Second Helping

Quality 0.50 · 1 view · Updated 2 months ago

title: "Second Helping" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lynyrd-skynyrd-albums", "1974-albums", "mca-records-albums", "albums-produced-by-al-kooper", "boogie-rock-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Helping" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameSecond Helping
typeAlbum
artistLynyrd Skynyrd
coverSecondHelpingLynyrdSkynyrd.jpg
releasedApril 15, 1974
recordedJune 1973 – January 1974
studioStudio One, Doraville, Georgia (track 1)
Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California
genre{{flatlist
*hard rock<ref name"newrs"/
length
label{{flatlist
producerAl Kooper
prev_title(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)
prev_year1973
next_titleNuthin' Fancy
next_year1975
misc{{Singles
nameSecond Helping
typestudio
single1Don't Ask Me No Questions
single1dateApril 1974
single2Sweet Home Alabama
single2dateJune 24, 1974
::

| name = Second Helping | type = Album | artist = Lynyrd Skynyrd | cover = SecondHelpingLynyrdSkynyrd.jpg | alt = | released = April 15, 1974 | recorded = June 1973 – January 1974 | venue = | studio = Studio One, Doraville, Georgia (track 1) Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California | genre = {{flatlist|

Second Helping is the second studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on April 15, 1974. It features the band's biggest hit single, "Sweet Home Alabama", an answer song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man",{{cite journal |title = Voices of Hate, Sounds of Hybridity: Black Music and the Complexities of Racism |author = Back, Les |journal = Black Music Research Journal |volume = 20 |issue = 2 |pages = 142–143 |year = 2000|doi = 10.2307/779464 |jstor = 779464

Second Helping reached #12 on the Billboard album charts. The RIAA certified it Gold on September 20, 1974, and Double Platinum on July 21, 1987.

Background

After the success of their debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Second Helping features Ed King, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington all collaborating with Ronnie Van Zant on the songwriting, and cemented the band's breakthrough.

Critical reception

|rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = |rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide |rev2Score = A− |rev3 = Creem |rev3Score = B− | rev4 = Rolling Stone | rev4Score = (favourable) | rev5 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music | rev5Score = | rev6 = MusicHound Rock | rev6Score = 3.5/5 | rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev7Score = | rev8 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide | rev8Score = | rev9 = Tom Hull | rev9Score = B− Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1974, Gordon Fletcher said Lynyrd Skynyrd performs a consistent style of Southern music-influenced blues rock similar to the Allman Brothers Band, but lacks their "sophistication and professionalism. If a song doesn't feel right to the Brothers, they work on it until it does; if it isn't right to Lynyrd Skynyrd, they are more likely to crank up their amps and blast their way through the bottleneck." Fletcher concluded that Second Helping is distinct from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) "only by a certain mellowing out that indicates they may eventually acquire a level of savoirfaire to realize their many capabilities".

Robert Christgau in Creem was also lukewarm, saying Lynyrd Skynyrd is "still a substantial, tasteful band, but I have a hunch they blew their best stuff on the first platter." Christgau warmed to the album later, reappraising it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981); he observed "infectious putdowns of rock businessmen, rock journalists, and heroin", and "great formula" in general: "When it rocks, three guitarists and a keyboard player pile elementary riffs and feedback noises into dense combinations broken by preplanned solos, while at quieter moments the spare vocabulary of the best Southern folk music is evoked or just plain duplicated."

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said Second Helping "replicated all the strengths" of the first album's expert Southern rock "but was a little tighter and a little more professional." Houston Press placed it #2 on its list of "Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums."

Track listing

| headline = Side one | extra_column = | title1 = Sweet Home Alabama | length1 = 4:43 | writer1 = {{flatlist|

  • Ed King

  • Gary Rossington

  • Ronnie Van Zant}} | extra1 = | title2 = I Need You | length2 = 6:55 | writer2 = {{flatlist|

  • King

  • Rossington

  • Van Zant}} | extra2 = | title3 = Don't Ask Me No Questions | length3 = 3:29 | writer3 = {{flatlist|

  • Rossington

  • Van Zant}} | extra3 = | title4 = Workin' for MCA | length4 = 4:49 | writer4 = {{flatlist|

  • King

  • Van Zant}} | extra4 = | headline = Side two | extra_column = | title1 = The Ballad of Curtis Loew | length1 = 4:51 | writer1 = {{flatlist|

  • Allen Collins

  • Van Zant}} | extra1 = | title2 = Swamp Music | length2 = 3:31 | writer2 = {{flatlist|

  • King

  • Van Zant}} | extra2 = | title3 = The Needle and the Spoon | length3 = 3:53 | writer3 = {{flatlist|

  • Collins

  • Van Zant}} | extra3 = | title4 = Call Me the Breeze | length4 = 5:09 | writer4 = J. J. Cale | extra4 =

  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–8 on CD reissues.

| headline = 1997 CD reissue bonus tracks | extra_column = | title9 = Don't Ask Me No Questions | note9 = Single Version | length9 = 3:31 | writer9 = {{flatlist|

  • Rossington

  • Van Zant}} | extra9 = | title10 = Was I Right Or Wrong | note10 = Demo | length10 = 5:33 | writer10 = {{flatlist|

  • Van Zant

  • Rossington}} | extra10 = | title11 = Take Your Time | note11 = Demo | length11 = 7:29 | writer11 = {{flatlist|

  • Van Zant

  • King}} | extra11 =

  • Track 9 previously released as the band's lead single in April 1974

  • Track 10 previously unreleased

  • Track 11 previously released on Legend

Personnel

;Lynyrd Skynyrd

;Additional personnel

  • Mike Porter – drums on "I Need You"
  • Merry Clayton, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews – background vocals on "Sweet Home Alabama"
  • Bobby Keys, Trevor Lawrence and Steve Madaio – horns on "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and "Call Me the Breeze"
  • Al Kooper – backing vocals, piano on "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and "The Ballad of Curtis Loew", acoustic guitar on "The Ballad of Curtis Loew"

Charts

::data[format=table] | Chart (1974) | Peak position | |---|---| ::

Certifications

Notes

References

References

  1. [{{AllMusic
  2. Christgau, Robert. (1981). "[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]". [[Ticknor & Fields]].
  3. Fletcher, Gordon. (July 4, 1974). "Second Helping". [[Rolling Stone]].
  4. (2007). "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". Omnibus.
  5. (1996). "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide". Visible Ink.
  6. (2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". Simon & Schuster.
  7. (2004). "[[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]". Simon and Schuster.
  8. Hull, Tom. (April 1975). "The Rekord Report: First Card".
  9. Christgau, Robert. (September 1974). "The Christgau Consumer Guide".
  10. (April 26, 2011). "Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

lynyrd-skynyrd-albums1974-albumsmca-records-albumsalbums-produced-by-al-kooperboogie-rock-albums