Maps of Music

Second Helping (1974)

Where the lyrics of Second Helping take you, and where it was really made.

The biggest hit on this album was written as an answer to two Neil Young songs.

Key places

Recorded at the Record Plant (1974)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded at the Record Plant in Los Angeles in January 1974, according to the recording credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recorded at Studio One in Doraville (1974)

Recording site Studio One — Recording credits name Studio One in Doraville, Georgia as a recording location for part of the album. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Second Helping: second studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd
• Released April 15, 1974
• Features the band's biggest hit single, Sweet Home Alabama
• Sweet Home Alabama reached No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1974
• Reached No. 12 on the Billboard album charts
• Recording credits place sessions at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia
• Album mastered at Kendun Recorders, Burbank

Background

• Fan base kept growing through 1973, largely due to the opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States
• Ed King, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington worked with Ronnie Van Zant on the songwriting
• The album cemented the band's breakthrough after the debut album

Recording

• Recorded at the Record Plant, Los Angeles, January 1974
• Recording credits also name Studio One in Doraville, Georgia
• Al Kooper credited as engineer and remix engineer
• Produced for Sounds of The South Productions

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964 as My Backyard, with Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass), and Bob Burns (drums).
• Adopted the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1968, partly as a mocking tribute to P.E. teacher Leonard Skinner.
• Debut album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) released in 1973, produced by Al Kooper.

Members

• Core lineup in 1973: Van Zant, Collins, Rossington, Leon Wilkeson (bass), Billy Powell (keyboards), and Ed King (guitar).
• Burns was replaced by Artimus Pyle in 1974; King was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976.

Career

• Popularized Southern rock with "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird".
• Career halted on October 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed, killing Van Zant, Gaines, and Cassie Gaines.
• Reunited in 1987 with Johnny Van Zant as lead vocalist and continued touring for decades.
• Gary Rossington, the last founding member, died in March 2023.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006; Rolling Stone ranked them No. 95 among the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone reviewer Gordon Fletcher wrote in 1974 that the band plays a consistent Southern-influenced blues rock style close to the Allman Brothers Band
• Fletcher said the band lacks the sophistication and professionalism of the Allman Brothers Band
• Fletcher judged Second Helping distinct from the debut only by a certain mellowing out
• Robert Christgau in Creem was also indifferent at first

Reappraisal

• Christgau warmed to the album later, reappraising it in his 1981 record guide
• In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that Second Helping replicated the strengths of the debut and was a little tighter and more professional
• Houston Press placed the album No. 2 on its list of Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums

Records

• Billboard album charts: No. 12
• Sweet Home Alabama: No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1974
• The RIAA certified the album Gold on September 20, 1974
• The RIAA certified the album Double Platinum on July 21, 1987

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The biggest hit, Sweet Home Alabama, was written as an answer song to Neil Young's Alabama and Southern Man.
• Spanish Wikipedia notes this was the group's first album to use three guitars.
• The French article says the album came out only seven months after the debut album.
• The French article says the album reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and sold over two million copies in the United States.
• Ed King, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington all shared songwriting with Ronnie Van Zant.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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