Customer Reviews

Skynyrd Frynds

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As country tribute albums became common in the nineties, it was no surprise to see one devoted to Lynyrd Skynyrd, perhaps the best of the southern rock bands that emerged in the seventies.

Least surprising of all is that Alabama (the group) chose to record Sweet home Alabama, a song that really encapsulates the appeal of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Hank Williams Junior contributed Tuesday's gone, but while the other tracks here were recorded especially for this project, Hank's track was simply lifted from his Wild streak album of the late eighties. Wynonna does a fine version of Free bird, while Charlie Daniels digs deeper into the Skynyrd repertoire to cover One more time - not one of their famous songs, but Charlie chose wisely.

With great contributions from Travis Tritt, Confederate railroad, Sammy Kershaw, The Mavericks, Steve Earle and Terry McBride as well as those already mentioned, this is a fitting tribute to a great seventies rock band. The booklet includes a list of Lynyrd Skynyrd CD's available at the time - but since then, a double-CD, Essential, has been released. If you want one collection by the original group, that is the one to buy.

Who better to do Sweet Home Alabama than the most popular country band ever Alabama and gosh what a goose bump raiser for any southern boy.For that matter Hank Williams Jr. does a masterful job in what my be his best recording with Tuesday's Gone which sounds it's best at full volume on a dirt road with a cold one in hand. Sammy, Travis, and C.D. also do justice to their remakes. If theres' a weak section it would have to be The Mavricks(please)! And Wyonna whom almost hurt the unhurtable, but the lyrics of the classic Free Bird saved the day. All in all a must for any fan of hard rockin country!

ALABAMA rocks on this version of "SWEET HOME ALABAMA" and WYNONNA knocks your socks off with her version of "FREEBIRD". These 2 cuts alone are worth the price of the CD.

I think it is important for any fan of Skynyrd to listen to Winona's cover of their classic, because it is quite simply the best version of that song ever recorded. Not only are her vocals incredible, but the guitar break in the middle of the piece is the most remarkable piece of guitar work I have ever heard. It is clear that the musicians who put this guitar piece together were honoring Skynyrd in the best way possible. If you don't buy it, try to listen to this one song -- you won't be sorry!

For classic rock fans, this is a great album. I originally purchased for the sound quality aspect as it was played by someone that was selling high-end speakers. I asked what was playing and the guy was happy to demo a number of the songs on the disc. I loved it so I ordered my own. (I also bought the speakers which I still use in my main room).

I've owned this for quite a while, but hadn't played it again until just recently so it was almost like I'd never heard it before (that happens when have a lot of discs). I'm a Skynyrd fan and not a country fan, or modern country, or cross-over country, whatever pigeon-hole terms have been used to described the evolution of this genre. That said I was extremely impressed with almost all of this CD. The standout track for me was Travis Tritt's take on Don't Ask Me No Questions, which was so good I couldn't help but say to myself that it overshadowed Ronnie's original big-time. That might not sit well with some of the hardcore LS fans, but too bad. A very close second was Charlie Daniels doing One More Time. Also as good or maybe even better than Ronnie's original. Both Travis and Charlie chose lesser-known tracks and simply made them their own. Bravo, I say. The Mavericks' Call Me the Breeze was just so-so, and Alabama's Sweet Home... had some really nice harmonies, but they changed the lyrics in a couple spots and there were no dynamics in the arrangement, everything was flat, no ups and downs. This is the lead-off track on the CD and I think the producers should have chosen something else.

The rest of the tracks were good to very good, and I would definitely recommend this to any Skynyrd fan.

I have had this album in the form of a cassette tape for years and finally broke down and bought the CD. The artists that have contributed to this album really did a terrific job on each and every song. I love it and recommend it to any Southern Roots Rock lover.

I'm going to cut right to the chase here. Some covers on this album are wonderful, while others leave a lot to be desired.

Let's face it: While Alabama is one of the greatest bands in the history of country music, and certainly one of my favorite country groups, they, DID NOT DO JUSTICE TO THE SONG THEY COVERED. (Need I tell you what song they covered?) John Mattick (piano) butchered the piano part, and Mark Herndon, (drums) did not use cymbals where he needed to. (If you don't believe me, go back and listen to the chorus). Not to mention that they completely changed the second verse. ("In Birmingham, they play some football..." Did they think no one would notice?) Over all, that cover ain't worth the time it takes to listen to it.

Travis Tritt's version of "Don't ask me no Questions" is just plain awesome. Come to think of it, it might even be better than the original.

Confederate Railroad was good, although they probably would've sounded better doing one of the more upbeat Skynyrd songs.

Sammy Kershaw does a really nice job with his version of "I know a little". The piano solo, while obviously different, still sounds really cool.

Hank Jr did an awesome job with "Tuesday's Gone." The only thing I'm not too fond of about his version is that, like Alabama did on "Sweet Home Alabama", he completely changed the words around. However, UNLIKE ALABAMA, Hank still managed to make his cut sound good. Judging from Hank's past cover songs, it seems that he has that ability.

The Mavericks were pretty cool, but they should not have done "Call me the Breeze". I say that simply because "CALL ME THE BREEZE" IS NOT A SKYNYRD SONG. Believe it or not, "Call me the Breeze" was origianlly recorded in 1971 (I think) by a fellow named Jean Jacques Cale, who also wrote the song. Also, as with some of the other artists on this album, they changed around the lyrics. Please, if you're going to cover a song, include all of the original lyrics in their original order, unless your Hank Jr. I will admit, though, giving that song a forties style swing sound was a pretty cool and original idea. Kudos to them for that.

Steve Earle did a wonderful job on "What's your Name?"

The Charlie Daniels Band's version of "One More Time" is pretty decent, although I personally would've had them cover "Gimme Three Steps" because that song, in my opinion, is the best Skynyrd song of all time, (nothing personal to the "Freebird" freaks; that's an awesome song, too) and because I think the CDB would've done a better job with that song. (Couldn't you just hear Charlie Daniels singing the words and jammin' an awesome fiddle solo on "Gimme Three Steps"?) That song needs a fiddle solo.

McBride and the Ride rocked out on "Saturday Night Special". I do have one question, though. Is Terry McBride related to Martina McBride?

And, last but not least, we have Wynona. Why do record companies seem to think that tribute albums like this always need to have at least one female singer on them? So far, it's been like that with every tribute album I've bought. (I have a lot of tribute albums, and not one of them is a trubute to a female artist, yet it always seems to be the case that no matter what tribute album I buy, there's always a female artist singing one of the songs.) Are they trying to be politically correct? Look, I'm going to say the same thing about Wynona's version of Freebird that I've said before: if the song was written with a male lead vocal part in mind, as "Freebird" obviously was, than get another guy to sing it, and don't change the words around so that a female can sing it. When you change the words around so a female can sing the vocal part, the song just ain't the same, and there's no way around that.

When I first bought the cassette seven years ago I thought I would love to hear these artists cover Skynyrd classics. But now I realize that there are three songs that sound nothing like the originals....Alabama's version of Sweet Home Alabama, Wynonna's version of Free Bird and The Mavericks' version of Call Me The Breeze.
Other than those three songs it's a must have for any Skynyrd fan.

This so called tribute to skynyrd is one of the most pathetic pieces of trailer park trash that i have ever heard. i was eager to hear this cd and listened to it with open mind and ears. acouple of cool moments yes but mostly that pastureized sound of nashville session players that is so sterile. these songs have balls and heart and should have been done with that in mind. ive seen many a bar band give these songs better treatment. winoyna absolutely despicable. i think id rather hear axl rose ruin this great song, although the guitarist was smokin.