Second Helping

by

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Edit

One of the great hard rock bands of the 1970s, Lynyrd Skynyrd, have been mistakenly reviled by some as a buncha' racist rednecks, with too many guitars to boot. As head hombre Ronnie Van Zandt would have proclaimed: "the FOOLS!". Which appears to have been his favored insult through out Skynyrd's recording career. They were more raw, raunchy, stylistically varied, and a lot smarter and funnier than a majority of their contemporaries. "Second Helping", arguably their finest studio album, begins with the classic "Sweet Home Alabama". How anyone can not love this song is beyond my comprehension (Understandably tired of it from dreaded "Classic Rock" radio overkill, perhaps...). Even target of derision, Neil Young (because of his song "Southern Man"), loved it, and after all as Neil Young fan, Van Zandt, quipped, "I just felt he was taking down the whole flock just to nail a few bad ducks". On "Working For MCA", Van Zandt lets out one of the greatest frustrated snarls ever recorded to accompany the beginning landslide of guitar noise. In the album's "slow" number, "The Ballad Of Curtis Loew", a young boy is awestruck by the dobro blues of one Curtis Loew, and he bites back on his anger at the local FOOLS who consider the old man useless. "Swamp Music" is a tightly coiled number (three chords, three guitars!) that sings of the joy of leaving the big city for a while, with your hound at your side. While "Needle And The Spoon" sends out a stark caveat to all the needle freaks. Apparently after a double bill in Missouri, the band wound up getting drunk with The New York Dolls (?!?) (according to a recent Doll's bio) who probably would have profited from paying closer attention to this song. "Call Me The Breeze" is a J.J. Cale tune turned into a hard rock boogie with dueling guitars and horns, barrelhouse piano, and much whoopin', hollerin', and hand claps by, according to the liner notes, and I quote: "Wicker, Toby, Cockroach, Moochie, Punnel, Wolfman, Kooder, Mr. Feedback, and Gooshie". The CD has the added bonus of including Van Zandt's masterful adolescent tearjerker (that's a tearjerker about adolescence), "Was I Right Or Wrong?", as often pointed out, written and recorded before the band got a major label deal and hit the big time. Note: this album is a wonderful companion to their excellent collection, "Gold And Platinum"; "Sweet Home Alabama", is the only repeated cut. The band's career ended tragically with a plane crash in 1977, killing Van Zandt and several other key members. I've heard of albums released after this under the name Lynyrd Skynyrd, but this is name only. I mean c'mon, without Shorty? He was their heart.

Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping (AFZ 054)

The song "Call Me The Breeze" has a false start, if you will. The first note of the song starts, quickly fades out and then starts over, this time going into the song, as it should.

The issue was acknowledged by AF. From their website:

"Audio Fidelity to Remaster Lynyrd Skyryrd, "Second Helping"

Date Posted: October 18, 2009

A Second Helping of Second Helping

Audio Fidelity To Remaster Lynryd Skynyrd

We've gone back and found a mastering glitch and we are fixing it ASAP. We hope to have the new re-pressed disc out to you as soon as possible.

For all of our Platinum and Gold Members, the new disc will be shipped to you automatically."

If you purchase this disc, be sure to contact Audio Fidelity about getting the replacement (replacement has not been issued as of the time of this review).