The Lynyrd Skynyrd Album by Album Thread (Part 2)

Thanks to all the Skynyrd fans for their posts. Onward. Cue Ronnie's whistle.

 

The Lynyrd Skynyrd Album By Album Thread

1. Need All My Friends/Michelle

2. Pronounced

3. Second Helping

4. Nuthin' Fancy

5. Gimmie Back My Bullets

 

I've been so busy just reading this fantastic thread that I've allowed a couple of albums to pass me by without saying a word or two about them.

Nuthin' Fancy
I really like this album. While it's not of the same incredible standard as the first two, it's still a very good album. In my opinion. Once again, there's no weak tracks but perhaps not as many great ones as before. Apart from the sensational opener "Saturday Night Special" (which to me is very close in sound and style to what ZZ Top would - try to - sound like nearly a decade later), the songs that I like the best on Nuthin' Fancy are some of the lesser known on the album. I'm talking about "Cheatin' Woman", "On The Hunt" and especially "Made In The Shade". Now, I know there's a lot of people who don't care much for that last song, but I've been a fan of it since the first time I heard it. I just love laid-back country blues feel of it. Actually, it reminds me of the way the Stones mesh country and blues together and I think that those two bands do it/did it better than anybody. And "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller is great too...but I dig the live version on One More From The Road better. Moving on to...

Gimme Back My Bullets
Even though I consider this to be their weakest album, it's still good. Lynyrd Skynyrd are one of those very rare bands who never released a bad album. Some are better than others of course, but none are any worse than good to very good. This album, to me, is full of good songs without having many great ones. My favourites are the title track, "Double Trouble", Searchin'" and "All I Can Do Is Write About It"...although I actually prefer the acoustic version of it on the Lynyrd Skynyrd box set. The rest I like too, just not as much. It's a measure of how great this band was that this is their weakest album. There's plenty of bands better known than Skynyrd, who have never released anything anywhere near this good!

On to the next album...

 

When you only release five albums in pretty much a five year span, chances are good your output will be fairly consistent in its quality. That is the case for LS.

When you have the long gaps in recording, and changes in key personnel, outside of losing Ed King, LS did not have that in the 70's, (i.e the writing core stayed pretty much the same) the quality will not drop significantly.

Who knows where they'd be after a decade and success, booze, drugs, and brawling had taken its toll?

 

Just posting to make sure I get the email reminders/stay in touch with this thread (now on part 2)

 

True, but there's been bands who have still managed to put out one substandard release even if they've only recorded a handful of albums.

 

That's true.

Sometimes the well runs dry creatively. Maybe it was around Gimme, but Gaines infused new life into the band. Who knows how long he would have stayed or kept things revitalized? It's only open to pure speculation.

 

The Watch Thread feature does that without posting. Upper right corner of page.

 

Excellent point about ZZ Top. I never thought of it until you mentioned it but it is spot on.

 

I'm not sure I agree with it.

If we're talking about the southern hard rock prototype tune that is "Saturday Night Special" and all it spawned, I would not include ZZ Top, especially, ten years later, as a band that fits the description. Now, you want to talk Point Blank, Doc Holliday, and, especially, Molly Hatchet? I would agree. But I do not see ZZ Top (a band that around was some 2-3 years before LS hit the scene), as ever taking a "cue" from LS. In fact, I'd say it's the other way around.

But, let's take the jump and say that "Saturday Night Special" recorded in 1975, inspired ZZ Top (a Southern Rock band whether you want to admit it or not), a decade later. That would be 1985 and we get Afterburner where ZZ Top were clearly in their more synth oriented dance rock phase, but let's take it back to 1983 to Eliminator which might be more on the mark and, nope, that album isn't reminiscent of "SNS", either.

Sure, ZZ Top were in the "southern hard rock" field at the same time as LS and, as noted, preceded them, but I don't hear much of Lynyrd Skynyrd in terms of influence. At the same time, I don't hear much of ZZ Top being an influence on Lynyrd Skynyrd. Both were working the same fields of the genre, but independent of each other and neither really took much influence from the other, outside of the obvious southern influences (country, blues, and bluegrass, etc).

 

Eliminator is precisely the album I'm talking about, which is why I said nearly a decade later. "Saturday Night Special" to me, sounds like a precursor to the sound of that album. Having said that, it's the only time either band sound anything alike.

 

Man, I don't agree at all, but that's ok. The only part of "Saturday Night Special" that might *remotely* resemble ZZ Top, circa 10 years later, is Al Kooper's moog or synthesizer or whatever that is during that one, brief section. I don't hear anything else at all; especially on Eliminator. But it's ok, we can disagree

 

That's cool, man. I still do hear it in that song though, always have. The first time I heard the guitars in the intro I thought ZZ Top. Anyway, it's good to disagree occasionally

 

I just pulled out OMFTR for a listen. I noticed the sides are 1/4 and 2/3. I'm not sure if it is the only double album I have so labeled other than Beatles RocknRoll.

 

I hear the influence too. I need to listen to some later ZZ Top closely at some point to verify what I hear in my head regarding the guitars. SNS's intro with the skittering rhythm and the synth sounds like the groundwork for songs like Gimmie All Your Lovin to me. I listen to ZZ Top rarely so I may be off base somewhat.

 

That's what I hear. Especially in the intro.

 

Just my opinion, but ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd (bands I have every release by & have seen a couple times) have never reminded me of each other in any way, any albums, any songs....none of it. Early ZZ Top might get lumped in with "southern rock" but for some crazy reason I've never felt they fit that tag. Especially for their albums after Tres Hombres.

 

Original MCA Rainbow Label LP pressing w/insert

 

The Allman Fillmore East album was like that - in fact, I'd say most double-LPs of the era were arranged like that. Humble Pie's Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore, Jimi's Electric Ladyland (though that was labeled A, D and B, C), etc.

 

Once again im late to the party.

 

IIRC, my Zappa Roxy/Elsewhere, Tinseltown Rebellion, Sheik Yerbouti and You Are What You Is are all like that

 

My copy of Fillmore East is not like that.
Tommy is.
Those are the 2 I checked yesterday when I was thinking about it.