Free Bird
| "Free Bird" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||
| Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd | ||||||||||
| from the album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) | ||||||||||
| Released | November 23, 1974 | |||||||||
| Format | 7 inch | |||||||||
| Recorded | April 1973 (album version) | |||||||||
| Genre | Hard rock, southern rock | |||||||||
| Length | 9:06 (album) 4:41 (single) |
|||||||||
| Label | MCA | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Allen Collins/Ronnie Van Zant | |||||||||
| Producer | John Carney | |||||||||
| Certification | Silver (UK)[1] | |||||||||
| Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
"Free Bird" (also spelled "Freebird") is a song by the American southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was first featured on the band's debut album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) in 1973, and has been included on subsequent albums released by the band.
Released as a single in November 1974, "Free Bird" became the band's second Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1975, where it peaked at No. 19.[2] A live version of the song also reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977, peaking at No. 38.[2] Free Bird also achieved the No. 3 spot on Guitar World's 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.[3]
It was used as a finale by Lynyrd Skynyrd during their live performances, and was their longest song, often going well over 14 minutes when played live.
Contents |
Origins
The lyrical portion of the song was written early in the group's history. Roadie Billy Powell was discovered as a keyboardist for the band when he played the intro piece to "Free Bird" at a high school prom. Lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant noted his talent and invited him to join.
Allen Collins's then-girlfriend, Kathy, whom he later married, asked him, "If I leave here tomorrow would you still remember me?" Collins jotted the question down and it eventually became the opening line of "Free Bird".[4]
Slide guitar
Gary Rossington played a Gibson SG and used a glass Coricidin bottle for a slide on this song to emulate one of his heroes, Duane Allman.[5] This was the only song he used a guitar other than a Les Paul on. He also stuck a nail-like piece of metal under the strings near the nut to raise the action of the guitar when playing slide.[5] The guitar's B string was tuned down to a G during this song. Rossington currently uses two G strings tuned to G instead of tuning down a B string.[5]
Reception
"Free Bird" is included in such lists as The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, and Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time (holding spot No. 191). In 2009 it was named the 26th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.[6] A cover version of the song is featured in the popular video game Guitar Hero II as the final encore in the game. It reappears in the series in the 2009 game, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, however as a master track. It was also released as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5 and will appear in the music video game Rock Band 3 in 2010. Most recently, a cover features in Star Craft 2 as a track in the campaigns juke box.
The song—half ballad, half up-tempo guitar solo—quickly became a staple for Lynyrd Skynyrd at their live performances. Many recognize its nearly five-minute triple guitar solo section that closes it out. It often turned into an extended jam session at concerts. The band would consistently play it as the last song of every show, as it was their biggest crowd pleaser. Overall the song proved to be a huge hit for Lynyrd Skynyrd and it remains a fan favorite to this day.
Following the plane crash in 1977 in which several band members were killed, all of the songs played by surviving members were performed as instrumentals beginning with the Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam V in 1979. When "Free Bird" came up, a solitary microphone with a single spotlight would be at center stage while the band played the instrumental version. This tradition lasted until 1989, when an almost-rioting audience coerced Rossington to urge Johnny Van Zant to sing the song for the first time – something he had vowed never to do on stage during the Tribute Tour. The current version has a shortened solo similar to the original studio version.
Legacy
It has become a joke for the audience in many concerts to shout "Free Bird" as a request to hear the song, regardless of the performer or style of music.[7]
The phenomenon began earlier in the 1970s with The Allman Brothers Band's epic "Whipping Post", but then took off to a much greater extent with "Free Bird", very popular by 1979. This can be traced back to Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More from the Road. For their second encore, Van Zant asked the crowd, "What song is it you wanna hear?", which was immediately followed by several more shouts of "Free Bird". This interaction is recorded as an intro to the song on the album, and the band responded with a 14-minute version of the song.
Personnel
(Studio Version) – 1973
- Ronnie Van Zant – vocals
- Allen Collins – guitar
- Gary Rossington – guitar
- Ed King – bass
- Billy Powell – piano
- Bob Burns – drums
- "Roosevelt Gook" (Producer Al Kooper) – organ, mellotron
Cover versions
- The American dance-pop group Will to Power created a medley of this song and the 1976 Peter Frampton hit, "Baby, I Love Your Way", in 1988. Titled "Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley", this version spent one week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2]
Use in the media
- This song is (as a cover) used in video game Guitar Hero II, as the final track in the career mode. It also appears in Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, and as downloadable content for Guitar Hero 5. It is confirmed to appear in Rock Band 3.
- It is also used in TV series King of the Hill, in season six episode "Tankin' it to the Streets", when Bill gets drunk and steals a tank, while singing Free Bird.
- Free Bird is used in video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, played on fictional radio station K-DST.
- A character sings Free Bird a capella before he is shot in Duets.
- The song is also used in the film Forrest Gump.
- Free Bird is used to accompany the closing scenes in the film The Devil's Rejects.
- This song was played on the final episode of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, performed by Will Ferrell, Beck, Ben Harper, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and Conan O'Brien himself on guitar.
- The song is played live in the film Elizabethtown.
- This song has been used in T.V.series Californification on Showtime.
- The song has also been used in My Name Is Earl, on the episode Two Balls, Two Strikes.
- This song was performed on Guitar Hero by Serena van der Woodsen in the first season of Gossip Girl (TV Series)
- This song was mentioned by 2010 NFL Hall of Fame inductee Russ Grimm in his acceptance speech into the Hall of Fame
- The song is used as a cover in the video game Starcraft 2 during the campaign.
References
- ↑ The Bpi
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications)
- ↑ http://www.guitarworld.com/article/100_greatest_guitar_solos_3_quotfree_birdquot_allen_collins_gary_rossington
- ↑ "http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1703". http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1703.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Gary Rossington biography.
- ↑ "spreadit.org music". http://music.spreadit.org/vh1-top-100-hard-rock-songs/. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
- ↑ Phillips, Derek. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore. Glorious Noise.com. 27 January 2004.
External links
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||