Time for some Southern Boogie !
I first came across Lynyrd Skynyrd late in 1976 when their "One More From The Road" double live album was released, and received some radio airplay. Not having previously seen their name written down, I initially thought the DJs were calling them Leonard Skinhead ! Only later did I learn they took their name from one of their school teachers, Leonard Skinner........
Most of the attention was on "Free Bird", weighing in at just under 12 minutes live ( and 9 minutes here ), a clip of which also was shown on The Old Grey Whistle Test. I now know this was taken from their concert on OGWT in 1975.
I'm not sure why I ended up buying their first studio album rather than the live double, I suspect I might not have had enough money on me to pay for the double album so settled for another album that also had "Free Bird" on it. In a way I am glad I did as I really liked this album, and thought every track was very good.
Apart from the obvious "Free Bird", I thought "Gimme Three Steps" and "Tuesday's Gone" were outstanding. Looking at the track-listing now, "Mississippi Kid" and "Poison Whiskey" were the only songs I couldn't remember.
"I Ain't The One" is perhaps the "typical" Lynyrd Skynyrd song, and has a sound common on their subsequent albums. A rollicking mid-tempo stomper with a catchy guitar riff, honky-tonk piano, and some backward percussion effects as an intro. Lyrically it's about a pregnant girl claiming the singer is the father of her unborn child, to which the response is "I ain't the one", so similar to Michael Jackson's "Billie-Jean" or Kid Creole and The Coconuts "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy", but musically very different !
The pace changes with the 7 and a half minutes long "Tuesday's Gone", a slow, powerful mournful ballad, with mandolin, synthesized strings, a rinky-dinky piano break, and a gorgeous guitar motif.
"Gimme Three Steps" shows the band's sense of humour and has arguably the best riff on the album. Singer Ronnie Van Zandt is caught dancing with a girl in a bar when her boyfriend turns up and pulls a gun on him. "I was cutting the rug down at a place called The Jug with a girl named Linda Lou, when in walked a man with a gun in his hand and he was looking for you know-who !". "Won't you give me three steps, give me three steps, mister, give me three steps towards the door? Give me three steps, give me three steps, mister and you'll never see me no more."
"Simple Man" starts with a gentle plucked guitar intro, has a big chorus and a dramatic guitar break. It's about wise motherly advice given to a child, who then recalls it as an adult.
Side two starts with the toe-tapping "Things Goin' On". The guitar intro plays the melody of the song before the vocal comes in. The piano breaks are in a rag-time style, which are then repeated on guitar. The song is a critique of politicians not looking after the lower classes. "Have you ever lived down in that ghetto? And have you ever felt that cold wind blow? Well if you don't know what I mean, won't you stand up and scream 'cause there's things going on that you don't know"
"Mississippi Kid" has a country feel. A comparatively short, funky song with acoustic guitars, mandolin and harmonica. I remembered it immediately the first few notes started ! "I've got my pistols in my pockets boys, I'm, I'm Alabama bound. I've got my pistols in my pocket boys, I, I'm Alabama bound. Well, I'm not looking for no trouble but nobody dogs me around"
"Poison Whiskey" is another hard rocker in the mould of "I Ain't The One", also with a honk-tonk piano break.
There probably isn't a lot more to said about "Free Bird" that hasn't already been said before. A moody ballad gives way to a breakneck ending jam led by the triple guitar leads, it has arguably one of most famous guitar riffs in rock history. I've heard it so many times now, I've gone off it, but when I heard it for first time, like many others, I thought it was a classic, and rightly so. The live version on "One More From The Road" has a piano introduction which I think is much better than the organ on the studio version, as well as a great piano instrumental break in the middle of the verses which is absent here.
In summary, Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd remains an outstanding album, and shows their ability to play different styles such as country, rag-time, soulful ballads as well as outstanding guitar licks and hard rock. As a result, it's probably their best album. "Gimme Three Steps" remains my favourite track
Track Listing :
Side One :
1. I Ain't The One
2. Tuesday's Gone
3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Simple Man
1. Things Goin' On
2. Mississippi Kid
3. Poison Whiskey
4. Free Bird
Released 1973
UK Chart Position : 44
Free Bird ( No 21 - 1974 )
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