Skynyrd

Jeffrey St. Clair sitka at home.com
Wed Nov 17 12:01:49 PST 1999


Nathan Newman wrote:


> Definately say more on Lynyrd Skynyrd, since it raises an interesting
> question if they were radicals. Most folks who hear "Sweet Home Alabama"
> take it as a defense of Wallace and a tell-off of liberals like Neil Young,
> both liberals and conservatives who sing it.

Well, it is most certainly a "tell-off" to the broadside liberalism expressed by Neil Young (infamous for spouting off half-cocked) in songs like Southern Man and Alabama. Ronnie Van Zandt and Gary Rossington grew up in a poor, integrated section of Jacksonville, Florida. Their story is well-told in a brilliant new book by Lee Ballinger, co-editor of the indispensible Rock and Rap Confidential, title Lynyrd Skynyrd, an oral history. (1999 Spike Books) Here are some quotes. But damn it, go out and buy the book--

Artimus Pyle (drummer)-- Ronnie was answering a song by a person that he respected and saying "I want to set you straight. Southern man ain't like that anymore. We don't have bullwhips. We ain't whippin' anybody. At least I'm not. And if somebody is, I'll help you fight against them."...Ronnie Van Zant would give the shirt off his back to anyone, black or white, it didn't matter. People say he hated Neil Young? Neil and Ronnie were friends Neil and Ronnie were going to write a song together but their schedules conflicted and then Ronnie was killed. I talked to Neil Young years later and he loved the song and he was looking forward to writing with Ronnie.

Gary Rossington (guitarist) We played a lot in Alabama and we liked it. We'd hear Neil Young's Southern Man and Alabama. And we thought, Hey, he's from from Canada. He ain't never been here, so he shouldn't cut it down. We loved Neil Young, so that song was kind of a joke.

Ronnie Van Zant (singer) Yeah, I did attack him in that song. "What are you talking about? From what I've been told, you were born in Canada."...We thought Neil Young was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two. The lyrics about the governor were misunderstood. The general public didn't notice the words "Boo! Boo! Boo!" after that particular line, and the media only picked up on the reference to the people loving the governor. Of course I don't agree with everything Wallace says. I don't like what he says about blacks...We're southern rebels, but more than that, we know the difference between right and wrong. We received a plaque from Gov. Wallace to become a Lt. Col. in the state militia, which is a bullshit gimmick thing. My father supports Wallace, but that doesn't mean I have to. Wallace and I have very little in common, and besides that, I disagree with a lot of his views. I've heard him talk and wanted to ask him about his views on blacks and why he has such poor education and such a low shool rate there, such a low housing rate.

John Swenson (Rolling Stone critic, toured with LS)-- That song was very easy to take a straightforward, glossy look at and think you knew what it meant. It was a much more complex song than that. It only looks like an endorsement of Wallace. "In Birmingham, *they* love the governor." What he's saying about Watergate there is that he thinks politics is totally corrupt.

Leon Wilkinson (bassist) I support Wallace about as much as your average American supported Hitler.

Neil Young They play like they mean it. I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs.


> Whatever the intentions of the
> original propagandists, if it ends up being overwhelmingly used by racists
> and apologists, why defend them? A lot of militia types and their defenders
> (you and Cockburn) may be right about core beliefs, but if the consumers of
> their rhetoric are racists or other authoritarians, an attack on
> militia-style organizations is justified if only as a condemnation of a
> wayward anti-corporate strategy.
>
> -- Nathan Newman



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