500 Greatest Songs of All Time: Lynyrd Skynyrd, 'Free Bird'

500 Greatest Songs of All Time

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1

193

Lynyrd Skynyrd, 'Free Bird'

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Writers: Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant
Producer: Al Kooper
Released: Sept. '73, MCA
12 weeks; No. 19

"What song is it you want to hear?" asks Van Zant on the definitive, 14-minute live version on One More From the Road. But audiences initially didn't want to hear "Free Bird" — dedicated to Duane Allman — until Collins added an uptempo section to the end of the ballad and the overlapping guitars started to boogie.

Appears on: One More From the Road (MCA)