Second Helping

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Second Helping
SecondHelpingLynyrdSkynyrd.jpg
Studio album by
Lynyrd Skynyrd
ReleasedApril 15, 1974
RecordedJune 1973 (track 1)
January 1974
Studio Studio One, Doraville, Georgia (track 1)
Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length37:15
Label
  • Sounds of the South
  • MCA
Producer Al Kooper
Lynyrd Skynyrd chronology
(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)
(1973)		Second Helping
(1974)		 Nuthin' Fancy
(1975)
Singles from Second Helping
  1. "Don't Ask Me No Questions"
    Released: April 1974
  2. "Sweet Home Alabama"
    Released: June 24, 1974

Second Helping is the second studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on April 15, 1974. It features the band's biggest hit single, "Sweet Home Alabama", an answer song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man", [2] which reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1974.

Contents

Second Helping reached #12 on the Billboard album charts. The RIAA certified it Gold on September 20, 1974, and Double Platinum on July 21, 1987. [3]

Background

After the success of their debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) , Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Second Helping features Ed King, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington all collaborating with Ronnie Van Zant on the songwriting, and cemented the band's breakthrough.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [4]
Christgau's Record Guide A− [5]
Creem B− [6]
Rolling Stone (favourable) [7]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
MusicHound Rock 3.5/5 [9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Tom Hull B− [11]

Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1974, Gordon Fletcher said Lynyrd Skynyrd performs a consistent style of Southern music-influenced blues rock similar to the Allman Brothers Band, but lacks their "sophistication and professionalism. If a song doesn't feel right to the Brothers, they work on it until it does; if it isn't right to Lynyrd Skynyrd, they are more likely to crank up their amps and blast their way through the bottleneck." Fletcher concluded that Second Helping is distinct from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) "only by a certain mellowing out that indicates they may eventually acquire a level of savoirfaire to realize their many capabilities". [7]

Robert Christgau in Creem was also lukewarm, saying Lynyrd Skynyrd is "still a substantial, tasteful band, but I have a hunch they blew their best stuff on the first platter." [6] Christgau warmed to the album later, reappraising it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981); he observed "infectious putdowns of rock businessmen, rock journalists, and heroin", and "great formula" in general: "When it rocks, three guitarists and a keyboard player pile elementary riffs and feedback noises into dense combinations broken by preplanned solos, while at quieter moments the spare vocabulary of the best Southern folk music is evoked or just plain duplicated." [5]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said Second Helping "replicated all the strengths" of the first album's expert Southern rock "but was a little tighter and a little more professional." [4] Houston Press placed it #2 on its list of "Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums." [12]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sweet Home Alabama"
4:43
2."I Need You"
  • King
  • Rossington
  • Van Zant
6:55
3."Don't Ask Me No Questions"
  • Rossington
  • Van Zant
3:29
4."Workin' for MCA"
  • King
  • Van Zant
4:49
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Ballad of Curtis Loew"
4:51
2."Swamp Music"
  • King
  • Van Zant
3:31
3."The Needle and the Spoon"
  • Collins
  • Van Zant
3:53
4."Call Me the Breeze" J. J. Cale 5:09
1997 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Don't Ask Me No Questions" (Single Version)
  • Rossington
  • Van Zant
3:31
10."Was I Right Or Wrong" (Demo)
  • Van Zant
  • Rossington
5:33
11."Take Your Time" (Demo)
  • Van Zant
  • King
7:29

Personnel

Lynyrd Skynyrd
Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1974)Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [13] 9
US Billboard 200 [14] 12

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [3] 2× Platinum2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynyrd Skynyrd</span> American rock band

Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida. The group originally formed as My Backyard in 1964 and comprised Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom, and Bob Burns (drums). The band spent five years touring small venues under various names and with several lineup changes before deciding on "Lynyrd Skynyrd" in 1969. The band released its first album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), in 1973. By then, they had settled on a lineup that included bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, and guitarist Ed King. Burns left and was replaced by Artimus Pyle in 1974. King left in 1975 and was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976. At the height of their fame in the 1970s, the band popularized the Southern rock genre with songs such as "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". After releasing five studio albums and one live album, the band's career was abruptly halted on October 20, 1977, when their chartered airplane crashed, killing Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines; and seriously injuring the rest of the band.

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References

  1. 1 2 Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide . Simon and Schuster. p.  505–506. ISBN   978-0-74320-169-8.
  2. ↑ Back, Les (2000). "Voices of Hate, Sounds of Hybridity: Black Music and the Complexities of Racism". Black Music Research Journal. 20 (2): 142–143. doi:10.2307/779464. JSTOR   779464.
  3. 1 2 "American album certifications – Lynyrd Skynyrd – Second Helping". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  4. 1 2 AllMusic review
  5. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: L". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved March 1, 2019– via robertchristgau.com.
  6. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (September 1974). "The Christgau Consumer Guide". Creem . Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  7. 1 2 Fletcher, Gordon (July 4, 1974). "Second Helping". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  8. ↑ Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus. p. 885. OL   11913831M.
  9. ↑ Graff, Gary, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink. p. 163. OL   8145585M.
  10. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th rev. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 505. OL   21112308M.
  11. ↑ Hull, Tom (April 1975). "The Rekord Report: First Card". Overdose. Retrieved June 26, 2020– via tomhull.com.
  12. ↑ "Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums". Houston Press . April 26, 2011. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3872a". RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Lynyrd Skynyrd Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
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