Break From Dems & RINOs - Skynyrd's Last Filmed Concert 7-13-77

[DougGuy]

This is an awesome performance, every one of these guys are at the top of their game, Billy Powell is just SMOKIN' on that grand piano, Steve Gaines had been in the band about a year now, and has taken his place stage left, Ronnie & the rest of the boys are in a fine style on this night! Enjoy a full hour and thirteen minutes of what makes Lynyrd Skynyrd the BEST Amercan band that ever was...

Sadly, this is the last known filmed footage of the band before the epic plane crash on October 20th 1977 that took the lives of singer/bandleader Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.




http://www.youtu.be/watch?v=FbMVdXLDRWQ

Setlist:

01 - Working For MCA
02 - I Aint The One
03 - You Got That Right
04 - Saturday Night Special
05 - That Smell
06 - What's Your Name
07 - Gimme Three Steps
08 - Call Me The Breeze
09 - T for Texas
10 - Sweet Home Alabama
11 - Freebird

[yancey]

Thanks DougGuy !! I needed that break also from the Dems and Rino's . Skynyrd music was and still is some of the best around.
Even one of my Granddaughters likes Sweet home Alabama.

[kingstrider]

Killer show, I've seen it before but thanks for posting. If you like Skynyrd, be sure to check out Blackberry Smoke. They are another great southern band with Georgia roots and are awesome live.

[Clay M]

I saw Skynyrd on new years eve 74. They were on top of their game.
Their popularity was just starting to skyrocket.

[mac60]

I saw 'em in 76. The Outlaws opened for them.

[Geezer in NH]

They were anti-gunners their song Saturday night special was in step of the anti-gunners calls of that time.

Good southern boys not.

[robg]

Saw them in76 at knebworth ,stones top of the bill.great music.

[Riverpigusmc]

saw their first tour in a small theatre opening for Kansas
Saw the tour before the plane crash in Indianapolis

[DougGuy]

They were anti-gunners their song Saturday night special was in step of the anti-gunners calls of that time.

Good southern boys not.

Can't base judgement on just one set of lyrics. Ronnie was not anti gun he was anti using a gun in a reckless and impulsive crime in those lyrics and he spun a bitter sarcasm into a hit record which was all he wanted to accomplish. He really didn't have a dog in the fight. He was just a storyteller. He picked 3 instances of misuse of a firearm and wove them into the lyrics.

Guns are mentioned in quite a few of their songs, "Goin' to Alabamy with my pistols out and by my side" "I'm gon' get my pistol girl, I'm gon' shoot you and end your world" "I'm gon' buy myself a shotgun, one with a long shiny barrel" are but a few examples of the acceptance of firearms as a matter of fact accessory.

Ronnie had no problems at all with responsible gun ownership. He also was not racist, yet many of his lyrics picked on the racial sensitivities of the south, the racial politics that controlled state and government office and the racial misdeeds of those in power who adhered to the ways of the old south. He was someone who very much cared about the world around him and he told stories in lyrics that reflected those concerns. Saturday Night Special was his way of putting down the misuse of a firearm and those who misused them to cause harm to others or to themselves.

Ronnie wrote verses in Sweet Home Alabama that seemed to "flip the proverbial bird" at Neil Young in response to his song "Southern Man." Yet Ronnie (and the rest of Skynyrd) loved Neil Young and had the utmost respect for him as a musician. Ronnie often wore a shirt emblazoned with Neil Young's "Tonight's The Night" album cover.

While helping Molly Hatchet in the recording of their first album, Ronnie was in the control room and heard the lyrics to the song "Gator Country" which guitarist Dave Hlubek had written, there was a verse in there that says "Skynyrd says it's a real sweet home but it ain't much to me." Ronnie, upon hearing this burst out of the control room, went into the recording room and snatched Dave Hlubek up by his shirt and says "You're the biggest N***ER in Jacksonville!" and left. The Hatchet boys were dumbfounded and they thought oh hell what have we done we have done pissed Ronnie off so they changed the words. The next day Ronnie came back to the studio and they played him the re-written and re-recorded track, to which he said "put it back like it was." They looked around at each other totally lost, and Ronnie says "Controversy sells."