The link between Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’ and Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’
For numerous reasons, ‘Free Bird’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd is the Southern rock band’s most lauded song. Known for its glistening moments and the searing extended solos, it has soundtracked everything from teenage stoners lighting up in dusty basements to the lofty heights of Hollywood. The legendary rock moment has an extensive backstory, including a subtle link to a Bob Dylan classic.
Per the account of late guitarist Gary Rossington, for two years after his fellow axeman Allen Collins wrote the initial chords, the band’s frontman Ronnie Van Zant was insistent that there were just too many chords for him to create a palpable melody on top of. He maintained that his vocal harmony had to change with the chord progression.
However, in a familiar tale, after a while of sitting on the progression, Collins played it once more. It was then that a spark happened within Van Zant, and he asked Collins to repeat it. He wrote the lyrics and melody in under 20 minutes in a complete inversion of his original stance. Interestingly, the iconic guitar solos that close out the song were first added to give the exhausted frontman a rest, as the band played numerous shows per day during that era.
During this period of trialling the song, Lynyrd Skynyrd discovered that their roadie, Billy Powell, a piano whizz, had written an introduction, which they loved. Immediately after first hearing it, they included it as the cherry on the cake and formally invited him to bolster their ranks as keyboardist extraordinaire.
How is ‘Free Bird’ connected to ‘Like a Rolling Stone’?
This staple Southern rock was produced by New Yorker Al Kooper. A founding member of the group Blood, Sweat and Tears throughout the previous decade and the 1970s, he had found acclaim as a prolific studio musician, which included laying down the timeless organ on Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, the French Horn and piano on The Rolling Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’, and lead guitar on Rita Coolidge’s ‘The Lady’s Not for Sale’. He also had a defining impact on the outcome of ‘Free Bird’.
He discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd at a 1972 gig in Atlanta, Georgia, and instantly gelled with them, facilitating their sound and readying it for the masses. He would then produce their following two albums after the group’s 1973 debut (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd).
Kooper changed the opening section of ‘Free Bird’ from a piano to the heady organ that fans love today. He convinced the band that it should be the organ that kicked off the classic, not the piano’s plinky timbre. To show them how it should be done, the studio veteran played the instrument on the track and is questionably credited on the final product as “Roosevelt Gook”. No one should have been surprised by his fruitful addition to the song, though; the organ in ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was his own doing.
Speaking to Blender, Rossington described how Kooper brought ‘Free Bird’ to life: “Al put the organ on the front, which was a very good idea. He also helped me get the sound of the delayed slide guitar that I play – it’s actually me playing the same thing twice, recording one on top of the other, so it sounds kind of slurry, echoey.”
Listen to ‘Free Bird’ below.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.