“Comin’ Home”

After a few weeks working out in the back yard and listening to all three of the CD’s that came from some Lynyrd Skynyrd [3 CD Box Set] that I bought many years ago over and over, one song that I had forgot about was Comin’ Home off of the posthumous album Skynyrd’s First and… Last that was release one year after the tragic plane crash that killed band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Steve’s sister Cassie Gaines along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots.

Skynyrd’s First and… Last for those that might not know about it was the album that had many songs on it that the band had recorded back in 1971 and 1972  but never had put down on vinyl since it was all dumped before their first record (pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd) was released in July 1973.

Many of the tunes on Skynyrd’s First and… Last gives us a glimpse of things to come from the band. Songs like “Down South Jukin”, “Preachers Daughter”, “Was I Right or Wrong” and “Things Going On” in it’s original state show us that even early on Ronnie Van Zant had the ability to write lyrics for Southern Rock that couldn’t be beat by any other Southern artist. For that matter he was showing people why he would become one of the best song writers for a whole generation. The rest of the band was giving us a taste of  what would become known as “one of the greatest live bands of the 70’s” in their early state. They knew what the words Rock and Roll meant and you can hear how tight they had become in just a few years.

“Comin’ Home” seems different to me then most other Skynyrd tunes by them but at the same time there is no mistaking it for being Lynyrd Skynyrd. Hard not to with Van Zant’s voice and the screeching guitar sounds of Gary Rossington, Allen Collins and Ed King. You would think that the tune was written at the end of the original bands run not at the beginning with it being about live of the road and wanting to be Comin’ Home. Thank You to Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Bob Burns for recording this 5 minute 30 second special treat for us.

Video courtesy of František Rajec