Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping

With staples such as "Sweet Home Alabama," "Workin' for MCA," and the J.J. Cale-penned "Call Me the Breeze," Skynyrd's second captures the Jacksonville, Florida, band at the height of its powers, coming off the success of "Free Bird" and "Gimme Three Steps" from their 1973 debut. Backed by a tight rhythm section and the mighty three-guitar attack of Allen Collins, Ed King, and Gary Rossington, singer Ronnie Van Zant (credited in the album notes for "Vocals, J&B") turns in a legendary performance on the urgent blues ballad "I Need You," the cautionary "The Needle and the Spoon," and "The Ballad of Curtis Loew," the story of a young white boy sitting at the feet of an old black Dobro master. Along with Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and One More from the Road, Second Helping remains Skynyrd's finest hour. --James Rotondi