Lynyrd Skynyrd – Celebrating 50 Years – Live at the Ryman
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Celebrating 50 Years – Live at the Ryma
Frontiers Music srl
Release date: 27/06/ 2025
Review by Mare Grills
8/10
I love Lynyrd Skynyrd – it was the soundtrack of my youth, teens, and my adult (still practising, not quite there yet) life so far. I’m absolutely over the moon that my daughter has bought tickets for us to see them in London this year, and so imagine my delight when I got the chance to review this new album.
Blues Rock, and Southern Hard Rock – Skynyrd has a sound all of their own with a catalogue of some of the best music in the genre.
A first single and video featuring Jelly Roll – ‘Tuesday’s Gone’, is already available on YouTube, so I watched that while sorting out the pot of ink and quill before I started making notes on the album proper. It’s great – I love it, Jelly Roll is a perfect addition for this song, and I was in high expectation for this double album, which also has a DVD of the history of Skynyrd – treat yourself and enjoy.
As the title of the album gives away, the recording was made on the 50th Anniversary of the band, at the Ryman in Nashville. The DVD gives the history of the band, including the tragic aeroplane crash that killed the original lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and backing vocalist Cassie Gaines. Following the recording of the album, sadly, the last remaining original member, Gary Rossington, passed away in 2023.
Launching into the first track, ‘What’s Your Name?’, the enthusiasm is infectious and the musicianship has obviously developed over the years – let’s face it, they’ve had 50 years to practice! The band is more polished now than the one I grew up with, and there’s a lot going on musically behind the vocals, which are by no means diminished by it. The keyboards really add to this well-loved track, and this is a surprising and enjoyable inclusion. Those guitar riffs are like putting on a comfortable new pair of slippers, they feel the same but newer. The track finishes rather abruptly, but then it is a live album, so I guess they had to make the cut sometime.
‘Working For The MCA’ featuring John Osborne (of Brothers Osborne) is a cracking version, although I felt that the guitar solo was a little overdone
‘Saturday Night Special’ featuring Marcus King is again, a great version of an old favourite, but it feels a little ‘over-produced’, which is odd for a live album.
‘Tuesday’s Gone’ ft Jelly Roll is my absolute favourite of the album, the keyboards and harmonica add something special, and Jelly Roll has an amazing voice that works so well with the band.
With Brent Smith of Shinedown featuring on ‘Simple Man’ and the following track being ‘Gimme Three Steps’, I had another little burst of enjoyment – they were so good, although ‘Simple Man’ again felt a little over-produced.
All in all, this is a great album full of classic Skynyrd songs with only a few that I would ‘skip’ if I were listening to a downloaded version, but I wouldn’t get up to manually skip the tracks on an LP. There’s a massive ‘big band’ sound throughout the album, and except for the abrupt endings to some of the songs, it’s a good album. It feels like a more impressive trip down memory lane than the originals were, and I’m not sure that I like that, but the band has grown, and times and technology have changed, so I shouldn’t stay stuck in the past. Musically and vocally, it is great, and there are some real treats among the much-loved songs. It’s well worth a listen.
And I’m going to see them live Whoop Whoop!
Mare Grills
TRACKLISTING:
01. What’s Your Name?
02. Working for MCA
03. You Got That Right
04. I Know A LIttle
05. Down South Jukin’
06. That Smell
07. Cry For The Bad Man
08. Saturday Night Special (ft Marcus King)
09. Tuesday’s Gone (ft Jelly Roll)
10. Red White and Blue (ft Donnie Van Zant)
11. Simple Man (ft Brent Smith)
12. Gimme Three Steps
13. Call Me The Breeze
14. Sweet Home Alabama
15. Freebird
16. Documentary DVD
LINKS:
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