This song is one of their best songs to me. I like it better than Freebird and many other more popular ones. I could see The Stones doing this song as well as the Allman Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sound has always been closer to British crunch rock like Free and The Stones than their southern roots.
Since I’ve been blogging I’ve read a few books about them and heard from my UK readers. They were huge in the UK in the mid-70s. They toured there and played at Knebworth in 1976 on a bill with the Rolling Stones.
Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics and Allen Collins wrote the music to this song. I’ve talked about how Ray Davies and Bruce Springsteen could write about everyday life and make it sound interesting and believable. I’ll put Van Zant in that same category with no hesitation. His deceptive simple lyrics always hit home.
Metallica and Phish both have both covered this song. The best cover version I’ve heard is a live version from Gregg Allman. You can imagine what the Allmans would have done with it. There was a train track near the place where the band rehearsed. The sound of the trains inspired lead singer Ronnie Van Zant to write the first line, “Train roll on, on down the line.”
Tuesday’s Gone was on the debut album Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd and peaked at #27 on the Billboard Album Chart, #47 in Canada, and #44 in the UK in 1973. It’s one of the best rock debut albums. They opened up for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour at this time.
Their producer at the time was Al Kooper. He played on this track and brought a Mellotron in this song. He would go on to produce their first three albums and also signed them to MCA records. He found them in a bar and offered to sign them after a few nights. Right after that someone broke into their van and stole all of their equipment. Van Zant called Al Kooper and asked him if he could help them out. Kooper said yes of course and sent the band $5000 and Van Zant told him…“Al, you just bought yourself a band for five thousand dollars.”
Cameron Crowe on Ronnie Van Zant: “He was the first musician that crossed the line and talked to me like I was an artist or a writer. It blew me away. He was a guy who treated me like I was an equal, and it gave me a lot of confidence, doing that. A straight-ahead, sensitive guy. No agenda, he didn’t ask me to write about him, just took the opportunity to tell me the story had reached him. Over the next three years, we stayed pretty tight, and I did write about them and went on the road with them and all kinds of stuff.”
Al Kooper talking about the stolen equipment: “Al, our equipment van got broken into last night and we can’t put food in our families’ mouths without that gear. We have engagements to fulfill immediately and unless you can lend us five thousand dollars by tomorrow morning, we’re fucked!”
I didn’t even think twice: “Where do I send it, buddy ?” He gave me the address and closed with: “Al, you just bought yourself a band for five thousand dollars.”
I never worried about that money. Ronnie was a gentleman and a man of his word. He ruled that band with an iron fist, and God help any band member who crossed him. Of course, that was impossible, because they all worshipped him. Possessed of a unique talent for savvy songwriting, a rather pedestrian voice that had its own unique sound, and remarkable leadership skills, Ronnie was the mediator between the rest of the band and myself. As a producer, I offered my artists one hundred percent of my input. What percentage they chose to use was up to them. Of course, it varied from act to act. With Skynyrd, there wasn’t that much to do. They were incredibly well rehearsed (they even composed their guitar solos beforehand), they were the best damn arrangers I have ever worked with, and their musical discipline was everything to them.
Gregg Allman singing Tueday’s Gone.
Tuesdays Gone
Train roll on, on down the line,
Won’t you please take me far, far away
Now I feel the wind blow, outside my door,
I’m leavin’ my woman at home, oh yeah
Tuesday’s gone with the wind,
Oh my baby’s gone, gone with the wind
And I don’t know, oh, where I’m goin’
I just want to be left alone
When this train ends, I’ll try again
I’m leavin’ my woman at home
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
My baby’s gone, with the wind
Train roll on, Tuesday’s gone
Train roll on many miles from my home, see I’m
I’m ridin’ my blues, away yeah
But Tuesday you see, a she had to be free
Somehow I got to, to carry on
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
Tuesday’s gone with the wind
My baby’s gone, with the wind
Train roll on
My baby’s gone
I’m ridin’ my blues, baby
Tryin’ to ridin’ my blues
Ride on train
Ride on train
Ridin’ my blues, baby
Goodbye Tuesday, goodbye Tuesday
Oh, oh, oh, train
….
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