from the LP Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd, MCA Records, 1973This epic tale of love & loss, due to time spent apart and a life lived on the road, feels more like the kind of relished retreat offered up by musician’s that have been superstars for a decade already, and undoubtedly less like the second song on a rookie band’s debut album, for fuck’s sake! Undoubtedly, it was producer Al Kooper who convinced them to add all those strings, but the very willingness by a self-proclaimed redneck band to use such an orchestral touch shows you the size of the balls these guys had; that climactic part of the extended bridge, at around 4 minutes in, never fails to give me chills. Skynyrd hailed from Jacksonville, Florida, and although the entire unit was a mighty force to be reckoned with, it was the voice and words of singer & songwriter Ronnie Van Zant that truly propelled them above the generic mold of southern rock, a man who wasn’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 motherfucker…”; I couldn’t put it better myself!
