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Second Helping 1974
Album · by Lynyrd Skynyrd ↗ View artist

Second Helping

When you dive into Second Helping, the second work by Lynyrd Skynyrd, you encounter a sound that solidified in 1974. This album, released on April 15 of that year, is where the band truly showed its power, especially with that three-guitar attack that became their trademark. It was recorded between June 1973 and January 1974, going through Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, and Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, California. Producer Al Kooper was at the helm, guiding the sound towards Southern rock, blues rock, and boogie rock.

Year
1974
Songs
8
Duration
37 min 15 seg

8 song|s

Song list

# Title Available ⏱
01

Sweet Home Alabama

coming soon

4:42
02

I Need You

coming soon

6:54
03

Don't Ask Me No Questions

coming soon

3:24
04

Workin' for MCA

coming soon

4:46
05

The Ballad of Curtis Loew

coming soon

4:45
06

Swamp Music

coming soon

3:29
07

The Needle and the Spoon

coming soon

3:52
08

Call Me the Breeze

coming soon

5:23

About the album

Second Helping, according to DoReSol

The track that undoubtedly earns the applause is "Sweet Home Alabama". This song, which reached number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1974, was born as a response to Neil Young's songs "Alabama" and "Southern Man". The album itself climbed to number 12 on the Billboard album charts and was certified Gold on September 20, 1974, reaching Double Platinum on July 21, 1987. The songwriting, with Ed King, Allen Collins, Gary Rossington, and Ronnie Van Zant collaborating, was key to defining the sound that catapulted them.

Contemporary reviews, such as Gordon Fletcher's in Rolling Stone, pointed to a Southern blues rock style similar to the Allman Brothers Band, albeit with a more direct and less polished energy. Robert Christgau, in Creem, also had an initially reserved view, but over time recognized the album's strength, highlighting the ironic lyrics and instrumental density when the band rocked out, with well-thought-out solos that broke through the guitar power. It's an album that, beyond opinions, left a clear mark on the musical landscape.