50 Years Ago: Lynyrd Skynyrd Releases “Free Bird,” Debut Album
When did Southern rock officially take form as a legitimate subgenre of American music? When did the music that pulled significantly from country and rock, and then infused that with soul and blues influences take hold of the public consciousness to the point where it permeated throughout society?
Some point to the self-titled debut album of Charlie Daniels released in 1970 as the point when Southern rock was seeded. Others point to a local reporter in Atlanta named Mo Slotin who coined the “Southern Rock” phrase when writing a review for an Allman Brothers concert in 1972.
It may not have formed the subgenre officially, but Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, the somewhat eponymously-named (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) released 50 years ago this week (August 13th, 1973 to be exact) would be a pretty perfect spot to claim that Southern rock was officially sent into the stratosphere.
It’s arguably one of the greatest debut albums of all time, and for good reason. Lynyrd Skynyrd had already been around in one form or another since 1964. When they went into the studio with producer Al Kooper, they were as seasoned as just about any band ever hitting the studio for the first time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd had a rehearsal shack just outside of Jacksonville, FL that they nicknamed the “Hell House” since it got hot as hell. Despite the lack of air conditioning, they practiced in the space nearly every day and for long hours, perfecting every song, every phrase, and every note. Unlike a lot of other bands of the era especially in Southern rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd didn’t utilize improvisation. Every note what orchestrated, even in their solos and extended jams.
The band had also been seasoned on the road after opening for numerous other bigger bands and playing local gigs. This is how Lynyrd Skynyrd met guitarist Ed King from California, previously of the band Strawberry Alarm Clock who Skynyrd opened for. King saw the promise of these scrappy Floridians, and decided to sign up when they temporarily lost their bass player Leon Wilkeson. When Wilkeson returned, Ed King transitioned to become a rather unprecedented third lead guitarist. The revolutionary Southern Rock sound of Lynyrd Skynyrd was officially born.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album really is the perfect specimen of the Southern rock sound. “Gimmie Three Steps” is a punchy and sweaty Southern rock ode if there ever was one, including the hand drums that give Southern rock additional textures compared to its close cousin of country. But “Simple Man” is the song from the album that every single country music artist heard and immediately wished they had sung and written themselves.
Interesting to note, producer Al Kooper hated “Simple Man,” and wanted to 86 it from the album. During the recording, lead singer and the songwriter Ronnie Van Zandt had to politely escort Kooper out to his car in the parking lot, and told him to stay there until the recording of the song was done. Of course, “Simple Man” has since become one of Skynyrd’s top signature songs. “Tuesday’s Gone” also from the session is another top Skynyrd track.
But more than any other song, the legacy of Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd and the entire band is intrinsically tied to the final song on the album—the studio version of what might be one of the most popular and recognizable songs in American music history, “Free Bird.” It’s the only song that would ever get 20-somethings to ponder what song they want played at their funeral.
If for no other reason, “Free Bird” makes the recognition of the 50th Anniversary of this album essential, because it also marks the 50th Anniversary of the studio version of this song being released into the wild. “Free Bird” would be officially released as a single from the album in November of 1974.
The cover for the album was shot on Main Street in Jonesboro, Georgia after a long day of taking promotional photos. There they were: Leon Wilkeson, Billy Powell, Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Bob Burns, Allen Collins and Ed King, forever chronicling the first official lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The lightning strike over Ed King’s shoulder is real. Gary Rossington puked on the sidewalk seconds after the photo was taken. With Rossington’s death on March 5th, 2023, everyone in the album photo has now passed on.
But the music of Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd remains, as does the legacy, including people yelling out “Free Bird” at concerts, sometimes at the most inappropriate times. Imagine the complexion of American music if this album was never released—if we had never heard “Free Bird” or “Simple Man?” It most certainly would be a much less colorful world we live in, and Southern rock may not hold as much sway in popular music as it still does 50 years after this album was first released.
August 16, 2023 @ 8:36 am
This album like all their others still holds up today . In my opinion Skynyrd are the best southern rock band of all time . Even their newer stuff is better then all the new crap that is out there .
August 16, 2023 @ 8:51 am
16 y/o Florida boy when it was released and driving a ‘71 Plymouth Barracuda 383 blasting that 8 track tape defined a new era that included the Outlaws, Marshall Tucker band, CDB. What an era for all of us that lived it/survived it and oh how it endures…
LORD HELP ME I CANNOT CHANGE
August 17, 2023 @ 9:18 am
Yep
August 16, 2023 @ 8:54 am
Re :”Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd”:
I don’t think the band had quite broken out into mainstream American culture when the disaster occurred.
I still recall I was watching the 11 O’clock News on WNBC 4 in New York on October 20, 1977, when about half-way through, the anchorman intoned: “Breaking news report. A plane has crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi with members of the rock band Lye-nerd Sky-nerd reported to have perished…” He kind of paused and stumbled as he attempted to read the name off the paper in front of him.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:28 pm
We saw ZZTOP and Lynyrd Skynyrd at the Woodlands Pavilion a couple weeks ago .
I read several reviews and will have to say that at their age and 50 years of performing they still kicked butt!
We loved it and feel lucky to have seen them again ❤️
August 19, 2023 @ 2:13 pm
Never saw them after the crash. Sawem 3 times tho. 1st time they were 1st backup. Skynyrd Marshall tucker and Joe Walsh. Oh the 70s.
August 16, 2023 @ 8:54 am
Great album, great band and great era & area to grow up in.
August 16, 2023 @ 9:06 am
Such great music. No music collection is complete without the early music of Skynyrd.
November 13, 2023 @ 3:02 pm
Saw them open for the Who in Chicago. 1973? International Amphitheatre.
August 16, 2023 @ 9:15 am
I have an informal, mental list of songs I never need to hear again in my lifetime, and “Free Bird” is near the top. Same with “Sweet Home Alabama” and to a lesser extent, “Simple Man.” To give some context, it tends to be songs that I’ve gotten sick of hearing on endless repeat over the years, like “Don’t Stop Believin’”, “Billie Jean”, “Hotel California”, “Stairway to Heaven”, etc. Basically, a lot of the same damn songs on every classic rock and pop station that get a spin every single day, sometimes multiple times a day.
I can appreciate to an extent what this music means to certain people, but all it means to me is overplayed and overexposed. A 20-something wanting “Free Bird” played at their funeral is about the most generic, dudebro sentiment I can think of. Everybody with a soul patch thinks that song is about them. That Lynyrd Skynyrd is now a cover band composed of no original members that lucked into the copyright for the original name is just icing on the cake.
All that said, I’ve always had a huge soft spot for “Tuesday’s Gone.” Good song.
August 16, 2023 @ 10:48 am
Acca Dacca,
I have to agree reluctantly that Freebird has been massively overplayed into cliche by stupid corporate radio. A shame really, because it genuinely is a MONSTER of a song, where they got everything right. I will still play the debut album now and then, because it’s exhibit A for Southern Rock. But I much prefer deeper cut Skynyrd like the Gimme Back My Bullets album. No cliche on that one..and I still crank Street Survivors from time to time. Truthfully there are hidden overlooked gems on all their records. Nuthin’ Fancy has it moments, as does Second Helping.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:19 pm
I’m a bit biased: I’m really not a big fan of Skynyrd either way. I much prefer Marshall Tucker Band, but for the most part I’m not really a southern rock sorta guy. I like plenty of country that was influenced by southern rock, but the genre in and of itself doesn’t do a lot for me much of the time. Probably because Skynyrd are the poster boys for it. That said, I’ve ever listened to any of their albums in their entirety, but I’m also not sure I could at this point.
August 17, 2023 @ 10:45 am
Trust me, listening to their albums is a revelation compared with hearing “Free Bird” or “Sweet Home Alabama” for the hundredth time on the radio. There’s a LOT of texture to the records and the anthems work even better in that context.
August 23, 2023 @ 3:42 am
Maybe you should.
Listen to any of all of their albums. Just saying.
I can’t say that I have myself, being a lover of the band and the songs, freebird my favorite. ☮️????⚡⚠️???????????????????? ????
But I’ve got my own reasons why.
But I didn’t make the comments you did.
And THIS is ABSOLUTELY not a negative or ‘karen-esque’ comment (as my teen boys used to say ????????) just saw the article and wanted to read the comments because I enjoyed the article very much and thought it was well written. I came about into the world nine years after the album was released. Certainly wishing and wanting to have been there for the ENTIRETY of y’all’s era… But taking things as they come, as we tend to JUST have to. ????????????
Anyway. Yeah. THAT part. Blessings and Joy all around! 8 days until my Birthday ⚠️☠️????????????????????????????⚡????❤️✅
Yippee kayaeeee!!
August 23, 2023 @ 2:32 pm
There’s lots of music I should listen to. There’s also lots of music other people should listen to by artists they’ve written off.
You say “y’all’s era”, but from your description you are older than me. I’m very much coming from a post-’70s perspective, which is probably why I have zero nostalgia for the band.
Happy Birthday
August 16, 2023 @ 11:52 am
I would echo your list of songs I would rather never hear again. What’s curious to me is that my list does not include any Fleetwood Mac songs. I notice yours doesn’t either. Why is it that I don’t change the station when “Dreams” or “The Chain” comes on? This songs have been overplayed just as much if not more than the ones your list. Just a curious observation. I guess I’ll never get tired of hearing Stevie.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:00 pm
I saw Stevie this weekend in Houston. Good show. But I think I’ve hit my lifetime limit for Landslide. Don’t Stop is another as much as I love Christine McVie’s songwriting.
Having said that, I don’t think I could ever tire of hearing The Chain.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:15 pm
I didn’t go all the way down my list because I wasn’t trying to bore anybody. But yes, some Fleetwood Mac would be there.
August 16, 2023 @ 2:13 pm
I can understand the overplayed for a few of the radio hits. Still, there’s some killer album cuts from those five (six if you want to include the Muscle Shoals album) original LP’s that I’m not sure that I’ll ever get tired of.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:14 pm
I’m of the opinion that most artists, even ones that a lot of people don’t like, have “killer album cuts.” A lot of my favorite songs by my favorite artists aren’t even remotely popular. Hell, it’s practically a science for pop country performers to bury their best songs on an album behind the big singles.
August 16, 2023 @ 2:27 pm
Add Wagon Wheel to your list to make it complete
August 16, 2023 @ 3:05 pm
My list as presented is by no means complete, there are about 20 or 30 more songs that I’d have to add. That said, “Wagon Wheel” isn’t one of them. I’d rather listen to “Wagon Wheel”, Darius Rucker’s version at that, 100 times in a row than listen to “Free Bird” a single additional time for the rest of my life. I’m pretty sure if I started now and didn’t stop until I dropped dead from starvation that it would still not match the sheer amount of times I’ve heard Skynyrd’s biggest hits ad nauseam.
August 23, 2023 @ 3:45 am
Just wow. But what about those in the world that haven’t heard it THAT many times..? Just change it bruh. Then get, let those that STILL enjoy it, listen and enjoy!
Carry on peeps. Just an awful lot of negativity in a place where I’m goodie ATM.
August 23, 2023 @ 2:28 pm
I never said that people can’t listen to the music they like. If anything, if I were to start listing off the music I DO like, it would be other people telling ME that about some of it. And they have, here and elsewhere.
It’s funny to me that if you like music that isn’t commonly considered “good” in certain crowds, they treat you like you’re out of touch. Meanwhile, if you dislike something that’s commonly considered “good” and you’re one of the few voices with those opinions, it’s “negativity”. That’s fascinating to me, honestly.
August 16, 2023 @ 8:25 pm
For years, I changed the station if Freebird came on, but I’ve come to love the video of their performance of it at an outdoor festival in Knebworth UK. Now and then, after a certain number of beers, I pull it up on the smart TV and test out the surround sound system. They were having a blast that day. Sorry, neighbors.
August 16, 2023 @ 9:27 am
The members of the Allman Brothers Band famously downplayed the term “Southern rock.” Gregg Allman was quoted as saying it was akin to saying “rock rock,” implying that the roots and origins of rock and roll came out of the South. And Charlie Daniels said “the Allman Brothers was a blues band, Marshall Tucker was a country band and Lynyrd Skynyrd was a straight ahead rock band.” There is absolutely no question that the Brothers paved the way for the others that followed, but all those other bands carved out their own territory – gloriously! By the way, l encourage all my Southern rock brethren to pick up a copy of Alan Paul’s newest book, “Brothers And Sisters,” a wonderfully written story of the making of that album, the whole era surrounding it, Southern rock and Capricorn Records and the eventual disintegration of the Allman Brothers Band.
August 16, 2023 @ 11:14 am
Mike, cool I have read Alan’s “One Way Out” and will check out “Brothers and Sisters”.
Thanks!
August 16, 2023 @ 7:40 pm
Brothers and Sisters is a ridiculously good read.
And if you haven’t been to The Big House in Macon yet, you need to put it on your list post haste.
August 16, 2023 @ 9:27 am
Great debut album but the follow up album Second Helping was even better. I remember seeing them live in Liverpool UK supporting Dutch rock band Golden Earing they blew them off the stage!!
August 17, 2023 @ 7:12 am
Lynyrd opening for Golden Earring is incredible!!
August 16, 2023 @ 10:26 am
Quintessential album.
August 16, 2023 @ 10:55 am
LS is simply my favorite band of all time. There is not one song that when it starts playing, you instantly know who it is and what it is. Flick said it right. The current version of LS, cover band or no, is better than most anything today. Very good and tight band, especially live.
From the rifts of all LS songs, to the thundering thumb Toy Caldwell and “Can’t You See”, and all the other bands of similar ilk, they are not just my past. They are still my present.
August 16, 2023 @ 11:30 am
Flirtin with disaster…call up Trudy on the telephone…Heard it on the X…
August 16, 2023 @ 5:41 pm
You got that right.
August 16, 2023 @ 11:04 am
A classic album that stands the test of time well.
August 16, 2023 @ 11:28 am
I grew up listening to this and it influences my favorite music to this day, I’m looking at you Blackberry Smoke. Most of the songs have been overplayed, but I still pull this album out occasionally. I’m pretty sure they went on tour with the Who to promote this, that had to provide impetus to the band’s rise.
August 19, 2023 @ 12:28 pm
You’re correct. Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour in 1973. I attended the concert at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on December 3rd, 1973.
August 16, 2023 @ 11:31 am
I go back and fourth on which of Tuesday’s Gone or Tuckers Can’t You See is my favorite, lyrically they are basically the same song. I Never Dreamed from Street Survivor’s and Am I Losing from Nuthin’ Fancy are excellent lesser known tunes
August 16, 2023 @ 12:27 pm
Skynyrd, Baby!
I always had a soft spot for Skynyrd, just because my maternal grandparents lived in Jax the last 30 years of their lives, including the period of the band’s debut. But it wasn’t until 2012 that I became completely immersed in the world of Skynyrd on having seen the 3 hour “Gone with the Wind: The Remarkable Rise and Tragic Fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd.” A British production! The band was perhaps even more popular over there! This was confirmed by my sister-in-law’s British husband, whose head almost popped of when I informed him I knew the location of Hell House. He promptly told me that’s where he wanted to go on their next visit, rather than our usual trip to the Florida Keys. The wives weren’t thrilled until we agreed to make St. Augustine our base, with a day trip to Green Cove Springs. In the 3 months leading up to their arrival the very informative “If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd” premiered on CMT. It enabled me to sweeten the pot, because there were shots of Bob Burns’ childhood home where the boys first played together, as well as other old haunts. Plus, I learned that Gene Odom (Ronnie Van Zant childhood friend) was publishing video tours on YouTube which showed him taking select fans around to places such as the actual oak tree that got in Gary Rossington’s way (per the Street Survivors single “That Smell”), and both Ronnie’s burial sites. Had to do a bit of gumshoe on my own though because Gene was careful not to give actual addresses. Still, other clues like mailboxes and landmarks in those videos, along with info from sources like Ed King’s chat site and findagrave.com helped pinpoint other stuff. We spent over 7 hours poking around the West Side, Orange Park, and of course the pièce de ré·sis·tance – Hell House! Good thing we went when we did, because a Skynyrd-concept gated community had broken ground. Doubt you can even get near the HH site now.
August 16, 2023 @ 1:40 pm
A Skynyrd concept gated community? Just what exactly would that be like?
August 16, 2023 @ 3:26 pm
Well, the community isn’t so much Skynyrd “themed” as some of its streets are named for Skynyrd songs and other trivia. For example, Freebird Loop, Tuesday’s Cove, and Noble Court (a nod to one of the band’s names before it became Lynyrd Skynyrd – The Noble Five).
August 16, 2023 @ 3:58 pm
Oak (tree you’re in my) Way. Sorry
August 16, 2023 @ 1:28 pm
i miss this era of music, when everyone sported hairdos that made them look like Andre the Giant
August 16, 2023 @ 1:46 pm
Their music was nothing sort of magical. However I would have to live in a cave for 30 years to feel the emotional impact now because most of their music has been overplayed into the ground to where I don’t care anymore.
August 16, 2023 @ 2:24 pm
I feel like we’d all be remiss to omit ZZ Top from the Southern Rock pantheon.
August 16, 2023 @ 3:04 pm
I saw Skynyrd quite a few times in the UK. The last time was when they supported Deep Purple. Of course they blew Purple away, so much so everyone was leaving in their droves when Purple came on. They were only there to see the finest Southern Rock Band Ever.
August 16, 2023 @ 4:02 pm
: D Turn it up.
August 16, 2023 @ 4:26 pm
Hmmn, to quote Gregg Allman, calling it Southern rock is like calling it: rock, rock .
August 16, 2023 @ 5:01 pm
We all like Gregg and The Allman Brothers Band. They were in fact a better band than Skynyrd, musically speaking. Duane , Gregg, Dickey, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe were all stellar musicians , the cream of the crop. And those legendary jams, no one could hang with them at the time. In fact they are numero uno to me. I would say their debut album in 69 is probably the FIRST true Southern Rock album in the genre. I know Gregg didnt care for the category, but he benefitted from it greatly as he was one of the founders.
However, Skynyrd achieved more success in terms of crowds, records sold, commercialization etc…That’s not to slight The Allmans in any way. Just a fact. The Allmans had two really HUGE albums , Live At Fillmore East and Brothers and Sisters. Those were the big sellers, although I’m a bigger fan of Eat A Peach.
As for the dude that mentioned ZZ Top, he ain’t crazy, their debut album came out in 71
Known as ” ZZ Tops First Album” its a real early gem and to this day underrated, but they didn’t hit their stride until Tres Hombres.
All that said the Skynyrd debut album might be the biggest seller of all.
August 16, 2023 @ 4:46 pm
It’s all good. We drank a lot of canned beer around the fire to the good music of Skynyrd with the people we loved. I didn’t smoke then and still don’t now, but to this day the smell of Camels, Jack, and Coke puts me right back there. Thirty odd years, but who’s counting.
August 19, 2023 @ 2:54 pm
Kinda like when acdc backed up journey. We left after angus and malcum were finished. Didn’t care for journey.
August 16, 2023 @ 5:33 pm
OK, I’ll bet a number of the commenters here probably play (or used to play) in a band of some sort. And I’ll bet that most, if not all of those musicians have been on stage when someone in the audience would yell out, “play Freebird!” Heck, I used to have a Cajun/zydeco band up in Michigan, and we would often have someone yell out “play Freebird,” even though that wasn’t the genre of music we were playing. Probably even polka or Irish bands have had someone call for Freebird.
But my favorite LS tune is their cover of J.J. Cale’s “Call Me the Breeze.”
August 16, 2023 @ 6:10 pm
Definitely one of the all time great albums!
August 16, 2023 @ 8:54 pm
Definitely a great album. Most of their stuff is great though. I haven’t really listened to them in a while though. Far as songs being overplayed and not wanting to hear them again, I don’t really get that. I get a new song that is being overplayed and not wanting to hear it but classics, nah I’ll still sing along when they come on. The only songs I don’t want to hear again are songs I don’t like.
August 17, 2023 @ 8:57 am
“Classic” is relative. In this particular crowd, of course Skynyrd looms large and nobody seems to understand someone not being a fan. I’ve encountered the same thing with Eagles fans. But if we were talking about a different band, say The Beatles, Beach Boys or Radiohead (the typical hipster bands), you can bet this comment section would have just as many, if not more commenters saying they “don’t get it” and that their songs are overrated.
Speaking purely for myself, there isn’t a single song on this earth that doesn’t have a limit on listens for me, even favorites. But a lot of my favorite songs and artists are somewhat obtuse picks that don’t have a chance in hell of being overplayed. Call me contrarian, but the quickest way to get me to hate a song is to imply it’s a classic so I “have to like it”, lest I be told I have “bad taste.” A lot of songs are classics for a reason, but everybody patting each other on the back for liking the same music is an echo chamber in and of itself, even if it isn’t political.
As I implied in my own comments, I sincerely doubt any new song could be forced on my ears as often as “Sweet Home Alabama” has. That’s the difference for me.
August 17, 2023 @ 7:46 pm
Well to me classics are songs from a particular era being 70 n 80s. But I guess one can interpret it differently. I don’t think everyone on here is a skynryd fan. So I don’t get your meaning on everyone here liking the same stuff. In fact most on here are pretty varied in their taste though just by the template of the site, you can kind of figure. As far as why you mentioned the Beatles and others I don’t know. Beatles certainly aren’t hipster though I’ve never really gotten that term. In fact the Beatles are my favorite musical act of all time so one may be surprised when you are on a site like this at what people may actually like. Getting back to the classics at least what is largely viewed that way, a lot of it is more nostalgia than anything. Lots of it I didn’t care for back in the day but songs as well as movies n such can echo a time even if you wasn’t into them then. Saying people are in a echo chamber just because they share certain things through living is kind of snobbery in my opinion. Personally I don’t think anyone cares if someone doesn’t like this or that, music is a personal choice. Songs at certain events or bars or whatever tend to get played because a majority of people there will recognize it and it creates a more festive atmosphere. Playing a song that only a few may recognize wont get the same reaction. I don’t know. I guess I’ve never heard a older song played too many times. Like I say in those type songs I either like them,.gotten used to them, or don’t like em. That’s not going to change based on how many times I hear it.
August 18, 2023 @ 8:53 am
My apologies, my bitterness shone through a bit too much. Yes, I was painting with a broad brush, but that was quite intentional. I was mostly speaking in terms of demographics. Also, I agree that music means different things to different people. But none of that seems to apply when we’re talking about pop country, or other music that has a general reputation of being “bad”, at least not in my experience. Again, painting broadly.
As an example, you say that “classic” to you is 70s and 80s music. What if you’re talking to someone younger who thinks that 90s and (God forbid) 2000s music is “classic”? The specter of the 1970s and 1980s looms very large, but I feel like pop culture hasn’t really reclaimed a whole lot after that as “classic”, at least not among certain age brackets. It’s just a feeling.
I called the Beatles “hipster music” (along with The Beach Boys and Radiohead) because, despite their huge appeal, in my age group they mostly seem to appeal to people of a certain pretension. In fact, one such person even told me that country music was “objectively bad”, and then started yammering on about Revolver and Pet Sounds. So I guess my experience has been a lack of respect for music I actually like, whilst having the “classics” shoved down my throat as an alternative.
But that’s just me. And I wasn’t attacking you or trying to seem snobby (as I’ve been on the receiving end numerous times), I just chimed in since I was one of the ones saying I’ve gotten sick of a lot of songs over the years.
August 16, 2023 @ 10:03 pm
My first show was Skynyrd in June 77. I was 14 that summer. I lived in Cape May NJ, at the very bottom of the state. Two weeks later, me and a friend hitchhiker up to Asbury Park and saw them at Convention Hall. I was hooked from hello. Which led me to Charlie, MTB ,Outlaws,Hatchet, etc. That’s the true songbook to my life.
September 1, 2023 @ 9:32 am
I first seen them in April 1977. I seen them 7,8,or 10 times after the crash. I hope they continue to play even if it’s under a new name. Also Steve Gaines was a hell of a guitarist but Ed King didn’t get the respect he so much deserved.
September 1, 2023 @ 7:01 pm
I agree , Ed was Avery special guitar player and person.
August 17, 2023 @ 5:47 am
I wasn’t old enough to really be a music fan when this album came out, other than what my parents listened to. But five or six years later I began to really become interested in the music of my friends older brother which was popular rock music of that time. Skynyrd along with many others like ZZ Top, Zeppelin, Aerosmith, and so on became the soundtrack of my teen years. Songs like Free Bird, Stairway to Heaven, Smoke On The Water, Slow Ride, Do You Feel Like I Do, were all bigger than life.
I eventually picked up the back catalogs of my favorite bands, and Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd was and is still one of my favorite albums. There are few bands that last from your youth through your adult life that you continue to listen to on a regular basis. I don’t think I’ve ever gone long without playing my favorite Skynyrd mix. Their music still gets me in a good mood.
August 17, 2023 @ 5:51 am
Summer of ‘73. I was a scrawny, long haired 8th grader going into high school. WXRT started playing Simple Man. Stopped me in my tracks. Bought the album. Brought it to school and evangelized the hell outta that record. It literally changed my life at that point. Saw them first at the Aragon Ballroom, 74’, I believe. I have seen hundreds of concerts big and small. That show still ranks as one in the top ten.
August 17, 2023 @ 6:48 am
That riff at the beginning of I Ain’t The One being the opening riff of the album is just spot on. Perfect start for a band. The way each pass it builds adding another guitar each time really showcases the way their three guitars work together. Perfect opening track to a bands first album.
August 17, 2023 @ 7:00 am
I found out about the crash when my buddy Tracy, who at the time played an ES 335 and had hair like Peter Frampton, came up to me in the hallway in high school and said, “Skynyrd’s dead, man.”
They were a big part of my youth. I loved most all of it, including deeper cuts like “I Know a Little”. My mother, who grew up on big band and swing, loved that song too.
A time when you could say you were proud to be a southerner without apology.
August 17, 2023 @ 7:23 am
Respect & love Skynyrd! They worked hard, played hard. Netflix has a good watch: If I Leave Here Tomorrow
August 17, 2023 @ 7:46 am
Strawberry alarm clock was a great 60s garage band as well
August 17, 2023 @ 10:52 am
I listen to it 50 years ago and continue today .
Lynyrd Shynyrd one of the great ones .
But unfortunately today’s Lynyrd Skynyrd just a cover band .
August 18, 2023 @ 6:46 am
Great band, great album, great article. But I think they recorded their ‚real‘ debut in 1971 in Muscle Shoals Sound Studio with the help of the MSS staff and the rhythm section there, known as The Swampers. For some obscure reasons the album was shelved and not released before 1988 as ,Skynyrds first…and last‘. Btw, in ‚Sweet Home Alabama‘ they do a shoutout to The Swampers. Enjoy the music, and keep up the great work you‘re doing here! Greetings from Germany, really like your website and your content!
August 18, 2023 @ 10:23 am
“Eat a Peach” came out the year before. “Ramblin’ Man” beat “Sweet Home Alabama” to the charts. Shouldn’t this article be about the Allman Brothers instead?
August 18, 2023 @ 11:16 am
Did the Allman Brothers release an album 50 years ago this week, or did Lynyrd Skynyrd? That is what this article is about.
August 18, 2023 @ 3:37 pm
My first concert out of town on a date along with my best friend and her date when we were in high school, I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top on June 9, 1974 at the Nashville Speedway. It was great.
August 19, 2023 @ 3:06 am
First time I heard freebird was live at winter land ballroom San Francisco 1974.the very next day I bought the album.been a fan ever since Ed king was playing with them then first time I’ve seen three great guitar players play together very well I was lucky enough to have a balcony seat since it was general admission you had to get there early to get them anyway by the time freebird ended every one that a seat was standing on them with both hands in the air yelling as loud as they could one of my favorite bands of all time fly on Free Bird I just saw them a week ago at shoreline amps theater MTN view California they were excellent Ronnie would of been proud of his younger brother johnny if you have never seen them don’t wait anymore understand see them while you can before they stop touring cheers to my southern brothers you guys rockcheers
October 4, 2023 @ 9:48 am
Awesome Mark! I saw them Sep. 1 in Charlotte. I bought a t-shirt that has all the dates on the back for the tour the Sharp Dressed Simple Man tour.. I see they were in Mountain View on August the 10th. They rock the house and in fact were better than ZZ top. All the best, Jeff Taylor
August 19, 2023 @ 1:47 pm
My introduction to Free Bird was the live version on One More from the Road. I think I got it for Christmas in ’77, which would have been a couple of months after the plane crash. Then, I got Gimme Back My Bullets through Columbia House (solid album but short of great – Searching being the only song from OMFTR on the album). And then one of my sisters bought Street Survivors. Since half of the songs on the first album (and the two longest) were on OMFTR, I wouldn’t even have considered picking it up, as all I had was allowance money. And since they were such a tight band, the live versions were great. In the CD era, I rebought OMFTR and then Gold and Platinum, which along with studio versions of the classics on OMFTR, added the hits from Street Survivors and a few other songs I didn’t have, like On the Hunt (became one of my faves) and Down South Jukin’. And that’s all I needed at the time. I do remember getting especially sick to death of the Street Survivor hits (What’s Your Name, That Smell, I Know a Little, You Got That Right) being played on classic rock radio, but then I got a CD changer in my car arould ’96 – ’97, which I would load up with CDs every week or so, and I pretty much stopped listening to the radio. Even NPR news and music programs. Nothing was better to listening to music from my collection when I was in the car. And so after some time, I stopped being sick of a lot of good songs and could enjoy them again.
In the 2000’s, I started picking up all of their studio albums (plus the Muscle Shoals sessions one) and eventually began to think of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the same breath as some of my all time favorites like Little Feat and CCR. The catalyst was the album Southern Rock Opera album by Drive-By Truckers, specifically the songs about the band, like Ronnie and Neil, Cassie’s Brother, Life in the Factory, Shut Up and Get on the Plane, Greenville to Baton Rouge and Angels and Fuselage. This line from Life in the Factory is one that drives everything home for me with respect to the band:
They had the fame and all the glory
But folks, it’s still some sad story when legend overshadows the songs and the band
I think it’s the songcraft and the near perfect execution of those songs that sets Lynyrd Skynyrd apart. Their superpower, if you will. And the great Ronnie Van Zant at the head of the band.
Sometimes I wonder about what their trajectory would have been if there had been no plane crash. And would southern rock have had some longer legs instead of morphing into generic rock? Street Survivors was a triumph and Steve Gaines seemed to inject new life into the band. A triple threat – guitar, songwriting and singing. And Ronnie Van Zant secure enough to let him take a turn on lead vocal.
P.S. A couple of deep tracks from the first album that I didn’t know until I bought the CD in the 2000’s are Things Goin’ On and Mississippi Kid. Love the old timey string band feel of the latter. And the former shows RVZ’s capacity for compassion and empathy for the those that are suffering (including those “in the ghetto”) and who he thinks is to blame.
Well, have you ever lived down in the ghetto?
Have you ever felt that cold wind blow?
Well if you don’t know what I mean
Won’t you stand up and scream
Because there’s things going on that you don’t know
Too many lives they’ve spent across the ocean
Too much money been spent upon the moon
Well, until they make it right
I hope they never sleep at night
They better make some changes and do it soon
Do it now, do it to it
Well they’re going ruin the air that we breathe
Lord have mercy
They’re gonna ruin us all, by and by
I’m telling all you beware
I don’t think they really care
I think they just sit up there
And just get high
August 21, 2023 @ 10:45 am
I think the Tennessean stole your thunder on this.
October 4, 2023 @ 8:58 am
Saw them in Charlotte Sep. 1, 2023 with ZZ Topp. What a great concert! ZZ is my favorite but Skynyrd took the show! Also saw them with Marshal Tucker at the Charlotte Coliseum in 72 or 73. Ronnie Van Zant fell off the back of the stage during Gimmie Three Steps while taking a drink of liquor. He was taken to the hospital. Bummer. MTB and Skynyrd jammed for s long time but we missed all the other great Skynyrd songs.