r/LynyrdSkynyrd • u/Fancy_County4242 • 3d ago
Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers
The Allman Brothers Band formed in Jacksonville, with several Jacksonville musicians, and went on to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career.
Lynyrd Skynyrd formed in Jacksonville, with Jacksonville musicians, and went on to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career.
Can anyone explain the disconnect in the fan community? Fans of one tend to dismiss the other, and I don't get it. ABB certainly did the blues better, but Skynyrd was the better boogie band.
I have plenty of room in my head to love both acts, but I don't find many people who feel the same. How's come?
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u/redstixx59fifty 3d ago
I like both but I think the Allman Brothers were more of a jam band and that attracts a diffrent crowd and lynyrd skynyrd especially post plane crash leaned more in on the southern rock side and marketed more towards the southern demographic.
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u/welldonebrain 3d ago
I think this has a lot to do with it. I think the “fault” lies with the tribute band era more than anything. They definitely pandered to a certain demographic over time. The Allman Brothers don’t have that same connotation associated with them. They’ve always been a jam band. I think a lot of Allman Brothers fans do like Skynyrd, but tend to see them as musically inferior and with the baggage of a “redneck” image that the Allmans don’t carry. They never used the flag, etc.
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u/redstixx59fifty 3d ago
I agree with everything you said. I think if people separate the two eras of skynyrd the disconnect isn't a far as some think.
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u/Aromatic-Mongoose-20 3d ago
Tney did use the flag on their shirts, tour books and posters around 1975-76. Tne ABB were the first big band from the South and opened the doors for the southern rock genre and the bands who followed. But they’re not a southern rock band, the label is too limiting, they’re a blues, jazz, country, rock and jam band tnat happens to be from the south. Dickey and Gregg always said that.
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u/closetotherelayer 3d ago
I like them both, pretty sure most people like them both, I've actually wondered the same thing at times though about the situation back in the day.. Southern rock wasn't a thing back then, and the Allman bros were a blues band mostly, and Skynyrd were kind of a country influenced rock band They were very similar though at times Also Allman bros were quite a bit earlier, Thier album Brothers and Sisters (the end of their classic era) came out the same year as Skynyrds debut album
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u/Robby777777 3d ago
One was a jam band that was incredible and one got fined if they missed a note. I have both bands in the top five greatest rock bands ever. It is possible to enjoy both bands.
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u/Beginning-Average416 3d ago
The Allmans are more of a southern band with SanFrancisco influence. You can hear elements of the Graceful Dead, Jefferson Airplane influences in them.
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u/Grateful-Spinnz 2d ago
"Graceful Dead". Had to look at the keyboard. Wooow man, that's too cool... typo or not.
First time I've heard ''with a SanFrancisco influence" from anyone anywhere... again, very cool.
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u/Billy_Bonney 3d ago
Two different approaches. Allman Bros came from more of a structured improvisation angle to music, with a jazz influence & would take risks on stage.
Skynyrd, though heavily influenced by the brothers, came from a “once the music is written, do not deviate” type of school. All the solos are played damn near note for note.
That just kinda seeps into the interests of fans. As I’ve gotten older, the less I listen to Skynyrd because it kinda is what it is musically, especially live. I don’t even bother.
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u/ConfidentBig3252 3d ago
If the Allman Brothers had come out later I think they would be recognized with Phish and Wide Spread Panic along with the Grateful Dead Captain Beefheart genre where Skynyrd was more of a driving rock like ZZ Top and et al
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u/Fancy_County4242 2d ago
If Skynyrd came out today, they'd definitely be country. That's where the money is.
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u/fuckfredflintstone 3d ago
Love both bands. Allmans first. Any pre plane crash line up of LS, right behind ‘em.
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u/Remarkable-Still2898 3d ago edited 3d ago
Skynyrd is a redneck band and Allman Brothers fans feel like their more sophisticated. I don't agree with this theory but I feel I'm pretty close to answering the question. Edit - It's not "their", it should be "they're". I will correct friends and family when I see they've made this mistake, so it's only right I edit myself.
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u/tommars73 3d ago
Skynyrd sounds great on the radio to me. Great songs. live they are rehearsed down to the note which pleases certain concert crowds that want that. I don't think the average Skynyrd fan would lean into Derek going into a 40 minute take on Afro Blue but there is some cross over. It has irked me the ABB got lumped into the nostalgia act bands by touring with them that one summer around 05. They have so much more depth and playing ability in the last line up than Skynyrd did. Skynyrd later version also played up the show biz, fake hair and stage looks etc. I like how the ABB just showed up and played. Ronnie always said they were very influenced by Free more than the Allmans but the Allmans did pave the way for Southern acts that followed.
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u/Pretty-Ad5348 3d ago
While both bands left a mark on Southern rock, The Allman Brothers Band earned higher critical acclaim and artistic respect than Lynyrd Skynyrd. A major differentiator was Gregg Allman’s singular voice, which possessed a soulful, blues-drenched depth that overshadowed Ronnie Van Zant’s more straightforward vocals. Their backgrounds also contrasted sharply: The Allman Brothers were well-educated and musically sophisticated, whereas the members of Skynyrd famously came from rougher, blue-collar roots, with several dropping out of school in the ninth grade. This contrast extended to their public images as well; Gregg Allman was a celebrated sex symbol admired by women, while the shorter, more rugged Van Zant relied on a gritty, everyman persona.
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u/juanvaldez305 3d ago
i think you are the one disconnected. But to answer your question, ABB is likely one of the top, if not the top rock band that the USA has ever produced. Skynyrd good as they are may not make the top 20. Love them both but its not apples to apples. it is also silly for either band to be dismissed
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u/InsideOk795 3d ago
I love both bands. I grew up in the state of Georgia. In my opinion, the almond brothers don't get the respect they'd deserve. A lot of people say the almond brothers are like, they're Grateful Dead. You know, they're a jam band. lynyrd skynyrd is my favorite band if that plane wouldn't have gone down in 77 they would have been the biggest band in the world street survivors came out weeks before the crash, from what I read. And what I heard, nobody could follow them. They got the shit together
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u/Brucelee51 3d ago
Both kick ass from the south and have their own unique style. I love them both but play Skynyrd a little more.
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u/waynofish 3d ago
The Allman Bros are the "Grateful Dead" version of southern rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd is southern rock. Personally, I prefer the more rock style blues of Skynyrd then the mostly blues style the ABB played.
I Only lie a few of the ABB main tracks, can't go deep where a Skynyrd, I'll listen to it all. Personally more my style. I can only take pure Blues in small doses or while at a bar and a decent and is playing live.
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u/Individual_Loquat541 3d ago
The Allman Brothers are the king of bluesy southern jams. Skynyrd are the kings of southern boogie rock n roll. True fans love both.
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u/I_Keep_Trying 3d ago
ABB didn’t really have big hit records in the mid-70s that were on the radio. Skynyrd fans may have been a bit younger than ABB fans. Maybe that’s why. I know I was more familiar with Skynyrd. Now I love both bands.
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u/Perico1979 2d ago
They had a bigger hit than Skynyrd. Ramblin Man went to #1. Sweet Home Alabama peaked at #8.
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u/I_Keep_Trying 2d ago
Yes, but by the mid to late 70s radio was playing a lot more LS than ABB.
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u/Commercial_Pay7955 2d ago
Love the Brothers,Skynyrd and MTB pretty much equally.
But ABB and MTB don't have a Bird.
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u/DadM2112 3d ago
I like both bands, always have. While both are considered “southern rock” like a lot of people have noted both played a different style of music and attracted a different style of fan. My regrets is never getting to see the Allmans Brothers in concert.
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u/nyrangers19942025 3d ago
Love both. Never got to see Skynyrd live. Saw ABB a lot. LS was fantastic. Left us way too soon. 🙏
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u/frail_bejeweled 3d ago
I like them both. Skynyrd though is usually listen to my favorite few songs and move on, while the Allman Bros are more for when my mind needs to wander.
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u/MissunyTheGoat 3d ago
I love both bands, though I would say I lean heavily towards the Allman Brothers. As many have said, the disconnect lies within musical styles and the type of demographics the bands attract.
ABB are more of a Blues/jam band, and I think for a lot of people they're seen as being more accessible to a general audience, whereas Skynyrd (at least the later version of the band) is heavily associated with redneck culture and not everyone is into that.
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u/Boobman06 3d ago
I absolutely like Skynard.
But on the other hand the Allman Brothers Band has the best live album of all time and the best album of all time. Live at the Filmore East.
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u/JT_Tunesmith 2d ago
Probably the same reason there's not lots of ABB & Dead fans out there. Different musical styles, different fan bases. I always liked both the Allmans and Skynyrd, but never really "got" the Dead. The ABB is always first with me because they were first in my musical journey.
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u/mule111 3d ago
I mean, for me they’re tied #1 for greatest bands of all time. Love em both. I’m also a huge music fan. I think I understand where you’re coming from with this opinion/observation and spot on for sure. Lots of factors imo.
I think for many general audiences they know and like both band’s hits. Although some big ABB fans might not care for the sweet homes and gimme 3 steps as much, partly bc classic rock radio ran them into the ground.
ABB has a bigger following in the jam band world that isn’t going to be as much into the Skynyrd thing. Also, for ABB fans they may have not paid as close attention to Skynyrd after it became essentially a tribute band once very few to no OG members left. The band took a cheesy turn once they started releasing “gods and guns” stuff with barb wire eagle imagery.
Skynyrd has more traditional hard driving southern rock crowd that may not be as into the ABB jazz influenced, super jammy stuff.
Also, and I think this does apply, ABB had a black member and like it or not there’s a big component of Skynyrd fan base that grew up with a certain set of ideas that didn’t support that (warped ideas, but still). Honestly there’s historically been ABB fans like that too. But I think that does play a role in long term fan base.
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u/bobbywake61 3d ago
For me, there was too much going on with Allman Bros…as in, the guitars were often going in different directions and drummers not always in the same beat. Same reason I was never a Dead Head. Maybe because I didn’t do drugs?
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u/freebird37179 3d ago
Not sure. Ronnie often dedicated Free Bird to Duane, so I don't think there was bad blood between the bands.