I’ve always liked the sound of this song, and never gave much thought to the lyrics. I really didn’t understand the reference to Neil Young until I started learning the song and did a bit of research.
This song was written in response to Neil Young’s songs “Alabama” and “Southern Man”, in which Mr. Young took the South to task for slavery and the aftermath. You can read the whole story here, under the “Conflict” section: Sweet Home Alabama - Wikipedia
For some reason the volume seems a bit low on this, so you might have to boost it a bit. I was 0.8 db off the mark but the level seems low to me.
I only videoed the riff/rhythm track, so my aplolgy if it’s a bit boring.
Guitars and bass > Strat
Drums played on keyboard through MT Power Drums
Piano played on keyboard through Addictive Keys (Funky upright)
Loved it Dave. Been working on this off and on but slow fingers are hampering progress but I’ll get there one day. There was a lot of hyped up acrimony about Ronnie and Neil because of the song but as I recall it was more the music media stoking the fires. Great song, great cover.
Hi Dave,
Nice job, you put the whole song together yourself…man that`s great …
Just like the gentlemen above, I’m also working on this song… the beginning is already fine…I find the rest a bit less to practice because I don’t sing or want to record it…but for me the most fun is in the beginning …I’ll post that in some thread some day…
Greetings,Rogier
wow! That’s a great rendition of the song, very well done!
Awesome production as well and not too talk about the part, you all did it yourself. Very impressive - Chapeau! I really enjoyed this listen a lot, love this tune anyways and you did it so well. Thanks for sharing this one!
Hi Dave, that’s absolutely awesome !
So impressive that you played all the instruments yourself, sung (great voice, btw), and put everything together .
Very enjoyable version of this fantastic song.
Congratulations!!
Hi Dave, this is one of my dreamer songs. I actually did a complete beginners campfire version as one of my first AVOYPs. So when I saw the title and saw that it was one of your covers it got me all excited to watch earlier today and as usual you delivered another top notch production which I enjoyed very much. Well done.
That was awesome Dave, I loved it. Such a great song, and so many cool riffs for a song that could also be mostly played in 3 open chords. I thought your lead was spot on, and I really enjoyed just watching the rhythm part, not boring at all!
Hi, Toby. I know you’ll get it. I felt like all thumbs on the fretboard when I started this. Patience, practice, repetition, repeat. I don’t know the “true” story behind hype but I would assume it’s somewhere in the middle. I’m glad you liked this version. I appreciate your comments.
Hey, Shane, just keep at it and you’ll get it. I thought this was going to be an easy one to put together because of the repetition in it, but I found out in short order it was going to take a while to work it up. Thanks for the comments.
Hi, Roger. Seems like this one struck a nerve and people are working on it. I agree that the intro riff and throughout is the fun part. If you don’t sing, maybe you could work up an instrumental and play the melody. I’ll await your post whatever you do.
Early on in my journey here I started doing covers and shortly thereafter made it a point to try to play all the parts. I guess I took the Audio Video of “You Playing” too literally. But seriously, I figure out and play my own backing tracks because I learn so much more by doing that. I appreciate your feedback.
Hi, Digger. Thanks for that great feedback. In listening back to this I keep thinking I could have dialed down the gain a bit on that lead, but it was tracked wet and sounded pretty good to me initially.
I wish I could really play piano so I could have done the outro with the keys the way it is on the studio version, but I just get by and try to put in a bit here and there to spice it up.
Hi Lisa. Thanks for the uplifting feedback. As far as doing it all, see above. There’s a reason behind the madness. Thanks for the listen, and glad you enjoyed it.
Hi Aidan. Thanks for stopping by and for the nice feedback. I didn’t sing and play that at the same time. I tried it, but it threw my timing off so badly I had to scrap the idea. No, all the music was tracked and then I added the vocal track.
Hi Nicole. Thanks for taking a listen and for the great feedback. There’s a lot to gain by making your own backing tracks, at least for me there is. You and Digger on the voice, I think there are others who would disagree, but I really appreciate the comment; very encouraging. Glad you enjoyed my version of this one.
James, the Dreamer. Just do it! I went back and listened to your campfire version, and you’ve got the basics. Just need some refinement. And now that you’ve got some time under your belt you could start working on it. I think your voice is actually more suited for this one than mine is.
Wow, you got excited to watch this? First time anyone said that about one of my posts. I do appreciate it, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. Now start practicing. I’ll be looking for it.
Hi, Marie. Thanks for the listen and feedback. Glad you like it. It is a great song, and really quite easy to play once you get the hang of the riffs. Actually, all those chords are just three-string chords, and I’m finding those little chords, like the ones up the neck, give you more options with the pinky finger. I also learned a lot about muting strings that might otherwise ring out. If you noticed, I use that thumb-over technique for the low E and A strings, and my strumming hand I’ve got the pinky finger resting under the high E string until the very end. That’s a trick I learned from Billy Gibbons, I think it was when I did 16 tons.
I appreciate the comment on the lead. The first, short bridge solo was pretty much transcribed note for note. When I got to the second one, I thought I might never be able to learn that, let alone play it, so I made up the main solo. Glad you liked the video, too. Hope all is well with you.
Hi, Roch. Thanks for the listen and comments. Yeah, the pinky finger is important and one that gets ignored a lot. Justin has some good lessons on using the pinky, and it pays to have that little digit under control.
Hey Dave,
To my ears this is a better cut than what you shared prior with me. Nice job on this one and way to play mano! Now on that play, it was great. Maybe not note for note, but I liked your spin on it!
Only thing that I think could have made it better was maybe to try and cutin a picture in picture inlay of your lead work. You did some great work in there and I would have loved to see it. But I know how hard these vids are to produce and your limited tools. So you get a pass from me.
Again, great job and I really enjoyed this. Thanks for putting in all the work on it you did and for sharing it with us!
Hey Dave! You got me to reading and YouTubing about the misconceived feud between the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band and Neil Young… and I also read of Ronnie Van Zandt’s tragic death. So sad.
My kids are going to see them this month. I’ve never really followed them. This song was familiar to me though.
Of course, you did a great job on it. Good thing to learn about muting with the thumb over; and the use of the pinkie finger.
Keep them coming, Dave. Always a good listen when you perform.
Hello Dave, this is awesome! I enjoyed it all, soloing, rhythm and really anything else as well! You have a very beautiful voice that perfectly suits this song…and, as I would expect from you, a great production which made the listening most enjoyable! My compliments and chapeau!
When my forum Godfather drops a new recording, etiquette demands I drop a comment
Boring stuff out of the way first: I have yet to hear an anti-protest song with lyrics that I can relate to Moving swiftly on, I do like the song and the catchy riff/rhythm. As we’ve become accustomed to, your attention to detail on the whole production knocks it out of the ball-park (or hits it for six as they might say over here )
Good to hear you’re still pluggin’ away ol’ man. Keep rockin’
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Thanks for sharing this one!
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Moving swiftly on, I do like the song and the catchy riff/rhythm. As we’ve become accustomed to, your attention to detail on the whole production knocks it out of the ball-park (or hits it for six as they might say over here 
)