Friday, September 28, 2018

Lynyrd Skynyrd Remembered

I remember Lynyrd Skynyrd from my youth.  What I'd forgotten was how much they'd influenced me with their incredible songwriting, great musicianship and the concert I saw as a teenager...

Watching the new documentary was an emotional experience for me.  They were so disciplined about practicing, honing their craft, writing songs together back in the swamp... in that shack where all the magic was made.  And Ronnie Van Zant, a simple man who wrote beautiful simple lyrics, still speaks from the grave...

The film, Lynyrd Skynyrd: If I Leave Here Tomorrow, covers a lot of ground. It takes in the band's rise from Jacksonville, Florida, the plane crash that killed vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and several crew members, their return to the fray and unflinching use of the Confederate flag.

6 Things we learned from the Lynyrd Skynyrd documentary

Listen to Free Bird, Simple Man, That Smell, Call Me the Breeze, Sweet Home Alabama Gimme Me Back My Bullets, Knebworth Fair '76, On the Hunt...