There are many stories concerning the iconic tune Sweet Home Alabama. One could spend countless hours online researching the various theories of the song’s meaning, the “feud” between the band and Neil Young based on his songs “Southern Man and “Alabama” or what Skynyrd thought about Alabama Governor George Wallace. Possibly even more intriguing are the stories of how the song came to be and its role in Second Helping and how it became an iconic part of Southern music history.
By the 1970s, Al Kooper had built one of the most impressive resumés in rock n’ roll. In 1967, he formed Blood, Sweat & Tears, He had written hit songs, and played with Stephen Stills, The Who. Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, B.B. King, and Bob Dylan. Al Kooper was familiar with Atlanta, having played in the 1969 Atlanta International Pop Festival. He moved to Atlanta in 1972, searching for musical talent to sign and produce. He had a relationship with the Candymen, that had been the backup band for Roy Orbison but then became successful independently. They, in turn, had a connection to Studio One in Doraville through their lead singer Rodney Justo, later to become the first lead singer for the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and through their manager, Buddy Buie.
Ed King became acquainted with Lynyrd Skynryd in 1968 when they were still known as the One Percenters. The Florida band had opened for King’s band, The Strawberry Alarm Clock. He was recruited to join Skynyrd to replace Leon Wilkeson and played bass on the Pronounced album. Soon Wilkeson returned to the band and King moved to guitar, creating what they came to call “The Three Guitar Army.”
Click here for a story about a fond memory of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Al Kooper first signed Atlanta band Mose Jones to a contract and recorded an album with them. Kooper then In July 1972, he saw Lynyrd Skynyrd playing in a downtown Atlanta club called Funnochio’s. It took some time and persuasion, but he eventually signed Skynyrd to a management contract and agreed to produce their first album.
The first album was recorded at Doraville, GA/s Studio One. Atlanta music legends Bob “Tub” Langford and Rodney Mills were engineers on some of the album’s tracks.
When the album was completed, Kooper did not yet have Skynyrd signed to a contract with a record company. He traveled to L.A. to set up SOS Records, which would release the Pronounced album in conjunction with MCA. While there, he ran into his friend Pete Townsend from the Who. They were setting up a tour in the fall to support their album “Quadrophenia.” Townsend asked Kooper if he had a band that could support them, and he suggested Skynyrd. Townsend accepted.
After wrapping the recording of Pronounced, the band returned to Jacksonville and continued practicing in the now-famous “Hell House. That’s where Sweet Home Alabama came into existence. Gary Rossington remembered that it all started with a riff he was playing. Van Zant told him to keep playing it, and soon Gary and Ed had finished the melody, and Ronnie had written the words. The melody for the song was written in about 15 minutes and the lyrics in less than two hours.
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Ed King dreamt the guitar solos in his sleep, saying they came to him note for note. According to producer Al Kooper, the solos would later be recorded in the wrong key, but it just worked, and the band didn’t want to change it.
Ronnie Van Zant insisted that the band go into the studio immediately to record the new song, as he felt it was unique and didn’t want to lose anything. The band headed to Studio One and recorded just that song in June 1973. The rest of the album Second Helping wasn’t recorded until the following year at Record Plant Studios in L.A.
The song starts off with a count off, one, two, three, provided by Ed King. Usually used as a starting mark for recording in the studio, then edited out of the final version, the band chose to leave it in. After the line that mentions Neil Young, you can barely hear “Southern Man” voiced in the background. Rumors persisted for years that it was a sample of a Young vocal, but it was producer Al Kooper that sang the line. Without the knowledge or permission of the band, the song includes backup vocals by two of the most prolific and noted studio singers, Merry Clayton and Clydie King. Kooper added them in L.A. Clayton had provided lead vocals with Mick Jagger on the Rolling Stones hit “Gimme Shelter” and tracks with Ray Charles, Ringo Starr, Coldplay, and others. King had appeared on recordings with Humble Pie, the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, and Joe Walsh.
Studio One also produced a lot of hits outside of the Southern rock genre. Moonlight Feels Right was one of them. Click for the story.
In a 2014 interview, Ed King said they knew that they would have a hit with the song. After the recording was finished, he recalled Ronnie Van Zant saying, “There’s our Ramblin’ Man.” King later said, “The Allmans had their big hit and he said that was ours. I believed it, too—it was just a very cool song, from the moment we wrote it—it was like a feel-good song.”
