CD Reviews: Lynyrd Skynyrd and Artimus Pyle

—LYNYRD SKYNYRD, “God & Guns” (Roadrunner Records)

At long last, lead singer Johnny Van Zant takes full control of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. And, if you have an open mind, that’s a good thing.

Skynyrd’s recently released “God & Guns” collection has, so far, been warmly received, climbing into the Top 20 of the Billboard album charts – making it the band’s highest debut since the late 1970s.
This, still, is not the Skynyrd of the 1970s. Only one regular member of the band remains from that era – lead guitarist Gary Rossington.
The band’s original lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, died at age 29 in an October 1977 plane crash. The voice behind “Sweet Home Alabama,” Ronnie has now been gone longer than he was alive.

Still, the big wheels keep on turning.

Ronnie’s youngest brother, Johnny, took over as lead vocalist when Lynyrd Skynyrd reformed in 1987. The Skynyrd band has since issued a series of albums. But until “God & Guns,” only 2003’s “Vicious Cycle” has cracked Billboard’s Top 40.

Over the past decade, the gruffy-voiced Johnny Van Zant has won critical acclaim and chart success for a string of rock and country albums recorded with his other brother, Donnie Van Zant.

Taking that into account, it makes sense, commercially, that much of “God & Guns” should reflect the modern-day country music influence of Johnny Van Zant.

The trouble is, while this record’s country ballad “Unwrite That Song” is one of the strongest tracks ever released by Johnny Van Zant, it is not something that Ronnie Van Zant would have sang.

Then, too, neither is the self-promoting “Skynyrd Nation” or the album’s finest hard rock song, “Still Unbroken.”

Much of “God & Guns,” with its arena-style rock, has trouble relating, side-by-side, to the classic Skynyrd sound of albums like “Nuthin’ Fancy” (1975) and “Second Helping” (1974).

“God & Guns” does, however, provide an excellent showcase of who plays in the band today. It makes a competent follow-up to any of Van Zant’s recent solo records.

It also soundly continues the mission of guitarist Rickey Medlocke, who fronted the hard-rocking Blackfoot for 20 years, after playing drums with an early version of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1971.

Both “That Ain’t My America” and “Simple Life” find the band gravitating toward modern country.

The slow and easy stew of “Southern Ways,” meanwhile, picks up where parts of Skynyrd’s indestructible “Sweet Home Alabama” left off, delivering an ode to the St. John’s River of Florida and quiet days in the south.

“Southern Ways” comes as close as it gets to being a Ronnie Van Zant-style tune on “God & Guns.” The only other exception is “Hobo Kinda Man,” which, unfortunately, is available only on this record’s limited-edition two-disc set.

—ARTIMUS PYLE, “Artimus Venomous” (Storm Dog Records)

This record is so good, you won’t believe it – until you’ve heard it.
Released in 2007, the hard-to-find “Artimus Venomous” solo album by former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle contains thinly veiled attacks on various Skynyrd band members, plus a pointed shot at “Blood Sucking Weasel Attorneys.”
The lyrics are harsh. But, most of the time, this ex-Marine simply sounds funny on songs called “Brother Walk On By” and “Dead Rock Stars’ Widows, Gigolos, Pocket Money.”

What’s more, if you know Skynyrd’s soap opera story, the lyrics are that much more meaningful – and even more hilarious.
What may be most surprising is this record’s stripped-down sound, offering classic Lynyrd Skynyrd-style riffs on tracks like “Artimus Venomous” and “Spit.”

Other former Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ed King, JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins show up on various cuts, including a rocking remake of Skynyrd’s “Trust.”

—Artimus Pyle is performing at Graham’s Forge, Va., at the Major Grahams Mansion on Oct. 31, 6 p.m., in Wythe County, along with the Tommy Edwards Band. The venue is located just off I-81 Exit 84. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $10 for Wythe County residents and $10 with college ID. Visit http://www.grahamfestusa.com.

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