Sometimes as a guitar player, you come up with a riff that you know is good…this riff must have made Allen Collins happy when he thought of it.
It was released on their third album Nothin’ Fancy in 1975. The album was produced by Al Kooper who signed the band and produced their first three albums. Near the end of the sessions, it was decided that Kooper would leave and not produce them anymore. The sessions were tense so he told them he would rather be their friend than their producer so they parted on good terms.
They premiered the song live in Paris in 1974. Nothin’ Fancy was not one of their best albums but did contain some staples for them. Saturday Night Special, Whiskey Rock-a-Roller, and this song On The Hunt. Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant wrote this song in 1974.
Bob Burns and Artimus Pyle
Right before this album it was decided that the drummer Bob Burns needed to part from the band. He was getting more erratic personally. He had some mental issues that the large amount of drugs and drinking certainly didn’t help. The worst occasion was when he went to see the Exorcist. After he saw that he started to see demons everywhere. While in England he was in the 3rd or 4th floor and threw the hotel’s cat out of the window. He thought the cat was the devil himself. The other band members, even the tough Ronnie Van Zant, were not comfortable around him.
They called up Charlie Daniels and asked him if he knew any drummers, so Daniels told them about Artimus Pyle so he joined. No doubt about it, Pyle was a better drummer but he also fit the band perfectly at that time. Pyle had been marking time and making friends as a session drummer for the likes of both Marshall Tucker and The Charlie Daniels Band. Pyle was a former Marine, a health enthusiast, and a Vegan for the most part. He wasn’t all natural though. He would normally take LSD while they were flying and staying at hotels.
The biggest problem with making the album was that they did not have the time to write the songs and arrange them before they recorded them. On their previous two albums, they had that luxury….even the solos were planned out in every song. The record company wanted something now so they had to write in the studio.
Now that many reviewers have looked back on the album…it has got favorable reviews now. As I have said before…they only released 5 studio albums (not counting one after the crash that had their pre-fame material on it) and three of them would be classic albums. Two of them would be very good…other rock bands at the time would have taken this album and loved it. Their live album released in 1976 is one of the best in rock. It shows the band in great form…the one who opened up for the Stones and made a statement at the 1976 Knebworth event.
Al Kooper: Each record got harder to make, and on the third record [Nuthin’ Fancy]we really battled it out and it was getting dangerous in terms of our friendship. At the last day of the third record, I told them that I didn’t want to produce them anymore — that I would rather be their friend than their producer. I think they had suffered as much as I had and were glad to hear that.
The third album was a very tough album to make because they didn’t have the preparatory time that they had on the first two albums. For instance, the guitar solos were not composed. They were made up in the studio.
On The Hunt
I said baby mama, I don’t know your name
But I said baby, sugar I can play your game
Every night when we leave the hall
I see you hanging around
You wanna ride in my big black car baby
Wanna go uptown
[Chorus]
I know who you are baby
I know what they call you girl
Never put you down baby
I’m just like you baby, I’m on the hunt
I know lady
People gonna talk about you and me
Let me say one thing mama, sugar I do as I please
And if you wanna love me baby, I’m your man
And all those high-falutin’ society people
I don’t care if they don’t undertand
[Chorus]
My daddy told me a long time ago
Said there’s two things son
Two things you should know
And in these two things you must take pride
That’s a horse and woman, yeah
Well both of them you ride
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Wow that drummer definitely had some issues considering the whole band did but that dude was next level. That On the Hunt live version is great and what can you say about Saturday Night Special that hasn’t been said.
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Yea man he had issues before that but that movie brought it all out. When Ronnie Van Zant is wary of you…you are not right.
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What a line, “That’s a horse and woman, yeah Well both of them you ride.” He is telling this girl that they are both looking for sex. Great song, Max.
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some pretty basic southern rock, well-played. Somehow it sounds like ‘saturday night Special’ to me even though the structure is quite different. BTW, WordPress gremlins – or maybe YT ones – for some reason the videos didn’t even appear on my phone when I took a look this morning (just had boxes with broken image symbols) but they’re fine on my computer here. Go figure. I had weird issues with jpgs on mine last night, temporarily they all disappeared on me! This morning most have been restored.
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Yea phones have had problems playing some videos at times…I usually use computers when I can.
Yes it’s a good rock riff and they plow through it…their live is really good as well. They are fantastic live.
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What a great live presentation of the song, it really takes on a different feel. Not a song I know but it has a slightly different feel for me for some reason.
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They were so rehearsed live…yes it does…this is the album they weren’t as prepared for…but I do like the live version of this.
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While I always liked Lynyrd Skynyrd I was never really a “fan” and it wasn’t until maybe 10 years back that I first heard this track. I got a call from a friend of a friend to fill in for a few gigs since they had given their drummer the boot (ironically cuz of his druggin’ and drinking!) The Hunt was one of the tunes they did and I just loved it. Our version sounded more like Stone Temple Pilots playing Skynyrd, but that’s been my favorite song of theirs ever since!
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That would be an interesting spin on it! I have a weakness for riff songs…I always think of these guys and The Rolling Stones that build their songs around riffs.
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Yep Max, I get what you say about being a riff driven band. There’s a dollop of ‘Can’t You Hear Me Knocking’ in this one, at least for me.
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I can hear that as well… they were called by some The American Rolling Stones….they lived and died off of the riff.
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Even if Skynyrd would have had more time, I feel their first two albums would have been a tough act to follow with so many classics between the two. The fact the evidently impatient record label was breathing down their necks made it even harder. The only track off “Nuthin’ Fancy” I immediately remembered is “Saturday Night Special”. That said, “On the Hunt” is a good song.
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Now…I will say this Christian…you don’t have to take my word for it…they made 3 classic albums…yes the first two and Street Survivors…excellent album!
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I think that’s totally fair. With “What’s Your Name”, “That Smell” and “You Got That Right”, you got at least three tracks here I would call classics.
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And there are some damn good songs on there like I Know A Little, I Never Dreamed, and One More Time…. I Know A Little has developed into a classic
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Hard rock/Stoner band Corrosion of Conformity did a very good cover of this song…Obviously it’s heavier but still keeps the southern grit and muscle. Worth checking out if are so inclined…
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