Writers: Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Ed King
Producer: Al Kooper
Recorded: January 1974 at the Record Plant, Los Angeles
Released: May 1974 (album), July 1974 (single)
| Players: | Ronnie Van Zant–lead vocals Allen Collins–guitar Gary Rossington–guitar Ed King–guitar Billy Powell–piano Roosevelt Cook–organ Leon Wilkeson–bass Robert Burns–drums |
| Album: | Second Helping (MCA, 1974) |
The lyrics to “Sweet Home Alabama,” a rebuttal to the Neil Young songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man,” were written by lead singer Ronnie Van Zant on the band's tour bus. Said Van Zant, “We wrote it as a joke. We didn't even think about it–the words just came out that way. We just laughed like hell, and said ‘Ain't that funny?’ We love Neil Young, we love his music.”
Young was also an admirer of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and he wrote “Powderfinger” for them, though Skynyrd never recorded the song.
The single was the band's first top 10 Billboard hit, reaching Number Eight. It entered the top 40 on August 24, 1974 and spent 11 weeks there.
The band had reached FM radio with “Free Bird,” but was looking for a top 40 song. Van Zant felt “Sweet Home Alabama” could be it, but producer Al Kooper and MCA thought the subject matter was too regional, so “Don't Ask Me No Questions” was the first single from Second Helping. Van Zant made a deal with the label that if it didn't hit, “Sweet Home Alabama” would be tried next. He said, “I just had a feeling about it. We got it down real fast. It's always the ones that you get down fast that make it.”
“Don't Ask Me No Questions” didn't hit, and Second Helping was failing to sell, but that all changed with the release of “Sweet Home Alabama” and the song's controversial references to not only Young but also Alabama Governor George Wallace and Watergate, which brought publicity and success.
