Even as a 78 year old man, when they go off half way through, I still have to restrain myself from putting the pedal to the metal when I’m driving. Our music back then was truly epic. Music today positively sucks.
I like to believe that each generation has their own happening music, let them have their day. I know exactly how you feel when your driving. We have surely been blessed🎸🤟🏻🏴🥃
I saw Skynyrd in 75' & 76', They would always leave the stage without playing Freebird. The crowd would go insane clapping, stopping & shouting "Freebird! Freebird!" until they came back a played a very long encore version! Ahhhh... a REAL "Rock-Anthem" and "Southern-Fried Rock" at it's finest! 😝
Phish used to do an acapella version just because of this, It's great, or you'll learn to hate it. I am a southerner and have seen skynrd quite a few times(66 now), but every time I see the Phish version, I can't keep from laughing.
I think that I was blessed to have grown up at a time that we had LYNYRD SKYNYRD, The Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, .38 Special and many other great southern rock bands. Greatest music to have had for the background of my teen years. Growing up in the south this music was like oxygen. It gave me life.
Summer of 69' baby here and I agree. Marshall Tucker is from just an hr west of me. We are truly blessed, as you said, to have grown up in arguably the best era musically. You had to be able to really sing and play well. And it was about talent, not looks back then. There's still a lot of talented artist out there today but sadly you'll never hear them on radio.
This was when music was REAL! Our generation had the best music ever. None of the autotune crap . I've never been able to sing a lick but would probably sound okay if I used autotune! With a few exceptions, I am not real fond of the music now. Thanks for the great reaction.
I'm not even from that time and still I stick to the classics. I like to say that I prefer to listen to music from back when you didn't need a pretty face to be famous, when presentation didn't come before raw talent.
Nostalgia has made your memory fail on you. There was MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS of utterly, woefully bad music back in the 1970's, but you've forgotten about it, just as everyone else has. There is TONS of great music being made today, because now people can record themselves, and put out their music without needing a record contract. You do know that the three greatest composers - Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven - all died hundreds of years ago, so the best music generation was a LONG time ago? You died before you got old, by the sound of it. You should wake up and look around, because you're missing out on plenty of great music, that is being made today...
@@Slamthulhuthey’re right. Realizing that today’s “musicians” couldn’t begin to compete with the talent from prior generations is not being a baby, it’s being observant.
Ronnie was 29, Cassie Gaines 29 (backup singer and Steve's sister), Steve Gaines 28 (in red pants), road manager and 2 pilots died in the crash. 20 others survived but had serious injuries. Steve had a great singing voice too. Billy Powell was a roadie and when group took a break he sat down and started playing the song, Ronnie heard him and said from now on your in the band.
@@Trampus002 The band was at Muscle Shoals studio and had taken a break, for lunch i think. Billy stayed in the studio and was essentially fooling around on the piano with a composition he had created as a lead in. The band came in and heard Billy and within a couple of months he was part of the band. None of band knew that Billy was a classically trained pianist. Fast forward, the producers at Muscle Shoals refused to cut the song down to the standard 3 minutes or so and so the song was not released there. Now THAT would have been something...
@@garygreen9115 Ronnie had a voice unique and couldn’t be duplicated. You always knew it was him. Could be why I didn’t pay any attention to the second group. Always thought they should have changed the name out of respect. Didn’t hate them, just lost interest, losing his drive and input. Oh well, it’s history now. RIP all original members.
My generation...when music, musicians and talent were real. This has to be in the top three rock songs ever written...and never plays the same way twice.
"Free Bird" is often described as the equivalent of pushing a grocery cart up a mountain, with your headphones on just chilling to the vibe.. Then hopping in it and riding down the other side😂😂
This isn't just the live version, the studio version has the same guitar solos. That's why the crowd was so pumped when it started, they knew it was coming.😊
That was Gary Rossington, who is doing the bird chirp on his guitar. He passed away March 5, 2023 this year he was a last surviving member of the original Skynyrd band.
Actually, Artimus Pyle (who is seen playing drums on this) joined the band after the first album (Bob Burns was 1st drummer) and is the drummer for most LS albums/songs. I'd give him credit as being an original for sure.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was a total package of excellent performers. The great Allen Collins, who wrote the music to Freebird, knew how to create music, play music, and perform. He was an outstanding energy in the band. Fly high!
and Collins played all the solo work on the studio version (not the slow slide parts in the first half of the song). They just decided to make the up-tempo solo section a 3-piece for live effect, but on the record it was all Collins.
I love how he goes from sombre in the first half to absolutely wild once his solo kicks off. Impossible not to have your eyes glued to Allen on stage, he had a real magnetic quality about him. They were all so gifted and authentic.
Pure southern rock! And this has been played in so many movies. It’s about a man who can’t commit. He’s a ‘Freebird’ and can’t be chained. ♥️ The plane crashed about 40 miles from my home. There’s finally a monument there now, just out on this secluded farm sort of in the middle of nowhere. Fly high Ronnie, Cassie, Steve, and others. 💔🕊️
My hubby and I visited it last year. It’s easy to see how they all could easily have perished if there’d been any fuel left in that plane. It’s still amazing most of them survived crashing into those pine trees. Such a peaceful but haunted site. The memorial is so well done.
One of My Favorites My brother put together a group of Friends in 79 who played this at the School Talent Show, and did an amazing show. They Won of course, but were worn-out from it. The Piano player was the Pastors daughter of the Church, and said she had never played a more difficult song in her life. Needless to say she wasn't able to play at church for awhile afterwards FLY HIGH 🕊 LYNYRD SKYNYRD
You couldn't turn on a radio back then without hearing Skynyrd. And there was a lot of songs the radio stations had to choose from LOL. I graduated in '79 and Skynyrd was such a big part of our musical lives in the 70s.
You aren't losing it, you hit the nail on the head. Music isn't what it use to be...I blame it on the industry and the record labels...don't get me started!
don't think so hard it was just great music and lyrics ...i'm so glad I grew up in the 60's and 70's sucks being old but wow the music...it's fun watching young folks get into our rock and roll...live concerts back then were just incredible raw live music...none of this fake stuff...
I was a teenager in the 70s. Back then, it was all about accepting the cultures of others. I was into Motown, 70s "soft rock" and heavy rock and roll. My girlfriend was a disco queen. So, we played it all. The Confederate Battle Flag was just heritage, as much as Mount Rushmore, and the Star Spangled Banner. MLK was a hero for freedom! No one was demonized for who they were. We loved one another. If you didn't live then, you have no idea how effed up it is now. Love your neighbor. Enjoy their culture. Share yours. Don't let evil people divide us. Live to learn, and learn to love one another.
I Resonate with You, Because We Were Priveleged to Live in That Era We Have been Given the Responsibility to Help Our Kindred Spurts Who Were Not As Fortunate.So That They To Will Have the Opportunity that We Did. May Love Never be A Stranger in Your Heart or Your Home!
@@mikeokeefe3204perfectly said. We need the Freebird vibe TODAY & NOW. Seeing those young sunburnt ecstatic girls thinking they're all grandmas & great g.'Mas now & the band gone so long ago in the prime of life You wanna stay with the one you love but you have to go free bird. My ex's favorite song he always said . I guess I can still love that about him.
You are so right! Ed King was outstanding and loved him, but Steve Gaines pushed Skynrnd to the next level. I’m so happy this video exists to show the band at its peak.
Free Bird is one of the best rock tunes ever written and performed from one of the best bands of all time. There is only one band member left with us, the drummer, Artimus Pyle. The rest have passed on-all of them way too soon. RIP to all of them.
ARTIMUS PASSED RECENTLY THE ONE OF THREE WHO WENT TO FIND HELP AFTER THE PLANE CRASH AND STILL THE LAST SURVIVOR…GREAT DRUMMER!!! RIP TO ALL OF YOU!!!😢😢😢😢
@@Nurse66 You're right, Artimus did try to find help after the plane crash-but from everything I see, he is still alive, 75 years old and still playing-thankfully!
Glad to know Artimus is still with us. Met him years ago in Nashville not too long after the tragedy. Wondered if he would ever truly recover from the event.
When I was 16 yrs. old I was there at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta when they recorded their One More For The Road album. I still remember how great it was. Whenever they would play the song Freebird he would always say "play it pretty" for wherever they were at. That night I was lucky to hear him say "Play it pretty for Atlanta". I remember being at a friend's house a year later when we heard on the radio about their plane crash. We cried some tears that day. Thanks for the memories on this one.
I've been to shows at The Fox many times - a friend of mine had a condo near the corner of Ponce and Peachtree. Its balcony was right on Ponce looking at the side of The Fox. Every time I think of what it would have been like to be there for OMFTR. Man what a talented band they were and absolutely scorched that place. If I remember correctly, they actually played there at one point as a fundraiser to help save it from being demolished.
I'm 72 and they still bring a tear to my eye with that f****** song ROCK AND ROLL 🤘 I went two of Lynyrd skynyrd's concerts one before the crash and one after. So sad after ,rock on brothers and sisters,🇺🇸
Skynyrd was huge when I was in High School, and one of the pioneers of what was known as Southern Rock. When the plane crash happened it was a tragedy beyond words. I saw Charlie Daniel’s years later and he had a song that referenced ‘the free bird had fallen to the ground” that would make you cry.
It’s epic to me….. as a Baptist boy…sheltered from the evils of rock and roll…at a conference track meet…………… one of the teams who had their base camp next to ours, had a big old speaker, and were playing this song right before our heat of the 4 x 4 hundred relay…………………………… imagine psyching yourself up for a 400 m leg of the 4 x 4 relay!!!!!!!!! on a cinder track, with your long spikes on, ripping up the cinders, and this song fresh in your mind…………… pure adrenaline😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
In 1977 I was 32 years old and living on my sailboat. This was a great number and the crowds there today would be in their 60's to 90's. All those lovely ladies would be grandmas and great grandmas! I never get tired of listening to this and watch the younger generations discover "our" music. I'm now 78! Thanks Sebs!
Great reaction ! In that last pic you showed, the only one from the 70s classic lineup is Gary Rossington, the one who played slide. He was the last living founding member, and died several months back. Artimus Pyle, the drummer in this performance, is the last surviving member of the 70s classic lineup. This is the greatest live performance of all time.
One of the big rock anthems of my youth! I was a high school senior in '77. I always felt this song embodied that age in life of wishing you could fully commit to serious adulthood and not wanting to disappoint the ones you love, but knowing you'd just be a caged bird. It's that moment when you realize you're free to fly as fast and far in any direction you want in life. Free Bird was exciting and unrestrained, which was inspiring to those of us who were young with a world of possibilities ahead.
Two years behind ya, class of '79 and it was a real great time to be young! So much great music to inspire us as we were about to hit the world...or the world about to hit us. However it happened. Free Bird was a true anthem for us! And the plane crash news was devastating. We had our own "The Day The Music Died."
We were soooo lucky to grow up with such amazing music! There were so many artists, genres and great songs being continuously released....other than actual time in school, we had the radio or stereo blasting nonstop. When I hear Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Doobie Brothers, ELO, The Guess Who, CCR, Grand Funk, and so many others, I'm right back to the 70's. I don't know about the rest of you, but I enjoy so much to see young people digging into rock,and being blown away by the GREAT music we grew up on. 50 years later, it's still that freaking good.
It is also a mission to make clear to other bands, only if they could perform that song, they are real. I heared the story about the stones, in knobsworth 77, LS was a band who played before the Stones, still entered the front end of the stage (that was forbidden) and played free bird (there is a great video about that). As the stones played and prepared for the end, the crowd demanded Free Bird from the Rolling stones, Keith was royally pissed, propably because he couldn´t do it :D
Oh I've seen Lynyrd Skynyrd 5 times! Always a blast-took my son with me because I sang Simple Man to Jim all the time, we got right up front & center for that song singing our hearts out! Best time ever with my son @ 19 years old at the time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is my favorite band ever. They made so much great music in such a short time. I don’t think I’ve heard an original Skynyrd song I didn’t like. You have an advantage by not knowing anything from them. I heard what was on the radio back then. I got older and started diving deeper. I still love it 30 years later.
This is so EPIC and tragic at the same time. I miss you always, Ronnie. Billy Powell was so under rated at the piano. Day on the Green concerts were stellar.
Ballad of Curtis Loew is my favorite Skynyrd song. Gimme Three Steps and Simple Man are my other two favorites. Of course Free Bird is iconic! RIP Gary Rossington! My good friend passed several years ago and this was played at her funeral. Still brings tears to my eyes.
This was July 4th, 1977, at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. That was the summer after I graduated HS. Huge outdoor concerts were very popular. I remember seeing an all day concert outside of Columbus Ohio in June of 1979. It opened with Def Lepard in their early years, followed by Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, The Cars and wrapped up with Utopia. After the concert, it was dark and I just remember somebody set the ticket booth on fire. It was great being young!
A great reaction to what is (in my opinion) THE greatest live performance ever! There is a reason that Skynyrd are considered Rock Gods. You have now caught a glimpse of why. A mere GLANCE! Hope everyone is having an amazing week & much love top all from here in the UK
This concert at the Oakland (CA) Coliseum was part of one of many all day and sometimes two day concerts, called DAY ON THE GREEN. People would sit in the stadium seats but most were on the field on blankets and tents.
This video always makes me want to tell young people who say boomers are so old that these young people are boomers. We remember what it was like to be young. We may not have had the technology back then but we did have fun. We also know all of the bad choices and mistakes we made. We did have epic music and I'm happy people are taking time to hear some of the great songs.
Thank you for the great reaction. Another artist you might like is Stevie Ray Vaughan, he was a mad guitar player. Just about any song you could listen to of his is great. He could not read music and learned it from his brother. They called him a prodigy. He also died in a plane crash, actually a helicopter crash. Gone too soon.😢
I can say that I saw them play live! May 30, 1976 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The bands were Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Nazareth, and Ted Nugent. Can you believe that the tickets were only $9.50...!!! Also, the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, that's where the band started.
It’s ever crazier when you know that Allen Collins played all of the solo guitar work on the album version on this song. Gary Rossington played slide on the slower first half of the song, but all the fast tempo solos were done by Collins. Legend.
Skynyrd is so iconic. You are in for a treat- the greatest guitar playing by a group. The solos are epic. I have always loved their sound, and the meaning in their songs. Everyone plays their Greatest Hits, and for good reason. The final album Last Rebel doesn't get much play, but it should. The song the album is named for is really good.
I've put this off, My Uncle/best friend/Brother/Mentor introduced me to Lynyrd Skynyrd. So much of an impact tha i havent listened in 3 yrs until tonight
Hi greetings from Ireland, it has been so heart warming to watch someone enjoy this great art piece (which I first heard as a teenager way back then), Hearing it way back then was a magical experience for me and amongst my first taste to rock music. I have since been a fan of Rock / Metal for many years Until my own venture into discovering Country music... This is what turned me into your channel... Great reaction .. Keep up the great work...
I saw them the year before the crash in Memphis. Kick ass concert. The day after, I was on my way to work driving down Martin Luther King Expressway, 8 track blasting free Bird in my new Chevelle. I noticed blue lights in my rear view. I pulled over. He said, "Do you know how fast you were going and how long I've been trying to get you to pull over. I had no clue. I've been following you 5 miles, and you're going 80. He said 20 miles over and I can arrest you. I started to cry I said please don't. I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd last night and I'm listening to Freebird. Still crying. He gave me an asschewing and said well I'm gonna give you a break this time. You slow you butt down. Omg. I could have been a jailbird, but thankfully, I was a freebird instead. ❤
Only weeks before the show above, I saw them in Philly's JFK Stadium with 100k+ others. They were one of a handful of bands who played the show leading up to the headliner for that concert, Peter Frampton. And let me tell you, as a kid of 17 yeas old who though I loved music, wasn't exposed to a lot of 'Southern Rock'.... well, the show Skynyrd put on left a lasting impression on me and everyone else. I didn't know many of their songs or even much about them. Who they were or where they were from but knew a few of their songs played on the radio. But the craziness and energy you see in that video is exactly what it was like their entire set and most felt at the end of the day that the high point of the concert was in fact Skynyrd and not Frampton! As great as Frampton was, he just couldn't match the energy that Ronnie Van Zant and the band brought to the stage. That day and Lynyrd Skynyrd's performance in particular is a memory that has stuck with me to this day, now 46 years later and is as fresh as if it were yesterday. And to top is off, 6 years later I moved away and where do I end up but living in their hometown! RIP to Ronnie and the others and thank you for the memory of a lifetime!
This song was on the radio a lot in the mid-70s when I was in high school. It was one of my favorites at the time. So much great music back then, plus the music from the 60s, which still got a lot of airplay. Tragically, the lead singer of Free Bird, Ronnie Van Zant, was one of the band members who perished in the 1977 plane crash.
Thank God reaction videos are showing newer generations this wonderful music we grew up to! Maybe it'll start a fire under these kids to bring their talent to the for front. I know the talent is out there!
Lead singer Ronnie Vanzant told his daddy when he was 5 years old. When I grow up I'm gonna play them drums and sing rock and roll songs. Its also reported he foreshadowed his death leading up to the plane crash.
I'm 66, and during our teens and 20's we had no idea how spoiled we were. Great music all the freaking time! (And we had to figure out all the lyrics on our own, unless there were liner notes. Ha)
It's a great story how this song came into being. The young man in all white, Allen Collins is the youngest member of the band and joined as a teenager. He was very intimidated by th others and never put forth anything. Years into their time together he was heard playing this melody and the main riff one morning in their practice facility and Ronnie, the lead singer and band leader told him it was great. Ronnie would insist on adding the final 2.5 to 4 minutes of the song (it varied when played live) to give Allen a well deserved chance to shine on lead guitar as the song crashes to its culmination. It's a great song, but an even better origin story.
This song is basically a ..... " Rock & Roll" anthem. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area back in 1973 but I did not get to see this concert in person. I did see The Allman Brothers performing at The Cow Palace in Oakland in the early 1970s. There were a lot of extremely talented groups coming out of the south in the 70's. Great reaction. Take care...
I just watch the London 1976 version. It’s great but not as great as this one. I think because the American crowd was more into and familiar with Skynryd, especially the girls. Plus the sound and picture quality is much better.
So glad you did this reaction video... Haven't I grew up in these times and it just puts a smile on my face seeing all the people and remembering what it was like!!! So glad people like you are appreciating it🎉
Great reaction as always and CONGRATULATIONS ON 100k SUBSCRIBERS !!!!! You deserve that and so much more, one of the most real and honest reactors there is . This Desert Shield/Desert Storm Veteran is proud to call you a fellow American too.
This song is so special to me... I grew up listening to this music on the radio in the 70's and it's still so special to me now.. so many many years later!! Thanks! Great reaction video!
That early slide guitar is incredible. You can HEAR the bird floating in circles on the air currents, swooping and diving, and then it builds into the most unreasonable solo of all time.
They don't make music like they used to with very few exceptions. We were blessed growing up in that era, we just didn't know how blessed until years later. When this song came out you couldn't see a band anywhere without someone yelling out "Freebird!"
There is, nor will there ever be, anyone like these men. They're all back together jamming in heaven. There's a monument where the plane crash happen. The words to Freebird are there if you want to look it up. It's beautiful
The picture of the older guys only had one original member. It was the guy in the middle of the photo who was the guy playing the bird sounds in the beginning.
This song hit way different after the plane crash. Listening to the lyrics, you couldn't help put ascribe a whole new meaning to them. For many years after the band re-formed, they wouldn't sing the lyrics but rather would have a stool mid-stage with a fedora on it, lit by a spotlight while the band played the instrumental. Lynyrd Skynyrd provided a big part of the soundtrack to my life as a teen in the 70's with Freebird, Gimme Three Steps, Sweet Home Alabama, I Know A Little, Simple Man, They Call Me The Breeze, and so many others. Freebird also featured in the movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service."
I know they didn't write call me the breeze hut my god,that's a badass song.the guitar solo and then billy going insane on the piano is just beautiful man
The piano player was a roadie who they didn’t know was a classically trained pianist. He was noodling around on the piano and Ronnie VanZandt heard him and invited him to join the band.
Oakland Coliseum.. was so hot that day, so so worth it❤❤ didn't realize we were watching legends😢😢 Tuesday's gone with the wind ❤️
I saw them in Anaheim right about then. I was crushed not long after. It was my 1st concert. Was looking forward to the next tour.
This performance is the very definition of "leaving it all on the table"!!!
I was at that concert and saw the band again last summer with my son in Illinois. In my opinion best rock song ever.
I'm 76 and my kids and grandkids love this anthem for freedom. No matter what from.
Even as a 78 year old man, when they go off half way through, I still have to restrain myself from putting the pedal to the metal when I’m driving. Our music back then was truly epic. Music today positively sucks.
From one 78 to another 78!!
Agree100% !!!!
I like to believe that each generation has their own happening music, let them have their day. I know exactly how you feel when your driving. We have surely been blessed🎸🤟🏻🏴🥃
As a 39 year old... you are infinite correct.
Man I hear ya.
I saw Skynyrd in 75' & 76', They would always leave the stage without playing Freebird. The crowd would go insane clapping, stopping & shouting "Freebird! Freebird!" until they came back a played a very long encore version! Ahhhh... a REAL "Rock-Anthem" and "Southern-Fried Rock" at it's finest! 😝
Freebird was always thier encore song. I've seen them play it for 15-20 minutes after a 2 hour shows.
Phish used to do an acapella version just because of this, It's great, or you'll learn to hate it. I am a southerner and have seen skynrd quite a few times(66 now), but every time I see the Phish version, I can't keep from laughing.
I think that I was blessed to have grown up at a time that we had LYNYRD SKYNYRD, The Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, .38 Special and many other great southern rock bands. Greatest music to have had for the background of my teen years. Growing up in the south this music was like oxygen. It gave me life.
Summer of 69' baby here and I agree. Marshall Tucker is from just an hr west of me. We are truly blessed, as you said, to have grown up in arguably the best era musically. You had to be able to really sing and play well. And it was about talent, not looks back then. There's still a lot of talented artist out there today but sadly you'll never hear them on radio.
CCR TOO!!!
Me too
1st album I ever bought. Real blast from my past.
Same here.
I enjoy watching people "discover" great music that us old fogies have been rockin' to for 45 to 50 years
Me to we lived in the greatest aera of music in the history of the world and it will never be duplicate!!
This was when music was REAL! Our generation had the best music ever. None of the autotune crap . I've never been able to sing a lick but would probably sound okay if I used autotune! With a few exceptions, I am not real fond of the music now. Thanks for the great reaction.
I'm not even from that time and still I stick to the classics. I like to say that I prefer to listen to music from back when you didn't need a pretty face to be famous, when presentation didn't come before raw talent.
But too much disco and not enough rock and roll. 😁
Try the band MUSE 🙏🏻
@@jankramer4239 Will do.
Nostalgia has made your memory fail on you. There was MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS and MOUTAINS of utterly, woefully bad music back in the 1970's, but you've forgotten about it, just as everyone else has. There is TONS of great music being made today, because now people can record themselves, and put out their music without needing a record contract.
You do know that the three greatest composers - Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven - all died hundreds of years ago, so the best music generation was a LONG time ago?
You died before you got old, by the sound of it. You should wake up and look around, because you're missing out on plenty of great music, that is being made today...
A real Piano, guitars, drums. No fake electronic crap, no artificial beat. Just Real music.
Real music, real talent, real love for the craft.
"wah wah wah I'm old and things aren't like they used to be when I was 16 wah wah wah"
@@Slamthulhuthey’re right. Realizing that today’s “musicians” couldn’t begin to compete with the talent from prior generations is not being a baby, it’s being observant.
@@Slamthulhu Exactly! They have all conveniently forgotten the MOUNTAINS of totally crap music that was around in the 1970's. Selective memory...
Yeah. Back when we had REAL singers, songwriters and they actually knew how to play REAL instruments 🇺🇸☀️🥰
Ronnie was 29, Cassie Gaines 29 (backup singer and Steve's sister), Steve Gaines 28 (in red pants), road manager and 2 pilots died in the crash. 20 others survived but had serious injuries. Steve had a great singing voice too. Billy Powell was a roadie and when group took a break he sat down and started playing the song, Ronnie heard him and said from now on your in the band.
I think I read he was trained in classical piano. Great artist
Billy Powell is my favorite in the band
@@Trampus002 The band was at Muscle Shoals studio and had taken a break, for lunch i think. Billy stayed in the studio and was essentially fooling around on the piano with a composition he had created as a lead in. The band came in and heard Billy and within a couple of months he was part of the band. None of band knew that Billy was a classically trained pianist. Fast forward, the producers at Muscle Shoals refused to cut the song down to the standard 3 minutes or so and so the song was not released there. Now THAT would have been something...
I saw their first concert when they came to Phoenix after Ronnie died. it was just acoustic for like 10 minutes. Everyone cried. PROPHETIC SONG!
@@garygreen9115 Ronnie had a voice unique and couldn’t be duplicated. You always knew it was him. Could be why I didn’t pay any attention to the second group. Always thought they should have changed the name out of respect. Didn’t hate them, just lost interest, losing his drive and input. Oh well, it’s history now. RIP all original members.
The best music
The best clothes
The coolest cars
The best times
Best hair!
F*k*n a, man. I love that I grew up in that time.
Best looking girls too!
Agree
Best skin w/o tattoos? Best audience etc
This IS the greatest guitar solo EVER! ALL 3 GUITARS ROCKING FOR A LOOOONG TIME!!!!
If the drummer wouldn´t got exhaust, they would play another hour... :D
4 guitars an Army
My generation...when music, musicians and talent were real. This has to be in the top three rock songs ever written...and never plays the same way twice.
"Free Bird" is often described as the equivalent of pushing a grocery cart up a mountain, with your headphones on just chilling to the vibe..
Then hopping in it and riding down the other side😂😂
What a great analogy!
Holy shit that might be the best description of this song ever
And not one cell phone!! Those were the best days to go to a concert, just everyone engaged and rocking out!!! ❤️
IN it, no selfies, no pics, just rocking all the way.
This isn't just the live version, the studio version has the same guitar solos. That's why the crowd was so pumped when it started, they knew it was coming.😊
That was Gary Rossington, who is doing the bird chirp on his guitar. He passed away March 5, 2023 this year he was a last surviving member of the original Skynyrd band.
Gary played the slide guitar on Freebird to honor Duane Allman.
So sad
I know my he R.I.P
Actually, Artimus Pyle (who is seen playing drums on this) joined the band after the first album (Bob Burns was 1st drummer) and is the drummer for most LS albums/songs. I'd give him credit as being an original for sure.
Rossington Collins was a good group as well....but for sueling guitars I would suggest Molly Hatchet
Lynyrd Skynyrd was a total package of excellent performers. The great Allen Collins, who wrote the music to Freebird, knew how to create music, play music, and perform. He was an outstanding energy in the band. Fly high!
and Collins played all the solo work on the studio version (not the slow slide parts in the first half of the song). They just decided to make the up-tempo solo section a 3-piece for live effect, but on the record it was all Collins.
My favorite band of all time!
I love how he goes from sombre in the first half to absolutely wild once his solo kicks off. Impossible not to have your eyes glued to Allen on stage, he had a real magnetic quality about him. They were all so gifted and authentic.
Oddly enough Billy Powell a roadie, was the only one that had formal music training. He was a trained classical pianist.
@GoldTop57 Allen Collins( in all white) playing his famous 1958 Gibson Explorer.
I like the 'natural look" of everyone. No blue hair or 20 layers of make-up on. You knew what you were getting.
And nobody grossly overweight. We weren’t a bunch of fatties back then
Speak for yourself. 😂. But yah it’s exactly sad but true how accepted morbid obesity is. Healthy at any size bs🙄
Ha, I was just thinking this is how we girls dressed and wore our hair and rocked out in the 70s! So glad those were my teen years.
No cell phones either
Unless they were blonde!
Pure southern rock! And this has been played in so many movies. It’s about a man who can’t commit. He’s a ‘Freebird’ and can’t be chained. ♥️
The plane crashed about 40 miles from my home. There’s finally a monument there now, just out on this secluded farm sort of in the middle of nowhere. Fly high Ronnie, Cassie, Steve, and others. 💔🕊️
I used to live in Mobile and have been there. Right by Gillsburg MS.
My hubby and I visited it last year. It’s easy to see how they all could easily have perished if there’d been any fuel left in that plane. It’s still amazing most of them survived crashing into those pine trees. Such a peaceful but haunted site. The memorial is so well done.
One of My Favorites
My brother put together a group of Friends in 79 who played this at the School Talent Show, and did an amazing show. They Won of course, but were worn-out from it. The Piano player was the Pastors daughter of the Church, and said she had never played a more difficult song in her life. Needless to say she wasn't able to play at church for awhile afterwards
FLY HIGH 🕊
LYNYRD SKYNYRD
You couldn't turn on a radio back then without hearing Skynyrd. And there was a lot of songs the radio stations had to choose from LOL. I graduated in '79 and Skynyrd was such a big part of our musical lives in the 70s.
You aren't losing it, you hit the nail on the head. Music isn't what it use to be...I blame it on the industry and the record labels...don't get me started!
So right you are.
don't think so hard it was just great music and lyrics ...i'm so glad I grew up in the 60's and 70's sucks being old but wow the music...it's fun watching young folks get into our rock and roll...live concerts back then were just incredible raw live music...none of this fake stuff...
I was a teenager in the 70s. Back then, it was all about accepting the cultures of others. I was into Motown, 70s "soft rock" and heavy rock and roll. My girlfriend was a disco queen. So, we played it all. The Confederate Battle Flag was just heritage, as much as Mount Rushmore, and the Star Spangled Banner. MLK was a hero for freedom! No one was demonized for who they were. We loved one another. If you didn't live then, you have no idea how effed up it is now. Love your neighbor. Enjoy their culture. Share yours. Don't let evil people divide us. Live to learn, and learn to love one another.
Well said!
Awesome time to be a teenager...the music was off the charts!
I Resonate with You, Because We Were Priveleged to Live in That Era We Have been Given the Responsibility to Help Our Kindred Spurts Who Were Not As Fortunate.So That They To Will Have the Opportunity that We Did. May Love Never be A Stranger in Your Heart or Your Home!
Kindred Spirits that is
@@mikeokeefe3204perfectly said.
We need the Freebird vibe TODAY & NOW. Seeing those young sunburnt ecstatic girls thinking they're all grandmas & great g.'Mas now & the band gone so long ago in the prime of life
You wanna stay with the one you love but you have to go free bird. My ex's favorite song he always said . I guess I can still love that about him.
No body, no body can beat the sound of Rossington/Collins/Gaines when they played. They transcended reality. Man! They were soooo Good!
You are so right! Ed King was outstanding and loved him, but Steve Gaines pushed Skynrnd to the next level. I’m so happy this video exists to show the band at its peak.
I'm so happy to have been a teen in the '70's. We had the greatest music and the greatest clothes. You have got to do Three Steps.
And when my boyfriend and I broke up he said that Freebird would be our song. This song still makes me cry
Fo sho!
Free Bird is one of the best rock tunes ever written and performed from one of the best bands of all time. There is only one band member left with us, the drummer, Artimus Pyle. The rest have passed on-all of them way too soon. RIP to all of them.
ARTIMUS PASSED RECENTLY THE ONE OF THREE WHO WENT TO FIND HELP AFTER THE PLANE CRASH AND STILL THE LAST SURVIVOR…GREAT DRUMMER!!! RIP TO ALL OF YOU!!!😢😢😢😢
@@Nurse66 You're right, Artimus did try to find help after the plane crash-but from everything I see, he is still alive, 75 years old and still playing-thankfully!
@@Nurse66 Artimus is still alive. Gary Rossington is the one who recently passed.
Glad to know Artimus is still with us. Met him years ago in Nashville not too long after the tragedy. Wondered if he would ever truly recover from the event.
Artemis recently passed ?? No it was Gary, you are correct😢
Love your reaction and how you openly express yourself, personally and philosophically.
When I was 16 yrs. old I was there at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta when they recorded their One More For The Road album. I still remember how great it was. Whenever they would play the song Freebird he would always say "play it pretty" for wherever they were at. That night I was lucky to hear him say "Play it pretty for Atlanta". I remember being at a friend's house a year later when we heard on the radio about their plane crash. We cried some tears that day. Thanks for the memories on this one.
Thanks. I wondered ...I mean obviously they were in ATL
I've been to shows at The Fox many times - a friend of mine had a condo near the corner of Ponce and Peachtree. Its balcony was right on Ponce looking at the side of The Fox. Every time I think of what it would have been like to be there for OMFTR. Man what a talented band they were and absolutely scorched that place. If I remember correctly, they actually played there at one point as a fundraiser to help save it from being demolished.
Their producer said he’d like to let kids from the age of 12 to 21 hear this. That they would run strait into a wall!
I'm 72 and they still bring a tear to my eye with that f****** song ROCK AND ROLL 🤘 I went two of Lynyrd skynyrd's concerts one before the crash and one after. So sad after ,rock on brothers and sisters,🇺🇸
I saw them in Washington DC in 1976. It was EPIC. The Song of my Youth! Free as a Bird. Driving to this song.. singing!!! ❤
Skynyrd was huge when I was in High School, and one of the pioneers of what was known as Southern Rock. When the plane crash happened it was a tragedy beyond words. I saw Charlie Daniel’s years later and he had a song that referenced ‘the free bird had fallen to the ground” that would make you cry.
Me to
Aww, that's a sweet memory. Thanks for sharing.
It’s epic to me….. as a Baptist boy…sheltered from the evils of rock and roll…at a conference track meet…………… one of the teams who had their base camp next to ours, had a big old speaker, and were playing this song right before our heat of the 4 x 4 hundred relay…………………………… imagine psyching yourself up for a 400 m leg of the 4 x 4 relay!!!!!!!!! on a cinder track, with your long spikes on, ripping up the cinders, and this song fresh in your mind…………… pure adrenaline😎😎😎😎😎😎😎
In 1977 I was 32 years old and living on my sailboat. This was a great number and the crowds there today would be in their 60's to 90's. All those lovely ladies would be grandmas and great grandmas! I never get tired of listening to this and watch the younger generations discover "our" music. I'm now 78! Thanks Sebs!
Been a Skynyrd fan for nearly 50 years. This song is truly a masterpiece!
The flag is for their song Sweet Home Alabama!
To live in the Bay area from 75 to 88, I got to go to many of these concerts. Frampton Oakland 77 🫡😢
Great reaction !
In that last pic you showed, the only one from the 70s classic lineup is Gary Rossington, the one who played slide.
He was the last living founding member, and died several months back.
Artimus Pyle, the drummer in this performance, is the last surviving member of the 70s classic lineup.
This is the greatest live performance of all time.
One of the big rock anthems of my youth! I was a high school senior in '77. I always felt this song embodied that age in life of wishing you could fully commit to serious adulthood and not wanting to disappoint the ones you love, but knowing you'd just be a caged bird. It's that moment when you realize you're free to fly as fast and far in any direction you want in life. Free Bird was exciting and unrestrained, which was inspiring to those of us who were young with a world of possibilities ahead.
I graduated in ‘77 and agree with every word. It was a time in life that was just magical.
Two years behind ya, class of '79 and it was a real great time to be young! So much great music to inspire us as we were about to hit the world...or the world about to hit us. However it happened. Free Bird was a true anthem for us! And the plane crash news was devastating. We had our own "The Day The Music Died."
I graduated in '78, so I'm 63, but in my mind I'm still one of those girls in the crowd in a halter top, LOL. I miss the 70's.
@@cherin6703 I do too! ;-)
We were soooo lucky to grow up with such amazing music! There were so many artists, genres and great songs being continuously released....other than actual time in school, we had the radio or stereo blasting nonstop. When I hear Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Doobie Brothers, ELO, The Guess Who, CCR, Grand Funk, and so many others, I'm right back to the 70's. I don't know about the rest of you, but I enjoy so much to see young people digging into rock,and being blown away by the GREAT music we grew up on. 50 years later, it's still that freaking good.
There’s a reason they were guitar gods!
If you've been around a while, you've heard the guy in the crowd yell out "Freebird!" between songs in a set. It's almost a tradition. RIP Free Birds.
I always loved that when he yelled out free bird
It is also a mission to make clear to other bands, only if they could perform that song, they are real.
I heared the story about the stones, in knobsworth 77, LS was a band who played before the Stones, still entered the front end of the stage (that was forbidden) and played free bird (there is a great video about that). As the stones played and prepared for the end, the crowd demanded Free Bird from the Rolling stones, Keith was royally pissed, propably because he couldn´t do it :D
There’s nothing like 3 guitarists coming to the front of the stage and shredding. I am glad I did get to witness this experience in person.
Oh I've seen Lynyrd Skynyrd 5 times! Always a blast-took my son with me because I sang Simple Man to Jim all the time, we got right up front & center for that song singing our hearts out!
Best time ever with my son @ 19 years old at the time.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is my favorite band ever. They made so much great music in such a short time. I don’t think I’ve heard an original Skynyrd song I didn’t like. You have an advantage by not knowing anything from them. I heard what was on the radio back then. I got older and started diving deeper. I still love it 30 years later.
Ronnie was a song writing genius!
We were all kids, including the band... and the music was So Good!!!
As you can plainly see by the crowd reaction my generation absolutely loved this song.
I was about to bust waiting for you to start this song I knew you'd love it!!
And when someone bought a new vinyl we all gathered round and listened to the whole thing in one sitting, a concert at home. Love it !
Gold & platinum was great one to buy the ware that Double album out!!
exactly how it was with our set of freinds. such innocent pleasures compared to now.
This is so EPIC and tragic at the same time. I miss you always, Ronnie. Billy Powell was so under rated at the piano. Day on the Green concerts were stellar.
Thank you so much for the reaction!
Still listening to this song in Hamburg Germany in 2023🤘🏼!
Southern rock at its best! Them boys from Florida will live on forever in our hearts!
Ballad of Curtis Loew is my favorite Skynyrd song. Gimme Three Steps and Simple Man are my other two favorites. Of course Free Bird is iconic!
RIP Gary Rossington!
My good friend passed several years ago and this was played at her funeral. Still brings tears to my eyes.
They are all my favorite, but if I had to pick 3 it would be the same as yours with simple man first on the list
This is Kick Ass Southern Rock. God Bless Ronnie Van Zant and Band. Godspeed. ❤🎸 🎸
This was July 4th, 1977, at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum. That was the summer after I graduated HS. Huge outdoor concerts were very popular. I remember seeing an all day concert outside of Columbus Ohio in June of 1979. It opened with Def Lepard in their early years, followed by Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, The Cars and wrapped up with Utopia. After the concert, it was dark and I just remember somebody set the ticket booth on fire. It was great being young!
A great reaction to what is (in my opinion) THE greatest live performance ever! There is a reason that Skynyrd are considered Rock Gods. You have now caught a glimpse of why. A mere GLANCE!
Hope everyone is having an amazing week & much love top all from here in the UK
Their last concert was October 20th 1977 and I was BLESSED TO BE THERE! Still have my ticket stub it was in Greenville SC
This concert at the Oakland (CA) Coliseum was part of one of many all day and sometimes two day concerts, called DAY ON THE GREEN. People would sit in the stadium seats but most were on the field on blankets and tents.
Lords of the "Southern Rock" bands ❤❤❤
This video always makes me want to tell young people who say boomers are so old that these young people are boomers. We remember what it was like to be young. We may not have had the technology back then but we did have fun. We also know all of the bad choices and mistakes we made. We did have epic music and I'm happy people are taking time to hear some of the great songs.
In the words of Keith Richards, when they say you're to old to rock "remember sonny we invented that shit".
And thank God they did invent it.
The best music in world history!
Absolutely !!! I would not trade my '57 birth for any other era for five extra years of life.🙂
Thank you for the great reaction. Another artist you might like is Stevie Ray Vaughan, he was a mad guitar player. Just about any song you could listen to of his is great. He could not read music and learned it from his brother. They called him a prodigy. He also died in a plane crash, actually a helicopter crash. Gone too soon.😢
I can say that I saw them play live! May 30, 1976 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The bands were Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, Nazareth, and Ted Nugent. Can you believe that the tickets were only $9.50...!!! Also, the guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, that's where the band started.
I love to watch someone see this for the first time. We had the best music.
It’s ever crazier when you know that Allen Collins played all of the solo guitar work on the album version on this song. Gary Rossington played slide on the slower first half of the song, but all the fast tempo solos were done by Collins. Legend.
Absolute Legend⚡️⚡️⚡️
Skynyrd is so iconic. You are in for a treat- the greatest guitar playing by a group. The solos are epic.
I have always loved their sound, and the meaning in their songs. Everyone plays their Greatest Hits, and for good reason. The final album Last Rebel doesn't get much play, but it should. The song the album is named for is really good.
I've put this off, My Uncle/best friend/Brother/Mentor introduced me to Lynyrd Skynyrd. So much of an impact tha i havent listened in 3 yrs until tonight
Hi greetings from Ireland, it has been so heart warming to watch someone enjoy this great art piece (which I first heard as a teenager way back then), Hearing it way back then was a magical experience for me and amongst my first taste to rock music. I have since been a fan of Rock / Metal for many years Until my own venture into discovering Country music... This is what turned me into your channel... Great reaction .. Keep up the great work...
👍👏👏👏
I remember dancing to this when I used to go out to bars(68 yrs old now) very long song. It's real rock. Really enjoy ur reaction vids.
The 70's was music fullfilled!!!
I saw them the year before the crash in Memphis. Kick ass concert. The day after, I was on my way to work driving down Martin Luther King Expressway, 8 track blasting free Bird in my new Chevelle. I noticed blue lights in my rear view. I pulled over. He said, "Do you know how fast you were going and how long I've been trying to get you to pull over. I had no clue. I've been following you 5 miles, and you're going 80. He said 20 miles over and I can arrest you. I started to cry I said please don't. I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd last night and I'm listening to Freebird. Still crying. He gave me an asschewing and said well I'm gonna give you a break this time. You slow you butt down. Omg. I could have been a jailbird, but thankfully, I was a freebird instead. ❤
Only weeks before the show above, I saw them in Philly's JFK Stadium with 100k+ others. They were one of a handful of bands who played the show leading up to the headliner for that concert, Peter Frampton. And let me tell you, as a kid of 17 yeas old who though I loved music, wasn't exposed to a lot of 'Southern Rock'.... well, the show Skynyrd put on left a lasting impression on me and everyone else. I didn't know many of their songs or even much about them. Who they were or where they were from but knew a few of their songs played on the radio. But the craziness and energy you see in that video is exactly what it was like their entire set and most felt at the end of the day that the high point of the concert was in fact Skynyrd and not Frampton! As great as Frampton was, he just couldn't match the energy that Ronnie Van Zant and the band brought to the stage. That day and Lynyrd Skynyrd's performance in particular is a memory that has stuck with me to this day, now 46 years later and is as fresh as if it were yesterday. And to top is off, 6 years later I moved away and where do I end up but living in their hometown!
RIP to Ronnie and the others and thank you for the memory of a lifetime!
This song was on the radio a lot in the mid-70s when I was in high school. It was one of my favorites at the time. So much great music back then, plus the music from the 60s, which still got a lot of airplay. Tragically, the lead singer of Free Bird, Ronnie Van Zant, was one of the band members who perished in the 1977 plane crash.
Thank God reaction videos are showing newer generations this wonderful music we grew up to! Maybe it'll start a fire under these kids to bring their talent to the for front. I know the talent is out there!
Lead singer Ronnie Vanzant told his daddy when he was 5 years old. When I grow up I'm gonna play them drums and sing rock and roll songs. Its also reported he foreshadowed his death leading up to the plane crash.
They were one of the greatest bands of all time
I live in Jacksonville Florida the hometown of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet & 38 Special. Lynyrd Skynyrd was the name of their high school PE Coach.
my all time fav song, video, still gives me the chills, best song ever. saw them do this live.x
I'm 66, and during our teens and 20's we had no idea how spoiled we were. Great music all the freaking time! (And we had to figure out all the lyrics on our own, unless there were liner notes. Ha)
Think about it, all the girls at this concert is your grandma, love it.
And we can still rock when the music calls 😉
True
It's a great story how this song came into being. The young man in all white, Allen Collins is the youngest member of the band and joined as a teenager. He was very intimidated by th others and never put forth anything. Years into their time together he was heard playing this melody and the main riff one morning in their practice facility and Ronnie, the lead singer and band leader told him it was great. Ronnie would insist on adding the final 2.5 to 4 minutes of the song (it varied when played live) to give Allen a well deserved chance to shine on lead guitar as the song crashes to its culmination. It's a great song, but an even better origin story.
Here I go having to say it again. Every time I watch this video clip I find myself thinking, "Man! Look at all of those beautiful young grandmothers!"
This song is basically a ..... " Rock & Roll" anthem. I lived in the San Francisco Bay area back in 1973 but I did not get to see this concert in person. I did see The Allman Brothers performing at The Cow Palace in Oakland in the early 1970s. There were a lot of extremely talented groups coming out of the south in the 70's. Great reaction. Take care...
Greatest live performance ever...the live performance on The Rolling Stones stage was great too
I just watch the London 1976 version. It’s great but not as great as this one. I think because the American crowd was more into and familiar with Skynryd, especially the girls. Plus the sound and picture quality is much better.
I’ve watched around 30-40 reactions to this song and YOURS is the BEST. Great job 👏
This is the ultimate break up song. Helped me through a lot of toxic relationships in my 20’s back in the 80’s.
So glad you did this reaction video... Haven't I grew up in these times and it just puts a smile on my face seeing all the people and remembering what it was like!!! So glad people like you are appreciating it🎉
Great reaction as always and CONGRATULATIONS ON 100k SUBSCRIBERS !!!!! You deserve that and so much more, one of the most real and honest reactors there is . This Desert Shield/Desert Storm Veteran is proud to call you a fellow American too.
Looks like unity! Happiness!! Concerts today you have to worry about fights, these people all are getting along
I was fortunate enough to see them in concert. Freebird was amazing!
Lynard Skynard & Prince are the concerts I wish I could have seen.😢
This song is so special to me... I grew up listening to this music on the radio in the 70's and it's still so special to me now.. so many many years later!! Thanks! Great reaction video!
That early slide guitar is incredible. You can HEAR the bird floating in circles on the air currents, swooping and diving, and then it builds into the most unreasonable solo of all time.
They don't make music like they used to with very few exceptions. We were blessed growing up in that era, we just didn't know how blessed until years later. When this song came out you couldn't see a band anywhere without someone yelling out "Freebird!"
There is, nor will there ever be, anyone like these men. They're all back together jamming in heaven. There's a monument where the plane crash happen. The words to Freebird are there if you want to look it up. It's beautiful
R.I.P. Gary "The Last Rebel" Rossington, playing the slide solos Wirh his passing, the band is back together. FLY HIGH, FREEBIRD!!!
The picture of the older guys only had one original member. It was the guy in the middle of the photo who was the guy playing the bird sounds in the beginning.
This song hit way different after the plane crash. Listening to the lyrics, you couldn't help put ascribe a whole new meaning to them. For many years after the band re-formed, they wouldn't sing the lyrics but rather would have a stool mid-stage with a fedora on it, lit by a spotlight while the band played the instrumental. Lynyrd Skynyrd provided a big part of the soundtrack to my life as a teen in the 70's with Freebird, Gimme Three Steps, Sweet Home Alabama, I Know A Little, Simple Man, They Call Me The Breeze, and so many others. Freebird also featured in the movie "Kingsman: The Secret Service."
I remember
I know they didn't write call me the breeze hut my god,that's a badass song.the guitar solo and then billy going insane on the piano is just beautiful man
The piano player was a roadie who they didn’t know was a classically trained pianist. He was noodling around on the piano and Ronnie VanZandt heard him and invited him to join the band.
There were 4 other acts at this show. Lynyrd Skynydr was 2nd. They played 11 other songs. This was the last one in their set.
All the wild music at the last was the sound of the bird flying away.
The thing that is making me feel bad is that the drummer who is still alive today, is literally underrated as always no one talks about him 🥲
Drummer has passed away.
@@Scratchingforcash Artimus Pyle? When?
@@66391_Moshup I’m sorry I read your comment as Billy Powell.
Artemus is still alive.
@@66391_Moshup no, I was wrong. I’m sorry about that. I don’t know why but I mixed up Billly Powell with Artemus Pyle and he is indeed alive.
My ex was friends with him and used to jam with him.