Still struggling to get the Mormon out of your system? Never fear - Ronnie is here.

I don't think I really recovered from Mormonism until my soul was cleansed by the hellacious badass rock 'n roll of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Not "Sweet Home Alabama". I mean...the other stuff. The deeper stuff. Songs like "On the Hunt", or "Poison Whiskey", or "Saturday Night Special", or "I'm a Country Boy", or "I Need You", or so many others.

The guitars are awesome. The melodies are awesome. The piano is awesome. And the lyrics, written by redneck prophet Ronnie Van Zant, are just as fine, clever, soulful, raunchy, and occasionally moving, as can be. I mean, how can anyone listen to "Simple Man", and not feel the spirit?

If you've ever found yourself driving around pining for the old days, for all the old cult tunes, slap yourself in the face, go buy the first Lynyrd Skynyrd album (the title is: "Pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd"), or the album "Nuthin' Fancy", roll down the windows, and crank it up.

You'll be thankful.

Agree 100%. A bit of early ZZ Top cranked up to full volume helps as well.

^ Yup. My testimony is unshakable regarding the everlasting truth of the saints ZZ Top.

at the very least, feel the blood pressure dropping and the no-worries kick in. Simple Man is amazing.

Zimbono - One of my faves: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDEHZNirvF0

This made my night.

It's been too long, I need to go find myself a live blues show.

Listening to that song IS a religious experience.

Free Bird doesn't even scratch the surface. Listen to the Demo version of "Mr. Banker". There is an excellent (live) version of "Crossroads" that they did.

Allen Collins was, and remains, a very underated guitarist. Love the main riff for "Trust". One of the most soulful things you will ever hear is "The Four Walls of Raiford"

F THAT.

I put on some violent femmes. Takes the morg out real quick

Country Death Song and Blister in the Sun are great songs by the Femmes.

Hell, yeah. Or put on some Dead Kennedys and that will take the Mo right out of you.

I prefer the Gov'T Mule version of "Simple Man." Warren Haynes' voice vibrates my body. I don't hate on Skynard, but I could live a few years without hearing Sweet Home Alabama again.

I love watching skynrd. Check out their performances on shows like Old Grey Whistle Test. It's so amazing.

Tal, I read your blog post the other day. Your trip with your children brought back many memories.

Thanks for putting into words what I feel while listening to Skynyrd.

I am a guitarist as well; their licks and chops are second to NONE!

Thanks for the kind words, breedumyung!

johnnyboy - I've listened to lots of Violent Femmes. But have you listened to lots of Skynyrd? (No). I think you ought to give that a try!

drunksailor - Good points. How about "Was I Right or Wrong?" Amazing!

Agreed, Bamboozled.

I've listened to plenty of skynrd but I'm more of an allman brothers midnight rider type of guy. I'm also a professional musician so I listen to lots of music. I was just (as the Brits say) taking the piss ;)

Hell yes.

Might I also suggest seeing a live show! Doesn't even have to be big or expensive, an average band starts to sound better after a couple beers!

... whiskey bottles , and brand new cars ... oak tree you're in my way !!! Love it !

I loved "Simple Man" when I was twenty. I had fully broken off with the madness and perfection-seeking of the Mormon subculture. I wanted to live a simple, priesthood-free life as my own man. Still do at 56.

These songs are all great...but The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd are also good for getting any "Mormony virus" out of one's system.

Agreed. Just before I left, I listened to The Wall like a personal anthem. Especially 'Hey You' and "Happiest Days of Our Lives/Another Brick in the Wall". Even though that last song is referring to the public education system, I think it describes childhood in the TSCC to a T.
"We don't need no thought control." " Pouring derision on everything we did, exposing every weakness however carefully hid."

Also, RUSH helped. Freewill and Tom Sawyer, anybody???
Subconsciously, I ate that music up.

Thank you, Tal! Throw back a shot of whiskey, turn up the volume and rock out!

I never cared for Skynyrd. I've gotta love "Sweet Home Alabama" because it's their home, but I've always found "Free Bird" to be quite tedious...kind of like the 3-hour block schedule, but for stoners.

"All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied." and "Follow your heart and nothing else."

Definitely a contrast to my father telling me, "I hope you fail."

Yeah Simple Man was one of my "Recovery Songs" when I left at 17. I think it struck such a cord with me because it is all about a parent's simple love for their child and wanting nothing but the child's true happiness.

I've been out for just over a year. Drank coffee today. Usually I get thought in my mind that tells me I shouldn't drink it. I quickly cast it aside. Anyway, drank my cup o joe today and the thought didn't come! It felt normal for once to drink coffee!

My brother introduced me to Pronounced lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd when I was 9 years old. I am now 46, and it is my favourite lp.

I got a few converts along the way who realized the greatness of this record.

It used to drive me nuts when I was younger and would talk about music tastes and LS would come up. 99 percent of the time I heard and still hear "Oh yeah, sweet home alabama. That's a good song."

I would be like dude you don't know LS.

One of the best road trips I ever had was a camping trip driving from Edmonton to Banff. We played the shit out of that cassette.

Cheers Tal for spreading the true gospel.

It's only what any disciple of St. Ronnie would do