It’s been 50 years to the day since Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” was first released in 1974 and became a tune recognized and beloved by listeners all over the world regardless of whether they’ve ever been to Alabama (or could point it out on a map, for that matter).
While the meanings to the song’s lyrics are often debated, even after all this time, no one can argue that anytime that now iconic opening guitar riff starts, music lovers from Alabama and beyond are quick to do as lead singer Ronnie Van Zant’s call to “turn it up”.
So with that in mind, here’s a look at the history of the song, its inspiration and more.
From left, Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington during a January 1975 concert at the Academy of Music in New York City. The band would play at Rickwood Field in Birmingham a few months later, in the middle of a concert trek nicknamed the "Torture Tour."(Photo by Leonard M. DeLessio/Corbis via Getty Images)
It’s Lynyrd Skynyrd’s highest charting single.
Lynyrd Skynyrd released “Sweet Home Alabama” on their second album, aptly titled “Second Helping,” in 1974 after recording it the previous year at Studio One in Doraville, Ga. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year -- making it the band’s highest charting single -- and has since been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
None of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s band members are from Alabama.
All of the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were from Florida with the exception of Ed King, who was originally from California. The band was inspired to write “Sweet Home Alabama” though after recording an album at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1970 and touring the state, according to Garden & Gun.
“We had toured there, going all around playing clubs and National Guard armories,” Gary Rossington told Garden & Gun during an interview in 2015. “Everyone was real nice. When we were out in the country driving all the time, we would listen to the radio. Neil Young had ‘Southern Man,’ and it was kind of cutting the South down. And so Ronnie just said, ‘We need to show people how the real Alabama is.’”
Speaking of that alleged feud with Neil Young...
With lyrics like “Well, I hope Neil Young will remember, A Southern man don’t need him around anyhow,” it’s not hard to see why many speculated there was a feud between the band and Canadian singer Neil Young. However, members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have said it was simple a response to Young’s songs “Southern Man” and “Alabama,” which they felt portrayed the state in a negative light. However, any feud existed only in song as the band was open about being fans of Young’s music, according to Rolling Stone. By all accounts, Young returned the sentiment -- even performing a medley of “Alabama” and “Sweet Home Alabama” in 1977 following the plane crash that took the lives of three members of the band.
The guitar solos came to Ed King in a dream.
Guitarist Ed King, who was known for sleeping with his guitar next to his bed, said the two guitar solos featured in “Sweet Home Alabama,” including that iconic opening riff, came to him, note-for-note, in a dream. Despite the song’s producer Al Kooper arguing they were in the wrong key, King is quoted as calling it “one of those Southern mystical things you can’t change.”
ATLANTA - AUGUST 12: Lynyrd Skynyrd singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant works on "Street Survivors" at Studio I on August 12, 1977 in Doraville Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tom Hill/Getty Images)Getty Images
That ‘Turn It Up’ wasn’t planned.
“Sweet Home Alabama” starts off with a planned count of “1-2-3,” said by guitarist Ed King while that “turn it up” you hear is from lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, which was not planned, reports SongFacts.com. He was just speaking to the sound engineer about his headset, but the band decided to leave it in.
It’s been used on more on more than a dozen soundtracks.
Since its release, “Sweet Home Alabama” has been featured on the soundtracks for several movies, television shows and video games, according to SongFacts.com. Those include “Forrest Gump,” “Con Air,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “That ‘70s show,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Knight Rider, “8 Mile” and, of course, the 2002 rom-com movie “Sweet Home Alabama”.
It’s Swampers; not swamplands.
The lyric “Muscle Shoals has got The Swampers” is referring to the musicians at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, where the band recorded and were inspired to write “Sweet Home Alabama” in the first place, according to SongFacts.com. However, the lyric is often misheard as ““Muscle Shoals has got the swamplands”.
Montgomery gets a mention too.
While the Muscle Shoals namedrop is clear and the Birmingham reference is clear, they aren’t the only Alabama cities to make it in the song. Though it’s hard to understand, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant says “Montgomery’s got the answer” at the end of the song, alluding to the state’s capitol (and probably the lawmakers there too.)
The ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ license plate was a hit too.
In 2008, then-Governor Bob Riley made “Sweet Home Alabama” part of the state’s tourism campaign. In 2009, an Alabama license plate design featuring the phrase was also created and was voted “the country’s favorite license plate slogan” before being discontinued in 2014.
ATLANTA - MAY 6: (L-R) Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins work with producer Al Kooper on "Pronounced Lynyrd Skynyrd" with engineer Bob “Tub” Langford looking on in the control room at Studio I on May 6, 1973 in Doraville-Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Tom Hill/Getty Images)Getty Images
And in case you were wondering...
The name “Lynyrd Skynyrd” was inspired by a gym teacher, named Leonard Skinner, at the high school founding guitarist Gary Rossington attended in Jacksonville, Fla., in the 1960s, according to Garden and Gun. The teacher sent Rossington to the principal’s office because his hair was too long, and forever tied himself to music history in the process.