Lynyrd Skynyrd may have gone down in history as a three-guitar army but when I think of them, it’s Billy Powell’s fancy piano runs that come to mind. But me, I’d sooner boogie than bump and grind every time. And there’s no denying that hard rock was always an essential weapon in the Lynyrd Skynyrd armamentarium. The bass is a thing of beauty-ditto that honky-tonk piano.ĭon’t get me wrong if it’s heavy you want, Nuthin’ Fancy will most definitely strike your fancy. As for “Made in the Shade,” it’s a jaunty jug band lark, and the kind of mandolin and dobro-tinged sound you might hear emanating from a down south juke joint before things get really ripe and raunchy.
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And Pyle-who started drumming at the age of eight atop a bulldozer, mimicking its primal noise-sure knows how to produce steam. If you don’t believe a fella can sing the words “choo-choo train” without making a fool of himself, here’s your proof. “Railroad Song” is a harmonica-fueled, chug-a-lugging salute to Jimmie Rodgers, and Van Zant’s vocals are sly, insinuating, wonderful. And the six-string solo-presumably by the soon to split Ed King of Yankee Blue New Fucking Jersey for Christ’s sake-is exquisite, and as sweet an example of Dixie-fried guitar slinging as you ever will hear. Meanwhile, “Am I Losin’” is a bona fide sweetheart the melody is country pretty in a Dickey Betts kinda way, and this is Ronnie Van Zant like you’ve never heard him-tender, vulnerable, and a bit confused by the end of a long friendship.
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The song is both funky and full of menace, and new drummer Artimus Pyle does things on the kit-just listen to them cymbals!-that are positively hair-raising. Van Zant’s condemnation of dirt-cheap man-killers was written before the ordeal in the studio and it tells-it’s heavy but slinky at the same time, and Van Zant is at his storytelling best. Of the remaining songs, “Saturday Night Special” is the only one has that characteristic Lynyrd Skynyrd sound. And while Nuthin’ Fancy has its charms, the fact that four of its eight songs are gravel simple hard rockers is not one of them. Sure, Lynyrd Skynyrd could produce very good hard rock-both “On the Hunt” and “I’m a Country Boy” boast riffs every bit as barbarous and stripped to the bone as anything by his English heroes in Bad Company-but in this reviewer’s humble opinion the band was at its best when it boogied. He may have believed that driving it right down the audience’s throat constituted the basis of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s success, but he was wrong. (Indeed, he’d never again have the time to sit down and do some leisurely songwriting during his lifetime, which is why Lynyrd Skynyrd was never able to top the transcendental brilliance of its first two LPs.)Īnother problem is that Van Zant, whose idea of a great band was Bad Company, opted for the ‘eavy touch rather than the light one on such songs as “I’m a Country Boy” (anti-NYC rant), “On the Hunt” (misogynistic rant in which Ronnie at least has the decency to concede he’s a slut too), “Cheatin’ Woman” (typical anti-woman rant distinguished only by cool organ and Van Zant’s wonderfully lazy but knowing vocals), and “Whiskey Rock-A-Roller” (self-explanatory). Dylan) ever, but when it came to Nuthin’ Fancy he simply didn’t have the same amount of time he’d had to write such immortal tunes as “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” or “Simple Man” from 1973’s (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) and 1974’s Second Helping. I’ll stand Ronnie Van Zant up against any American songwriter (exceptin’ B. The biggest problem lies in the songs, natch, and the problem with the songs is that they were written in a rush, in the studio between tours. The way I see it, Nuthin’ Fancy only boasts two songs-I’m talking about “Saturday Night Special” and “Am I Losin’”-that are truly indispensible.
It lacks the sublime touches that make Skynyrd’s first and second albums rock landmarks, and the assortment of to-die-for songs (“That Smell,” “One More Time,” “All I Can Do Is Write About It”) scattered throughout the two LPs that came after it. It may even be the worst of the five albums the original Lynyrd Skynyrd-which is the only Lynyrd Skynyrd that matters-recorded between 19.
But during the four short years before fate shot their airship down, the Southern rockers produced a veritable shitload of immortal (and yes smart) tunes that I, for one, have been listening to with pleasure for decades.ġ975’s appropriately titled Nuthin’ Fancy isn’t the best Skynyrd LP out there. It is my unreconstituted thunk that Lynyrd Skynyrd is America’s second greatest rock’n’roll band, right behind the Velvet Underground. Celebrating Artimus Pyle, born on this day in 1948.
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