Music
Official Music Video by The Lacs performing "Night Falls" From the new album "Rise and Shine"
GET IT HERE NOW!! https://on.cmdshft.com/rns
Produced by: Stephen Van Etten & Sonny Bama
Written by: The Lacs
Directed by: Crucifix, Hard Target & Breadwin
Mastered by: Dave Fore
©2020 Dirt Rock Empire. All Rights Reserved.
"Nothing In Particular" performed by The Lacs.
Download "Nothing In Particular" on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/TheLacsNIP
Keep up with The Lacs on their official website: http://www.thelacsmusic.com
The Lacs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLacsMusic
The Lacs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheLacsMusic
Average Joes Entertainment Official Website: http://averagejoesent.com/
Music video by The Lacs performing Smoke Stack. (C) 2014 Backroad Records/Average Joes Entertainment
#TheLacs #SmokeStack #Vevo
"Kickin' Up Mud" is the first single from The Lacs. Pick up a copy of their debut album "Country Boy's Paradise" at http://smarturl.it/countryboysparadise
For more information on The Lacs visit http://www.thelacsmusic.com
Find The Lacs on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/fdFOqS
and on Twitter: http://bit.ly/egWxVr
Song Produced by
http://www.phivestarr.com
**Intro:**
Kickin' up mud *[x3]*
**Verse 1:**
I'm just a country boy
With a big ole truck
The only way I ride
I keep it jacked up
I got some big tires
They make some big ruts
And every time I drive
Yeah, I be kickin’ up mud
(Kickin’ up mud)
I got that realtree
Across the leather seats
I got two twelve’s in the back
Bumpin’ coming down the streets
I'm cranking Johnny Cash
I'm talking Man in Black
And if you don't like it then
Y'all can kiss my country ass
(I’m kickin’ up mud)
30.06 on my back gun rack
See a whitetail buck
Put him on his back
7mm or 12 gauge shotty
We ain't tryin’ to get drunk or hurt nobody
Lordy lordy you got a sexy body
Just get muddy and shake it shawty
Crunk in the mud slap getting’ drunk
Dirty dancing kickin’ up mud
**Chorus:**
Big truck, big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
Kickin’ up mud
Big truck big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
**Verse 2:**
Cut me loose let me go
I gotta go find that mud hole
Feel so sweet I just creep
But call it my riverado
Better bring your rope, bring your chain
We get riled up when it starts to rain
Like oh my, look at that truck
I bet ya a beer that it won't get stuck
(Kickin’ up mud)
Pulled up slow pulled up nice Mickey Thompson’s 45's
Pretty little girl with some tanned up thighs
Askin’ me if she can ride
Like what you think girl? Hop on in
Pick the hole and I’ll drive it in
Floored the gas we slippin’ slidin’
Paintin’ that truck behind us
Uh! Oh!
(Kickin’ up mud)
**Chorus:**
Big truck, big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
Kickin’ up mud
Big truck big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
**Bridge:**
I got some claws on them super swampers
Pokin’ out the sides
I'm sittin’ tall, holla at me if ya wantin’ to ride
I guessin’ all these sexy women
Tryna jump in my truck
I'm just a river ridin’ junkie
And I’m kickin’ up mud
Kickin’ up mud
Kickin’ up mud
Kickin’ up mud
Kickin’ up mud
Naww!
**Chorus:
**Big truck, big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
Kickin’ up mud
Big truck big tires
Slangin’ mud to the sky
Living low, riding high
Kickin’ up mud in my 4 wheel drive
I think he's stuck!
Official Music Video from The Lacs performing "Redneck Rockstar"
From the new independent album "Dirt Rock".
Pre-order album here - https://onerpm.lnk.to/DirtRock
Keep up with The Lacs:
Website: http://www.dirtrockempire.com
Website: http://www.thelacsmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLacsMusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelacsmusic
Instagram: https://instagram.com/thelacsmusic
Directed by Crucifix & Joshua Kirk
Produced by Wess Nyle
Video Production - Brett Vidmar, Laurel Gardner
Special thanks to:
The Capen House http://capenhouse.com/
Nasty Truck Nation https://nastytrucksnation.com/
Exotic Car Rentals
Kemper Slidell IV for his Volkswagen Van
Terry Angle for his Limited Edition 2018 Harley Davidson
©2018 Dirt Rock Empire. All Rights Reserved.
Official Music Video for "Let Your Country Hang Out"
Keep up with The Lacs:
Website: http://www.thelacsmusic.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheLacsMusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelacsmusic
Instagram: https://instagram.com/thelacsmusic
Average Joes Entertainment:
https://averagejoesent.com
Music video by The Lacs performing Keep It Redneck. (C) 2013 Average Joes Entertainment
#thelacs #keepitredneck #vevo
Lynyrd Skynyrd - The Needle And The Spoon
Recorded Live: 3/7/1976 - Winterland - San Francisco, CA
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar
Allen Collins - guitar
Billy Powell - keyboards
Leon Wilkinson - bass
Artimus Pyle - drums
JoJo Billingsley - backing vocals
Cassie Gaines - backing vocals
Leslie Hawkins - backing vocals
Summary:
After years of life on the road and with their role models, the Allman Brothers Band, struggling to survive the deaths of two of its most distinctively talented members, today Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the quintessential Southern Rock band. Under the leadership of frontman and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, the group's melodic lyric driven ballads and power driven hard rockers would catapult the group into one of the most popular touring bands in the world. The group's distinctive guitar attack, combined with an overtly defiant and rebellious attitude, gave them a cultural identity that would help make songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" into anthems of American rock music and staples of FM radio right up to the present day.
Headlining a bill that also featured the Outlaws, this Winterland recording captures Lynyrd Skynyrd following the release of their fourth album, Gimme Back My Bullets. This was during a transitional phase for the band, following the departure of guitarist Ed King, but prior to his replacement, Steve Gaines, coming on board. The band was carrying on as a six-piece unit, augmented by the Honkettes on backing vocals.
This is an interesting time to hear the band live, as their trademark three-guitar attack was reduced by one guitar, leaving more room for keyboardist Billy Powell. On the ballads, like "Tuesdays Gone" and the pre-jam verses of "Freebird," Powell displays great creativity and expands the keyboard's role in these songs.
Otherwise, the band rocks as hard as ever, with a good selection of their most popular songs, sampling a bit from all four of their studio albums. The group's defiant Southern swagger, combined with an infectious guitar and piano driven groove, creates an irresistible combination that resonated far beyond the Southern states. Two of the standouts on this show are both well chosen covers, which the band redefines as their own; J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and Jimmy Rogers' "T For Texas." Both of these are rearranged in classic Skynyrd style, with the latter closing the set and clearly displaying the root sound of the band at its best.
The audience demands an encore and the band obliges with a monumental "Free Bird." It begins as a plaintive slow ballad, with Van Zant's distinctively sad vocals over the melodic keyboard playing of Powell and delicate slide guitar ornamentation from Rossington. However, it is the second section, which becomes an up-tempo guitar boogie, that really hits home. Here the guitarists cut loose to create one of the most distinctive solos of all time. Rossington and Collins turn this section into a soaring jam that also features impressive melodic bass playing from Wilkeson and furious keyboards from Powell. Following a brief reprise of the song, they turn on a dime back into the groove of the jam before bringing it to a climactic close.
"Free Bird," more often than not, sarcastically, would become the most requested song of all time. For musicians, this inevitable request has become so tiresome, that the act of requesting it has become universally known as "the mantra of the moron." Still, this only goes to prove just how deeply this song has permeated American culture and is a testament to its enduring popularity, making it one of the true landmark rock songs of twentieth century music.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Full Concert
Recorded Live: 3/7/1976 - Winterland (San Francisco, CA)
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Setlist:
0:00:00 - Cry for The Bad Man
0:05:26 - Saturday Night Special
0:11:02 - Searchin'
0:14:55 - I Got The Same Old Blues
0:19:24 - Gimme Back My Bullets
0:23:27 - Tuesday's Gone
0:31:12 - The Needle And The Spoon
0:35:55 - Gimme Three Steps
0:40:30 - Call Me The Breeze
0:45:55 - Sweet Home Alabama
0:51:22 - T For Texas
1:01:06 - Free Bird
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar
Allen Collins - guitar
Billy Powell - keyboards
Leon Wilkinson - bass
Artimus Pyle - drums
JoJo Billingsley - backing vocals
Cassie Gaines - backing vocals
Leslie Hawkins - backing vocals
Summary:
After years of life on the road and with their role models, the Allman Brothers Band, struggling to survive the deaths of two of its most distinctively talented members, today Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the quintessential Southern Rock band. Under the leadership of frontman and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, the group's melodic lyric driven ballads and power driven hard rockers would catapult the group into one of the most popular touring bands in the world. The group's distinctive guitar attack, combined with an overtly defiant and rebellious attitude, gave them a cultural identity that would help make songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" into anthems of American rock music and staples of FM radio right up to the present day.
Headlining a bill that also featured the Outlaws, this Winterland recording captures Lynyrd Skynyrd following the release of their fourth album, Gimme Back My Bullets. This was during a transitional phase for the band, following the departure of guitarist Ed King, but prior to his replacement, Steve Gaines, coming on board. The band was carrying on as a six-piece unit, augmented by the Honkettes on backing vocals.
This is an interesting time to hear the band live, as their trademark three-guitar attack was reduced by one guitar, leaving more room for keyboardist Billy Powell. On the ballads, like "Tuesdays Gone" and the pre-jam verses of "Freebird," Powell displays great creativity and expands the keyboard's role in these songs.
Otherwise, the band rocks as hard as ever, with a good selection of their most popular songs, sampling a bit from all four of their studio albums. The group's defiant Southern swagger, combined with an infectious guitar and piano driven groove, creates an irresistible combination that resonated far beyond the Southern states. Two of the standouts on this show are both well chosen covers, which the band redefines as their own; J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and Jimmy Rogers' "T For Texas." Both of these are rearranged in classic Skynyrd style, with the latter closing the set and clearly displaying the root sound of the band at its best.
The audience demands an encore and the band obliges with a monumental "Free Bird." It begins as a plaintive slow ballad, with Van Zant's distinctively sad vocals over the melodic keyboard playing of Powell and delicate slide guitar ornamentation from Rossington. However, it is the second section, which becomes an up-tempo guitar boogie, that really hits home. Here the guitarists cut loose to create one of the most distinctive solos of all time. Rossington and Collins turn this section into a soaring jam that also features impressive melodic bass playing from Wilkeson and furious keyboards from Powell. Following a brief reprise of the song, they turn on a dime back into the groove of the jam before bringing it to a climactic close.
"Free Bird," more often than not, sarcastically, would become the most requested song of all time. For musicians, this inevitable request has become so tiresome, that the act of requesting it has become universally known as "the mantra of the moron." Still, this only goes to prove just how deeply this song has permeated American culture and is a testament to its enduring popularity, making it one of the true landmark rock songs of twentieth century music.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets
Recorded Live: 3/7/1976 - Winterland - San Francisco, CA
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar
Allen Collins - guitar
Billy Powell - keyboards
Leon Wilkinson - bass
Artimus Pyle - drums
JoJo Billingsley - backing vocals
Cassie Gaines - backing vocals
Leslie Hawkins - backing vocals
Summary:
After years of life on the road and with their role models, the Allman Brothers Band, struggling to survive the deaths of two of its most distinctively talented members, today Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the quintessential Southern Rock band. Under the leadership of frontman and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, the group's melodic lyric driven ballads and power driven hard rockers would catapult the group into one of the most popular touring bands in the world. The group's distinctive guitar attack, combined with an overtly defiant and rebellious attitude, gave them a cultural identity that would help make songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" into anthems of American rock music and staples of FM radio right up to the present day.
Headlining a bill that also featured the Outlaws, this Winterland recording captures Lynyrd Skynyrd following the release of their fourth album, Gimme Back My Bullets. This was during a transitional phase for the band, following the departure of guitarist Ed King, but prior to his replacement, Steve Gaines, coming on board. The band was carrying on as a six-piece unit, augmented by the Honkettes on backing vocals.
This is an interesting time to hear the band live, as their trademark three-guitar attack was reduced by one guitar, leaving more room for keyboardist Billy Powell. On the ballads, like "Tuesdays Gone" and the pre-jam verses of "Freebird," Powell displays great creativity and expands the keyboard's role in these songs.
Otherwise, the band rocks as hard as ever, with a good selection of their most popular songs, sampling a bit from all four of their studio albums. The group's defiant Southern swagger, combined with an infectious guitar and piano driven groove, creates an irresistible combination that resonated far beyond the Southern states. Two of the standouts on this show are both well chosen covers, which the band redefines as their own; J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and Jimmy Rogers' "T For Texas." Both of these are rearranged in classic Skynyrd style, with the latter closing the set and clearly displaying the root sound of the band at its best.
The audience demands an encore and the band obliges with a monumental "Free Bird." It begins as a plaintive slow ballad, with Van Zant's distinctively sad vocals over the melodic keyboard playing of Powell and delicate slide guitar ornamentation from Rossington. However, it is the second section, which becomes an up-tempo guitar boogie, that really hits home. Here the guitarists cut loose to create one of the most distinctive solos of all time. Rossington and Collins turn this section into a soaring jam that also features impressive melodic bass playing from Wilkeson and furious keyboards from Powell. Following a brief reprise of the song, they turn on a dime back into the groove of the jam before bringing it to a climactic close.
"Free Bird," more often than not, sarcastically, would become the most requested song of all time. For musicians, this inevitable request has become so tiresome, that the act of requesting it has become universally known as "the mantra of the moron." Still, this only goes to prove just how deeply this song has permeated American culture and is a testament to its enduring popularity, making it one of the true landmark rock songs of twentieth century music.
Lynyrd Skynyrd performed a concert at Ryman Auditorium in 2022 for PBS. It was the final concert to ever be taped and recorded featuring Gary Rossington. They brought out a bunch of guest performers throughout the show, including Jelly Roll. This is my personal favorite song that Skynyrd ever wrote, and let me tell ya something, at the end, when Jelly Roll was bowing down to Gary, and just smiling and embracing Gary, it genuinely brought a tear to my eye. Gary is my idol, the guy that got me to pick up a guitar and start playing, and I'm so grateful that they recorded this show, and gave us one last time seeing Gary absolutely shred that beautiful Les Paul. #lynyrdskynyrd #music #fyp
Lynyrd Skynyrd - That Smell
Recorded Live: 7/13/1977 - Convention Hall - Asbury Park, NJ
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - Vocals
Allen Collins - Guitar
Steve Gaines - Guitar, Vocals
Gary Rossington - Guitar
Leon Wilkeson - Bass, Background Vocals
Billy Powell - Piano
Artimus Pyle - Drums
Cassie Gaines - Background Vocals
Leslie Hawkins - Background Vocals
Jo Jo Billingsly - Background Vocals
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone
Recorded Live: 3/7/1976 - Winterland - San Francisco, CA
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar
Allen Collins - guitar
Billy Powell - keyboards
Leon Wilkinson - bass
Artimus Pyle - drums
JoJo Billingsley - backing vocals
Cassie Gaines - backing vocals
Leslie Hawkins - backing vocals
Summary:
After years of life on the road and with their role models, the Allman Brothers Band, struggling to survive the deaths of two of its most distinctively talented members, today Lynyrd Skynyrd has become the quintessential Southern Rock band. Under the leadership of frontman and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, the group's melodic lyric driven ballads and power driven hard rockers would catapult the group into one of the most popular touring bands in the world. The group's distinctive guitar attack, combined with an overtly defiant and rebellious attitude, gave them a cultural identity that would help make songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird" into anthems of American rock music and staples of FM radio right up to the present day.
Headlining a bill that also featured the Outlaws, this Winterland recording captures Lynyrd Skynyrd following the release of their fourth album, Gimme Back My Bullets. This was during a transitional phase for the band, following the departure of guitarist Ed King, but prior to his replacement, Steve Gaines, coming on board. The band was carrying on as a six-piece unit, augmented by the Honkettes on backing vocals.
This is an interesting time to hear the band live, as their trademark three-guitar attack was reduced by one guitar, leaving more room for keyboardist Billy Powell. On the ballads, like "Tuesdays Gone" and the pre-jam verses of "Freebird," Powell displays great creativity and expands the keyboard's role in these songs.
Otherwise, the band rocks as hard as ever, with a good selection of their most popular songs, sampling a bit from all four of their studio albums. The group's defiant Southern swagger, combined with an infectious guitar and piano driven groove, creates an irresistible combination that resonated far beyond the Southern states. Two of the standouts on this show are both well chosen covers, which the band redefines as their own; J.J. Cale's "Call Me The Breeze" and Jimmy Rogers' "T For Texas." Both of these are rearranged in classic Skynyrd style, with the latter closing the set and clearly displaying the root sound of the band at its best.
The audience demands an encore and the band obliges with a monumental "Free Bird." It begins as a plaintive slow ballad, with Van Zant's distinctively sad vocals over the melodic keyboard playing of Powell and delicate slide guitar ornamentation from Rossington. However, it is the second section, which becomes an up-tempo guitar boogie, that really hits home. Here the guitarists cut loose to create one of the most distinctive solos of all time. Rossington and Collins turn this section into a soaring jam that also features impressive melodic bass playing from Wilkeson and furious keyboards from Powell. Following a brief reprise of the song, they turn on a dime back into the groove of the jam before bringing it to a climactic close.
"Free Bird," more often than not, sarcastically, would become the most requested song of all time. For musicians, this inevitable request has become so tiresome, that the act of requesting it has become universally known as "the mantra of the moron." Still, this only goes to prove just how deeply this song has permeated American culture and is a testament to its enduring popularity, making it one of the true landmark rock songs of twentieth century music.
Official Audio for Gimme Back My Bullets performed by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Follow Lynyrd Skynyrd:
Facebook:https://facebook.com/LynyrdSkynyrd
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynyrd
Website:https://lynyrdskynyrd.com
#LynyrdSkynyrd #GimmeBackMyBullets
http://vevo.ly/wmXJHg
Order "Live At Knebworth '76": https://mercury-studios.lnk.to..../LynyrdSkynyrdKnebwo
On August 21, 1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd took the stage at Knebworth as part of a daylong festival which also included Todd Rundgren’s Utopia, 10cc and The Rolling Stones. The show has gone down in Lynyrd Skynyrd history as one of the band’s greatest performances. The 1976 Knebworth show features Ronnie Van Zant’s iconic vocals and their famed triple guitar attack of Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Steve Gaines in front of a crowd estimated between 150,000 and 200,000. Their entire performance from that day is here for you to witness the classic Lynyrd Skynyrd in all its glory with cleaned up visuals and remixed audio, available on DVD+CD, Blu-ray+CD and DVD+2LP.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Metro Center, Rockford, IL
May 9, 1995
AUD - 1st Gen VHS - SA - DVD - MY HDD
These guys put on one BADASS show. ENJOY IT!!!!
SET LIST
Workin' For MCA
I Ain't The One
Saturday Night Special
Down South Junkin'
Double Trouble
I Know A Little
T For Texas
Devil In A Bottle
Simple Man
That Smell
Cry For The Bad Man
Whiskey Rock-a-Roller
What's Your Name
Gimme Three Steps
Sweet Home Alabama
Freebird
Band line-up
Johnny Van Zant - vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar (passed March 5, 2023 age 71)
Ed King - guitar (passed Aug. 22, 2018, aged 68)
Leon Wilkeson - bass, vocals (passed July 27, 2001, aged 49)
Billy Powell - keyboards (passed Jan. 28, 2009, aged 56)
Mike Estes - guitar
Owen Hale - drums, percussion
Dale Krantz Rossington - background vocals
Debbie Bailey - background vocals
Video
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Format : MPEG Video
Format version : Version 2
Format profile : Main@Main
Format settings, BVOP : Yes
Format settings, Matrix : Custom
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 5 173 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 9 586 Kbps
Width : 704 pixels
Height : 480 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan order : Top Field First
Audio
ID : 189 (0xBD)-128 (0x80)
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness : Big
Muxing mode : DVD-Video
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 256 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Watch Lynyrd Skynyrd's live performance of "Free Bird", taken from the album "Live In Atlantic City"!
Get the album here: https://lynyrdskynyrd.lnk.to/LiveInAtlanticCity
Available on
► Digital: http://smarturl.it/LynSkyFADigital
► DVD: http://smarturl.it/LynSkyFloridaDVD
► BR: http://smarturl.it/LynSkyFloridaBR
► CD: http://smarturl.it/LynSkyFloridaCD
Earlier this year Lynyrd Skynyrd performed their first two studio albums, “Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd” and “Second Helping”, live in their entirety for the first time, at two specially staged concerts at the Florida Theatre in their home town of Jacksonville, Florida..
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Music video by Lynyrd Skynyrd performing Sweet Home Alabama. (C) 2015 Skynryd Partnership, exclusively licensed to Eagle Rock Entertainment Ltd
http://vevo.ly/n63N3F
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Freebird
Recorded Live: 7/2/1977 - Oakland Coliseum Stadium - Oakland, CA
More Lynyrd Skynyrd at Music Vault: http://www.musicvault.com
Subscribe to Music Vault on YouTube: http://goo.gl/DUzpUF
Personnel:
Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
Allen Collins - guitar
Gary Rossington - guitar
Steve Gaines - guitar
Artimus Pyle - drums
Leon Wilkeson - bass
Billy Powell - piano
Cassie Gaines - vocals
Jo Billingsley - vocals
Leslie Hawkins - vocals
Summary:
Just three and a half months before the fateful plane crash that killed Skynyrd members Steve Gaines, his sister, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines (of the Honkettes), and lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zandt, Lynyrd Skynyrd played this 4th of July weekend program in Oakland.
While this is only a partial recording of the show, two of the three songs are probably the ones you would skip to anyway: "Sweet Home Alabama" and the legendary closing track that has inspired legions of concert-going yokels to make millions of ironic requests over the years, "Free Bird." The first track is an excerpt of a standard Skynyrd live show cover, Jimmie Rodgers' "T for Texas" The guys take six minutes to stretch their legs on this version of "Sweet Home Alabama." The song had been released three years prior as a response song to the Neil Young numbers "Southern Man" and "Alabama," which were both critical of southern politics. Ironically, by some reports, Van Zant was wearing a Neil Young t-shirt at the time of this performance.
The show is closed with "Free Bird," which by many fans' estimations is only rivaled by Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" as the most epic closing song in rock history. Allen Collins handles most of the five-minute solo, while Gary Rossington plays the "bird-chirp" guitar parts, which are not on the original recording, as well as the slide work on the opening riffs. Billy Powell also plays a masterful piano solo that is unique to the live show.
While Lynyrd Skynyrd would release the multi-platinum Street Survivors in October of 1977, the band's structure would be fundamentally devastated by the crash of their private Convair 240 that took the lives of three members, as well as the pilots and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and terribly injured every other member, except for Honkette, JoJo Billingsley, who was at home with her children and had reportedly begged the band to quit using the plane after dreaming of such a crash.
From the ashes of this Skynyrd incarnation, Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, stepped in and made Lynyrd Skynyrd a popular band once more when they reformed in 1987. Lynyrd Skynyrd is planning to release an unearthed recording of pre-plane crash Skynyrd in 2009.
