Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
Album: Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (Remastered & Expanded With Bonus Tracks)
Released: 1973/2001
MCA - 088 112 727-2
Genre: Southern Rock
The Line-Up & Credits:
Official Biography: During the sweltering days of July 1976, crowds of rowdy, long-haired young rebels invaded the aging Fox Theatre in the heart of Atlanta. Excitement spread through the auditorium as the house lights dimmed and the rebel flag covered the entire back of the stage. The roar of the crowd overwhelmed the words, "...some old friends of mine -- Lynyrd Skynyrd!" By the time the band finished their three night stand at the Fox, a legend had been made -- Skynyrd kicked off the campaign to save the Fox Theatre from destruction and recorded one of the best live albums of all time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd formed around the nucleus of Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ronnie VanZant in Jacksonville, Florida during the summer of 1964. Throughout high school, the band learned what they could from each other and by listening to the radio, being influenced by country standards, classic Southern blues and the new British rock sounds. Really impressed with the British sound as well as the rock image, the longhaired students soon ran afoul of the school authorities, namely one coach Leonard Skinner. By 1969, they all dropped out of school -- broke and unemployed -- but remained dedicated to their music. As one last dig at their old gym coach, the band introduced themselves one night as Leonard Skinner -- the name, after going through several versions, stuck as Lynyrd Skynyrd.
After several years of practicing, performing and personnel changes, Skynyrd, like any group of fledgling rock stars, started gigging the notorious one-nighters. Playing all over north Florida and Georgia, the band quickly established itself as a hot club band. This success led to playing opening act for the Strawberry Alarm Clock, professional management from Alan Walden, and a chance to record some demo tapes in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Although Walden shopped the tapes extensively, the band had a hard time landing a record deal. However, in 1971 legendary producer Jimmy Johnson heard the tapes, and, largely on the strength of Ronnie's unique voice, agreed to produce an album on speculation. Despite several sessions that resulted in 17 recorded songs, the band still missed that elusive big break and continued playing the grueling Southern bar circuit. During these lean years, minor personnel changes occurred from time to time, but the core of Allen, Gary and Ronnie, along with Ed King, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson held the band together.
In 1973, things finally started coming together for Lynyrd Skynyrd. During a week-long stint at Funochio's in Atlanta, the band was discovered by the reknowned Al Kooper. After signing a record deal with Kooper's MCA subsidiary Sounds of the South, Skynyrd entered the studio. With Kooper at the controls, the session's result -- Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd -- started the band on its rise to fame with standards like 'Gimme Three Steps', 'Simple Man' and the incendiary, guitar-driven classic, 'Freebird'.
Following MCA's debut of the band, Skynyrd received the nod as the opening act for the Who's 1973 American Tour. Skynyrd's popularity spread across the country as they played the shows of their lives and 'Freebird' received massive radio airplay. The success of the first album led to almost constant touring, which increased even more after the release of Second Helping. Boosted by the success of the single, 'Sweet Home Alabama', Ronnie's response to Neil Young's 'Southern Man', Skynyrd's star rose further and further. As the pressures of the road increased, heavy partying took its toll, and as the press picked up on the image of the band as bunch of crazy, drunk rednecks hell-bent on living the wildlife, the band found their creative urges at an all-time low. When the time came for recording the third album, drummer Bob Burns had been replaced by Artimus Pyle. The band entered the studio with only one song, 'Saturday Night Special' and spent weeks trying to finish the Nuthin' Fancy album in between tour dates. The hectic schedule soon grew too much for guitarist Ed King who left in the middle of the '75 Torture Tour. By the time the fourth album rolled around, Skynyrd realized that things had to change to keep the band from completely self-destructing. With earlier changes in management to Peter Rudge's Sir Productions and now in production to Tom Dowd, Gimme Back My Bullets represented a conscious effort to improve the band's sound and image. Also, in early 1976 the Honkettes, a female backup vocal group consisting of JoJo Billingsley, Cassie Gaines and Leslie Hawkins became part of the Skynyrd entourage. While the crowds were as big as ever, Skynyrd had lost some of its biting edge. When, in 1976, the band restored their trademark three guitar lineup with the addition of Steve Gaines, they also restored a lot of the Skynyrd spark. Steve, the brother of vocalist Cassie, rounded out the band's sound and radiated an infectious enthusiasm that motivated everyone else in the band. Just a few weeks after Steve joined the band, Skynyrd recorded its first live album, One More From The Road, a 14 song, two-record set that captured the intense power of the band onstage.
The excitement generated by the release of the live album carried over to the new concert tours and the next studio album. Street Survivors recaptured much of the raw power and freshness of the first albums, but also refelcted a new maturity in the song writing and playing. The album, released in October 1977, sold a half million records immediately upon release and Skynyrd was set to headline at some of the top venues in the country, including Madison Square Garden -- a lifelong dream of Ronnie's. Skynyrd stood on the edge of becoming America's favorite touring band. They were on top of their world when it all fell away at 6000 feet above a Mississippi swamp. At 6:42 PM on October 20, 1977, the pilot of Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 airplane radioed that the craft was dangerously low on fuel. Less than ten minutes later, the plane crashed into a densely wooded thicket in the middle of a swamp. The crash, which killed Ronnie VanZant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines and road manager Dean Kilpatrick and seriously injured the rest of the band and crew, shattered Skynyrd's fast rising star as it cut a 500 foot path through the swamp.
Lynyrd Skynyrd in the 1970's was more than just the leaders of a wild pack of Southern rednecks singing about women and drinking; they were a group of musicians who tried to remain faithful to the spirit of rock and roll. Skynyrd left a true legacy of honest, foot-stompin' music that still rings with power and purpose today. (Taken From The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History Website http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com)
Album Reviews:
#1:The Allman Brothers came first, but Lynyrd Skynyrd epitomized Southern rock. The Allmans were exceptionally gifted musicians, as much bluesmen as rockers. Skynyrd was nothing but rockers, and they were Southern rockers to the bone. This didn't just mean that they were rednecks, but that they brought it all together — the blues, country, garage rock, Southern poetry — in a way that sounded more like the South than even the Allmans. And a large portion of that derives from their hard, lean edge, which was nowhere more apparent than on their debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd. Produced by Al Kooper, there are few records that sound this raw and uncompromising, especially records by debut bands. Then again, few bands sound this confident and fully formed with their first record. Perhaps the record is stronger because it's only eight songs, so there isn't a wasted moment, but that doesn't discount the sheer strength of each song. Consider the opening juxtaposition of the rollicking "I Ain't the One" with the heartbreaking "Tuesday's Gone." Two songs couldn't be more opposed, yet Skynyrd sounds equally convincing on both. If that's all the record did, it would still be fondly regarded, but it wouldn't have been influential. The genius of Skynyrd is that it unselfconsciously blended album-oriented hard rock, blues, country, and garage rock, turning it all into a distinctive sound that sounds familiar but thoroughly unique. On top of that, there's the highly individual voice of Ronnie VanZant, a songwriter that isn't afraid to be nakedly sentimental, spin tales of the South, or to twist macho conventions with humor. And, lest we forget, while he does this, the band rocks like a mother******. It's the birth of a great band who birthed an entire genre with this album. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG
#2: Known simply as Pronounced by most enthusiasts, this is the debut long-player for Southern rock gurus Lynyrd Skynyrd. This edition has been expanded to include five demos, three of which are available here for the first time. Likewise, Pronounced would introduce several seminal entries into the Skynyrd catalog: "Gimmie Three Steps" and "Simple Man," as well as their most enduring contribution, the epic rocker "Free Bird." Lynyrd Skynyrd had in fact released several 45s dating as far back as 1968 on the regionally distributed Shade Tree label out of their hometown of Jacksonville, FL. Not only was Pronounced their debut album, it also contained notable contributions credited to Roosevelt Gook, who was in reality Al Kooper. After spotting the band in an Atlanta, GA, bar called Funochio's, Kooper signed them to his MCA Records-distributed vanity label Sounds of the South. The influence that Kooper had on the band has infinitely more to do with presentation than style, as Lynyrd Skynyrd's own distinct brand of sonic Southern comfort pervades every note of this swamp-rocking release. Even the lilting and melodic arrangements worked up by Kooper for "Tuesday's Gone" and "Mississippi Kid" can't disguise Ronnie Van Zant's edgy lead vocals and the punchy, aggressive fretwork of Garry Rossington, Allen Collins, and former Strawberry Alarm Clock member Ed King. Although normally relegated to bass, King's distinctive lead guitar licks on "Mississippi Kid" prove beyond doubt he was a master blues player as well as a thumping bassist. This expanded edition deserves high marks for the infinite improvement in sound quality — going so far as to best even the pricey gold-disc version. No longer does the orchestrated synthesizer accompaniment in "Tuesday's Gone" sound harsh and brittle. Likewise, the unmistakable opening guitar riff to "Gimmie Three Steps" now sounds clean and raw with the attack delivered with previously unheard precision. The bonus demos — recorded with the advance monies given to the band from MCA — were also produced by Kooper with a more hands-off approach needed to accurately assess the band's strengths and weaknesses. Standout performances include non-album tracks "Down South Jukin'" and "Mr. Banker." The latter was actually released as a B-side on the 45 rpm issue of "Free Bird." Enthusiasts interested in other primitive Lynyrd Skynyrd recordings should check out Skynyrd's First: Complete Muscle Shoals Album as well as Skynyrd Collectybles — which contains a not-to-be-missed live six-song radio simulcast from WMC-FM on October 30, 1973. — Lindsay Planer, AMG
#3: In 1972, a rock band from Jacksonville, Florida came onto the ever-growing southern rock scene based in Atlanta, Georgia. This band had a highly irregular name, but great musical potential. This group, consisting of Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King (formerly of Strawberry Alarm Clock), Billy Powell, Robert Burns, and Leon Wilkeson, recorded their debut album in 1973. Would this little band's debut album be a southern rock masterpiece that went down in history, or would it be "just another rock album?" Read on for my review of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd.Three of Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest and best hits came from this album. They are the lengthy and melodic rock masterpiece Tuesday's Gone, the southern rock classic Gimme Three Steps (my personal favorite hit the band ever had), and of course, the legendary Free Bird (an interesting note - Free Bird is the song that guitarist Steve Clark played to earn his slot in Def Leppard!) The record company wanted the band to shorten Free Bird to three minutes, the standard record company single running length, but they refused. Because of the length, the record company thought it wouldn't get any airplay. I bet they fill stupid now, since it's become one of the band's biggest hits! But, as with any rock band, with Lynyrd Skynyrd there are many excellent songs that were never very big hits. The opening track, I Ain't The One, is bluesy hard rock at its very best. They probably could not have started the album off better. Simple Man is a slower track, but it rocks just as much as anything else on the album. Don't skip it! Things Go On is classic bluesy rock at its best, and in my mind, serves as a premonition to the band's later successes (there's definitely a resemblance to Call Me The Breeze, one of the band's later hits.) Mississippi Kid is by far the most country-sounding thing on the album, but it's still a good track. And, of course, with Poison Whiskey the band gives us another classic hard rocker that's tough to beat. It's no wonder so many fans consider this album a classic.
This reissued/remastered/revamped version of the album does more than just clean up the sound and make the album more readily available to fans - It also throws on some rare bonus tracks! One of them is Mr. Banker, a demo which was the B-Side to the Gimme Three Steps single. This track is the perfect fusion of country and southern rock, though the style rather obviously leans toward the latter. The B-Side to the Free Bird single, a little demo called Down South Jukin', can also be found here as a bonus cut. This is excellent classic southern rock, and it's a shame this track has gone forgotten for so many years! I'm very pleased that these songs finally made it to the compact disc format! But it doesn't stop there! We also get three previously unreleased demos of the Skynyrd classics Tuesday's Gone, Gimme Three Steps, and Free Bird. These demos lack the expertise of the "finished" versions of the songs, but they are still well worth listening to if you're a fan of the band, since some parts of the tracks (particularly the extended outro of the Free Bird demo) differ substantially from the final versions. This would be a five star album, even without the bonus tracks, but with bonus tracks, it's worth much more than that - If I could rate this album higher than that, I would.
Overall, Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album is pure southern rock excellence. And the bonus tracks are the icing on the cake. Many reviewers have compared this album to Led Zeppelin, and although the two bands differ a good deal, many of these comparisons are accurate (listen to Led Zeppelin's debut and then listen to this, and you'll see what I mean - there's definitely somewhat of a resemblance.) If you like classic rock, this album is a masterpiece that your collection should not be without! - By Darth Kommissar, Amazon
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