One More From The Road

*Time : One More From The Road 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

Ronnie Van Zant : vocals
Allen Collins   : guitar
Gary Rossigton  : guitar
Billy Powell    : Keyboards
Leon Wilkeson   : bass
Artimus Pyle    : drums
Steve Gaines    : guitar

Singers :
Casie Gaines
Jo Billingsley
Leslie Hawkins

Sam McPherson : Harmonica on "Tuesday's Gone"

 It can be said very simply. On stage, Lynyrd Skynyrd are as white-hot as
a band can get. This is the first album to record them exactly that way.
The result is not surprising. One More From The Road may be the most 
excitingly authentic Lynyrd Skynyrd album yet.
 It's only right that the band should come of age with a live album.
Under such other names as The Wild Things, The Noble Five and One Per
Cent, Skynyrd have been playing together since high school.
That was ten years ago.
 I first met them in '73, when they had only just escaped the Southern
bar and club grind to release their debut album, Pronounced Leh-nerd
Skin-nerd. Suddenly, it was all coming at them fast and hard.Skynyrd's
first major road trip was as opening act on The Who's entire North
American tour. In their cramped dressing room at the Omni, Atlanta's
vacuous rock and roll arena, the group was too pale and nervous to
reflect their already-considerable experience. Shaking, they headed out
on stage in front of 18,000 Who fans. 
 From the first moment of Lynyrd Skynyrd's set, there was no mistaking
them for amateurs. Brandishing three lead-guitarists (Allen Collins,
Gary Rossington, Ed King) and a refreshingly uncultured, barefoot lead
singer (Ronnie Van Zant), the band ripped through thir repertoire with
the vengeance of a champion. Their final song, a powerful guitar opus
called "Free Bird," earned them a standing ovation.
 Backstage, Pete Townshend stopped himself in mid-conversation,
"They're really quite good, aren't they?"

 Over the next year, we crossed paths several times. Enthusiastic reviews
had been rolling in, sales were good and the band began to build a
following. By the time of their next album, Second Helping,the momentum
was snowballing. "We're going to put out this one single from the album,"
I remember Van Zant saying with a gambler's grin,"and it's either gonna
break us wide open or piss everybody off so bad that we won't get a
second chance ...."
 "Sweet Home Alabama" proved to be Lynyrd Skynyrd's first huge blast of
stardom. Both musically and lyrically, it was the ballsiest single to
break through in years. Crowds knew all the wards. Even Neil Young,who is
teased by name in the song, had to admit it: "They play like they mean it.
I'm proud to have my name in a song like thirs."
 A third album, Nuthin' Fancy, was thir victorious follow-up. Skynyrd had
thrown themselves into second gear. The live shows began to exude a 
new-found self-confidence. Why not? Skynyrd had even acquired the same
selective management as the Rolling Stones, Peter Rudge's Sir Productions.
 The band would later lose Ed King and drummer Bob Burns to their
relentless touring pace. Artimus Pyle replaced Burns, but the group chase
 to forge on without a third guitarist for a time. They also changed 
producers. Al Kooper, who had helped frame the group's style, gave way to
the simple professionalism of Tom Dowd. The subsequent album, Gimme Back
My Bullets, showed Skynyrd at their lean and basic best.
 I last saw the band during the three days (July 7-9) they recorded this
album at the Fox Theatre. We were in Atlanta again, the cuty that has 
since become thir honorary home town, and it was a momentous homecoming
to watch. Steve Gains, the new third guitarist, had just joined the band.

Not unlike most classic performances, it was the variable of suspense 
that worked to take those three Lynyrd skynyrd concerts to an all-time
high.
 When the last notes of "Free Bird" had faded out on the third night, 
they had given everything. Euphoric and ezhausted, Ronnie Van Zant ploped
on a backstage sofa and kicked his bare feet onto a table, His voice was
gone.
 "I sure am glad I don't wear shoes when I'm out there singing," he 
whispered. "I love to feel that stage bum."
 One More From The Rord, if nothing else, shows that Lynyrd Skynyrd have
built up quite a tolerance over the years. it must get bilstering on that
stage.

                                                           -Cameron Crowe
                                       Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone