Lynyrd Skynyrd - Street Survivors [Deluxe Edition]

Street Survivors is an album that will always be linked with tragedy because it came out three days before “the plane crash.” What a shame because there’s music here that would be memorable in its own right if not for tragedy. So much has been written about the original album that I won’t even bother going there. In 2008 Geffen Records release a Deluxe Edition of Street Survivors. Unlike other deluxe editions of classic albums that have maybe a few B-sides of singles and the odd live cut, the Deluxe Version is different. It contains not only the remastered version of the album released in October 1977 [which sounds great, BTW], but also what came before it. Street Survivors was recorded twice. The original version, produced by Tom Dowd, is presented here in full. Kevin Elson, the band’s live sound engineer, heard the album and told the band what they didn’t want to hear. He told them “If you release this album, you career’s over.” To him, the performances on the original album lacked “punch” and sounded lifeless in comparison to what he knew the band was capable of producing. He and Ronnie Van Zant almost came to blows over what he told the band because the band loved and revered Tom Dowd. They didn’t want to hear that a Tom Dowd production sounded like crap. Luckily for Elson, new guitarist Steve Gaines agreed with him. Such was Ronnie Van Zant’s respect for Steve Gaines that he had the band re-record the album.

When you hear both the original album and the album that eventually got released, you can hear that Kevin Elson was right. Some of the Dowd sessions simply lacked power. The songs from the original were fine, it’s the performances that were lacking, but only on some of the tracks. The most glaring example of the need for a complete re-recording was That Smell. There are two versions that didn’t make the cut. The original first take had an extended guitar jam that lasted for about two minutes. The same take, which became the first original master, faded out before the guitar jam. Both are presented here. Compared to what you now hear on classic rock radio, these versions sound like rough demos, even though they were recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami. Some of the songs needed just a little tinkering. The original Ain’t No Good Life had the Honkettes singing backup – they didn’t make the cut for the final release [it sounds better without them]. The original What’s Your Name lacked the horns that the released version had [adding the horns = good move], while the original I Never Dreamed didn’t have drums [this one's kind of cool without the drums]. Georgia Peaches and Sweet Little Missy, which were supposed to be on the original release, didn’t make the cut, but they are revived for the Deluxe Edition. They were replaced by the older song One More Time [from 1971 Muscle Shoals sessions with producer Jimmy Johnson] and I Know a Little. The band cut a demo of Sweet Little Missy in Jacksonville, and it sounded better than what they recorded with Tom Dowd. Tom Dowd was a fine producer, but he just couldn’t get good performances out of the band for all the songs on Street Survivors. The band recorded Merle Haggard’s Honky Tonk Night Time Man. As an afterthought, Ronnie Van Zant wrote one final song called Jacksonville Kid. He recorded the vocal over the Honky Tonk Night Time Man backing track, but decided not to use it. It is reported to be the last song Ronnie Van Zant wrote. It’s not bad, but Haggard’s song was better and the band was right to keep it for the Street Survivors release.

Finally, to close the Deluxe Edition there are five live tracks taken from a concert in Fresno, California. The band previewed You Got That Right, That Smell, What’s Your Name and Ain’t No Good Life [Gimme Three Steps is the fifth live cut]. The band is in fine form. The audio isn’t so good, but that’s what one can expect of a mid-1970s bootleg recording. I for one could do without the live tracks presented here. But the amateur musicologist in me appreciates the alternate studio versions and the outtakes. If you are a Skynyrd completist, this version of Street Survivors is for you.