Southern by the Grace of God
Live album by
Lynyrd Skynyrd
ReleasedMarch 21, 1988
Recorded1987
GenreSouthern rock
LabelMCA
Lynyrd Skynyrd chronology
Legend
(1987) 		Southern by the Grace of God
(1988) 		Skynyrd's Innyrds: Their Greatest Hits
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

Southern by the Grace of God is a live album by southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, recorded during the Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour in 1987. These live concerts were a 10-year anniversary tribute by Lynyrd Skynyrd to the members of the band who had died in a 1977 plane crash. The plane crash killed frontman Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.

The band's lineup for the concerts was re-worked into a second-generation Skynyrd. The changes include: Johnny Van Zant, younger brother of Ronnie Van Zant, taking over on vocals, Ed King, who departed the band during a 1975 tour and Randall Hall, who replaced the paralyzed Allen Collins. The three (King, Hall along with founding member Gary Rossington) re-form the famous triple-lead guitar attack of the original band. New background vocalists Carol Bristow and Dale Krantz-Rossington were added to take the place of the original Honkettes.

This is the first album of new recordings produced by the band after the '77 plane crash. The last track is an instrumental version of the band’s iconic song “Free Bird”, having a much longer running time of 14:51 compared with the original 1973 studio recording (from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)) of "Free Bird" (timed at 9:08). Rather than sing the lyrics himself, Johnny Van Zant directed the concert crowd to sing along with the music in tribute to his older brother Ronnie Van Zant.

Track listings

  1. "Introduction by Lacy Van Zant/Workin' for MCA" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) - 6:04
  2. "That Smell" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) - 6:33
  3. "I Know a Little" (Steve Gaines) - 4:58
  4. "Comin' Home" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) - 6:36
  5. "You Got That Right" (Steve Gaines, Ronnie Van Zant) - 4:33
  6. "What's Your Name?" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) - 3:59
  7. "Gimme Back My Bullets" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) - 4:58
  8. "Swamp Music" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) - 3:51
  9. "Call Me the Breeze" (J.J. Cale) - 7:29
  10. "Dixie/Sweet Home Alabama" (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) - 8:29
  11. "Free Bird" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) - 14:51

Personnel

Special appearances

Chart positions

Chart (1988) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[2] 68

References

  1. ^ Smith, Michael B.. Southern by the Grace of God at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  2. ^ "Lynyrd Skynyrd Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.


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