|
Post by marklemon on Oct 21, 2009 23:30:16 GMT -5
Here's a link to a you tube series of videos of a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert in August of 1976, at Knebworth, England, where they preceded the Stones, and blew them off the stage. You can click over on the list on the right hand side to play all ten videos in sequence. Have there ever as many great guitarists in one band?...Allen Collins, Steve Gaines, Gary Rossington...just amazing. And Ronny Van Zant's cool stage presence..not jumping around like some wild man, but just slowly stalking the stage holding that mike stand. Southern Rock Perfection www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnXygYSoxA&feature=PlayList&p=6BD9D094A06C942E&index=8
|
|
|
Post by Paul Sylvain on Oct 22, 2009 6:05:33 GMT -5
Interesting post. There's been a discussion of sorts going on over at the Carvin Museum BBS about certain Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Most of the talk centers around how some of the guys are simply tired of playing songs like "Freebird" and "Sweet Home, Alabama" in every band they've been in. I guess I've lived a charmed life, but I never have played either tune with any band -- I do noodle around with "Sweet Home, Alabama's" bridge runs on the guitar around the house, but the band's songs never were songs I played in my own band. Not that I don't like LS, but as a musician there are always some bands or certain songs that just don't feel right or sound right if you play them. That was the case with Skynyrds's stuff and me. Been at the guitar thing for 45 years, but never felt comfortable playing Skynyd's songs on stage.
But I have to agree with you, Mark. These guys were monsters "back in the day". Southern rock never got much better than Skynyrd or the Allmans, in my opinion.
Paul
|
|
|
Post by Mike Harris on Oct 22, 2009 8:58:37 GMT -5
The 30th Anniversary Edition of Lynyrd Skynyrd is a must have. Has all the classics and I was surprised to hear some other songs for the first time. They are pure, raw southern rock. Doesn't get much better.
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Oct 22, 2009 9:05:20 GMT -5
Huntermike, Steve Gaines grew up just down Rt. 10 from you, in Miami, Oklahoma, and was born in Seneca, Missouri, just east of Miami.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Harris on Oct 22, 2009 9:24:22 GMT -5
Huntermike, Steve Gaines grew up just down Rt. 10 from you, in Miami, Oklahoma, and was born in Seneca, Missouri, just east of Miami. Thanks. That's a good bit of trivia I can lay on some of the locals around here. Oh, and down here they pronounce it MIAMA. I found that out real quick. Boy, I miss me some Texas!
|
|
|
Post by TRK on Oct 22, 2009 10:25:33 GMT -5
Oh, and down here they pronounce it MIAMA. I found that out real quick. Yeah, I know. I was in Tulsa and environs numerous times in the early '80s.
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Oct 22, 2009 10:27:37 GMT -5
Unlike many of you guys, I am not a musician, but "know what I like"...and while I of course heard Lynyrd Skynyrd many, many, many times while growing up n the 60's and 70's, the odd thing is I never really "heard" them, or paid very close attention to them, until quite recently. It was only when for some reason I decided to give them a second "listen" that I was , and am, totally blown away. Just their sheer honesty, originality, lack of pretense, and devotion to their skills is what I admire. Something about that good ol' Southern boy Ronnie van Zant slowly walking around the stage barefoot while Collins, Gaines, and Rossington tear it up strikes a chord with me. I know many out there are "burned out" on Freebird and "Sweet Home Alabama"....and so was I before my "second look," but now I swear I could listen to those songs, hell, all of their songs, and the epic guitar work by Collins and Gaines, every day and still love and appreciate it. Very strange, this latter-day appreciation.
|
|
|
Post by Mike Harris on Oct 22, 2009 11:44:58 GMT -5
Agreed. Speaking of Gaines, his sister Cassy Gaines was one of the back-up singers and I believe she is the one in the middle on the you tube videos. She also died in the plane crash.
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Oct 22, 2009 12:19:49 GMT -5
Yeah the one in the middle....there's a really fascinating side story about the crash. Jo-Jo Billingsley the singer on the far right (the tough-looking, gum-chewing one) was raised a Christian, but when her father died when she was young, she rejected God, and went strong the other way... sex, drugs and rock and roll. Two days before the plane crash, she had a dream in which she saw the plane burning and crashed, and she tried to warn the others not to take the plane to the gig in Louisiana. They took a vote, and voted to go, and the rest is very sad history. Jo-jo didn't take the plane, having heard a voice in her head saying "WAIT," and when it happened, she quite understandably had a strong religious reaction, and is now a very devout Christian again. Today she sings locally in her church, and I even think she has a solo CD out. Not sure what the title is. She can be found on YouTube describing all of this.
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Oct 23, 2009 19:44:47 GMT -5
Here is an interesting video of Skynyrd in their earlier days, playing a gig in Frankfurt in 1974. At time 8:56 during the last part of the "Freebird" dual guitar solo by Allen Collins and Ed King, King suddenly goes off on his own, playing a totally different riff, which makes the overall effect one of a muddled mess. I don't know if this was an accident, or intentional, but they clearly changed it in subsequent performances if it was the latter. The odd thing is that in their debut album recorded in 1973, ("Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd") BEFORE this performance, they played it correctly, with both guitarists playing the same licks. I think King just goofed and they had to keep playing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9cY3YA0CyE&feature=related
|
|
|
Post by Paul Sylvain on Oct 24, 2009 7:48:14 GMT -5
You're probably right about it being a flub, Mark. I haven't heard it in some time but as I recall, the Allman Brothers got off track while doing "One Way Out" at the Filmore when the show was being recorded. The LP came out and the mess-up -- which amounted to the drummer getting off beat for sevceral measures -- was in there.
I have to say that I love "Freebird" up to the point where the solos kick up to double-time, and from here on it wears a little thin. But the intro through that point is incredible. Any time you have multiple guitarists playing the same riffs, but in harmony, at the same time and as fast as that part in "Freebird" goes, it is likley someone will muck up the timing or phrasing.
I've been playing guitar for 45 years, and generally am the only guitarist in any band I'm in (I love a good blues three-piece) ... but I have played a few times with a second guitarist in years past. Even something relatively slower like the twin/harmony guitar lines in "Hotel California" can get tangled up if one of the axemen misses the mark even by a split second.
Hey, Mark, this is a great post. I'm an old dog who still loves playing and making and talking music.
Paul
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Oct 24, 2009 21:03:25 GMT -5
....I have to say that I love "Freebird" up to the point where the solos kick up to double-time, and from here on it wears a little thin. But the intro through that point is incredible. Any time you have multiple guitarists playing the same riffs, but in harmony, at the same time and as fast as that part in "Freebird" goes, it is likely someone will muck up the timing or phrasing. I've been playing guitar for 45 years, and generally am the only guitarist in any band I'm in (I love a good blues three-piece) ... but I have played a few times with a second guitarist in years past. Even something relatively slower like the twin/harmony guitar lines in "Hotel California" can get tangled up if one of the axemen misses the mark even by a split second. Hey, Mark, this is a great post. I'm an old dog who still loves playing and making and talking music. Paul Paul, I know what you mean about Freebird...it got so much airplay that most of us who were in the target age group tend to roll our eyes when it comes on now....but as I said, I've experienced some sort of "rebirth" relating to this band, and am hearing them with "fresh ears" now, so my tolerance for this old standard is much higher than it probably is for most. To me, "Freebird" is kind of like "Stairway to Heaven," or "Bohemian Rhapsody,"songs with slow, lyrical beginnings, which progressively build in intensity to a sort of rock crescendo. One is nearly exhausted after listening to them, but in a good way.... Of course, my appreciation for Skynyrd goes far, far beyond the AM play list, and includes their whole body of work. Lesser-known songs like "Simple Man" and Tuesday's Gone," as well as pieces like "Travellin' Man," "I know a Little," "Searchin'" "Every Mother's Son," "Cottonmouth Country," and "T For Texas"are just as appealing to me. I pretty much never heard a Skynyrd song I didn't like. I'll post some other videos in the near future. Mark
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Nov 2, 2009 22:19:49 GMT -5
Great live version of "That Smell" from a concert at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ, July 13, 1977. Fine solos by all three guitarists, especially Steve Gaines.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQlCxE4z3u4
|
|
|
Post by Paul Sylvain on Nov 3, 2009 6:02:50 GMT -5
By the time LS came around, there were several outstanding bands out there making use of three exceptional lead guitarists. The Allmans, of course, come to mind, but there were others. In my not-so-humble opinion, one of the truly innovative bands from the 1966-'67-'68 period -- innovative in that they were (1) probably one of the first to make use of a three-lead guitar lineup, and (2) were among the first popular groups of that time that could be labeled country rock, at least in some of what they did -- was The Buffalo Spingfield. Not only could the likes of Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay play (and later, the lineup included Jim Messina, later of Loggins & Messina fame, who was killer guitarist and singer/songwriter), but they all could write and sing, and their harmonies were pretty distinctive. Imagine having Stills, Young, Messina and Furay in the front line of a band, all at the same time? Incredible Their light didn't shine long, and after three LPs, they were gone, but I was and still am a huge fan of the Springfield, and they were a huge influence on me at the time. I like LS, and will agree that they were innovative in their own way, but for me it all goes back to the Springfield. For more on Buffalo Sringfield, go to: www.rockhall.com/inductee/buffalo-springfieldThere aren't many good clips on YouTube, but here are a couple: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbXKEjIApacwww.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9PiEgYYUU(and yes, that is David Crosby subbing for Neil Young at Monterey) Paul
|
|
|
Post by marklemon on Nov 3, 2009 20:46:02 GMT -5
Paul, Good post....Buffalo Springfield was a great wellspring of talent. Another group of that era which served as a starting point, or clearing house for incredible talent was Delaney & Bonnie & Friends. Here are some of the artists who at one point or another, served as an integral member, or played with them as a "friend:" Delaney Bramlett Bonnie Bramlett Eric Clapton Duane Allman Gregg Allman George Harrison Leon Russell Carl Radle Jim Gordon Jim Price Darrell Leonard Dave Mason Rita Coolidge King Curtis Bobby Whitlock Jim Keltner Jerry Scheff
I think it would be a great idea for this topic (Juke Joint) to have separate threads for separate groups or artists, with youtube videos highlighting their hits, as well as their not-so-well-known songs. That way, we could build a sort of musical library of sorts. You could start one for Buffalo Springfield, as well as anyone else you think deserves it. I'm going to start one for one of my favorite bluesmen, Howlin' Wolf. Mark
|
|