Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping (2LP, 45RPM)
Vocals – Ronnie Van Zant [click here to see more vinyl featuring Ronnie Van Zant]
Bass [Firebird] – Leon Wilkeson
Drums – Bob Burns
Guitar [Fender Stratocaster] – Ed King
Guitar [Gibson Firebird] – Allen Collins
Guitar [Gibson Les Paul] – Gary Rossington
Keyboards – Billy Powell
Arranged by Lynyrd Skynyrd
2 LPs, deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 45RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : MCA Records
Recorded at Record Plant, Los Angeles and Studio One, Doraville
Engineered by Austin Goodsey, Bob Merritt, Gary Kellgren, Rodney Mills
Produced by Al Kooper
Cover by Jan Salerno
Remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Originally released in 1974
Reissued in 2021
Tracks :
Side A:
- Sweet Home Alabama
- I Need You
- Don’t Ask Me No Questions
- Workin’ for MCA
Side B:
- The Ballad of Curtis Loew
- Swamp Music
- The Needle and the Spoon
- Call Me the Breeze
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "Sweet Home Alabama" - Rated 407/500!
Reviews :
"Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the book on Southern rock with their first album, so it only made sense that they followed it for their second album, aptly titled Second Helping. Sticking with producer Al Kooper (who, after all, discovered them), the group turned out a record that replicated all the strengths of the original, but was a little tighter and a little more professional. It also revealed that the band, under the direction of songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, was developing a truly original voice. Of course, the band had already developed their own musical voice, but it was enhanced considerably by Van Zant's writing, which was at turns plainly poetic, surprisingly clever, and always revealing. Though Second Helping isn't as hard a rock record as Pronounced, it's the songs that make the record. "Sweet Home Alabama" became ubiquitous, yet it's rivaled by such terrific songs as the snide, punkish "Workin' for MCA," the Southern groove of "Don't Ask Me No Questions," the affecting "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," and "The Needle and the Spoon," a drug tale as affecting as their rival Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done," but much harder rocking. This is the part of Skynyrd that most people forget -- they were a great band, but they were indelible because that was married to great writing. And nowhere was that more evident than on Second Helping." AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
"Van Zant sang this pissed-off answer to Neil Young's 'Southern Man,' and even Young loved it. 'I'd rather play 'Sweet Home Alabama' than 'Southern Man' anytime,' Young said. The admiration was mutual; Van Zant wore a Young T-shirt on the cover of Skynyrd's final album, Street Survivors, and according to legend, he is buried in the shirt." - Rolling Stone
"MoFi may have the rest of their catalogue, but Chad Kassem's coup is grabbing this album, the band's second, from 1974. Why? Because it kicks off with their anthem, the inimitable, riff-driven, majestic 'Sweet Home Alabama' — one of the greatest air-guitar/road trip songs ever. By this time, the band was a mite slicker but just as unapologetically Confederate-with-a-capital 'C' as on their debut. The opener does overshadow the rest, but the album serves up what the LP title promises in 'The Needle And The Spoon,' which sounds like 'Sweet Home Alabama II.' Musically, this nestles alongside Little Feat and The Allman Brothers Band — deservedly high praise." — Ken Kessler, Hi-Fi News, April 2014
Ratings :
AllMusic 5/5 , Discogs 4.38/5 , Hif News : Sound Quality 90%