Lynyrd Skynyrd was performing in the United Kingdom on a tour promoting their third studio album, Nuthin' Fancy. The band was coming off two hugely successful albums, their debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and 1974's Second Helping, and they had recently changed both their drummer (from Bob Berns to Artimus Pyle) and lost their original guitarists, Ed King. The changes had appeared to revitalize the band, which, although down to six pieces, played with more energy and passion than they had…entire summary
Allen Collins - lead guitar
Billy Powell - piano, keyboards
Artimus Pyle - drums
Gary Rossington - lead guitar
Ronnie Van Zant - lead vocals
Leon Wilkeson - bass, vocals
Lynyrd Skynyrd was performing in the United Kingdom on a tour promoting their third studio album, Nuthin' Fancy. The band was coming off two hugely successful albums, their debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and 1974's Second Helping, and they had recently changed both their drummer (from Bob Berns to Artimus Pyle) and lost their original guitarists, Ed King. The changes had appeared to revitalize the band, which, although down to six pieces, played with more energy and passion than they had before.
This show features Lynyrd Skynyrd in an environment where the band felt comfortable and was at the top of their game. With the exception of the Allman Brothers, most Southern Rock bands had stayed away from the U.K. during this period because the country's music scene was so wrapped up in the emerging punk movement. But that didn't scare Skynyrd, who confidently played their brand of riff-driving Southern fried rock boogie to near capacity crowds on this tour.
Kicking off with the raucous "Double Trouble," they quickly move into "I Ain't The One," from their debut album. Poignant songs like "Needle And Spoon" are balanced against established Skynyrd rockers such as, "Saturday Night Special" and "Gimmie Three Steps." Songs like "Whiskey Rock A Roller," "Call Me The Breeze," and "Sweet Home Alabama" are played here in their original form, and it is somehow strangely ironic that many of these classics would re-emerge as part of the must-do repertoire of so many country artists.
The band ends the show with a predictable, but crowd-pleasing version of their radio hit, "Free Bird," which clocks in at 12:20. Sadly, the band would change drastically when some of their members, including lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, died in a plane crash less than two years after this show was recorded.
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