Posted on 05/27/2003 1:53:27 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
It's hardly surprising that Lynyrd Skynyrd -- those ambassadors of Southern rock who soared up the charts in 1974 with their ode to "Sweet Home Alabama" -- would check in with a bow to patriotism in 2003. What's surprising is that they weren't the first ones with it after 9/11.
The fabled rock band's new single, "Red, White and Blue," follows flag-waving songs by country singers Toby Keith, Darryl Worley and Clint Black. "Red, White and Blue," which reached the top 20 on Billboard's mainstream rock chart last week, comes from Skynyrd's new album "Vicious Cycle."
Lynyrd Skynyrd performs today at the Wal-Mart in Concord. Johnny Van Zant joined Skynryd when the band re-formed in 1987, a decade after the plane crash that killed the group's original front man, Van Zant's eldest brother Ronnie. Johnny Van Zant talked about patriotism, the band's blue-collar fans and that deal with the Confederate flag.
Q. Why Wal-Mart? Our fans are just common, everyday people -- the people who make up this great country of ours. And we're no different from them because, hey, we shop at Wal-Mart, we go to PTA meetings. The only thing that Lynyrd Skynyrd does any different from anybody else is play music.
Q. Well, you may shop at the Wal-Mart, but you guys could afford to shop at Saks, couldn't you? (Laughs.) I don't know, man. I mean, we go out and we do our thing and we make some money and I guess we could probably afford to shop anywhere we wanted to, but that's not our cup of tea.
Q. Apparently, you're about patriotism. How did "Red, White and Blue" come about? Right after 9/11... we went out and, you know, people usually bring rebel flags to our shows. Well, on those two nights, there was nothing but American flags in the audience. I didn't see one rebel flag and that made me really realize that Lynyrd Skynyrd was not just a Southern rock band but an American rock band. So I thought, man, we gotta come up with a song that expresses what I think Lynyrd Skynyrd's all about and what I think our fans are all about.
Q. When "Alabama" first came out, some people felt Ronnie was defending things that had gone on in the South during the pre-civil rights years. Do you worry that lines in the new song -- such as "If they don't like it, they can just get the hell out!" -- will stir the coals for Lynyrd Skynyrd again? If it gets criticism, then I love it, because that's the way we feel. This is a great country we got, and when I hear people bitching and moaning about it, I just think, hell, things could be a lot worse. You need to go out into the world and explore it and get a real sense of just how good we have it here in America.
Q. Speaking of the rebel flag, why does Skynyrd still fly it at every show even though it's offensive to some people? I know that flag's been associated with a lot of KKK things and neo-Nazi things, but that's them, that's not us. To me, that flag means Southern heritage -- black Southern heritage as much as white Southern heritage. You asked me what I listened to when I was younger and I said the Beatles and Merle Haggard. But just as important as them, to me and to Lynryd Skynyrd, is Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye. So if you see us as prejudice because of the rebel flag, then you're not really looking at us.
Free Bird: The Movie is comprehensive. The menus on the DVD are real lousy--no song list! But it puts together songs from three or four different shows from 1976-77. Sound quality is good. There are a few crowd shots, but mostly the focus is on the band. Not a lot of needless filler, just the band on stage playing. The VHS may be out of print, but it can be had on ebay easily.
If you are a die hard like me, you might want to get "The Old Grey Whistle Test" on ebay, or some bootleg VHS that has it. It's pretty much the best known bootleg video out there. It's from a 70s rock concert TV show from Europe. The band played in 76 (with just the two guitarists) to a studio audience. Ronnie's lean and mean. The bootleg I got also had some clips thrown in from 1975--not sure from where--German TV I think. And it had a few little clips from a Pepsi Tribute to Skynyrd that I would desperately love to obtain. The clips on the bootleg are short, but it appears this was some sort of American tv show that had the band on stage post-Street Survivors, pre-crash. That was Skynyrd at it's finest, IMO.
Anyway, get yerself a copy of FreeBird: The Movie, crank up the sound system, and rock on from "Workin' for MCA" to "Free Bird."
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