William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Street Survivors ; Year: 1977; Genre: Southern Rock/Blues Rock As far as I am aware, this is the only song that Steve Gaines sung solo lead vocals on. It really is a shame that he was taken so young; he showed an amazing and quickly evolving virtuosity.   Hear Ain't No Good Life on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Johnny Rivers - Secret Agent Man   My song pick 2 years ago today: Rush - Resist   My song pick 3 years ago today: Heart - The Oldest Story in the World   My song pick 4 years ago today: Cream - Sitting on Top of the World   My song pick 5 years ago today: Van Der Graaf Generator - Forever Falling   My song pick 6 years ago today: Genesis - Behind the Lines My song pick 7 years ago today: Rush - Emotion Detector My song pick 8 years ago today: Al Di Meola - The Wizard My song pick 9 years ago today: Rhapsody of Fire - Dark Wings of Steel My song pick 10 years ago today: Parliament - Flash Light My ...

From: Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere ; Year: 1980; Genre: Southern Rock The other day the final founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gary Rossington , passed away, which is an end of an era. It looks like 'Skynyrd is going to continue on for at least the short-term led by band veterans Rickey Medlocke and Johnny Van Zant, but only time will tell. Anyway, Rossington Collins Band was essentially what most of the surviving members of " The Plane Crash " went on to, feeling that they needed to move on. Whilst the band only existed a short time, it did have an impact on music with this track off of their debut record being their biggest hit.     Hear Don't Misunderstand Me on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: ABBA - Just a Notion   My song pick 2 years ago today: Jigsaw - Freud Fish   My song pick 3 years ago today: Rush - Faithless   My song pick 4 years ago today: Our Lady Peace - Starseed My song pick 5 years ago today: David Bowie - Scary...

From: Street Survivors ; Year: 1977; Genre: Southern Rock I've had them keep popping on my shuffle playlist quite often as of late, so I thought I'd pick another one of their songs today. If it weren't for the tragedy of the aeroplane crash that took the lives of three band members as well as the suffering of the survivors, this track would be an almost perfect feelgood rocker with that boogie beat and near perfect musicianship. Even with the fact of the crash surrounding it, this is one of their top tracks, which also features guitar virtuoso Steve Gaines singing co-lead with Ronnie Van Zant.   Hear You Got That Right on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Iron Maiden - Running Free   My song pick 2 years ago today: Jon Oliva's Pain - Festival My song pick 3 years ago today: Eddie Money - Baby Hold On My song pick 4 years ago today: Mr. Big - 1992 My song pick 5 years ago today: Fairport Convention - Dirty Linen My song pick 6 years a...

From: Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd ; Year: 1973; Genre: Southern Rock/Hard Rock Was listening to this song yesterday and was surprised that I had not chosen it yet, so I will remedy that today. Other than the story told throughout the track my favourite aspect from it is that really interesting and thumping bass line performed by apparently Ed King, who played the bass guitar on their first album; on subsequent records he was involved with the band.   Hear Gimme Three Steps on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Soundgarden - Superunknown   My song pick 2 years ago today: Tesla - Afterlife   My song pick 3 years ago today: Tom Rapp - Stardancer My song pick 4 years ago today: The Police - Mother My song pick 5 years ago today: Luther - Don't Wanna Be a Fool My song pick 6 years ago today: Bob Dylan - Subterranean Homesick Blues My song pick 7 years ago today: Ian Anderson - Doggerland My song pick 8 years ago today: Carmen - Buleri...

From: Twenty ; Year: 1997; Genre: Southern Rock I remember hearing this one a lot on the radio back in the late '90s/early '00s. The song actually featured the vocals of the late Ronnie Van Zant in a duet with his brother Johnny Van Zant, who is the band's current lead singer. The record's title: Twenty , is also in reference to the airplane crash that took Ronnie Van Zant, Steve and Cassie Gaines, which was released 20 years after the accident.   Hear Travelin' Man on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Camel - Highways of the Sun   My song pick 2 years ago today: The Guess Who - Three More Days My song pick 3 years ago today: Heart - White Lightning & Wine My song pick 4 years ago today: Audioslave - Nothing Left to Say But Goodbye My song pick 5 years ago today: Eric Burdon & The Animals - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood My song pick 6 years ago today: The Who - 905 My song pick 7 years ago today: The Alan Parsons Project - ...

From: Second Helping ; Year: 1974; Genre: Southern Rock Over the last few days I've been listening to actual radio in the car; mostly out of laziness of not wanted to mess with the Bluetooth audio. It's amazing in about the last decade or so of not listening to it to hear it now; half of the songs are chopped up and censored. It's maddening to say the least; I can understand it in some cases, but this is taking political correctness to absurdity and making it not worth listening to. Besides that fact that none of the disc jockeys are live anymore and are lucky to hear one living in the city the station broadcasts from. I understand that they're a private business and thus have every right to conduct business as they see fit, but also I have a right to turn them off. I think I'll go back to my non-broadcast music. Okay, off my soapbox now. Anyway, this was one of the songs that got some censorship done to it; and while it's not my favourite from the band I s...

From: Gimme Back My Bullets ; Year: 1976; Genre: Southern Rock Not really in the mood to listen to music today, but I still want to get my pick in. Gimme Back My Bullets is one of their heavier songs, and one that I like from the album. Hear Gimme Back My Bullets on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: The Castaways - Liar, Liar My song pick two years ago today: AC/DC - Back in Black My song pick three years ago today: Porcupine Tree - Mother & Child Divided My song pick four years ago today: The Jimmy Castor Bunch - Space Age My song pick five years ago today: Bass Extremes - Mocha Soca My song pick six years ago today: Rush - Fly By Night My song pick seven years ago today: Jon Hendricks - I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You My song pick eight years ago today: Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

From: Gimme Back My Bullets ; Year: 1976; Genre: Southern Rock/Folk Rock My Uncle fell very ill the other day and ended up passing away yesterday after a very hard life; he always loved Lynyrd Skynyrd and especially their anthem Free Bird , which was his chosen favourite song and kind of fit his personality to a tee. I would've picked it today, but I'd already chosen it , so I'm picking another today. This is a rather pretty one filled with sentimentality and such; it just seemed absolutely perfect substitute for the occasion. Hear All I Can Do Is Write About It on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Frank Zappa - Montana My song pick two years ago today: Boston - Don't Look Back My song pick three years ago today: Beat Crusaders - Hit in the USA My song pick four years ago today: ABBA - Thank You for the Music My song pick five years ago today: Genesis - Home By The Sea My song pick six years ago today: Alannah Myles - Black Velvet My song...

From: Nuthin' Fancy ; Year: 1975; Genre: Southern Rock I've been wanting to pick a track from Lynyrd Skynyrd for a bit now and today seemed like a good day to do so. This is, of course, one of their more recognizable tracks; some great hard southern rock. Hear Saturday Night Special on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Icehouse - Great Southern Land My song pick two years ago today: Genesis - Many Too Many My song pick three years ago today: Iron Maiden - Where Eagles Dare My song pick four years ago today: Yes - Yours Is No Disgrace My song pick five years ago today: Herbie Hancock - Sly My song pick six years ago today: Foreigner - Long, Long Way From Home

From: Last of a Dyin' Breed ; Year: 2012; Genre: Southern Rock I was thinking about Lynyrd Skynyrd today and decided to check out some of their newer material. This is the title track and the lead single off of their newest album. While not my favourite from the band, it is a good piece of southern fried rock. Hear Last of a Dyin' Breed on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Rush - Subdivisions My song pick two years ago today: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - K. 525, Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G major " Eine Kleine Nachtmusik " My song pick three years ago today: Foreigner - Starrider My song pick four years ago today: The Who - The Real Me My song pick five years ago today: Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Lucky Man

1129 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Tuesday's Gone I found out yesterday that the "namesake" of the band, gym teacher Leonard Skinner died at the age of '77, a write-up can be found here . He is one of the few individuals immortalized in music that didn't even have to play a note; as long as Lynyrd Skynyrd's music is around he will be remembered. I figured that this would be an excellent track for the occasion, plus it is one of my favourites from the band that I hadn't chosen yet. Hear a low-fi vinyl recording of Tuesday's Gone on YouTube. Watch a live performance of the song on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Beatles - Help! + My song pick two years ago today: Santana - Black Magic Woman + My song pick three years ago today: Bon Jovi - Tokyo Road +

728 ( Lynyrd Skynyrd - Simple Man ) I was not intending on picking another 'Skynyrd track today, however I took a look at my list and I realized that I had not added this song yet. This is my favourite Lynyrd Skynyrd song; with all of the 'Skynyrd that I have been playing lately it was a must to be part of my list. Just an absolutely awesome, beautiful song. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a more recent live performance on YouTube. +

727 ( Lynyrd Skynyrd - Mad Hatter ) I am still listening to a lot of 'Skynyrd this week; I decided to pick a gem from one of their more recent albums. This song was recorded as a tribute to bassist Leon Wilkeson, who had passed away during the time of the album's recording session; he appears on a couple of this album's tracks. The nick-name "Mad Hatter" was given to him by the other members of the band because of his odd, colorful hats that he wore while on stage. The bass on this song and on most of the album was performed by Ean Evans , who oddly enough passed away from cancer this May. It has a very different sound than what you would expect from a Lynyrd Skynyrd song, the bass line is awesome, as would be expected in a tribute song to a bassist. Here is the studio version on YouTube. +

726 ( Lynyrd Skynyrd - I Never Dreamed ) Yesterday I got the urge to listen to a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd's music, in particular I dusted off my old vinyl copy of Street Survivors . I kept playing this one a lot and is such a beautiful song that I just had to add to my list today. I have always found Ronnie Van Zant's amazing vocals to be very haunting in this song, a bit of it is probably because that the Street Survivors album is associated with and released just prior to the plane crash . What is odd about this song and that I like a lot is that they brought Leon Wilkeson's bass up in mix and it almost becomes a lead instrument, which only added to nice dynamics in this one. Here is the studio version on YouTube. +

725 ( Lynyrd Skynyrd - On The Hunt ) This is another wall shaker that I, like I said in my post yesterday, would use as a medium to rattle things off the shelves. In my opinion this is one of the more underrated Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. Just an amazing hard rock track with the awesome southern rock Skynyrd sound; of course the guitar solos are incredible as usual. Here is the studio version on YouTube. Here is a live performance circa'75 on YouTube. +

Not all car crash songs are based on fictional stories, sometimes they are inspired by actual events. Apparently members of the band were into heavy drug use and were trying to clean themselves up at the time and Gary Rossington "fell off the wagon" and crashed his car into a tree. This song was written about the incident and the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse. Here is a recording on YouTube. Here is a live performance from '77 on YouTube. Here is a live performance from '96 on YouTube. +

This morning I learned that yesterday Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell passed away at the age of 56; a heart attack is the suspected cause. Apparently he suffered from heart problems for a while and the day before his death he missed an appointment with his cardiologist. My thoughts and prayers go out to him, his friends and family. This leaves one pre-plane crash member alive that is currently playing in the band: Gary Rossington. The reason that I chose this song is because the keyboard is easily one of the most memorable; the live versions of this song showcase his playing ability quite a bit more. While he played on many other songs that I love, I could not think of a better time to choose this iconic anthem. Here is a fan video with the song on YouTube. +

I like songs that have a story and a moral behind the story; this is one of those songs. It is probably my second favourite song from Lynyrd Skynyrd; I actually had to buy " Second Helping " twice because the first record that I bought had a horrid skip in this song. I really did not mind buying it again because the store that I bought it from always gave me excellent deals and it ended up only costing me two dollars. The song itself is about how prejudice can blind people to greatness of someone. In the story, a boy found a hero in a town drunk, Curtis Loew, who was an incredible Dobro player that played the blues. The boy would gather soda bottles and cash them in and give drinking money to Curtis Loew so he would play his Dobro for him. The saddest part of the song is that when Curtis Loew died no one knew of his greatness except the boy in the story and he is wishing that everyone would have seen Curtis for his greatness as a musician and not a worthless drunk. I have ...