Second Helping

After the success of their debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, largely due to their opening slot on the Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Second Helping features Ed King, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington all collaborating with Ronnie Van Zant on the songwriting, and cemented the band's breakthrough.

{{Album reviews

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r811050|pure_url=yes}} AllMusic review]

|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=089919026X|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 = Creem

|rev3Score = B−

| rev4 = Rolling Stone

| rev4Score = (favourable){{cite web |url= https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/second-helping-205361/amp/|title=Second Helping|author=Fletcher, Gordon|date=July 4, 1974|publisher=Rolling Stone|website=rollingstone.com}}

| rev5 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev5Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Larkin |editor1-first=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2007 |publisher=Omnibus |page=885 |edition=5th concise |ol=11913831M}}

| rev6 = MusicHound Rock

| rev6Score = 3.5/5{{cite book |editor1-last=Graff |editor1-first=Gary |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1996 |publisher=Visible Ink |location=Detroit |page=163 |ol=8145585M}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=2004 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |page=505 |edition=4th rev. |ol=21112308M}}

| rev8 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev8Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|last1=Brackett|first1=Nathan|last2=Hoard|first2=Christian David|date=2004|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-74320-169-8|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA505 505–506]}}

| rev9 = Tom Hull

| rev9Score = B−{{cite magazine|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=April 1975|url=http://www.tomhull.com/ocston/arch/rekord1.php|title=The Rekord Report: First Card|magazine=Overdose|access-date=June 26, 2020|via=tomhull.com}}

}}

Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 1974, Gordon Fletcher said Lynyrd Skynyrd performs a consistent style of Southern music-influenced blues rock similar to the Allman Brothers Band, but lacks their "sophistication and professionalism. If a song doesn't feel right to the Brothers, they work on it until it does; if it isn't right to Lynyrd Skynyrd, they are more likely to crank up their amps and blast their way through the bottleneck." Fletcher concluded that Second Helping is distinct from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd) "only by a certain mellowing out that indicates they may eventually acquire a level of savoirfaire to realize their many capabilities".

Robert Christgau in Creem was also lukewarm, saying Lynyrd Skynyrd is "still a substantial, tasteful band, but I have a hunch they blew their best stuff on the first platter."{{cite magazine|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=September 1974|url=http://mail.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/crm7409.php|title=The Christgau Consumer Guide|magazine=Creem|access-date=March 10, 2019}} Christgau warmed to the album later, reappraising it in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981); he observed "infectious putdowns of rock businessmen, rock journalists, and heroin", and "great formula" in general: "When it rocks, three guitarists and a keyboard player pile elementary riffs and feedback noises into dense combinations broken by preplanned solos, while at quieter moments the spare vocabulary of the best Southern folk music is evoked or just plain duplicated."

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said Second Helping "replicated all the strengths" of the first album's expert Southern rock "but was a little tighter and a little more professional." Houston Press placed it #2 on its list of "Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums."{{cite web|url=https://www.houstonpress.com/music/five-essential-boogie-rock-albums-6520885|title=Five Essential Boogie-Rock Albums|date=April 26, 2011|website=Houston Press|access-date=April 27, 2019}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column =

| title1 = Sweet Home Alabama

| length1 = 4:43

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Ed King
• Gary Rossington
• Ronnie Van Zant}}

| extra1 =

| title2 = I Need You

| length2 = 6:55

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• King
• Rossington
• Van Zant}}

| extra2 =

| title3 = Don't Ask Me No Questions

| length3 = 3:29

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Rossington
• Van Zant}}

| extra3 =

| title4 = Workin' for MCA

| length4 = 4:49

| writer4 = {{flatlist|

• King
• Van Zant}}

| extra4 =

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column =

| title1 = The Ballad of Curtis Loew

| length1 = 4:51

| writer1 = {{flatlist|

• Allen Collins
• Van Zant}}

| extra1 =

| title2 = Swamp Music

| length2 = 3:31

| writer2 = {{flatlist|

• King
• Van Zant}}

| extra2 =

| title3 = The Needle and the Spoon

| length3 = 3:53

| writer3 = {{flatlist|

• Collins
• Van Zant}}

| extra3 =

| title4 = Call Me the Breeze

| length4 = 5:09

| writer4 = J. J. Cale

| extra4 =

}}

• Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–8 on CD reissues.

{{Track listing

| headline = 1997 CD reissue bonus tracks

| extra_column =

| title9 = Don't Ask Me No Questions

| note9 = Single Version

| length9 = 3:31

| writer9 = {{flatlist|

• Rossington
• Van Zant}}

| extra9 =

| title10 = Was I Right Or Wrong

| note10 = Demo

| length10 = 5:33

| writer10 = {{flatlist|

• Van Zant
• Rossington}}

| extra10 =

| title11 = Take Your Time

| note11 = Demo

| length11 = 7:29

| writer11 = {{flatlist|

• Van Zant
• King}}

| extra11 =

}}

• Track 9 previously released as the band's lead single in April 1974
• Track 10 previously unreleased
• Track 11 previously released on Legend

;Lynyrd Skynyrd

• Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals
• Gary Rossington – guitar
• Allen Collins – guitar
• Ed King – guitar, backing vocals, bass on "I Need You" and "Don't Ask Me No Questions"
• Leon Wilkeson – bass (all tracks except "I Need You" and "Don't Ask Me No Questions"), backing vocals
• Bob Burns – drums, except "I Need You"
• Billy Powell – keyboards

;Additional personnel

• Mike Porter – drums on "I Need You"
• Merry Clayton, Clydie King, Sherlie Matthews – background vocals on "Sweet Home Alabama"
• Bobby Keys, Trevor Lawrence and Steve Madaio – horns on "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and "Call Me the Breeze"
• Al Kooper – backing vocals, piano on "Don't Ask Me No Questions" and "The Ballad of Curtis Loew"

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Lynyrd Skynyrd|title=Second Helping|award=Platinum|number=2|type=album|relyear=1974|certyear=1987|accessdate=December 25, 2021|refname=RIAA}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Discogs master|type=album|70584}}

{{Lynyrd Skynyrd}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Lynyrd Skynyrd albums

Category:1974 albums

Category:MCA Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Al Kooper

Category:Boogie rock albums