Greatest Hits - Lynyrd Skynyrd

Being of a certain vintage, I remember that one of the theme tunes of my youth was Freebird.

At any party or pub evening normal loon-clad hippy types would be transformed into cavorting idiots when the opening organ chords of this great rock anthem burst forth from the juke box (Yes we did have electricity in those days) and the ensuing air-guitar playing rumpus would often cause the vinyl to jump.
In fact I remember talking ...
...Reading telling me that nearly all the pubs that had Freebird on the selection had distinctive wear marks on the keys that corresponded to this choice.

When you remember that all this took place at least 18 years before the first CD hit the shops you will appreciate how well this band has stood the test of time, anyone who gets nostalgic for 12 inch vinyl should be taken back in time to the days when an expensive new LP could be ruined ... more

Being of a certain vintage, I remember that one of the theme tunes of my youth was Freebird.

At any party or pub evening normal loon-clad hippy types would be transformed into cavorting idiots when the opening organ chords of this great rock anthem burst forth from the juke box (Yes we did have electricity in those days) and the ensuing air-guitar playing rumpus would often cause the vinyl to jump.
In fact I remember talking to the juke box engineer in the Rising Sun in Reading telling me that nearly all the pubs that had Freebird on the selection had distinctive wear marks on the keys that corresponded to this choice.

When you remember that all this took place at least 18 years before the first CD hit the shops you will appreciate how well this band has stood the test of time, anyone who gets nostalgic for 12 inch vinyl should be taken back in time to the days when an expensive new LP could be ruined by one clumsy move from a hippy pissed on Southern Comfort, and there was no shortage of those. One of them is probably your bank manager now.

So it will come as no surprise to you that, when I saw the TV ad for this newest compilation a look of misty eyed nostalgia passed across my face.
This look did not pass by the eagle eye of Mrs JFP, who presented me with a copy for our 14th anniversary, which was marked this week.

I immediately put it on and the funky country rock rhythms of Sweet Home Alabama came flooding out.

To cut to the chase, the track listing is as follows:

1.: Sweet Home Alabama
2.: Freebird
3.: Saturday Night Special
4.: Gimme Three Steps
5.: That Smell
6.: What's Your Name
7.: Gimme Back My Bullets
8.: I Ain't The One
9.: Whiskey Rock A Roller
10.: Simple Man
11.: Down South Junkin'
12.: You Got That Right
13.: On The Hunt Breeze
14.: I Know A Little
15.: Tuesdays Gone
16.: Call Me The breeze

When Lynyrd Skynyrd were at their peak in the 1970s it became very trendy to embrace all things southern American, leading to Southern Comfort becoming the fashionable drink amongst the cool young dudes who are now the fat bald generation who castigate the youth of today for their anti social ways with binge drinking. Sorry kids, we were doing it years ago, so that's the last dregs of cool gone from binge drinking.

This CD was bought from Woolworths in Swanage for £7.97 which for a new release is pretty reasonable.
The cover booklet gives all the lyrics and a potted history of the band, where we are reminded that the band did not always travel around in their own 747, indeed in the early days they had to resort to collecting beer bottles to get the deposits in order to buy new strings.

(For those of you too young to remember bottle deposits, this was a system where the shop charged a few pence extra per bottle so that you would return the it and get the money back, in a time where nobody had ever heard the term 'recycling')

Their style of music was unlike anything we had heard before, and soon acquired the genre name 'Southern Rock'

The style is typified by a laid back yet highly precise guitar riff, played over a country inspired beat with frequent interspersions of the interminable high speed guitar solos so beloved of 1970s rock.

I have taken to trying to re-create the riffs on my shiny new toy, the Gibson Les Paul, in itself a Southern Rock icon. They aren't easy, even at half speed.

Anyone who really wants to know what the 70s were really like, totally unlike the current 70s retro that is served up to us, should buy this album, a pair of red velvet loon pants and some coloured nylon socks and drink a combination of woodpecker cider and southern comfort until the nostalgia takes over.
Like those people who say that if you can remember the 60s you weren't there, if you think that the 70s were cool you weren't there.

no cool but some great tunes. Buy it, it's great. 

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