In 2012, Lynyrd Skynyrd debuted their 14th studio album, titled Last of a Dyin’ Breed. The album contained rockin’ songs such as “Something to Live For,” “Mississippi Blood,” and the title track.
Last of a Dyin’ Breed capitalized on the success of Skynyrd’s previous album, God & Guns, which was released three years prior. While God & Guns peaked at the 18th spot on the charts, Last of a Dyin’ Breed managed to snag the 14th spot.
Of course everyone knows that the music on Last of a Dyin’ Breed is top-notch. But we bet you don’t know much about everything that went into the creation of the album!
We’ve gathered up five fast facts about what went into the making of Last of a Dyin’ Breed! Head down below to learn about them all!
1. The Studio Paid Homage To The Beatles
In a series of behind-the-scenes clips, members of Skynyrd explained some of the steps that went into the making of Last of a Dyin’ Breed. In the first clip of the series, guitarist Gary Rossington spoke about the group’s Nashville studio where they worked on the album.
Gary revealed that the studio is named Blackbird, after a song by the Beatles. It turns out that Skynyrd is a huge bunch of Beatles fans, so naming the studio after one of their songs seems fitting.
Not only is the studio named in honor of the Beatles, but some of the equipment in the studio was used by the group! Now that’s pretty cool!
2. One Song Was Inspired By Election Time
Skynyrd often incorporates commentary about world events in their songs, as they did in the case of “Something to Live For.”
2012 was an election year, and Skynyrd was inspired by all of the talk and drama associated with it. That inspiration ended up finding a place in the track “Something to Live For,” which is one of the most powerful tracks on the album.
In another behind-the-scenes clip, lead singer Johnny Van Zant explained that they wrote the song about the everyday people who keep our country strong. “But it’s a hard time for America, so we need you politicians to stand up and do the right thing for us common folk,” he said.
3. They Wrote The Songs As A Team
In addition to being talented performers, Skynyrd is also a bunch of skilled songwriters. People have often wondered what goes into each of their songs, and it wasn’t any different when it came to the tracks on Last of a Dyin’ Breed.
Gary explained that the key to their songwriting process was teamwork, saying such an approach makes the whole thing so much easier.
“When the idea runs out somebody else comes up with something,” he said, “There’s not a lot of pressure to write it all on your own.”
4. They Rode In The Car To Find New Ideas
Even talented songwriters such as the members of Skynyrd experience writer’s block sometimes. To switch things up and generate new ideas, the band has a unique solution, and Johnny talked about it in the behind-the-scenes interview about their songwriting.
If they get tired of coming up with new material in the studio, Skynyrd knows that the best solution is to hit the road. “We also drive around a lot in the car and listen to the CD and bounce ideas off.“
Can you imagine how many people have cruised past Skynyrd while they’ve been in the middle of writing a new song? That’s a pretty crazy thing to think about!
5. They Were Excited To Make New Songs
With an impressive collection of hits behind them, Skynyrd could technically get away with never releasing any new music ever again. But after all these years, they still feel the itch to come up with new material.
In the last of the behind-the-scenes interviews about Last of a Dyin’ Breed, Gary revealed the reason why they released the album was simply because they wanted to learn new songs. He said that even though they have all of their hits from the past, it’s important to them to always keep learning new material.
“New life goes on and new ideas go on…it’s really important to us not to just know the old songs and never try to learn any more…I guess we don’t have to do it but it sure is fun doing it,” he said.
We’re glad that Skynyrd wanted to learn some new songs, because Last of a Dyin’ Breed is one jammin’ album!