British guitarist analyses Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1976 recipe for success! 

Ronnie Van Zant was an amazing song writer. It’s a shame he’s not held in higher regard than he is because he was one of the great southern poets of all time. The consensus of the crowd that were at this festival was that Lynyrd Skynyrd blew the Stones off the stage here.

Three of the most underrated guitarist in music history these guys were unbelievable the three guitar attack the fact they played in sync with one another amazing!

I'm one of the people who wrote to Fil and suggested this video and I did it for several reasons. Firstly, this is a guitar related channel and Lynyrd Skynyrd are one of the truly great guitar bands of all time. Secondly, I find Fil's analysis videos are usually positive and enlightening and since Rossington, Collins, and Gaines are normally left off lists of guitar greats which I feel is unfair to their talents, I thought it would be nice to see Fil take a look at them. Thirdly, while I agree with some other commenters that the 1977 Oakland performance which is readily available on RU-vid may be a little better rendition, this Knebworth performance is not only awesome, in front of a mostly unsuspecting English audience, and closer to home for Fil, it also includes an up close sequence at around the 3:20 mark in which Gary Rossington can clearly be seen holding a lit cigarette in his pick hand while playing the slide part of Freebird! How does he make it sound so good while doing that? Finally, while Skynyrd had a great talent for songwriting and performance with many great tracks to choose from, Freebird is not only their anthem, but in my view is one of the most carefully constructed rock songs of all time, building slowly from a sweet ballad to a crescendo of high intensity rock and roll like few other songs of the genre, and to see something like this really pulled off live is a thing of beauty. Thanks for your review Fil, it was fun to watch as always!

That particular version is absolutely brilliant. Knebworth 1976. They blew the crowd away apparently. Great interplay between the 3 guitarists on stage

Its a rule... If you get somewhere and 'Freebird' is on the radio you can't get out the car till its over.

What can you say? This is the Mother of all Rock Anthems!! Simply Extraordinary!!! One of the top 3 bands ever in America and that says a lot! Rock!!!

Bands like Skynyrd were before the time when bands where "manufactured" by "Hollywood" , a time we'll NEVER see again, so glad I was able to be there at the time!

Free bird is Skynyrds’ Stairway; a crescendo of beautiful music ending with an iconic guitar solo. Out of the seven members that played on the album version, five have passed on😔

The reason they had so many great band members is simple they were family and friends that grew up in Jacksonville Florida and were the heart and soul of the South here , I would have to say the best band of all time and the secret to their great song writing is that it was from their life experiences I heard them say so I remember the night the plane crashed shocked me and broke my heart as I am also a Floridian.

There is no band, no song, no one, nothing to compare Lynyrd Skynyrd to.

Steve Gaines. Almost a forgotten guitar wizard from the past.

I'm a 62 year old from the south in America I saw these guys countless times back in the day and they rock your face off! Between them and The Allman Brothers " Southern Rock God's" we rocked with royalty! You should check out Green Grass & High Tides by the Outlaws you will dig it. Rock on! ❤✌☮️🎸

As others have said, Gaines came late to the Skynyrd party, but he added a new dimension and would have in the future. RIP...

Thank You for doing these videos! Lynyard Skynyrd was one of the great bands of the 1970's.

Their recipe for success was rehearsing up to 15 hours a day, back when they were po' boys growing up in the poor side of Jacksonville FLA. Ronnie was like a rock Mark Twain, wrote the coolest stories and lyrics, that almost anyone can relate to. He was a stage general. Another great thing was NO gimmicks, just being real regular men t shirts and jeans just totally kicking ass. All the southern bands played great, all those boys could play the hell out of the guitar! The Allman Bros were the first big southern band and set the bar so high. Remember Skynyrd came out when David Bowie and all these sickening glammy bands came out.. I saw an old ad for Skynyrd that said "Hey kids, here is a REAL rock band"..kind of says it all..going against the shitty glam trend and just KICKIN it! SKYNYRD AND ALLMANS FOREVER!!

The third guitar player was Gary Rossington. Billy Powell was the keyboard player Lynyrd Skynyrd was such a talented band. Love the analysis

Skynyrd was one of the greatest American bands IMO. Tragic Ronnie died so young, as well as the others.

The lead stuff is all all Allen Collins at the culmination at the front. Rossington did the slide stuff on the intro, then backed off and did rhythm, plus on this SGaines totally takes a support role. The lead on Freebird was always Allen Collins showcase. Nice analysis and I still miss those guys.

My hometown guys! I went to the same high school as the original members several years later and their legacy was still felt in the hallways. And when they brought in the talented Ed King (who was replaced by the equally talented Steve Gaines - seen in this video) well...you see the results!! Such talent and feel between all of them! Make no mistake, those guys rehearsed their butts off to get that tight live!!! 🎸🤙🏻🙂

# 1 band in my book every record they did every song on every record top notch. southern blue grass, swampy and just good old rock and roll. the diversity of the song writing unlike any other.

Love this band. Their songs take you on a journey.

They had speed, they had control, but most of all they concentrated on the soul. Steve Gaines one HELL! of a player .

All 3 guitars were cranked up to eleven!!

Probably my favorite live version of this song, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's noteworthy the vast majority of this crowd had never heard of Lynyrd Skynyrd and "Free Bird" until this day. Adore the reaction of the crowd as the performance builds and builds until a long, epic climax. It truly is a masterpiece. Pretty sure most of the audience weren't expecting this band from Jacksonville, Florida to blow them out of the stratosphere. We in Florida who grew up with them still miss our boys.

This is SO much cooler than Bohemian Rhapsody!

This show truly let the Stones know they can never compete with this band.

Billy Powell was piano. Gary Rossington, the slide player here, is the only one who made it from the beginning to the end of the road.

I always wondered how Lynyrd Skynrd was received outside of the South. Of course, growing up in North Carolina, they were just a part of my life. They're a band from the deep South, waving a Confederate flag, I can understand why anyone who saw them would judge them negatively. But, to hear Fil, from Britain, giving them love is pretty awesome.

In 1973, my cousin opened a record store in my hometown and I helped him set up to open and worked there. His brother had just come back from seeing The Who on the Quadrophenia tour in Atlanta, and he was going on and on about this new band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, that opened for them. The first record played on the sound system in the new record store was Pronounced... 45 freakin' years ago. Remember it like yesterday. ::sigh::

Skynard blew even the rolling Stones offstage live In London The stones home town. Stones kept hearing Freebird and left the stage and congradulated Skynard. There about the best them and Zeppelin never can make up my mind in that note...Good intelligent input again ,nice to hear from a musician point if veiw..even better when We agree on that greatness

Thanks Fil "They Call Me the Breeze" Skynyrd. Awesome music.

My older cousin John got me listening to Skynard and ZZ Top when I was just a preteen. Still love them today. ❤️🤘🏻🤘🏻

The tongue of the stage was reserved for the Stones...but seriously, who was going to stop them?

The audio version of Lynyrd Skynyrd “Free Bird” in Atlanta during the 1970’s, when Ronnie tells Billy “play it pretty for Atlanta”, is good😊.wado,Ann Benson.

The Allman Brothers Band another great southern rock band amazing talent there as well.

Brings back incredible memories of my childhood in panhandle of Florida . I have older brothers who caught me listening to another band while I was in middle school, they said no.. that is not real music and introduced me to Lynryd Skynyrd and I am so grateful they did. Molly Hatchet (Flirting With Disaster), Blackfoot (Train, Train) and Marshal Tucker Band (Cant You See) and I cannot hear Simple Man by Lynyrd without crying , reminds me of my oldest brother ( a kind heart and a generous spirit - a true Southern gentleman who died far too young). So many of the new music lacks the spirit and talent of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd . Thank you for taking the time to share your insight to these wonderful gifted musicians, I truly enjoy listening to you break down each aspect of these recordings. I am looking forward to seeing your posts on others, I am gaining more knowledge of the music world with each one you share.

I love the movie of that concert! That is the show that showed the world what Lynyrd Skynyrd was all about. They were on the cusp of taking the rock world by storm when the crash happened. All three of those guitarists were equally adept, and they could play together in a way that has never been duplicated.

And the stones had to follow that Hahahahah

Memories flood back so vividly listening to this awesome band !! I grew up on their music!!! Great southern rock! How each guitarist melted into the next one!!! Bloody brilliant!!! Great vid Fil, thank you!!

Fil, Thank you SO much for doing this for me!!! ❤️

And never forget, those boys were Ronnie's mules and he wrung em out every show. And they loved it.

The best pound for pound band ever , in my opinion

Absolutely one if their most haunting songs, pure southern magic. Thanks Fil.

thanks for all your videos. love your comments and information

Yeah, I think Skynyrd owned The Stones at this show.

Another great video! I look forward to these every day.

Great video! Skynyrd is one of my favorites. I love how on this song it goes back and forth between Ronnie and Gary on slide, slow and mournful sounding, then the outdo kicks it into high gear with Allen and Steve lighting the stage on fire... One of my great regrets is not being born in time to see Skynyrd back in their pre-1977 heyday. Guess there’s not much I can do about it though...

I had already bought tickets to see them when their plane went down. They were going to play near me in 3 weeks. They were an incredible band for sure. Thanks for the stroll down memory lane Fil. You have the best channel on the Tube IMO.

Masterpiece is exactly right-this work of art still gives me chills, no matter how many times I have heard it. Brilliant.

Although they did play it live in clubs before Ed joined the band . Ed also added the third guitar part

Just now watching this episode after Gary's recent passing. That slide intro is iconic. They were part of the tapestry of my youth. Gone too soon~

Allen Collins flying on his Firebird supplies the wind beneath the wings of Freebird

Saw Skynyrd with Molly Hatchet and the Outlaws at the Philadelphia Spectrum in about 1975...awesome show! Saw them again with Frampton in 1976...all before the plane crash. Saw the Johnny VanZant band in 1981 in a bar in Jacksonville NC, before he joined what was left of Skynyrd.

Love L S! Thanks Fil, great job explaining how they get that great sound. Have you heard their song called That Smell, I love it as much as Free Bird. Thanks again!

Fil! I love your channel, man! I would like this played at my funeral...this song has it all: lyrics, highs and lows, multi-facets, just like my life!! Cheers to a GREAT channel and GREAT song!!

Thank you so much for this. My all time favorite band.

And Billy walks into the studio where LS was playing and said they need a piano player. The rest is history.

Billy Powell on Pianny (piano) Gary Rossington on rhythm/slide Collins and Gaines on lead/rhythm Artimus Pyle drums Leon Wilkeson bass The "Boss" Ronnie Van Zant on vocals.

LOVE IT! Thanks for the 70’s props! Remember they wrote all their songs in about 7 years. Wow! I think were famous about 4 years of that. They’ve been their own cover band since, and always delivered. Now, even that’s gone. It’ll be a sad day in 20 years and you ask a young person what’s their favorite skynrd song.. and they never heard of em. It’s true now with MANY bands. the stones, Santana, Young, and even Clapton. The list is long. Thanks for doing your part to keep the music alive. We need your channel. People who don’t know it, need your channel. 🤘🏼 ROCK! 😁

Freebird morphed from its original content when in 1972 the band played a prom at the Bolles School... during a break some of the band members heard Billy Powell playing a piano version of Free Bird... which led to Van Zandt simultaneously firing him as road crew (been with them in that role for two years) and hiring him to play with the band. His piano playing on a number of Skynyrd songs is mesmerizing... and arguably his piano intro to Free Bird is a case of divine intervention.

The God Fathers of "Southern Rock" ! I know they carried on after the plane crash .. Just think what could have been if fate had not stepped in ... As always great commentary and analysis Fil ...

Most underrated, and unappreciated bands of all time. Van Zandt just knew how to pick and put players together

Hi Fil, this is one of my favorite bands of all time, great review, Rock On!

OH my gosh! We gathered at a friends house, cried and "saluted" (wink), the loss of those in the crash......have all their works! Fast forward and last year, at 60, my friend and I went to the "Last of the Street Survivors: Farewell Tour" and What a great concert! Went live on Facebook for my friends....though not the original lineup they sounded true and WOW, what a concert!! Gary Rossington and Ricky Medlocke jammed it like the original! Chills!! We may not be young be we still ROCK!! 😎. Thanks Fil! Loving your videos ❤️

Southern Rock ! My favorite genre of Rock Music ! Outlaws was the another phenomenon of this kind of fantastic epic guitar solo ! and Molly Hatchet too ! thanx Boy ! Keep on Rockin' !

This was the show the blew away the "Rolling Stones" ..they were told "Do not go onto the "tongue" haha, which they ignored for a bit, which you showed @the climax on Free Bird

This is linked to Skynyrd, trust me. Back in August 1981 I went to the US for the first time. I went with my wife and 399 other Elvis fans ( I'm not included in that number, I'm the plus one! ) on a 3 week trip organised by the UK branch of the Elvis fan club. They'd been doing these trips for a while and their prices were fantastic considering the time and what was included. We started off in Memphis naturally enough, as being the 4th anniversary of Elvis' death all the fans wanted to go and throw overpriced flowers on the grave and do some serious weeping n wailing. One of the trips was to Elvis' birth place, Tupelo Mississippi. It was a hell of an entrance, full police escort, the works! After seeing the shack where he lived most people headed for the Mall to raid it for anything Elvis. I found a great record store that was being picked clean by the fans buying every overpriced Elvis album in sight. Me, I headed for the rock racks and found a whole stack of Skynyrd albums, more than a few of them only available on import back in the UK at silly prices. The guy that owned the store came over to ask why I wasn't fighting over the Elvis stuff like all the others. When he saw what I was looking at he said something like, " At least there's one fan of great music among this crowd "! My wife piped up and said " make that two ". After we left the store we went to a big motel for drinks and a dinner thrown by the town council. While we were sitting having drinks, the President of the UK Elvis fan club, Todd Slaughter and his deputy Bob Bacon, ( both great guys that we got to know quite well and got drunk with on more than a few occasions ) wandered over and asked what the albums were as they didn't recognise any of the covers from a distance. When they discovered they ( at least 10 ) were all Skynyrd they were thrilled and sat down for a looong chat about the band. They were both huge fans and came in for some of the same pathetic abuse as we did for not buying only Elvis stuff from some of the more rabid fans.

Skynyrd is from my hometown - Jacksonville, FL. Back in the early 70's almost everyone had a story about them!

This is my favorite iteration of the band... The Steve Gaines era... Steve Gaines lit a fire under everyone’s ass... The drumming is way better with Gaines on board.... something about his groove just supported the whole band... Now Allen Collins is still probably the best gunslinger but to me everyone just shined with Steve without being threatened by the new guy...

It might sound strange but Free Bird became me and my brother's song about 3 months before he passed away. I makes me smile every time I hear it! I might be hearing it wrong but it has always sounded like Steve's playing is just behind Allen during the fast bit or is it the left right panning?

Phil, you have such a passion for music you tend to draw us into your way of thinking more critically about the music. Thank you for the deeper inseight.

Hay Fill,how's things. I have watched the entire song about 20 times. It's absolutely awesome. Your analysis on it is superb. I look forward to your analysis and what Riff videos. Keep up the awesome work. ROCK 🎸🎸

Great video FIL , keep smiling !

Skynrd is my pick for THE #1 band of all time in the southern rock genre...freebird btw written by Vanzant & King Ronnie had much more music in him for him to be taken so soon...saw Ed King A few yrs back at a bluegrass festival still cool an laid back...

Aha! You have reviewed my favorite band, LS! I knew you’d love it. At this concert in Knebworth only The Rolling Stones were supposed to play on the tongue part of the stage. Everyone else was told to keep off! Skynyrd complied until this last song. One of the greatest FU’s in Rock and Roll history! Thanks

Another good one buddy enjoy it keep it up love your videos

Hey, great video Fil! I love Free Bird, such an amazing classic. I just noticed I'm an hour late on the video, but I still hope you notice my comment!

Back in the days of Skynyrd if you didn't have a pair of 3 foot tall house speakers, ( Magnavox, Pioneer or Sansui ) in the back seat of your car you were no rocker.

I know that it is impossible but this sounds better and better each time that you listen to this. Ronnie van Zant has such presence on stage!

This band did their thing and put their heart and soul into their songs and they rocked!!!!

great video 🎸🤘 70's dreamer's 🎸🎵🎼🎼👍🤘🇺🇸

Allen was so good that I think people forget how great Steve Gaines was. Check out Steve Gaines sing and playing lead on "you got that right"

...the greatest southern rock ballad of all time...this particular makeup of Lynyrd Skynyrd and this song are like a fine wine that my wife and I have found only to improve with time...enjoyed it, Fil... Cutter

Love those guys. Played.a lot in my youth. How can you forget those guys!

These guys put the rock in Southern Rock. They were the first band from the South that I knew of that played as hard as they did. Allen wrote the basic track and Gary came up with the rest of it but, Ronnie at first didn't want to write lyrics for it because it had too many chords, but it finally came together bit by bit and of course people started to question the length of the song, but that kind of stuff always happens when greatness is about to be born. They're on their final/farewell tour because of Gary's heart issues.

FIL, RONNIE VAN ZANTS MOTTO WAS, HE TOLD THE BAND THIS IN THE EARLY DAYS, WE WILL NOT EVER RECORD A SONG ON RECORD THAT WE CANNOT REPRODUCE ON STAGE LIVE, HE WAS THE BAND LEADER, UNDER HIS FIST, HE HAS BEEN KNOWN TO KNOCK OUT A FEW TEETH OF BAND MEMBERS AFTER A SHOW, IF HE FELT THEY DID NOT PLAY GOOD ENOUGH, WOW, TRUE STUFF, COUSIN FIGEL

That crazy stunt plane is a strange foreshadow. Always loved this band. It was a magic time for music. Nice work Fil!

They are all locked at the hip. One of the tightest bands you will hear. Incredible.

A song so good that it's become it's own rock'n'roll meme, and that every concert someone will yell ....FREEBIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never had trouble hearing a lead at a skynyrd show a lot of their solo's are played in complete unison....harmony or octaves went to a show at the 3,000 seat paramount theater in seattle in 1975 ...and during the free bird meltdown i looked back and there were 3,000 air guitarist's just going at it..... in fact that might have been the show were that term was first used lol hey check out jeff watson and joel hokstra.... randy rhoads remembered 2015

OMG...this is one of my top ten songs of all time! .. starts slow and builds and rocks your socks off! I get it because I lived it. So cool that you get it too. Thank you...

My favorite band of all time. I just met them July 13 (it was on my bucket list)......"comin' home" & "was I right or wrong" are really good but never got much playing time. RIP Ronnie :(

Great Band too R.I.P.

Nice one .Keep on rocking Lynnie .

This is where Lynyrd Skynyrd made their mark. Ronnie walked Allen, Gary up front of the stage and broke the only rule the Stones gave them; don't go up front. Steve came a bit later and Leon tried with his bass but the length of his patch cord stopped him in his tracks. To top it off, it seems like those in your country loved it...like Hendrix. I watch this vid often as it's so inspiring!!! It's what rock is all about. There is an isolated track of Allen Collins playing this on RU-vid....he pulled his weight for that song but the "Tripple Guitar Attack" 🎸🎸🎸made the song. Hell House paid off.

Great analysis! I'm 50, grew up in Georgia. I saw many local bands in my day, without fail, someone would scream - "Play some Skynyrd!" Great memories! Thanks Fil!

You notice all the "epic" songs from the 70s--whether "Freebird", "Stairway to Heaven", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Child in Time" by Deep Purple, or even "Come Sail Away" by Styx--they all have this in common: they're all a "slow boil", a gradual increase in intensity throughout the track They don't just pat you on the head and then hit you with a sledgehammer in a second. It's a gradual increase in intensity that keeps you interested to see what comes next

One of the great rock tracks, it never gets old - if you can sit still or ignore this guitar solo see a doctor! Great channel interesting observations thanks

I saw them 3 times. Twice before the crash. I saw them at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg and they blew the roof off the old colosseum. In Hattiesburg at that time there was curfew. Bars brought up the house lights at 11:45 and closed at midnight. They started playing Free Bird at 11:55....and kept playing. They turned on the house lights at 12:15.....and they kept playing. The brighter the house lights the harder they played. Harder and harder. The students knew what was going on and roared and roared. Finally at 12:28 they gave the final riff. They and the audience were a bucket of sweat. We hung around after the show, and as we walked to the dorm, they came by in the bus hanging out the windows. We gave a final standing O as they left. A moment I'll never forget.

Awesome review Fil, lucky to have seen them live, what a punch in the face, knock you out style.