The band Lynyrd Skynyrd debuted their second album on April 15th, 1974. With four members of the band writing for the album with J.J. Cale of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma writing the final song for the album, a truly remarkable album came out of the sessions resulting in Second Helping.
The core band of Lynyrd Skynyrd for Second Helping included Ronnie Van Zant of Jacksonville, Florida on lead vocals, Gary Rossington of Jacksonville, Florida on guitar, Allen Collins of Jacksonville, Florida on guitar, Ed King of Glendale, California on guitar, backing vocals and bass, Leon Wilkeson of Jacksonville, Florida on bass, Bob Burns of Jacksonville, Florida on drums and Billy Powell of Corpus Christi, Texas on keyboards.
Sweet Home Alabama would rank 21st in the United Kingdom and 8th in the United States. Lynyrd Skynyrd “wrote this song about their impressions of Alabama and as a tribute to the studio musicians at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, where they recorded from 1970-1972.” Producer Denny Cordell of Dublin, Ireland is credited with calling the musicians at Muscle Shoals “the Swampers,” which is referenced in the song.
I Need You presents a heaviness driven by the loneliness of being on the road and away from the person missed the most.
Don’t Ask Me No Questions makes me giggle for being so direct with the ways of the music business. As quoted here, this song “was a message to the people who wanted a piece of the band when they became famous. They were largely ignored for about 6 years while they were struggling, but when their first album was a hit in 1973, they faced huge demands on their time.”
As quoted here, “MCA was Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s record company. This song is based on how they were signed. The “Yankee Slicker” is Al Kooper. They actually were signed for $9,000.” The quote adds that Workin’ for MCA was written specifically for a press party and attracted the attention of many executives for what had been at that time an unknown band.
The Ballad of Curtis Loew is one of my all time favorite songs. As quoted from here in getting into the underpinning story of the song, “Curtis Loew is not the name of an actual person from Ronnie Van Zant‘s life. Rather, Curtis Loew is a composite of different people, including Skynyrd lead guitarist Rickey Medlocke‘s grandfather, Shorty Medlocke. Contrary to the song’s lyrics, Shorty was not black.”
Swamp Music offers as playful a musical feeling as any song on Second Helping. Getting into descriptions of a bayou lifestyle with a hound dog out in the sun, I feel the leisure of a way of life.
The Needle and the Spoon, as quoted here, “was [a] warning about the dangers of hardcore drugs, which the band was just learning about.” The opening guitar riff is a serious attention getter. The song offers a foretelling of music that would follow for Lynyrd Skynyrd on subsequent albums.
Call Me the Breeze, as quoted here, “was written and originally recorded by the Oklahoma guitarist J.J. Cale. The song is about a guy who can go where the weather takes him, unburdened by the weight of the world. It was a fitting statement for Cale, who went out of his way to keep things simple and stay out of the spotlight (his photo didn’t appear on his first seven albums). The concept of savoring simplicity and going where the wind takes you is also a theme of many Skynyrd songs.” The upbeat quality lends an air of ease that balances some of the more complex, sad feelings present with the Second Helping album, in particular.
Additional musicians on the album included Mike Porter on drums, Merry Clayton of New Orleans, Louisiana, Clydie King of Dallas, Texas, and Sherlie Matthews of Los Angeles, California on backing vocals, Bobby Keys of Slaton, Texas, Steve Madaio of Brooklyn, New York and Trevor Lawrence on horns, and Al Kooper of Brooklyn, New York on backing vocals and piano.
Matt – Saturday, April 15, 2023
Matt Lynn Digital 