Street Survivors

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Street Survivors
Studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Released	October 17, 1977
Recorded	Criteria Studios, Miami, Florida; Studio One, Doraville, Georgia; Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Genre	Southern rock
Length	35:26
Label	MCA
Producer	Tom Dowd, Jimmy Johnson & Tim Smith (track 3)
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Lynyrd Skynyrd chronology
One More From the Road (1976) Street Survivors (1977) Skynyrd's First And... Last (1978)
Original cover
The original and current cover of Street Survivors

Street Survivors is the fifth studio album by Southern rock band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on October 17, 1977. The LP is the last Skynyrd album ever recorded by original members Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, and is the sole Skynyrd studio recording by guitarist Steve Gaines. Three days after the album's release, on October 20, 1977, the band's chartered airplane crashed in route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, killing the pilot, copilot, the group's assistant road manager and 3 band members, including Van Zant, Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), and severely injuring most who survived the crash. The album performed well on the charts, as did the singles "What's Your Name" and "That Smell" (with "What's Your Name" peaking at #13).

Background

The original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors had a photograph of the band standing in flames. The cover was changed to an alternate photo with an all-black background, out of respect for the deceased. Thirty years later, the original "flames" cover was restored, while the alternate cover serves as the back of the case. Lead singer Van Zant is wearing a t-shirt depicting Neil Young's album Tonight's the Night in both photographs.

The album was recorded twice, once with Tom Dowd at the helm at Criteria Studios in Florida, and then at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia five months later. The Doraville recording was used for the initial release of the album. In March 2008, the album was re-issued with these alternate versions of most of the songs. Differences are minor on some songs, with the major difference being a much slower and extended earlier version of "That Smell." Also included are two songs recorded for, but not included on the original album, "Georgia Peaches," and "Sweet Little Missy," with the latter being included twice, in demo and final form. Also included is a version of "Honky Tonk Night Time Man," with Ronnie's alternate autobiographical vocal take, entitled "Jacksonville Kid," which is believed to be the last vocal take he ever recorded in a studio.

The song "One More Time" was added to the album, presumably after it was decided to drop one of the two tracks above. However, this song is the original recording from their 1971 Muscle Shoals demo; it was not re-recorded for this album. (That's why it features Ed King, Greg Walker and Rickey Medlocke in place of Steve Gaines, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle).

Street Survivors was a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier on the recommendation of his sister Cassie. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marvelled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day." Gaines' contributions (which more than justified his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, despite this being his only studio album with Skynyrd) included his co-lead vocal with Van Zant on the co-written "You Got That Right" and the rousing guitar boogie "I Know A Little" which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Gaines' abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Gaines delivering his self-penned blues "Ain't No Good Life" - the only song in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Ronnie Van Zant. The album also included the hit singles "What's Your Name" and the ominous "That Smell" - a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was clearly aimed at one of the band members (both Collins and Rossington had serious car accidents which slowed the recording of the album).

Track listing

Side one

1. "What's Your Name" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 3:30
2. "That Smell" (Collins, Van Zant) – 5:47
3. "One More Time" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:03
4. "I Know A Little" (Gaines) – 3:26

Side two

1. "You Got That Right" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:44
2. "I Never Dreamed" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 5:21
3. "Honky Tonk Night Time Man" (Haggard) – 3:59
4. "Ain't No Good Life" (Gaines) – 4:36

2001 CD reissue bonus tracks

9. "Georgia Peaches" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:15
10. "Sweet Little Missy" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:10
11. "You Got That Right (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:26
12. "I Never Dreamed (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 4:55
13. "Jacksonville Kid" (Haggard, Van Zant) - 4:03

30th Anniversary Edition CD bonus disc

1. "What's Your Name (Original Version)" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 3:33
2. "That Smell (Original Version)" (Collins, Van Zant) – 5:29
3. "You Got That Right (Original Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:19
4. "I Never Dreamed (Original Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 5:22
5. "Georgia Peaches" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:14
6. "Sweet Little Missy (Original Version)" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:16
7. "Sweet Little Missy (Demo Version)" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:11
8. "Ain't No Good Life (Original Version)" (Gaines) – 5:02
9. "That Smell (Original Version)" (Collins, Van Zant) – 7:30
10. "Jacksonville Kid" (Haggard, Van Zant) - 4:09
11. "You Got That Right (Live)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 4:41
12. "That Smell (Live)" (Collins, Van Zant) – 6:05
13. "Ain't No Good Life (Live)" (Gaines) – 5:01
14. "What's Your Name (Live)" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 3:28
15. "Gimme Three Steps (Live)" (Collins, Van Zant) – 5:09

• Live tracks recorded at the Selland Arena, Fresno California, August 24 1977.

Personnel

• Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals
• Steve Gaines - guitar, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Ain't No Good Life", co-lead vocal on "You Got That Right"
• Allen Collins – guitar
• Gary Rossington – guitar
• Billy Powell – keyboards
• Leon Wilkeson – bass, backing vocals
• Artimus Pyle – drums
• The Honkettes (JoJo Billingsley, Cassie Gaines, Leslie Hawkins): backing vocals on "That Smell"