The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd

Disc 1
1	Sweet Home Alabama 4:45
2	I Ain't the One 3:54
3	Was I Right Or Wrong 5:24
4	Gimme Three steps 4:31
5	Workin' For MCA 4:48
6	Simple Man 5:58
7	Swamp Music 3:32
8	The Ballad of Curtis Loew 4:52
9	Saturday Night Special 5:12
10	Mr. Banker 5:22
11	Comin' Home previously unreleased / Original Version 5:30
12	Call Me The Breeze 5:09
13	Free Bird 9:10
Disc 2
1	What's Your Name? 3:33
2	Whiskey Rock-A-Roller Live 4:16
3	Tuesday's Gone 7:34
4	Double Trouble 2:50
5	I Know A Little 3:29
6	Four Walls Of Raiford 4:14
7	I Never Dreamed 5:21
8	Gimme Back My Bullets Live 3:42
9	You Got That Right 3:47
10	All I Can Do Is Write About It Acoustic Version 4:24
11	That Smell 5:51
12	Free Bird Live 13:41

Barnes & Noble

Lynyrd Skynyrd was the hardest rocking of the southern bands of the 1970s. While many of these bands featured two lead guitarists, Skynyrd had three. And "Sweet Home Alabama" notwithstanding, the band was hardly provincial. Skynyrd was first produced by Al Kooper and toured as a raucous opener for the Who. Ronnie Van Zant, the lead singer and cowriter of most of Skynyrd's repertoire, gave the band's songs a rugged individualism, and the snappy grooves and saucy guitars of "Don't Ask Me No Questions," "Workin' for MCA," and "Gimme Three Steps" let everybody fantasize about sharing a piece of his hard-partying rock lifestyle. But Van Zant could also pull a surprise now and then, like when he wrote steaming rockers about the deadly dangers of narcotics ("That Smell") and handguns ("Saturday Night Special"). Above all, Lynyrd Skynyrd was a rock band for rowdy guitar freaks, a constituency well served here by the inclusion of two versions (studio and live) of the group's famous jam tune "Freebird." John Milward

All Music Guide

Putting together the definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd retrospective would be a daunting prospect to all but the most callous of critics who still deny the group their place at the table of rock & roll heroes and innovators. This two-disc, 25-track anthology makes the perfect introductory set to this Southern rock institution, and one great career overview for longtime fans. All the hits like "Sweet Home Alabama," "Gimme Three Steps," "Saturday Night Special," and "That Smell" are aboard, along with "What's Your Name," "Workin' for MCA," "I Know a Little," and "Free Bird" in both live and original studio versions. Other highlights include great album tracks like "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," "Call Me the Breeze," and "You Got That Right," an acoustic version of "All I Can Do Is Write About It," and early demo versions of "Four Walls of Raiford" and "Comin' Home." If you're planning on only making one Lynyrd Skynyrd entry into your collection, this is certainly the one to get. Cub Koda