Lynyrd Skynyrd – I Ain’t The One

I Ain’t the One has a great opening riff and it was written by guitarist Gary Rossington and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, and was featured as the first track on Skynyrd’s debut album (pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd).

The album was one of the great rock debut albums. When you listen to this album you can hear a little of Cream, Stones, and Free. British rock was a huge influence on Lynyrd Skynyrd.

There is a great version of this song of them playing it  at the Knebworth Festival in England. Although the headliner was The Rolling Stones but Skynyrd was the band that grabbed the notices of that festival.

At a gig in Atlanta in 1972 they were discovered and signed by musician, producer, and founding member of Blood, Sweat, and Tears and The Blues Project, Al Kooper.

After two songs into recording bassist Leon Wilkeson quit so he was replaced by ex-Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King who originally wanted to play guitar with the band.

After they finished recording Ronnie Van Zant decided that King, who had added some guitar to the record, would be better on lead guitar so he asked Wilkeson to rejoin.

With Wilkeson back the now seven-man band was complete and would remain that way until Ed King and Bob Burns left the band in 1975. The guitarist Steve Gaines would join in 1976.

I Ain’t The One

Well, I’ll tell you plainly baby
What I plan to do
‘Cause I may be crazy baby
But I ain’t no fool
Your daddy’s rich, mama
You’re overdue
But I ain’t the one, baby
Been messing with you
Got bells in your mind, mama
So won’t you pardon me
I think its time for me to move along
I do believe

Now you’re talking jive, woman
When you say to me
Your daddy’s gonna take us in baby
‘N take care of me
You know and I know, woman
I ain’t the one
I never hurt you sweet heart
I never pulled my gun
Got bells in your mind, baby
So won’t you pardon me?
I think its time for me to move along
I do believe
Time for me to put my boots out in the street baby
Are you ready boots — walk on

All right there missy, let me tell you a thing or two
Now you’re talking jive, woman
When you say to me
Your daddy’s gonna take us in baby
‘N take care of me
When you know and I know, woman
I ain’t the one
That ain’t my idea — uh unh — of having fun
Got rings in your eyes lady
So won’t you pardon me
I think its time for me to move along
I do believe
I must be in the middle of some kind of conspiracy

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

39 thoughts on “Lynyrd Skynyrd – I Ain’t The One”

      2. ….and live you cannot beat them. I saw them in the 80s and they were one of the best live rock bands I’ve seen.

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  5. This is such a cool tune, Max. “Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd” was a pretty strong debut. There are various gems on this record. In addition to the opener, there’s “Tuesday’s Gone”, “Gimme Three Steps” and “Simple Man” – that’s already the entire side one! And let’s not forget one of the ultimate Skynyrd classics, “Free Bird”!

    Skynyrd are rockin’ on and evidently are going on the road starting later this month. It also looks like Gary Rossington, who had some health issues during recent years, is still part of the line-up. He’s the only original member left.

    I saw Skynyrd once in June 2018 during what was billed a farewell tour and thought they were fun. They are scheduled to play that very same outdoor venue in late August – hm, that’s tempting! I guess their farewell tour has turned into a Deep Purple-lish “long goodbye” tour! 🙂

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    1. That debut was a great one… it got Pete’s attention to tour with The Who.
      I saw them in the 80s with quite a few original members and I have to say… they give a great show… they are tight.

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  6. A great song – what a debut album! LS was a listening staple during my high school years – I had a high school buddy who always referred to them as Skinny Leonard – which we found hilarious at the time. 🙂 – Ronnie Van Zandt was a great vocalist and really brought the stories in their songs to life.

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    1. Growing up where I did they were everywhere. I ignored them for a while because you like to be different at that age… then I realized…. hey they sound like British Rock… and that is what I liked.
      Skinny Leonard lol… never heard that!
      Van Zant was a great storyteller.

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  7. But I never understood how Free Bird became the staple slow dance make out tune at all those high school dances – it together with Stairway to Heaven – as both songs start slow but then kick into high gear midway through and you would still have all these couples slow dancing.

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    1. Yea I don’t get it either… when they kick in… they kick in. Also popular at funerals.
      Oh…. a couple from Mojo is coming this long weekend.

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    1. Yes it is….and this song is never heard but it’s good Dave…always been a favorite of mine off of the album.

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    1. Yea dude…Ronnie I think hit all of them at one time …God help you if you hit a wrong chord during a concert lol. It is a cool riff.

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  14. Great pick, man… seriously good jams here. Strangely enough this was the only Skynyrd album I had until just last year when I got Nuthin’ Fancy. Which is equally brilliant. Don’t know what took so long!

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    1. This one and the second album really built their foundation. Van Zant wrote some good storytelling songs and contained it in that rock but catchy framework.
      I like Am I Losin’ on the Nothing Fancy album a lot.

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      1. Yeah, I think that catchiness is what drew me to them in the first place. There’s a great groove in everything I’ve heard.

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