Lynyrd Skynyrd – Page 3 – PowerPop… An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture

Lynyrd Skynyrd – What’s Your Name

I always thought this was one of the most commercial songs they ever released. It is a fun tight song but yes it has been played to death.

Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington wrote this one night when they were in Miami with Steve Cropper and producer Tom Dowd. Cropper, the guitarist for the Stax Records band Booker T. & the MG’s, gave them some ideas.

They had a well-deserved reputation for being a hard-partying band. This song is based on a true story. One night while they were on tour, the band was drinking at their hotel bar when one of the roadies got in a fight. They all got kicked out, went to a room, ordered champagne, and continued the party.

The incident also really didn’t happen in Boise, Idaho. The first line was originally, “It’s 8 o’clock and boys it’s time to go,” but Ronnie Van Zant changed it when he found out his brother, Donnie, was opening his first national tour with his band .38 Special in Boise. The first line became It’s 8 o’clock in Boise, Idaho.

The song was on the album Street Survivors…their last studio album with the original band. They were in a plane crash just days after the release of the album.

The song peaked at #13 in the Billboard 100 and #6 in Canada in 1978.

Street Survivors peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts in 1977.

From Songfacts

Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash just three days after this album was released. The album had to be given a new cover because the original one portrayed the group surrounded by flames.

This was released as a single in January 1978, a few months after the plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines.

The B-52s reached #74 in 1980 with “Private Idaho,” but “What’s Your Name” is the biggest hit song to mention the state in the lyric.

What’s Your Name

Well, its eight o’clock in Boise, Idaho
I’ll find my limo driver
Mister, take us to the show
I done made some plans for later on tonight
I’ll find a little queen
And I know I can treat her right

What’s your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
Won’t you do the same?

Back at the hotel
Lord we got such a mess
It seems that one of the crew
Had a go with one of the guests, oh yes
Well, the police said we can’t drink in the bar, what a shame
Won’t you come upstairs girl
And have a drink of champagne

What’s your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
For there ain’t no shame

What’s your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
Won’t you do the same? Awh yeah

What’s your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
Won’t you do the same?

Nine o’clock the next day
And I’m ready to go
I got six hundred miles to ride
To do one more show, oh no
Can I get you a taxi home
It sure was grand
When I come back here next year
I want to see you again

What was your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
Well there ain’t no shame
What was your name, little girl?
What’s your name?
Shootin’ you straight, little girl?
Won’t you do the same? Woo

Lynyrd Skynyrd – I Know A Little

The reason I like this song is caught in the intro. The guitar in this is a lot of fun. Unlike most Lynyrd Skynyrd songs this one was not partly written by Ronnie Van Zant. The new guitar player Steve Gaines wrote this before he joined them.

Gaines replaced Ed King as the band’s guitarist in 1976, but died in the 1977 plane crash that also claimed the lives of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and Gaines’ sister Cassie, who was a backup singer for the group. This song provides a glimpse of songwriting and guitar talent.

Steve Gaines was a special talent. I personally believe he would have gone far in music outside of that band. There is guitar playing on Street Survivors that you never heard with that band before. Very sophisticated chord patterns and riffs with songs like “I Never Dreamed.”

This song was the B side to What’s Your Name.

From Songfacts

You won’t find diatribes on the complexities of interpersonal relationships in the Skynyrd catalog, but you will find simple explanations. This song is a great example.

Why do people get the blues? From digging what they can’t use. And if you want to hold on to a man, a good way to do it is through commitment. You only need to know a little about love – the rest you can guess.

This is a great example of Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines’ contributions to the band. He wrote the song himself, and also wrote or co-wrote three other songs on the album. as Van Zant sings about a guy who has a strong feeling that his girl is cheating on him.

Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington told Guitar School magazine, July 1993, that he’d never heard anybody, including the current guitarists in the band, play the picking on this song quite right – the way Steve Gaines did.

This is one of many Skynyrd songs that was never released as a single but endured as a classic track in their catalog. It earned lots of airplay on Classic Rock radio and became one of their most popular live songs, performed at most of their shows when they re-grouped after the plane crash.

Steve Gaines recorded this before he joined Lynyrd Skynyrd.

I Know A Little

Yes sir

Well the bigger the city, well the brighter the lights
The bigger the dog, well the harder the bite
I don’t know where you been last night
But I think mama, you ain’t doin’ right

Say I know a little
I know a little about it
I know a little
I know a little ’bout it
I know a little ’bout love
And baby I can guess the rest

Well now I don’t read that daily news
‘Cause it ain’t hard to figure
Where people get the blues
They can’t dig what they can’t use
If they stick to themselves
They’d be much less abused

Say I know a little
Lord I do know a little about it
I know a little
I know a little ’bout it
I know a little ’bout love
Baby I can guess the rest
Play me a little, oh yeah
Yeah

Well if you want me to be your only man
Said listen up mama, teach you all I can
Do right baby, by your man
Don’t worry mama, teach you all I can

Say I know a little
Lord I do know a little about it
I know a little
I know a little ’bout it
I know a little ’bout love
Baby I can guess the rest
Well I know a little ’bout love
Baby I want your best

Lynyrd Skynyrd – That Smell

Now they call you Prince Charming, Can’t speak a word when you’re full of ‘ludes

If you see ludes…you know you are in the seventies or in that vicinity.

This song is about Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, who bought a new car (a Ford Torino), got drunk, and took some Quaaludes, and crashed it into a tree, and then into a house. The band was supposed to start a tour in a few days but had to postpone it because of Rossington’s injuries. I always wonder what Gary thinks when he plays this song. He is the only original member left in the touring band.

Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins wrote this song. They were not pleased with Rossington, whose drug and alcohol problems were affecting the band.

A couple of years ago I read a book by their tour manager and this band was a handful on the road. They were tutored by the master… Keith Moon on the fine art of destruction but Lynryd Skynrd loved to fight…mostly each other. Ronnie Van Zant was said to be a nice guy until drunk…after that, the band members would tend to go the opposite way from their tough lead singer and undisputed leader.

The song didn’t chart but remains a classic rock staple and a good song of that era. It was on their last album Street Survivors released in 1977…3 days before the plane they were in crashed killing Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines.

That Smell

Whiskey bottles, and brand new cars
Oak tree you’re in my way
There’s too much coke and too much smoke
Look what’s going on inside you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Angel of darkness is upon you
Stuck a needle in your arm
So take another toke, have a blow for your nose
One more drink fool, will drown you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Now they call you Prince Charming
Can’t speak a word when you’re full of ‘ludes
Say you’ll be all right come tomorrow
But tomorrow might not be here for you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Hey, you’re a fool you
Stick them needles in your arm
I know I been there before

One little problem that confronts you
Got a monkey on your back
Just one more fix, Lord might do the trick
One hell of a price for you to get your kicks
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you
Ooooh that smell
Can’t you smell that smell
Ooooh that smell
The smell of death surrounds you

Lynyrd Skynyrd – 42 Years Ago Today

It’s been 42 years since Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band had just released the album “Street Survivors” and it was probably their best well-rounded album. With new guitarist Steve Gaines, they were primed for commercial success but on October 20, 1977, they lost singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The plane crash also claimed the lives of pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray Jr.

A year earlier Steve Gaines joined the band and he was pushing them in directions they never had gone. Listening to “Street Survivors” you can hear his influence with songs I Never Dreamed and I Know A Little. Steve was a super talented guitarist, songwriter, and singer and I have to wonder where his career would have gone.

On this tour, they were headlining and moving up in status after years of touring as mostly an opening band.

Below is a good Rolling Stone article on the crash. The song below that is “I Never Dreamed,” a song heavily influenced by Gaines.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/remembering-lynyrd-skynyrds-deadly-1977-plane-crash-2-195371/

Lynyrd Skynyrd – 41 Years Ago

It’s been 41 years since Lynyrd Skynyrd’s plane crashed in a swamp in Gillsburg, Mississippi. The band had just released the album “Street Survivors” and it was probably their best well-rounded album. With new guitarist Steve Gaines, they were primed for commercial success but on October 20, 1977, they lost singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The plane crash also claimed the lives of pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray Jr.

On this tour, they were headlining and moving up in status after years of touring as mostly an opening band.

Below is a good Rolling Stone article on the crash. The song below that is “I Never Dreamed,” a song heavily influenced by Gaines.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/remembering-lynyrd-skynyrds-deadly-1977-plane-crash-2-195371/

Al Kooper: Backstage Passes Backstabbing Bastards

This is an autobiography of Al Kooper. Al has worked with many people in the music industry. He was a songwriter, musician, producer, A&R man and everything in between.

His book is well written and Al uses humor all the way through.

A few of his career highlights are helping to form Blood, Sweat, and Tears, playing the organ on “Like a Rolling Stone” (although he didn’t know how to really play organ), organized the Super Sessions with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield, found and signed a band while in Atlanta named Lynyrd Skynyrd. While in Atlanta he started a record label called “Sounds of the South” in conjunction with MCA records.

He goes over working with Lynyrd Skynyrd and how their first three albums were recorded and why they parted company. Another band that he signed was Mose Jones who was going to be his Beatles type group to counterpoint the Lynyrd Skynyrd Stones sound for his label. Mose Jones ended up being ignored my MCA.

There is so much musical history this man was involved in…he makes light of getting called Alice Cooper on many occasions.

In Al Kooper’s words

Let’s clear the air.
This is not a book by or about Vincent Furnier (né Alice Cooper.) It is a book by and about Al Kooper. If you don’t know who Al Kooper is, that’s fine. But don’t let that stop you from perusing these eye-opening accounts of encounters with Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Gene Pitney, The Royal Teens, Bill Graham, Quincy Jones, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Mike Bloomfield, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, George Harrison, Miles Davis, The Tubes, Nils Lofgren, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and all the other wonderful people I’ve been fortunate enough to cross paths with over the last forty years.

What was really interesting to me is he shared the same manager (Stan Polley) as Badfinger and was able to get out of his clutches with at least some of his money intact. I picked the book up cheap and I really have enjoyed it. I would recommend this to music fans. Many funny stories and he is such a talented musician.

Another quote from Kooper on the Like A Rolling Stone Session… Tom Wilson was the producer who knew Kooper didn’t normally play the organ.

Thirty seconds into the second verse of the playback, Dylan motioned toward Tom Wilson. “Turn the organ up,” he ordered. “Hey, man,” Tom said, “that cat’s not an organ player.” Thanks, Tom. But Dylan wasn’t buying it: “Hey, now don’t tell me who’s an organ player and who’s not. Just turn the organ up.” He actually liked what he heard!

Al Kooper and Bob Dylan

George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, and Al Kooper

Jimi Hendrix and Al Kooper

Al Kooper…he wanted to set the record straight