That Smell
"That Smell" | |
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Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd | |
from the album Street Survivors | |
Released | October 17, 1977 |
Recorded | July–August 1977 |
Studio | Studio One, Doraville, Georgia |
Genre | Southern rock, hard rock |
Length | 5:47 |
Label | MCA |
Songwriter(s) | Allen Collins Ronnie Van Zant |
Producer(s) | Tom Dowd |
"That Smell" is a song by the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Written by two band members, vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins, the song was released in 1977 on the album Street Survivors. At the time the song was written, the band had been using alcohol, cocaine, and heroin.[1] Van Zant said that he started using heroin and cocaine to relieve the pressure of performing in front of large audiences.[1]
Van Zant's inspiration for the song was the increasing reckless indulgences of the band members culminating in the evening when guitarist Gary Rossington crashed his Ford Torino into an oak tree along Mandarin Road in Jacksonville, Florida,[1] after excessive consumption of alcohol and other drugs. Van Zant was thus inspired to write the song as a warning about the consequences of careless overuse of drugs. The song earned Rossington the moniker "Prince Charming" from Van Zant. Later when asked, Van Zant said, "I had a creepy feeling things were going against us, so I thought I'd blow lines, slam some H and write a morbid song."[1] The lyrics cautioned that "tomorrow might not be here for you", and that "the smell of death surrounds you". Three days after the album was released, the band was devastated by a plane crash in which several members were killed, including Van Zant.
"That Smell" was the second single released from Street Survivors and failed to chart.
The song is featured in the films Blow (2001), Joe Dirt (2001) and Wild Hogs (2007), at the end of the fourth episode of the HBO television drama series True Blood (2008). The song appeared in the first season of Entourage. It also appeared in the twenty-first episode of the second season of Miami Vice (1984), and the Universal Studios Florida attraction Disaster!.
References
- ^ a b c d Classic Rock Stories, Tim Morse, (New York.: St. Martin's Griffin, 1998), p. 83
External links
- Listen to "That Smell" on YouTube
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- Rickey Medlocke
- Johnny Van Zant
- Michael Cartellone
- Mark Matejka
- Peter Keys
- Keith Christopher
- Ronnie Van Zant
- Allen Collins
- Gary Rossington
- Bob Burns
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- Greg T. Walker
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- Billy Powell
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- Artimus Pyle
- Steve Gaines
- Randall Hall
- Kurt Custer
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- Owen Hale
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- Jeff McAllister
- Kenny Aronoff
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- Robert Kearns
- Johnny Colt
- (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)
- Second Helping
- Nuthin' Fancy
- Gimme Back My Bullets
- Street Survivors
- Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991
- The Last Rebel
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- Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour
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- Skynyrd's First and... Last
- Gold & Platinum
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- Legend
- Skynyrd's Innyrds
- Lynyrd Skynyrd (box set)
- A Retrospective
- What's Your Name
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- The Essential Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Skynyrd's First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album
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- "Sweet Home Alabama"
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- "That Smell"
- "Truck Drivin' Man"
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- Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park
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- "All Summer Long"
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