts explains, This is Ronnie Van Zant’s protest song. Instead of writing from the perspective of the war, it is written from the perspective of the government. Songfacts also notes Things Goin’ On was part of Skynyrd’s initial audition tapes. When Kooper asked the band to record all songs they knew live-in-studio so he could pick the best ones for the album, he liked all 14 cuts and used everything that didn’t fit as B-sides for singles or future albums.

The final track I’d like to call out is the big enchilada Free Bird, one of the most epic ’70s rock tunes I can think of. And, yes, it’s the second most streamed Skynyrd song on Spotify with more than 551 million streams. Free Bird, co-written by Collins and Van Zant, is about a man explaining to a girl why he can’t settle down and make a commitment, Songfacts points out. The opening lines, “If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?” were inspired by Allen Collins’ girlfriend Kathy, who had asked him this very question during a fight. One of the song’s distinct features is the extended instrumental passage that makes up the final 4-plus minutes, which is dominated by Collins’ and Rossington’s guitar action.

(Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) put the group on the map and became one of their most successful albums. In the U.S., it was certified Gold in December 1974 and reached 2X Platinum (2 million certified sold copies) in July 1987. The album climbed to no. 27 on the Billboard 200, a decent showing for a debut, though their other ’70s albums reached higher peaks, especially Street Survivors (no. 5), the album just released prior to the devastating airplane crash that killed Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and his older sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines, along with the pilot, co-pilot and the group’s assistant road-manager.

In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) at no. 403 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Unlike many other ’70s rock albums, it gained ground in the list’s 2020 revision, coming in at no. 381. Here’s a Spotify link to the album.

Lynyrd Skynyrd remain a touring act to this day and just finished the cleverly titled The Sharp Dressed Simple Man Tour with ZZ Top a week ago. The last original member Gary Rossington passed away in March this year at the age of 71. This makes guitarist Rickey Medlocke who first joined the group in 1971 the longest tenured member, followed by Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny Van Zant who has been Skynyrd’s lead vocalist since the band reunited in 1987. The remaining line-up includes Mark Matejka (guitar, backing vocals; since 2006), Peter Keys (keyboards, piano; since 2009), Keith Christopher (bass; since 2017) and Michael Cartellone (drums, percussion; since 1999).

Evidently, Lynyrd Skynyrd aren’t done with touring for the year. Their web site currently lists three gigs for October and a late December date. The schedule is at https://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/#tour.

Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts; Lynyrd Skynyrd website; YouTube; Spotify

Lynyrd Skynyrd Shines During Farewell Show In New Jersey

When Johnny Van Zant asked the audience last night whether folks showed up because they are die-hard Lynyrd Skynyrd fans or because it’s their farewell tour, I answered ‘both’ to myself. While I’ve listened to Skynyrd for 20-plus years and like many of their songs, I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard fan. And, yes, part of my motivation to see these southern rockers at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, N.J. on Friday was the fact that this may well have been the last opportunity, if they indeed retire.

Recently, I read that Skynyrd added dates to extend their Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour. Maybe additional gigs will follow. Maybe it’ll turn into a Deep Purple-like “long goodbye tour.” Or maybe they’ll change their minds altogether, just like Scorpions did a few years go when the German rockers realized they couldn’t just decelerate from running at 200 mph to zero. Who knows.

Compared to artists like The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Neil Young and especially 81-year-old Buddy Guy, Skynyrd certainly has relatively young members – at age 68, guitarist Rickey Medlocke is the oldest. Gary Rossington, guitarist and the band’s only remaining co-founder, is 66. Johnny Van Zant, the younger brother of co-founder and initial lead vocalist, the late Ronnie Van Zant, is 58. The other members are still in their 50s as well. One thing was crystal clear to me last night: Lynyrd Skynyrd sounded absolutely fantastic! And maybe that’s the whole point of the early retirement plan – go out while they’re still on top of their game.

Before Skynyrd came on and set the stage on fire, there were three guests. I didn’t catch the name of the band that opened up the long evening but certainly recognized the artists who followed: Atlanta Rhythm Section and Peter Wolf, ex-vocalist of the J. Geils Band. They compensated for my disappointment when I realized that contrary to what I had read somewhere before, Bad Company, a band I would have loved to see, wasn’t among the special guests.

Atlanta Rhythm Section

Frankly, I wasn’t even aware that ALR are still performing. Two of their current members, Rodney Justo (lead vocals) and Dean Daughtry (keyboards), have been around since the band’s formation in 1971, though in Justo’s case, it looks like were some breaks along the way. The remaining current line-up includes Steve Stone (guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Justin Senker (bass), David Anderson (guitar, backing vocals) and Rodger Stephan (drums, backing vocals).

Except for Spooky and So Into You, I’m not well familiar with ALR’s songs but can confirm that in addition to these tunes, their set included Champagne Jam and Imaginary Lover, among others. Here’s a clip I took of my favorite ALR tune So Into You, a song I liked for its smoothness from the moment I heard it for the first time on the radio in Germany in the late 70s.

Next up was Peter Wolf. I was pretty pumped when I found out he was among the special guests last night. I’ve really come to like the J. Geils Band and ended up seeing them a few years ago. These guys truly were the ultimate party band. Wolf pretty much brought out that same swagger last night. He still has his distinct voice, charismatic stage presence and the occasional machine gun-like fast talking!

The set included a mix of J. Geils Band tunes, such as Homework, Give It To Me, Must Of Got Lost and Love Stinks, and songs from Wolf’s solo career like Wastin’ Time and Piece Of Mind. The Midnight Travelers, which include Duke Levine (guitar), Kevin Barry (guitar), Marty Ballou (bass), Tom Arey (drums) and Tom West (keyboards), proved to be a top-notch backing band. Here’s my clip of Homework.

After Wolf and The Midnight Travelers had fired up the crowd with an energetic performance, it was time for the big enchilada. From the opening bars of Working For MCA till the last note of the epic Free Bird, Skynyrd made it clear they meant business and didn’t want to say farewell quietly. In addition to these tunes, their set included many other gems like What’s Your Name, That Smell, Saturday Night Special, Tuesday’s Gone, Simple Man, Call Me The Breeze and, of course, Sweet Home Alabama.

Below is my clip of What’s Your Name, one of my favorite Skynyrd tunes. Co-written by Rossington and Ronnie Van Zant, it appeared on their fifth studio album Street Survivors in October 1977 – released only three days prior to the devastating plane crash that killed Ronnie, Steve Gains (guitarist) and Steve’s sister Cassie Gains (backing vocalist), along with the pilot, co-pilot and the band’s assistant road manager. Incredibly, Rossington not only survived the crash, but eventually made a fully recovery despite breaking both arms, legs, wrists, ankles and his pelvis.

Another highlight of Skynyrd’s set to me was That Smell, also from the Street Survivors album, which was co-written by guitarist and founding member Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant. In particular, I dug the harmonizing guitar parts. Since my cell phone battery was starting to run low on juice, I didn’t capture the performance, so needed to rely on other footage I found on YouTube. Here’s a clip from a gig in Tampa last month. Obviously, it was taken from a location way closer to the stage where I was last night, and frankly it is much better than anything I could have recorded!

Another song I’d like to highlight is Call Me The Breeze. I’ve always liked that J.J. Cale tune and Skynyrd’s take of it. As they were playing it last night, they turned it into an homage to the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley and many other music legends, displaying images of them on the main monitor behind the stage – I thought this was kind of cool. Apparently, Skynyrd didn’t do that during their concert back in March in Atlanta, where the following clip was recorded. But it’s great quality concert footage.

In light of my cell phone battery situation, it came down to a choice between capturing Sweet Home Alabama or the encore Free Bird. Given the extended length of the latter, I went for Alabama, which is also my favorite of the two. The opener to Skynyrd’s sophomore record Second Helping, released in April 1974, was co-written by Rossington, Van Zant and then-bassist Ed King. To me it hasn’t lost any of its appeal to this day!

Of course, making the above choice doesn’t mean skipping Free Bird in this  post, especially when there are great other clips on YouTube. The song, which was included on Skynyrd’s debut album Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd from August 1973, turned into an emotional commemoration of Ronnie Van Zant. Here’s a beautiful clip from the above Tampa show.

In addition to Van Zant, Medlocke and Rossington, Skynyrd’s current line-up features Michael Cartellone (drums), Mark Matejka (guitar), Peter Keys (keyboards) and Keith Christopher (bass). The touring band is complemented by backing vocalists Dale Krantz-Rossington (Gary’s wife) and Carol Chase. Skynyrd’s upcoming dates include Jones Beach Theatre, Wantagh, N.Y. tonight; Coastal Credit Union Music Park, Raleigh, N.C., June 29; and PNC Music Pavilion, Charlotte, N.C., June 30. Earlier this month,  Ultimate Classic Rock reported that the band announced 21 additional dates, which extend the current tour from early September all the way to December. Let’s hope there will be additional extensions.

Sources: Wikipedia, Setlist.com, Atlanta Rhythm Section official website, Ultimate Classic Rock, YouTube