Customer Reviews

Southern By the Grace of God

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The CD which was recorded on the 1987 Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute tour commerorates the tenth anniversary of the plane crash that took the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Dean Killpatrick. Sure the CD doesn't contain all of the songs that the video: THE LYNYRD SKYNYRD TRIBUTE TOUR contains, but the songs it contains make up for what is loss. Included is an introduction by Lacy Van Zant, a "Sweet Home Alabama" featuring Donnie Van Zant and Charlie Daniels, and a breath taking instrumental version of "Freebird" which will stop your heart if you listen to it closely enough. Billy Powell and Artimus Pyle, two older members put their heart and soul in to bringing back memories as do the new ones...also Allen Collins cheers from the sides. Overall this CD may not be as significant or as loaded as "One More From The Road" or "Lyve From Steel Town," but it's still great.

This tour was conducted & recorded during 1987, 10 years after the fatefull plane crash of October, 1977. It was recorded live in several different cities. You can here Johnny addressing the various audiences from the various cities. The Master of Ceremonies is Lacy Van Zant (Ronnie,Donnie, & Johnny's Daddy). I wore out 2 casette tapes of this when it was originally released in 1988.
So, now I have the CD version.

The line-up:
Johnny Van Zant - lead vocals
Gary Rossington - guitar
Ed King - guitar/vocals
Leon Wilkeson - bass
Billy Powell - keyboards
Artimus Plye - drums
Dale Kranz Rossington -back-up vocals
Carol Bristow - back up vocals
Allen Collins -Arrangement Consultant
Ronnie Eades - Muscle Shoals Horn Section
Harvey Thompson -Muscle Shoals Horn Section
Lacy Van Zant - Master of Ceremonies

Special Appearances by:
Charlie Daniels - Fiddle, vocals
Steve Morse - guitar
Toy Caldwell (of the Marshall Tucker Band) -guitar
Jeff Carlisi - guitar
Donnie Van Zant - vocals

The song set:

1.Introduction by Lacy Van Zant/Workin for MCA
2.That Smell
3.I Know a Little
4.Comin' Home
5.You Got That Right
6.What's Your Name
7.Gimme Back My Bullets
8.Swamp Music
9.Call Me the Breeze
10.Dixie/Sweet Home Alabama
11.Freebird (Johnny refused to sing this song, he said only one man could sing this song on stage, and that was his brother the late/great Ronnie Van Zant. Johnny hung Ronnie's hat on the Microphone, and walked off. So, what you get is an excellent Instrumental Tribute to the band members who were killed in the crash. At the begining Johnny says this one goes out to Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, & Dean Kilpatrick.)

There is a dvd version of this included in the "Freebird the Movie"/Lynyrd Skynrd Tribute Tour" DVD. This tribute tour & band eventually became the continuance of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and they are still recording and touring today. This one's for the "true fan". Thanks!!!

This is a Wonderful Album i highly recommend it Some of the songs were recorded in Dallas Texas, My Brother and I were there that night they put on one hell of a concert i hope you enjoy it as much as I do,

I really love this cd, especially hearing Papa V voice on it.
I"m glad I brought this for my collection!

This CD is pretty good. The Lynyrd Sknyrd Band does their best to deliver the goods. Guitarist Ed King sounds incredible and the songs featuring guests like Steve Morse and Toy Caldwell are stellar. Freebird is truly moving with the audience singing for the late Ronnie Van Zant and Ed King does an incredible job peforming Allen's solo on it.

However, if there is only one thing that keeps this CD from getting 5 stars is Johnny Van Zant's lack of his big brother's vocal muscle.

Sure, this has some good performances. But why bother when you can hear the REAL Lynyrd Skynyrd live on ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD? Some fans may want this purely as a tribute to the original band. But to me, without their lead singer & 2 of their guitarists, this is like buying a Rolling Stones CD without Jagger & Richards. It can't compare with the real thing.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is absolutely one of my favorite bands. They, to me, epitomize what Southern Rock/Bar Rock oughtta sound like. However, I am somewhat of a purist and refuse to listen to anything post Ronnie Van years (itssssaaaa SIN!)
My moms bought this album back in the day, back before I knew anything about Lynyrd Skynyrd. This was my first glimpse of the band, and luckily not my last, because if this was all I knew of Lynyrd Skynyrd.. I probably never would have touched them again. This disc is lousy.
The faults on this bit go on for miles. Ronnie Van must've been proud that he was being a tributed, but was prolly rollin' over to discover it was all a plea to make some of these survivors a little more bread.
They should have come up with a different name... like a tribute name... Kin-of-Skynyrd (I just came up with that in two seconds.. it wasn't hard) they vowed never to use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again in the seventies, and looky here! 20 years later and the travesty continues... less than a quarter of the original line-up left... constant quarrels between members, on who has the rights to what... real great tribute. Ronnie must be proud.
Thats really not the main problem though. New Skynyrd sounds like a country band.. Real Skynyrd was not a country band... they were a ROCK band... and who has time to listen to the audience sing the entire Free Bird? Certainly not I. Go get ONE FROM THE ROAD live circa '74.. the only live skynyrd you need (good stuff), and leave this one for the other birds....

It being a LYNYRD SKYNYRD album fully justifies buying it even without reading a single review. But I feel " a well-hidden treasure" in it has been overlooked by a lot of people. Just listen to the guitar solo in the song GIMME BACK MY BULLETS. AWESOME, ASTOUNDING, I'm missing words here. SIMPLY THE BEST GUITAR SOLO IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK MUSIC. Period. I'll let you find out who the guitarist is. He's simply the best and most of you know him well unless you have spent the last 30 years on Titan.

This album is not even close to the classic live album "One More From The Road" (the 2 cd deluxe edition is outstanding). So, if you do not own that album, get it now and pass on this. If you're a die-hard Skynyrd fan (your not a fan if you can't even spell Lynyrd Skynyrd) this album is a pretty decent listen. The band plays fairly well and Rossington's guitar is in fine form. Heck, you might even play this 3 or 4 times. After that, however, you'll just keep goin' back for Ronnie and the real thing. Bring on those mules!!!!

SOUTHERN BY THE GRACE OF GOD is a great live album from the 1987 Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour. Along with the Outlaws' BRING IT BACK ALIVE and HITTIN' THE ROAD LIVE, Skynyrd's own ONE MORE FROM THE ROAD, LYVE FROM STEEL TOWN, and LYVE 2004, Blackfoot's HIGHWAY SONG and GREATEST HITS LIVE, Molly Hatchet's LIVE AT THE AGORA BALLROOM, GREATEST HITS LIVE, and DOUBLE TROUBLE LIVE, Foghat's LIVE, ROAD CASES, and DECADES LIVE, Ted Nugent's DOUBLE LIVE GONZO! and LIVE AT HAMMERSMITH '79, UFO's STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, UFO's STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, Pat Travers' LIVE! GO FOR WHAT YOU KNOW, the Allman Brothers Band's AT FILLMORE EAST, Blue Oyster Cult's EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIVE, SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, ON YOUR FEET OR ON YOUR KNEES, and A LONG DAY'S NIGHT, Grand Funk Railroad's CAUGHT IN THE ACT, Humble Pie's PERFORMANCE, Johnny Winter's LIVE, AC/DC's IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU'VE GOT IT, Golden Earring's LIVE and SOMETHING HEAVY GOING DOWN, Peter Frampton's FRAMPTON COMES ALIVE! and LIVE IN DETROIT, Cheap Trick's BUDOKAN: THE COMPLETE CONCERT, and Thin Lizzy's LIVE AND DANGEROUS, it is one of the best live albums ever. Whoever says that this is no good DOES NOT KNOW WHAT HE IS SAYING! There are songs here that are otherwise not available in live versions, and the presence of such guests as Charlie Daniels, Toy Caldwell, and Steve Morse creates a unique "family" feeling. The instrumental "Free Bird" offers proof of how hard it really was to fill Ronnie's shoes, but Johnny's vocals on the other songs prove that it could be done. You should get this album if you can find it.