| Street Survivors | ||||
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| Studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd | ||||
| Released | October 17, 1977 | |||
| Recorded | Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida; Studio One, Doraville, Georgia; Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama | |||
| Genre | Southern rock | |||
| Length | 35:26 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Producer | Tom Dowd, Jimmy Johnson & Tim Smith (track 3) | |||
| Lynyrd Skynyrd chronology | ||||
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| Original cover | ||||
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The original cover of Street Survivors
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (A)[2] |
| Rolling Stone | [3] |
Street Survivors is the fifth studio album by Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on October 17, 1977. The LP is the last Skynyrd album ever recorded by original members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, and is the sole Skynyrd studio recording by guitarist Steve Gaines. Three days after the album's release, on October 20, 1977, the band's chartered airplane crashed en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing the pilot, co-pilot, the group's assistant road-manager and three band members (Van Zant, Gaines, and Steve's older sister, backup singer Cassie Gaines), and severely injuring most who survived the crash. The album performed well on the charts, peaking at #5 (their first top 5 album), as did the singles "What's Your Name" and "That Smell", the former a top 20 hit on the singles chart.The album was certified Gold on 10/27/1977, Platinum on 12/2/1977 and 2x Platinum on 7/21/1987 by the R.I.A.A.
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The original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors had a photograph of the band standing in flames. The cover was changed to an alternate photo with an all-black background, out of respect for the deceased. Thirty years later, the original "flames" cover was restored, while the alternative cover serves as the back of the case. Lead singer Van Zant is wearing a t-shirt depicting Neil Young's album Tonight's the Night in both photographs.
The album was recorded twice, once with Tom Dowd at the helm at Criteria Studios in Florida, and then at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia five months later. The Doraville recording was used for the initial release of the album. In March 2008, the album was re-issued with these alternate versions of most of the songs. Differences are minor on some songs, with the major difference being a much slower and extended earlier version of "That Smell." Also included are two songs recorded for, but not included on the original album, "Georgia Peaches," and "Sweet Little Missy," with the latter being included twice, in demo and final form. Also included is a version of "Honky Tonk Night Time Man," with Ronnie's alternate autobiographical vocal take, entitled "Jacksonville Kid," which is believed to be the last vocal take he ever recorded in a studio.
The song "One More Time" was added to the album, presumably after it was decided to drop one of the two tracks above. However, this song is the original recording from their 1971 Muscle Shoals demo; it was not re-recorded for this album. Hence it features Ed King, Greg Walker and Rickey Medlocke in place of Steve Gaines, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle.
Street Survivors was a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier on the recommendation of his sister Cassie. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marvelled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day." Gaines' contributions included his co-lead vocal with Van Zant on the co-written "You Got That Right" and the guitar boogie "I Know A Little" which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Gaines' abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Gaines delivering his self-penned blues "Ain't No Good Life" - one of the few songs in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Ronnie Van Zant. The album also included the hit singles "What's Your Name" and the ominous "That Smell" - a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was clearly aimed at one of the band members (both Collins and Gary Rossington had serious car accidents which slowed the recording of the album).