The song has sold 2,111,000 downloads in the digital era, as of 2013. In 2016, an attendee of a Bob Dylan concert in Berkeley, California shouted for "Free Bird" to be played, and Dylan and his band unexpectedly obliged. For example, during Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged in New York show, a shout-out for "Free Bird!" eventually resulted in a lyrically slurred, if short, rendition of " Sweet Home Alabama". It has become something of a humorous tradition for audience members at concerts to shout "Free Bird!" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music. On Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More from the Road, Van Zant can be heard asking the crowd, "What song is it you wanna hear?" The calls for "Free Bird" led into an fourteen-and-a-half-minute rendition of the song. In 2009, it was named the 26th best hard rock song of all time by VH1. "Free Bird" is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and at number 407 in Rolling Stone 's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Johnny Van Zant first sang the song on its Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 Tour in Baton Rouge, where the band had been headed in 1977 when several members were killed in a plane crash. On the 1987–1988 Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour, the band played "Free Bird" as an instrumental. During their 1975 performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test, Van Zant dedicated the song to both Allman and Berry Oakley, commenting, "they're both free birds". The song is dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman by the band in their live shows. He further stated that "everyone wants to be free.that's what this country's all about". Van Zant replied that in essence, that the song is "what it means to be free, in that a bird can fly wherever he wants to go". Also in an interview filmed during a fishing outing on a boat with Gary Rossington, an interviewer asked Ronnie Van Zant what the song meant. Soon afterward, the band learned piano-playing roadie Billy Powell had written an introduction to the song upon hearing it, they included it as the finishing touch and had him formally join as their keyboardist.Īllen Collins's girlfriend, Kathy, whom he later married, asked him, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" Collins noted the question and it eventually became the opening line of "Free Bird". The guitar solos that finish the song were added originally to give Van Zant a chance to rest, as the band was playing several sets per night at clubs at the time. After Collins played the unused sequence at rehearsal one day, Van Zant asked him to repeat it, then wrote out the melody and lyrics in three or four minutes. 5.2 Additional personnel (live version 1976)Īccording to guitarist Gary Rossington, for two years after Allen Collins wrote the initial chords, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant insisted that there were too many for him to create a melody in the belief that the melody needed to change alongside the chords.IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW works as a great tribute to the band and add in all the great footage and fans should really enjoy this. The surviving members discuss what happened, what they knew about the plane before taking off and we get some chilling details about the crash itself. In fact, they actually find a part of the plane, which is hard to believe after all of this time. ![]() ![]() The plane crash is also discussed in detail including some rather haunting footage from current times when they revisit the crash site. The drugs, the booze and the loud music are all discussed and we really get some great stories and some even better footage of the original band performing. It was really a lot of fun to get first-hand accounts of the band starting up, taking off and living up to their reputation. Many of the surviving members are on hand speaking about the band's career and there's no question that this here is the highlight of the picture. All of that is answered here and in fine detail. For starters, as it is said in the movie, a lot of people probably know the band for Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird yet they might not know other details about where they came from, how they took off and why they continued on after the crash. IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW was released just as the band set off on their "Farewell Tour" and in many ways it's a very fitting documentary for a number of reasons. Of course, all of it came to a halt when a plane crash killed three members of the band including the lead singer. If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd (2018) **** (out of 4) Excellent documentary that covers the rise of Lynyrd Skynyrd from a small band playing in little clubs to becoming giants opening for The Rolling Stones, The Who and then taking off on their own.
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