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If you looked up “southern rock” in the music dictionary, there’s a good chance you might find a photo of Lynyrd Skynyrd next to the definition.  The Jacksonville, Florida band first came together as My Backyard in 1964; five years later, lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, bassist Larry Junstrom, and drummer Bob Burns took on the unusual, now-familiar moniker.  Skynyrd didn’t release their first album until 1973 by which time bassist Leon Wilkeson had come and gone (only to rejoin again) and Ed King and keyboardist Billy Powell had joined.  King, originally brought in to play bass, would take a guitar spot after Wilkeson’s return, forming one-third of the “three-guitar army” with Rossington and Collins.  The rest is history…or something like that.  Having endured tragedy and triumph, Lynyrd Skynyrd has kept on going ever since.  With the death earlier this year of Gary Rossington, every original member of the band has passed away, but Skynyrd will still hit the road this summer for a tour.  The band is now looking back with the October 13 release from UMe of FYFTY, a new 4-CD box set celebrating 50 years with 50 songs.

The most comprehensive Skynyrd overview since 1991’s 3-CD The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection, FYFTY is housed in 12×12 vinyl-style packaging.  Its gatefold jacket houses a 40-page booklet with photos, opening notes by filmmaker-journalist Cameron Crowe, and track-by-track liner notes from music historian Gary Graff.  The box’s track listing draws on 14 studio albums plus rarities and live recordings, as well as two previously unreleased tracks: a July 7, 1976 performance of “Free Bird” at Atlanta’s Fabulous Fox Theatre – in place of the studio original – and a November 13, 2022 live take of “Gimme Three Steps” from Nashville’s storied Ryman Auditorium from what proved to be Gary Rossington’s final performance with the band.

The box covers both the scorching original lifespan of the band and its Phoenix-like rebirth.  The band’s forward momentum, including powerful lives shows and timeless studio albums shaped by producers including Al Kooper and Tom Dowd, originally came to a tragic halt on October 20, 1977 when their airplane crashed in a Mississippi forest, claiming the lives of Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, and background singer Cassie Gaines.  Guitarists Rossington and Collins, bassist Wilkeson, keyboardist Powell, drummer Artimus Pyle, and backing vocalist Leslie Hawkins all suffered serious injuries but survived the crash.  Lynyrd Skynyrd disappeared for a decade.

A 1987 tribute tour to their fallen bandmates, featuring Ronnie’s younger brother Johnny Van Zant as lead singer, led to a full-blown reformation.  Nine more studio albums to date have followed as new band members have come and gone.  Despite the passings of Collins in 1990, Wilkeson in 2001, Powell in 2009, Ed King in 2018, and Gary Rossington in 2023, the likes of “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Simple Man,” and more live on.  Johnny Van Zant still leads the band today, with supporting musicians including guitarist Rickey Medlocke who briefly played drums with the original unit in 1971-1972.

FYFTY is due from MCA successor Geffen Records and UMe on October 13.  A special edition with signed lithograph is also available.  You’ll find the pre-order links and the track listing (with unconfirmed annotations) below.  We’ll update with Amazon links as soon as they are available!

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Fyfty (Geffen/UMe, 2023) (Official Store / uDiscoverMusic.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Comin’ Home (Original Version)
2. I Ain’t The One
3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Tuesday’s Gone
5. Simple Man
6. Sweet Home Alabama
7. The Ballad Of Curtis Loew
8. Workin’ For MCA
9. On The Hunt
10. Made In The Shade
11. Whiskey Rock-A-Roller (Live)
12. All I Can Do Is Write About It (Acoustic Version)
13. Gimme Back My Bullets
14. Double Trouble

CD 2

1. Saturday Night Special (Live)
2. T For Texas (Blue Yodel No. 1) (Live)
3. Travelin’ Man (Live)
4. Free Bird (Live – Unreleased)
5. What’s Your Name
6. You Got That Right
7. I Know A Little
8. Down South Jukin’
9. White Dove
10. Was I Right Or Wrong?
11. Georgia Peaches
12. Banker

 CD 3

1. Call Me The Breeze (Live)
2. That Smell (Live)
3. Smokestack Lightning
4. Southern Women
5. The Last Rebel
6. Born To Run
7. Devil In The Bottle
8. Talked Myself Right Into It
9. Berneice
10. Voodoo Lake
11. Tomorrow’s Goodbye

CD 4

1. Mad Hatter
2. Pick ‘Em Up
3. Red White And Blue
4. Skynyrd Nation
5. Simple Life
6. Still Unbroken
7. God & Guns
8. Gifted Hands
9. Start Livin’ Life Again
10. Mississippi Blood
11. Last Of A Dyin’ Breed
12. Last Of The Street Survivors
13. Gimme Three Steps (Live – Unreleased)

CD 1, Track 1 & CD 2, Tracks 9-10 from Skynyrd’s First and…Last, MCA LP 3047, 1978
CD 1, Tracks 2-5 from (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd ‘Skin-‘nérd), MCA LP 363, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 6-8 from Second Helping, MCA LP 413, 1974
CD 1, Tracks 9-10 from Nuthin’ Fancy, MCA LP 2137, 1975
CD 1, Track 11 & CD 2, Tracks 2-3 from One More from the Road, MCA LP MCA2-6001, 1976
CD 1, Track 12 from The Definitive Lynyrd Skynyrd Collection, MCAD3-10390, 1991
CD 1, Tracks 13-14 from Gimme Back My Bullets, MCA LP 2170, 1976
CD 2, Track 4 & CD 4, Track 13  previously unreleased
CD 2, Tracks 5-7 from Street Survivors, MCA LP 3029, 1977
CD 2, Track 8 from MCA single 40328, 1974
CD 2, Track 12 from MCA single 40158, 1973
CD 3, Tracks 1-2 from Southern by the Grace of God: Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour 1987, MCA CD MCAD-8027, 1988
CD 3, Tracks 3-4 from 1991, Atlantic 7 82258-2, 1991
CD 3, Tracks 5-6 from The Last Rebel, Atlantic 7 82247-2, 1993
CD 3, Track 7 from Endangered Species, Capricorn 42028-2, 1994
CD 3, Tracks 8-9 from Twenty, CMC 0607686211-2, 1997
CD 3, Track 10 from Lyve from Steel Town, CMC BG2-86247, 1998
CD 3, Track 11 from Edge of Forever, CMC 07076 86272-2, 1999
CD 4, Tracks 1-3 from Vicious Cycle, Sanctuary 06076 84610-2, 2003
CD 4, Tracks 4-8 from God and Guns, Roadrunner RR 7859-5, 2009
CD 4, Tracks 9-11 from Last of a Dyin’ Breed, Roadrunner RR 7644-2, 2012
CD 4, Track 12 from digital single, 2020