Lynyrd Skynyrd Called This 1974 Hit Their Version of The Allman Brothers’ “Ramblin’ Man”

In the 1970s, Southern rock creeped into the musical mainstream like kudzu vines stretching across an Alabaman treeline. At the frontlines of this blossoming subgenre were bands like The Allman Brothers Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top. By the mid-1970s, all of these bands were vying for the chance to release the big Southern rock hit.

Videos by American Songwriter

The Allman Brothers Band got there first in 1973 with “Ramblin’ Man” off Brothers And Sisters, which would be their first and only Top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100. But that same year, Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their own Southern rock anthem. And just like The Allman Brothers, this Lynyrd Skynyrd track would also be their highest-charting hit.

“Sweet Home Alabama” Was Born in the Hell House

As far as first rehearsals go, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s inaugural practice with Ed King (the band’s former bassist) on guitar and Leon Wilkeson (a hired gun who had played bass with the band, but only temporarily) wasn’t half bad. The rehearsal took place at the Hell House, an old cabin in Green Cove Springs, nicknamed for how sweltering the non-air-conditioned shack would get in the muggy Floridian summers.

Despite its hellacious nickname, the Hell House was the breeding ground for some of the band’s greatest hits—one of which they wrote that first day Wilkeson joined the group as a permanent member. In a 2009 interview, King remembered the fateful day he walked into the Hell House to find Gary Rossington playing the riff that would become the foundation for “Sweet Home Alabama”.

“Gary was playing the guitar riff, and I picked up my Stratocaster, and I just started bouncing my [plays intro riff] off of him, you know,” King said. “Then, Ronnie [Van Zant, vocalist] said, ‘Don’t stop. Keep that going.’ And within ten minutes, Ronnie had the first and second verse of [‘Sweet Home Alabama’] written.”

King followed Rossington into the chorus, and Van Zandt naturally fell into the song’s signature hook: “Sweet home Alabama, where the skies are so blue.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd Knew They Had Their Version of “Ramblin’ Man”

Lynyrd Skynyrd continued to flesh out their parts, eventually coming up with the version of “Sweet Home Alabama” that appeared on the band’s sophomore release, Second Helping. Ed King said that when the group was done writing, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant looked at King and said, “Well, there’s our ‘Ramblin’ Man’.”

And he was right. “Sweet Home Alabama” became Lynyrd Skynyrd’s biggest, most mainstream hit, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. While “Ramblin’ Man” technically won with a No. 2 peak, we’d argue that, decades later, the tracks are virtually equal when it comes to their significance to the Southern rock canon.

Photo by Gems/Redferns