Last Of A Dyin' Breed Lynyrd Skynyrd

• 1Last Of A Dyin' Breed03:51
• 2One Day At A Time03:46
• 3Homegrown03:41
• 4Ready To Fly05:26
• 5Mississippi Blood02:57
• 6Good Teacher03:07
• 7Something To Live For04:29
• 8Life's Twisted04:33
• 9Nothing Comes Easy04:13
• 10Honey Hole04:34
• 11Start Livin' Life Again04:26
• Total Runtime45:03

Info for Last Of A Dyin' Breed

Last of a Dyin' Breed, Lynyrd Skynyrd's first new studio album in three years and the group's first with new bass player Johnny Colt (formerly the bassist for the Black Crowes), was produced by Bob Marlette and recorded mostly live in sessions at the Blackbird Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, a studio and town where this reconfigured classic Southern rock band obviously feels loose, ready, and comfortable.

'Fans of classic rock and followers of Southern-anthem powerhouse Lynyrd Skynyrd surely won’t be disappointed by the band’s new album “Last of a Dyin’ Breed.” While many artists are experimenting with new styles and reaching out to a younger generation, Lynyrd Skynyrd stays true to its down-home roots as shown by its latest project.

Despite coming nearly 40 years after the band’s first album, “(Pronounced ‘Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd)” which was released in 1973 and featured almost a completely different lineup of band members, “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” serves up the same country-rock aesthetic that brought Lynyrd Skynyrd to superstardom.

In times when people are more likely to listen to dubstep than classic rock, Lynyrd Skynyrd comes close to striking lightning twice with a number of tracks featured on its new album.

Songs such as “Mississippi Blood” and title track “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” will likely bring listeners right to a front-porch rocking chair in the Deep South just as old Lynyrd Skynyrd favorites did.

It’s hard to get more in-tune with the Southern anthem ideal of freedom than Lynyrd Skynyrd does in “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” as lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant sings, “Saddle up baby, ride up close to me / An open highway’s all I’ll ever need.” The song is filled with lyrics describing the open road over a hard, steady beat and guitar riffs that line up with the band’s classic style.

If there is to be any complaint about Lynyrd Skynyrd’s album of summer hits, it’s that it and the freedom that comes with it came out just in time for summer to end. While the album’s sound could appeal to a younger crowd, there’s a strong chance that “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” will fall through the cracks and only resonate with those who follow the band.

If anything, it’s clear Lynyrd Skynyrd named its album after itself, as it certainly is the “Last of a Dyin’ Breed” of true, Southern-rock creators.' (Christopher Braun, The Lantern)

Gary Rossington, Guitar
Johnny Van Zant, Vocals
Rickey Medlock, Guitar
Mark 'Sparky' Matejka, Guitar
Michael Cartellone, Drums
Johnny Colt, Bass
Peter Keys, Keyboards
Dale Krantz Rossington, Honkettes Backing Vocals
Carol Chase, Honkettes Backing Vocals

Recorded at Blackbird Studios, Woodland Hills, CA

Beyond the tragedy, the history, the raging guitars and the killer songs, ultimately, Lynyrd Skynyrd is about an indomitable will. About survival of spirit; unbowed, uniquely American, stubbornly resolute.

With their first set of new studio material since 2003’s Vicious Cycle, legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd returns with God & Guns, due out September 29 on Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records. Recorded in Nashville in 2008-2009, the project was interrupted—but, tellingly, not ended—by the deaths of founding member/keyboardist Billy Powell and longtime bassist Ean Evans earlier this year.

Driven by core members Gary Rossington (guitar), Johnny Van Zant (vocals) and Rickey Medlocke (guitar), along with longtime drummer Michael Cartellone, Lynyrd Skynyrd have recorded an album (“under duress, as usual,” according to Van Zant) that very much lives up to the legacy begun some 35 years ago in Jacksonville, Florida, and halted for a decade by the 1977 plane crash that killed three band members, including Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines. Since then, the band tragically lost Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson and Hughie Thomasson, yet they rock on.

With the passing of Powell and Evans, “a lot of people probably expected us to say enough is enough,” admits Medlocke. But that would not be the way of this Rock & Roll Hall of Fame powerhouse. With a catalog of over 60 albums and sales beyond 30 million, Lynyrd Skynyrd remains a cultural icon that appeals to all generations, and God & Guns is a fitting addition to the canon. The Skynyrd Nation awaits.

“We wanted to show the people that not only are we doing the old material, keeping the music going, but we still have some new tricks up our sleeves, too,” says founding guitarist Gary Rossington.

Returning to the studio after the death of Powell, whose keyboards can be heard on more than half the songs on God & Guns, was “very difficult, I ain’t gonna lie to you,” says Van Zant. “But we got through it, as Lynyrd Skynyrd seems to always do. Music’s a great healer. These songs needed to be out there, this record needed to be made. Gary, Rickey and myself just said ‘let’s go for it, let’s get this thing done.’”

Unfortunately, coping with loss is familiar to this band. “We just kind of fell back in,” says Rossington. “We’ve been doing this a long time, so you just kind of do what you do. As you get older, you get a little more used to it. You know it’s coming, and it’s coming to you, too. I just thank God for every day and all the time I had with the guys that aren’t with us anymore.”

The crying is over and now it’s time to rock. “We’ve had some really bad moments this year already, and I’m glad we’re able to pick ourselves up by our boot straps and just continue to play,” says Medlocke. “For us to weather through this makes this record even more special. I’m sure Billy and Ean are looking down upon us with big smiles.”

With noted rock producer Bob Marlette, input from guitarist John 5, and a wealth of material written by the band and a cadre of elite Skynyrd-minded songwriters, a remarkable album emerged. “We never really worked with producers that well, we kind of always wanted to do it our way,” admits Rossington. “But Bob Marlette came on and he’s such a great guy; he figured out how to talk to us musically, and we became friends instantly. He had a lot of fresh ideas and ways to do things, and also wanted to capture the old sounds, too.”

Of John 5, Rossington adds, “he’s probably one of the best guitar players I’ve ever played with, and I’ve played with a lot of great ones. He just lives with a guitar on him, and he knows that neck like nobody I’ve ever seen.”

With a backbone of Southern rock and country, passionate Van Zant vocals, and trademark layered guitars, God & Guns manages to maintain the iconic Skynyrd punch while sounding completely contemporary. Sure to attract attention in these politically divided times is the title track, which harbors a sense of menace and unwillingness to back down that hearkens back to Skynyrd’s earliest days. The band knows the song, and others like “That Ain’t My America,” will have their critics, but Medlocke says listeners should get beyond the title.

“It’s not just the words ‘God and guns.’ you gotta look past that and look at what this country was founded on: freedom,” Medlocke says. “Everybody should be able to make their own decisions and not be led around by a nose ring and told what to do and when to do it.”

And if some critics don’t like it, “that’s called freedom of choice,” says Medlocke, who carries his Native American heritage with pride. “I’m sure some critics will look at it, God & Guns, the rednecks are back.’ Well, the guys in this band aren’t rednecks, Rickey Medlocke’s the only damn redneck in this band ‘cause I got red skin.”

The title track, along with the unmistakable Skynyrd bite of the first single “Still Unbroken,” form thematic songs for an album laden with attitude, heart and purpose. “Skynyrd’s about tradition,” says Medlocke. “We are guys that don’t go around preaching about our own personal or political beliefs, although I’m sure you could probably guess mine. In this record is personal tragedy, personal relationships and being on the road, all under that umbrella of real life. That’s what we think, that’s what we believe, and we stand next to that title, God & Guns.”

To portray Skynyrd as a bunch of “gun nuts” would be incorrect, according to Van Zant. “I’m kind of like Ronnie, ‘handguns are made for killing,’ and I’ve never seen anybody shoot a deer with a .38,” he says. “I do own a bunch of rifles, I live out in the swamp, and you’ve got to protect yourself.”

Skynyrd is a band, after all, that has never shied away from standing up and speaking for a segment of the population whose voices are seldom heard. “Everybody’s so scared to say stuff these days, that’s not what I’m about,” says Van Zant. “We live in America, we can speak our minds. These are our values. That doesn’t mean we’re always right in everybody’s mind. Hopefully, we don’t offend a bunch of people. And if we do, well, get a record deal, man, and make your own songs.”

This is a band well aware of the responsibility that comes with putting the name ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’ on anything, be it an album or a concert. “We feel like we have to keep the standards high,” says Rossington. “I wouldn’t put this record out, I’d fight not to, if I didn’t think it was good.”

And so Skynyrd stands, “still unbroken,” in 2009. “People may say, ‘they need the money,’ well I don’t think any of us need the money,” Van Zant says. “It’s just that we love the music, it’s bigger than the money, it’s not even about that any more. We have to make a living, sure, but it’s about the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and what it stands for, what the fans are all about. There’s nothing like getting out there playing a great show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.”

Adds Rossington, “We’re still standing, still keeping the music going. We wanted to do the guys who aren’t with us any more proud, and keep the name proud, too.”

Booklet for Last Of A Dyin' Breed