By A.D. Ward


Sweet Home Alabama By Lynyrd Skynyrd is perhaps the best known and loved entry in US rock songbook history. Never mind that the band got its start in Jacksonville, Florida. Their song became an anthem to Alabama as the center of the south.

Controversial for its lyrics, the famous song is loved for it unforgettable guitar sections. They were composed by Ed king, a band member who left it shortly after recording the tune with a 1972 Fender Stratocaster electric guitar that these days is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He once said that he dreamed the chords while asleep one night. A story still circulates about the band arguing because the song itself is in the key of D while the guitar solo is in G.

The renowned Muscle Shoals recording studio is mentioned in the lyrics and that is where the song and album were also recorded in the summer of 1974. Sweet Home Alabama became a hit on that album, , the second for the band, called Second Helping.

Written, some say, as a response to Neil Young and his songs Southern Man and Alabama, both critical of southern racism and the history of slavery in the South, it was controversial at the time it was released and lead to much speculation about a grudge match between the Canadian singer and this ultimate southern rock band.

More than the myths swirling around the tune, it was the blues-driven guitar solo that has made it so compelling and representative of southern pride and attitudes. It is arguably the most recognized, meaningful and covered riff in all the history of American music.

Numerous movies have used parts or all of this iconic music. Sweet Home Alabama, the 2002 movie starred Reese Witherspoon as a down home girl. The song has also featured prominently in Con Air, 8 Mile and the newest version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd is an iconic anthem of the American South. Full of redneck pride and irresistible guitar licks, it has come to define a genre and an era in American rock and roll history. Tragically, the band never fully knew what would transpire with the hit, as three members died in a fiery plane crash in 1977. The remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd (all of them injured in the crash) disbanded with the group being resurrected with a new line-up some years later.




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