Nuthin' Fancy
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Nuthin' Fancy
| type = Album
| artist = Lynyrd Skynyrd
| cover = Nuthin' Fancy (Lynyrd Skynyrd album - cover art).jpg
| alt =
| released = March 24, 1975
| recorded = January 1975 (except for track 1, August 1974)
| venue =
| studio = WEBB IV Studios, Atlanta (except for track 1, Studio One, Doraville, Georgia)
| genre = Southern rock, blues rock, boogie rock, hard rock
| length = 37:34
| label = MCA
| producer = Al Kooper
| prev_title = Second Helping
| prev_year = 1974
| next_title = Gimme Back My Bullets
| next_year = 1976
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Nuthin' Fancy
| type = studio
| single1 = Saturday Night Special" / "Made in the Shade
| single1date = May 19, 1975
}}
}}
{{Album reviews
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}} [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r12123|pure_url=yes}} link]
|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
|rev2Score = A−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=0-89919-026-X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: L|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=L&bk=70|access-date=March 1, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}
|rev3 = Rolling Stone
|rev3score = (mixed) [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014192158/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/lynyrdskynyrd/albums/album/242698/review/5945284/nuthin_fancy link]
| rev4 = The Daily Vault
| noprose = yes
}}
Nuthin' Fancy is the third studio album by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released in March 1975. It was their first to reach the top 10, peaking at number 9 on the U.S. album chart. It was certified gold on June 27, 1975, and platinum on July 21, 1987, by the RIAA. This was the band's first record with new drummer Artimus Pyle. In late May 1975, guitarist Ed King left the band in the middle of their "Torture Tour." The album is best known for its only single, "Saturday Night Special," a song about the dangers of acting impulsively, that peaked at #27 on the U.S. Billboard chart.
Critical reception
Robert Christgau gave the album a positive review, stating: "On the one hand, two or three cuts here sound like heavy-metal-under-funk--check out 'Saturday Night Special,' a real killer. But on the other, Ronnie Van Zant has never deployed his limited, husky baritone with such subtlety. Where Gregg Allman (to choose a purely random example) is always straight, shuttling his voice between languor and high emotion, Van Zant feints and dodges, sly one moment and sleepy the next, turning boastful or indignant or admonitory with the barest shifts in timbre. I mean, dumb he ain't."[https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Lynyrd+Skynyrd Robert Christgau: CG: Lynyrd Skynyrd]
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column =
| title1 = Saturday Night Special
| length1 = 5:08
| writer1 = {{flatlist|
| extra1 =
| title2 = Cheatin' Woman
| length2 = 4:38
| writer2 = {{flatlist|
- Al Kooper
- Gary Rossington
- Van Zant}}
| extra2 =
| title3 = Railroad Song
| length3 = 4:14
| writer3 = {{flatlist|
- King
- Van Zant}}
| extra3 =
| title4 = I'm a Country Boy
| length4 = 4:24
| writer4 = {{flatlist|
- Allen Collins
- Van Zant}}
| extra4 =
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column =
| title1 = On the Hunt
| length1 = 5:25
| writer1 = {{flatlist|
- Collins
- Van Zant}}
| extra1 =
| title2 = Am I Losin{{'-}}
| length2 = 4:32
| writer2 = {{flatlist|
- Rossington
- Van Zant}}
| extra2 =
| title3 = Made in the Shade
| length3 = 4:40
| writer3 = Van Zant
| extra3 =
| title4 = Whiskey Rock-a-Roller
| length4 = 4:15
| writer4 = {{flatlist|
- King
- Billy Powell
- Van Zant}}
| extra4 =
}}
- Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–8 on CD reissues.
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| headline = 1999 CD reissue bonus tracks
| extra_column =
| title9 = Railroad Song
| note9 = Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, April 27, 1975
| length9 = 5:27
| writer9 = {{flatlist|
- King
- Van Zant}}
| extra9 =
| title10 = On the Hunt
| note10 = Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, April 27, 1975
| length10 = 6:10
| writer10 = {{flatlist|
- Collins
- Van Zant}}
| extra10 =
| total_length =
}}
- Tracks 9 and 10 are previously unreleased
Personnel
Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals
- Gary Rossington – guitar
- Allen Collins – guitar
- Ed King – guitar
- Leon Wilkeson – bass guitar
- Artimus Pyle – drums, percussion
- Billy Powell – keyboards
Additional personnel
- Barry Harwood – dobro, mandolin
- Jimmy Hall – harmonica
- David Foster – piano
- Bobbye Hall – percussion
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |
| Chart (1975)
! Peak |
|---|
| scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6}}
| align="center"| 91 |
| {{Album chart|Canada|17|chartid=6136a|artist=Lynyrd Skynyrd |album=Nuthin' Fancy|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|UK2|43|date=19750427|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
| {{Album chart|Billboard200|9|artist=Lynyrd Skynyrd|rowheader=true|accessdate=January 12, 2024}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Lynyrd Skynyrd|title=Nuthin' Fancy|award=Platinum|type=album|relyear=1975|certyear=1987|accessdate=December 25, 2021|refname=RIAA}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}