Second helping
| Second helping | ||||
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| Lynyrd Skynyrd's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
April 15, 1974 |
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| Label (s) | MCA / Sounds of the South Productions | |||
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
37 m 15 s |
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Studio (s) |
Record Plant Studios , Los Angeles , California January 1974; Track 1 Studio One, Doraville , Georgia |
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Second Helping is Lynyrd Skynyrd's second album and was released in spring 1974. It contains the popular hit Sweet Home Alabama , which reached number 8 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart. Second Helping rose to number 12 on the American Billboard album charts and was awarded gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in September 1974 and double platinum in July 1987. Before the recordings for this album, bassist Leon Wilkeson rejoined the band so that Ed King could switch to guitar. Therefore, the typical use of three guitars for Lynyrd Skynyrd was shown here for the first time. Sweet Home Alabama is the only song from an earlier recording session and was deliberately kept as a single by the band for the second album. Since Al Kooper and MCA favored Don't Ask Me No Questions as a single, Ronnie Van Zant reached an agreement that if the expected success did not materialize, the following single would be Sweet Home Alabama . Al Kooper produced Second Helping, as did Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album for his Sounds of the South label, which he sold to MCA in 1974.
Track list
- Sweet Home Alabama (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) - 4:43
- I Need You (King, Rossington, Van Zant) - 6:55
- Don't Ask Me No Questions (Rossington, Van Zant) - 3:26
- Workin 'for MCA (King, Van Zant) - 4:49
- The Ballad of Curtis Loew (Allen Collins, Van Zant) - 4:51
- Swamp Music (King, Van Zant) - 3:31
- The Needle and the Spoon (Collins, Van Zant) - 3:53
- Call Me the Breeze ( JJ Cale ) - 5:09
1997 CD bonus tracks
- Don't Ask Me No Questions (Single Version) (Rossington, Van Zant) - 3:31
- Was I Right or Wrong (Demo) (Rossington, Van Zant) - 5:33
- Take Your Time (Demo) (Van Zant, King) - 7:29
occupation
- Ronnie Van Zant - vocals
- Gary Rossington - Gibson Les Paul - guitar , rhythm, and acoustic guitar on Sweet Home Alabama
- Allen Collins - Gibson Firebird - guitar
- Ed King - Fender Stratocaster - guitar, slide guitar , rhythm guitar, and bass on I Need You
- Billy Powell - keyboards , piano on Sweet Home Alabama
- Leon Wilkeson - Gibson Thunderbird - bass
- Bob Burns - drums except for I Need You
Leon Wilkeson's instrument was referred to as the Firebird Bass on both the LP cover and later CD releases . The instrument manufacturer Gibson only called guitars with this body shape Firebird , the basses were always called Thunderbird .
Additional musicians
- Mike Porter - drums on I Need You
- Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews - background vocals on Sweet Home Alabama
- Merry Clayton and Friends - background vocals on Sweet Home Alabama
- Bobby Keys , Trewor Lawrence and Steve Madiao - brass section on Don't Ask Me No Questions and Call Me the Breeze
- Al Kooper - backing vocals, piano on Don't Ask Me No Questions and The Ballad of Curtis Loew , producer
reception
- Gordon Fletcher wrote in Rolling Stone that the band was often compared to the Allman Brothers Band , but that Lynyrd Skynyrd did not match their sophistication and professionalism. (This group is frequently compared to the Allman Brothers but it lacks that band's sophistication and professionalism.) The album would only differ from the debut in so far as Lynyrd Skynyrd might have understood its various possibilities. (Second Helping is distinguished from their debut LP only by a certain mellowing out that indicates they may eventually acquire a level of savoirfaire to realize their many capabilities.)
- The music journalist Robert Christgau wrote that in the rocking moments the band would combine elementary riffs and feedback into a dense mixture, while in the quieter pieces vocabulary of the best Southern folk music would be shown. (When it rocks, three guitarists and a keyboard player pile elementary riffs and feedback noises into dense combinations broken by preplanned solos, while at quieter moments the spare vocabulary of the best Southern folk music is evoked or just plain duplicated.) The album got the Rating A-.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote on Allmusic.com that Lynyrd Skynyrd were not only a great band, they were indelible because of their great songwriting. Nowhere is this more evident than on Second Helping . (They were a great band, but they were indelible because that was married to great writing. And nowhere was that more evident than on Second Helping.) The album was rated five out of five stars.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Second Helping at lynyrdskynyrd.com ( Memento of the original from June 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Sounds of the South Productions at discogs.com
- ↑ Second Helping at allmusic.com
- ^ Second Helping at discogs.com
- ↑ Chart placements at allmusic.com
- ↑ Second Helping at riaa.org
- ↑ Sweet Home Alabama at songfacts.com
- ↑ American By Birth ... (Southern by the Grace of God) by Ron O'Brien and Andy McKaie, CD booklet for The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection , 1991
- ↑ Al Kooper biography at alkooper.com
- ^ Al Kooper: An appreciation from Tyler Friedmann at furious.com
- Jump up ↑ Skynyrd History Lessons at lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com
- ^ Second Helping at rollingstone.com
- ↑ Lynyrd Skynyrd albums at robertchristgau.com
- ↑ Second Helping at allmusic.com
