Customer Reviews

Lonesome Skynyrd Time

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I'm not really that into the current trend towards novelty-oriented bluegrass covers of classic rock tunes, and I was never a huge Skynyrd fan, either, although I am a fan of truegrass singer-songwriter Larry Cordle, and was a little suprised to see such a fine musician doing one of these records. The good news is... it ain't bad! Cordle makes the most out of these old Southern Rock classics, taking them seriously and not just playing them acoustic for laughs. Occasionally, he sounds a bit too much like the Skynyrd originals (as on "Saturday Night Special") but for the most part, he takes these songs and makes 'em sound fresh and new. Sounds pretty good, really! Definitely worth checking out.

Playing Time - 55:42 -- Kentuckian Larry Cordle (who now lives in Nashville) has a history of playing the clubs. While in the service, he played in a rock band called "Hot Lucy." In 1990 (with fiddler Glen Duncan), Cordle formed the band Lonesome Standard Time. Disbanding in 1995, the group re-formed in 1998 as "Larry Cordle and Lonesome Standard Time."

Most rock `n roll music lovers probably know (sort of) what bluegrass music is. Bluegrass aficionados might be familiar with Lynyrd Skynyrd, the blues/boogie band that formed in 1966 in Jacksonville, Florida and named for "Leonard Skinner," a teacher who had suspended them for long hair. So what do you get when Bill Monroe meets the Allman Brothers? Southern boogiegrass music, for sure. The CMH record label has become quite famous (or infamous, depending on how you look at it) for their "Pickin' on...." series where well-known bluegrass session musicians have laid down acoustic tracks of tunes from the likes of the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, ZZ Top, Pink Floyd, and Aerosmith. They've even taken to releasing string quartets playing the music of Sade, No Doubt, The White Stripes, Garth Brooks, Yanni, Limp Bizkit AC/DC, Metallica, and Bon Jovi. Hmmmm! Well, think about it. There's a lot of great music out there, and if you've been caught in a one-dimensional musical genre warp for the last few decades, then you might have missed it. Or you might have tuned it out if it didn't fit your definition of good sounds. So an album like Larry Cordle's "Lonesome Skynyrd Time" could very well introduce bluegrass lovers to the great Southern rock of Lynyrd Skynrd.

As far as rock goes, that band was phenomenal. Their first two albums, the 1973 "Pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd" and 1974 "Second Helping" were my favorites. Adversity struck that rock band in 1977 when a plane crash killed Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines. Fortunately, I was pleased to see seven of the eleven offerings on Cordle's album culled from Skynyrd's first two albums. They do especially fine bluegrass arrangements of "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps," and "Freebird." The latter was a classic tribute to Duane Allman that became Skynyrd's anthem and staple on rock radio. Cordle is able to provide the bluesy vocals, and Booie Beach's lead guitar work, Andy Leftwich's mandolin, David Talbot's banjo, Kim Gardner's dobro, and Jenee Keener's fiddle do battle as this acoustic track rises to its crescendo in about nine minutes (a minute less than Skynyrd's original). The bassman is David Pomeroy. Percussion and vibra-slap (courtesy of Tom Roady and Mark Howard) aren't intrusive and fit nicely in the mix. Skynyrd's original arrangements also offered women backup vocalists, and Cordle relies on Carol Chase, Kim Morrison, Terry Eldredge, David Talbot and himself to sing the harmonies.

From Synyrd's "Second Helping" album come the opener, "Call Me the Breeze" and "The Ballad of Curtis Loew." Bluegrass fans should especially like that story of a young white boy sitting at the feet of an elderly black dobro master. Cordle gives us two other noteworthy songs on this album, an original called "Southern by the Grace of God," that tells the story of Skynyrd's life, and "House at the End of the Road" (written by Rock Killough and Larry T. Wilson) that just seemed to fit with the band's story.

Cordle and his proficient picking pals (fellow confederates, I highly suspect) keep the southern flag flying. Building on the southern rock blueprint, the accomplished singer/guitarist gives the classic songs a very nice, novel bluegrass flavoring. Southern fried pickin'! And finger-pickin' good! While not everyone's cup of tea, Cordle took a creative and courageous risk with this project, and he shows us how to successfully fuse the two genres. While I was certainly apprehensive at first, I now wouldn't mind hearing a sequel with covers of some of my other favorite Skynyrd songs like "Workin' for MCA," "I Need You," "Don't Ask Me No Questions," and "Swamp Music." (Joe Ross, staff writer, Bluegrass Now)

I bought this CD thinking I was getting bluegrass versions of Skynyrd songs. Not exactly...it is faithful covers of Skynyrd songs performed with bluegrass instruments. Performed with precision, I might add.

Cordle and pals are great musicians and Larry Cordle has a great voice, perfectly suited for this foray. I'm not much of a LS fan, in fact I am only familiar with their big hits so a lot of this is new to me.

My favorite cut is 'I Know A Little' with its snazzy, opening sequence.

If you like bluegrass but also old southern fried rock, this album is heaven for you. Incredible reproductions of LS songs i actually like better than the original (in most cases).

I love this album. I grew up on this music and Larry Cordle has done a wonderful job at setting it to a new beat.