Lynyrd Skynyrd – THE DAMAGE DONE CD

Touring in the UK in late 1975, promoting their third studio record, Nuthin’ Fancy, Lynyrd Skynyrd were coming off two hugely successful albums; their debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and 1974’s Second Helping. Recent personnel  changes appeared to have revitalised the band too which, although now down to a six-piece, they played with more energy and passion than had previously been witnessed.The show featured on this new CD features Lynyrd Skynyrd in an environment where they felt comfortable and were at the top of their game. With the exception of the Allman Brothers, most southern rock bands had stayed away from the U.K. during this period because the British music scene was so wrapped up in glam, pub-rock and the just-emerging Punk Rock element, but this  didn’t deter Skynyrd, who confidently played their brand of riff-driving southern-fried boogie to near capacity crowds around the British Isles.Kicking off with the raucous “Double Trouble,” they quickly move into “I Ain’t The One,” from their debut album. Poignant songs like “Needle And Spoon” are balanced against established Skynyrd rockers such as, “Saturday Night Special” and “Gimme Three Steps.” Songs like “Whiskey Rock A Roller,” JJ Cales’s majestic “Call Me The Breeze,” and the ultimate boogie, “Sweet Home Alabama” are played here in their original form, and it is somehow strangely ironic that many of these classics would re-emerge as part of the must-play repertoire of so many country artists.