Collection: Lynyrd Skynyrd Vinyl Records – Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd, Second Helping & Essential Albums on Vinyl

Lynyrd Skynyrd are the defining Southern rock band. Formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964 around Ronnie Van Zant's songwriting and vocals, with the three-guitar attack of Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and (eventually) Steve Gaines that became their signature, they released five studio albums between 1973 and 1977 that rewrote what American hard rock could be — blues-rooted, bar-room-tight, with some of the best songwriting in the genre.

The October 1977 plane crash that killed Van Zant, Gaines and Gaines's sister Cassie cut the original band off at its peak, just three days after the release of Street Survivors (whose original cover of the band surrounded by flames was hastily withdrawn). The various reformed line-ups since, led by Ronnie's brother Johnny Van Zant, have continued the catalogue with mixed results, but the original five-album run remains untouchable. Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, Gimme Three Steps, Tuesday's Gone — songs that defined rock radio for decades. Lynyrd Skynyrd on vinyl is essential — the guitar interplay, the barrelhouse piano of Billy Powell, the Southern boogie rhythms all want analogue warmth.