Lynyrd Skynyrd

Southern rock was around before Lynyrd Skynyrd released their debut album in 1973. But once rock fans got an earful of the Florida band’s music – with its triple-guitar assault and barroom swagger – they pretty much set the template for the genre. But Skynyrd -- at least the original band, which released five albums before a plane crash in 1977 claimed the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant and others – were smarter and sharper than most of their peers. Whether making music for Saturday night or Sunday morning, they injected sorrow, joy and confusion into their electric jams. No other Southern rock band was as nuanced as Skynyrd in their prime. Several years after the accident (which occurred just days after they released one of their best LPs, ‘Street Survivors’), the band regrouped with Van Zant’s brother in the lead role.

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