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Lynyrd Skynard - Last Of A Dying Breed - Printable Version

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Lynyrd Skynard - Last Of A Dying Breed - Music Head - 22-08-2012

online listen
can't believe the boys are still churnin' out that southern rock
never a fan of the genre, but these boys were my favorite
one standout for me with Ready To Fly which there is no clip for
a few other likes, but just misses that buy mark
1.6 from me and not yet rated by the pros at allmusic

from the album - Last Of A Dying Breed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ0W7IMLujU

released August 21st, 2012

[Image: 220px-Last_Of_A_Dyin%27_Breed_Lynyrd_Skynyrd.jpg]

Bio - from allmusic

Lynyrd Skynyrd was the definitive Southern rock band, fusing the overdriven power of blues-rock with a rebellious
Southern image and a hard rock swagger. Skynyrd never relied on the jazzy improvisations of the Allman Brothers.
Instead, they were a hard-living, hard-driving rock & roll band -- they may have jammed endlessly on-stage, but
their music remained firmly entrenched in blues, rock, and country. For many, Lynyrd Skynyrd's redneck image tended
to obscure the songwriting skills of their leader, Ronnie Van Zant. Throughout the band's early records, Van Zant
demonstrated a knack for lyrical detail and a down-to-earth honesty that had more in common with country than rock &
roll. During the height of Skynyrd's popularity in the mid-'70s, however, Van Zant's talents were overshadowed by
the group's gritty, greasy blues-rock. Sadly, it wasn't until he was killed in a tragic plane crash in 1977 along
with two other bandmembers that many listeners began to realize his talents. Skynyrd split up after the plane crash,
but they reunited a decade later, becoming a popular concert act during the early '90s.

While in high school in Jacksonville, FL, Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Allen Collins (guitar), and Gary Rossington
(guitar) formed My Backyard. Within a few months, the group added bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy
Powell, and changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd, a mocking tribute to their gym teacher Leonard Skinner, who was
notorious for punishing students with long hair. With drummer Bob Burns, Lynyrd Skynyrd began playing throughout the
South. For the first few years, the group had little success, but producer Al Kooper signed the band to MCA after
seeing them play at an Atlanta club called Funocchio's in 1972. Kooper produced the group's 1973 debut, Pronounced
Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, which was recorded after former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King joined the band. The
group became notorious for their triple-guitar attack, which was showcased on "Free Bird," a tribute to the recently
deceased Duane Allman. "Free Bird" earned Lynyrd Skynyrd their first national exposure and it became one of the
staples of album rock radio, still receiving airplay decades after its release.

"Free Bird" and an opening slot on the Who's 1973 Quadrophenia tour gave Lynyrd Skynyrd a devoted following, which
helped their second album, 1974's Second Helping, become its breakthrough hit. Featuring the hit single "Sweet Home
Alabama" -- a response to Neil Young's "Southern Man" -- Second Helping reached number 12 and went multi-platinum.
At the end of the year, Artimus Pyle replaced drummer Burns and King left the band shortly afterward. The new sextet
released Nuthin' Fancy in 1975, and it became the band's first Top Ten hit. The record was followed by the Tom Dowd
-produced Gimme Back My Bullets in 1976, which failed to match the success of its two predecessors. However, the
band retained their following through constant touring, which was documented on the double live album One More from
the Road. Released in late 1976, the album featured the band's new guitarist, Steve Gaines, and a trio of female
backup singers, and it became Skynyrd's second Top Ten album.

Lynyrd Skynyrd released their sixth album, Street Survivors, on October 17, 1977. Three days later, a privately
chartered plane carrying the band between shows in Greenville, SC, and Baton Rouge, LA, crashed outside of
Gillsburg, MS. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and his sister Cassie, one of the group's backing vocalists, died in
the crash; the remaining members were injured. (The cause of the crash was either fuel shortage or a fault with the
plane's mechanics.) The cover for Street Survivors had pictured the band surrounded in flames; after the crash, the
cover was changed. In the wake of the tragedy, the album became one of the band's biggest hits. Lynyrd Skynyrd broke
up after the crash, releasing a collection of early demos called Skynyrd's First and...Last in 1978; it had been
scheduled for release before the crash. The double-album compilation Gold & Platinum was released in 1980.

Later in 1980, Rossington and Collins formed a new band -- naturally named Rossington Collins Band -- that featured
four surviving members. Two years later, Pyle formed the Artimus Pyle Band. Collins suffered a car crash in 1986
that killed his girlfriend and left him paralyzed; four years later, he died of respiratory failure. In 1987,
Rossington, Powell, King, and Wilkeson reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd, adding vocalist Johnny Van Zant and guitarist
Randall Hall. The band embarked on a reunion tour, which was captured on the 1988 double live album Southern by the
Grace of God/Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour -- 1987. The re-formed Skynyrd began recording in 1991, and for the
remainder of the decade, the band toured frequently, putting out albums occasionally. The reunited Skynyrd
frequently switched drummers, but it had little effect on their sound.

During the '90s, Lynyrd Skynyrd were made honorary colonels in the Alabama State Militia, due to their classic rock
staple "Sweet Home Alabama." During the mid-'90s, Van Zant, Rossington, Wilkeson, and Powell regrouped by adding two
Southern rock veterans to Skynyrd's guitar stable: former Blackfoot frontman Rickey Medlocke and ex-Outlaws Hughie
Thomasson. With ex-Damn Yankee Michael Cartellone bringing stability to the drum chair, the reconstituted band
signed to CMC International for the 1997 album Twenty. This lineup went on to release Lyve from Steeltown in 1998,
followed a year later by Edge of Forever. The seasonal effort Christmas Time Again was released in fall 2000.
Although Wilkeson died one year later, Lynyrd Skynyrd regrouped and recorded Vicious Cycle for a 2003 release. The
DVD/CD Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour followed a year later, 2006 saw the release of Face to Face, and 2007 brought
Paper Sleeve Box and Lyve from Steel Town. But death continued to haunt the band, and the lineup continued to
change, as much from attrition as anything else. Wilkeson, Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, died in 2001 and was
replaced by Ean Evans that same year (Evans in turn died in 2009). Thomasson left the band to reform his band
Outlaws in 2005, dying two years later in 2007. His spot in Skynyrd was taken by Mark "Sparky" Matejka, formerly of
Hot Apple Pie, in 2006. Original keyboardist Powell died at the age of 56 at his home near Jacksonville, Fl in 2009.
That year also saw the release of a new studio album, God + Guns, on Roadrunner Records. Live From Freedom Hall was
released on the same label in 2010. A new studio album, Last of a Dyin' Breed, produced by Bob Marlette, recorded at
Blackbird Studio in Nashville, and featuring a new bass player, Johnny Colt (formerly a bassist for the Black
Crowes), appeared in 2012.

Album Review - from allmusic

Defiance runs deep in Lynyrd Skynyrd's DNA but 2012's Last of a Dyin' Breed finds the veteran Southern rockers
hunkering down, emphasizing their old-fashioned outlaw ways. All the recognizable redneck rebel sentiments are here
-- it's all god, guns, Southern girls and sweet tea -- but Skynyrd's signature sound is absent. In this, their third
act, the kings of Southern rock have cut out the country and boogie, leaving behind a heavy-booted blues grind and
churning hard rock -- sounds that signify the modern south even if they're not classically Southern rock. And that
fits for this incarnation of Lynyrd Skynyrd. They may flirt with fleeting references to their past -- the first
verse of "Good Teacher" recalling "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," the soaring soul-speckled ballad "Ready to Fly" a
distant cousin of "Freebird" -- but Johnny Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Rickey Medlocke aren't in this game just
to revive past glories, they're engaging with the modern world, co-opting the leaden stripper rock of Nickelback for
"Homegrown," once again bringing back former Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5 for a cameo and writing a Tea Party
anthem in "Nothing Comes Easy." Certainly, Skynyrd is making sturdy, old-time rock & roll for an audience that's
likely peppered with Tea Partiers, the kind of middle American worried that the world they knew is slipping away,
and Last of a Dyin' Breed provides a bit of a rallying point for them: it's true to their roots but living in the
moment. If the band sound a little less nimble than they used to, chalk it up not to age but to the conscious
decision to play everything heavier than before; without elements of the backwoods, they're dogged rockers, happy to
carry the torch they lit nearly four decades ago even if it doesn't burn as bright as it once did.

Track Listing

1. Last Of A Dyin Breed
2. One Day At A Time
3. Homegrown
4. Ready To Fly
5. Mississippi Blood
6. Good Teacher
7. Something To Live For
8. Life's Twisted
9. Nothing Comes Easy
10. Honey Hole
11. Start Livin' Life Again
12. Poor Man's Dream
13. Do It Right
14. Sad Song
15. Low Down Dirty


Lynyrd Skynard - Last Of A Dying Breed - CRAZY-HORSE - 08-09-2012

see theyve stuck to their tried and true formula...not a bad song you linked here, but not enough interest in it to really stand out, nice guitar work throughout though....Dani likes it also.


Lynyrd Skynard - Last Of A Dying Breed - SteveO - 22-09-2012

Saw their live DVD and it rocks !!!!..they really enjoy themselves and the crowd goes nuts !!!!!