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Music CD - Lynyrd Skynyrd: Second Helping
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Music CD: Second Helping
Artist: Lynyrd Skynyrd
List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $4.96
Your Save: $ 5.02 ( 50% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Mca
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Tracks:
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1. Sweet Home Alabama
2. Need You
3. Don't Ask Me No Questions
4. Workin' For MCA
5. The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
6. Swamp Music
7. The Needle & The Spoon
8. Call Me The Breeze
9. Don't Ask Me No Questions (Single Verison)
10. Was I Right Or Wrong (Demo)
11. Take Your Time
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0008811164829
Format: Extra tracks
Label: Mca
Manufacturer: Mca
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Mca
Release Date: 1997-11-04
Studio: Mca
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: "Sounds like ol' Son House singin' the blues..."
Comment: Well, not really, but it's such a nice line from the song "Swamp Music":
"...When the hound dogs start barkin' / sound like ol' Son House singin' the blues!"
I lean towards "Pronounced" being Lynyrd Skynyrd's best album, but this one is certainly not far behind. It may require a bit more time in order for the listener to truly appreciate it, but "Second Helping" is well worth it.
Yes, "Sweet Home Alabama" is here, and needs no introduction, I suspect, but this is not one of those album where one mega-hit completely dwarfs everything else. Three more tough riff-rockers, "Workin' For MCA", "Don't Ask Me No Questions", and "The Needle and the Spoon", are almost as memorable, and lesser-known songs like the New Orleans-R&B of "Swamp Music" and the melodic folk-blues pastiche "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" deserve much praise as well.
Skynyrd's popular, up-tempo cover of J.J. Cale's rollicking "Call Me The Breeze" is here as well, as is the seven-minute slow rock number "I Need You". The latter is the least memorable song on the album, which means it's only pretty good.
This remastered edition adds three bonus tracks, the single version of "Don't Ask Me No Questions", which is pretty much like the album version, and two nice demos, the low-key ballad "Was I Right or Wrong", and the swaggering "Take Your Time".
They're both fine songs, especially the latter, which has something of an "Elvis sings swamp blues" quality to it. But you should get it for the original eight tracks, really, because this is such a unusually strong collection of songs. Great, great music, and some really fine songwriting as well. The band is tight but very much on fire, and the production by Al Kooper is excellent.
4 3/4 stars - highly recommended!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Fantastic follow up!
Comment: The question was "Could Lynyrd Skynyrd produce the goods again after the 1st album?". You bet they could. This is a brilliant album and one I have been playing for 30 years or so on a regular basis and never ever got tired of listening to. Nor will you.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: more Skynyrd for your enjoyment
Comment: The follow-up to the groundbreaking debut is pretty good as far as songwriting and memorable songs go. It doesn't match the energy of the debut, and falls short of what a follow-up album should be like in some areas, but overall, not a bad album by any means.
This despite having the classic "Sweet Home Alabama" (not really one of my favorites though) be the lead off song, and also containing the southern blues boogie "Call Me the Breeze". Also "Don't Ask Me No Questions" is almost a pop rock song mixed with southern rock, and I love the way they were able to mix the two styles together and make it good. Another song done in the same style, and perhaps the most underrated song on the album, is "The Needle and the Spoon". The guitar playing is excellent on this song.
Then you have the very average attempt to recreate "Tuesday's Gone" called "I Need You" (not related to the Beatles song). "The Ballad of Curtis Loew" is a very blantant attempt to copy the Band, but they just weren't able to make it as interesting as the majority of the classic Band songs. However, another good song is "Workin' for MCA". This song has a FANTASTIC beat and a really pleasant surprise to me personally. "Swamp Music" is pretty solid as well.
So yeah, it's a good album, but the band shouldn't have put a couple of the songs on the album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: THIS SECOND HELPING IS MIGHTY TASTY ! (God bless Ronnie Van Zant!)
Comment: Lynyrd Skynyrd's Second Helping (1974) isn't quite the monument that their debut, Pronounced, is, but taken on it's own terms, it's just as satisfying. Sweet Home Alabama is the band's biggest hit and most controversial song. Written in response to Neil Young's anti-southern rants, Southern Man and Alabama (I like both songs), the anthem was a statement in defense of southerners, not racism. Other than a vague response on his next album, On The Beach, Young has kept silent on the matter (and the south). The Ballad Of Curtis Loew is one the many highlights on Second Helping. It's a country song that tells the tale of a white kid who sells soda bottles and risks whippings to go and hear an old black bluesman play his dobro for him. The autobiographical Working For MCA is a great hard rocker, and Don't Ask Me No Questions rocks with slide guitar and a horn section. In Needle And The Spoon, Van Zant plays the part of the junkie, warning on the dangers of drug abuse. Swamp Music is a declaration of allegiance to country blues music and musicians like early blues legend, Son House, who is mentioned in the song. J.J. Cale's Call Me The Breeze is a big highlight on the album, and of Skynyrd's career. It's rocking boogie blues at it's best, with great guitar solos and a hot Billy Powell piano break. There are three very good bonus tracks, including the excellant and autobiographical Was I Right Or Wrong. Second Helping is essential for Skynyrd fans, and like Pronounced, highlights what the band could do in the studio in their early prime years. It's a great album and classic Lynyrd Skynyrd. God bless Ronnie Van Zant!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lynyrd Synyrd - As Good As The Band's Debut
Comment: The band's sophomore album would produce probably their biggest hit and a song that is still a southern rock album to this day "Sweet Home Alabama" which opens the album. This is another CD that is chock full of southern rock classics and is probably as good as the bands debut. "I Need You". "Don't Ask Me No Questions", "Workin For MCA", "Ballad Of Curtis Lowe", "Swamp Music", "Needle And The Spoon", and "Call Me The Breeze" are all great songs that define what southern rock is all about.
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Editorial Reviews:
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With staples such as "Sweet Home Alabama," "Workin' for MCA," and the J.J. Cale-penned "Call Me the Breeze," Skynyrd's second captures the Jacksonville, Florida, band at the height of its powers, coming off the success of "Free Bird" and "Gimme Three Steps" from their 1973 debut. Backed by a tight rhythm section and the mighty three-guitar attack of Allen Collins, Ed King, and Gary Rossington, singer Ronnie Van Zant (credited in the album notes for "Vocals, J&B") turns in a legendary performance on the urgent blues ballad "I Need You," the cautionary "The Needle and the Spoon," and "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," the story of a young white boy sitting at the feet of an old black Dobro master. Along with Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and One More from the Road, Second Helping remains Skynyrd's finest hour. --James Rotondi
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