The folks at Eagle Rock have put together a highly enjoyable slab of Southern Rock here with one of the genre's most legendary acts, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Perfectly showing two different era's in the history of the band, the bulk of Sweet Home Alabama focuses on a full show from 1996 at the Loreley Open Air Festival in Germany. This is a full set featuring the line-up of original members Gary Rossington (guitar), Leon Wilkeson (bass), and Billy Powell (keyboards), as well as Johnny van Zandt (vocals), former Blackfoot legend Rickey Medlocke (guitar), Outlaws leader Hughie Thomasson (guitar), Owen Hale (drums), and the backing vocal duo of Dale Krantz-Rossington & Carol Chase. Together they run through plenty of their Southern Rock staples in fine fashion, the band on fire as they perform such classics as "Workin' For MCA", "I Know a Little", "Saturday Night Special", "That Smell", "What's Your Name", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man", and many others, including mainstays such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and the mandatory guitar frenzy of "Freebird", with Medlocke taking center stage mimicking Allen Collins' original leads note for note. This is a spirited set, the band really looking motivated and seemingly enjoying themselves, cranking out their brand of heavy rock done Southern style to the delight of the audience.
The bonus here are the three rare songs filmed in Hamburg, Germany in 1974, featuring the classic line-up of the band. This is raw footage but well worth the price of admission alone, Ronnie all snarling on "Working For MCA", Rossington, Collins, and Ed King showing how "Freebird" became the guitar workout that it still is considered today. Too bad there wasn't more of this footage available. All in all, it's a great addition to what was already an outstanding DVD for the Loreley show alone.
TracK Listing
Loreley Festival 1996:
Workin' for MCA
I Ain't the One
Down South Junkin'
Double Trouble
I Know a Little
Saturday Night Special
Swamp Music
What's Your Name
That Smell
Simple Man
Gimme Three Steps
Call Me the Breeze
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird
Hamburg 1974:
Workin' for MCA
Free Bird
Sweet Home Alabama
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
