I watched the Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary the other night on Netflix. This morning I had to pull up their first album, Pronounced ‘Leh-‘Nérd ‘Skin-‘Nérd, and listen. While I’m not a true Skynyrd fan, I was there when this album came out in 1973 and loved it like all my buddies. It was rock/country at its best — and in my mind, it will never be duplicated by the country music industry.
The album has many excellent songs including “Free Bird,” which is a rock classic (as EVERYBODY knows). I think I might have bought Street Survivors but haven’t replaced it with a CD as I have Pronounced...
In 1977 I was on my way to buy Lynyrd Skynyrd concert tickets when I heard on the car radio that their tour plane had crashed the night before killing Ronnie Van Zant and others. I turned around and went home.
Album information
When this album was recorded, the group consisted of:
- Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals, lyrics
- Gary Rossington – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, slide guitar
- Allen Collins – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
- Ed King – bass, guitar fills, piano, lead guitar
- Billy Powell – keyboards
- Bob Burns – drums
| Song | Written by | Time |
| “I Ain’t the One” | Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant | 3:53 |
| “Tuesday’s Gone” | Allen Collins, Van Zant | 7:32 |
| “Gimme Three Steps” | Collins, Van Zant | 4:30 |
| “Simple Man” | Rossington, Van Zant | 5:57 |
| “Things Goin’ On” | Rossington, Van Zant | 5:00 |
| “Mississippi Kid” | Al Kooper, Van Zant, Bob Burns | 3:56 |
| “Poison Whiskey” | Ed King, Van Zant | 3:13 |
| “Free Bird” | Collins, Van Zant | 9:08 |
Released: August 13, 1973
Recorded: March 27 – May 1, 1973
Studio: Studio One Doraville GA
Length: 43:03
Label: MCA
Producer: Al Kooper
This is a good recording and CD, streaming, and vinyl formats are still available. You can find free listens all over the Internet, especially on YouTube. There will never be another Skynyrd.
See a live version of “Free Bird” here: https://youtu.be/QxIWDmmqZzY
Notice the “Neil Young Tonight’s the Night” t‑shirt Ronnie has on... “A southern man doesn’t need him around anyhow.”
