In a way this album is more a measure of Lynyrd Skynyrd than the previous 2 albums. It is my understanding that the songs on this record were not part of the initial catalogue the band developed (most of which can been heard on "Skynyrd's First"-good album). For this reason the album feels more like a blues album rather than a rock record. "Cheatin Woman" is a low-down blues song, complete with all the heart Ronnie Zan Vant could supply. "I'm a Country Boy" and "On the Hunt" are both strongly guitar-driven songs. "Am I Losin" may be the best song on the album which includes an excellent finish- features some nice acoustic guitar. "Made in the Shade" is a bluegrass number...you will find yourself singing it. If you liked "Mississippi Kid" off of PRONOUNCED you will like this song. "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" is a hell of a song and a top notch education in how to be a southern rambler (if you're interested). Basically don't underestimate the B-side, Skynyrd could write songs...even in a pinch. This album is no follow-up disappointment...give Skynyrd some credit.

When I first started purchasing music back in the mid to late 80s, I bought my share of what Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets calls "welfare music". I never had much spending money as a teenager so to get as much music at a time as possible, I'd go to the K-Mart across town and root through the bargain cassette bin. The bin was a large metal basket filled with tapes piled several feet high, consisting mostly of country, southern rock, and oldies if I recall correctly. My southern rock collection benefited greatly from these trips to the bargain bin and I soon had my share of 4-dollar cassettes by the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band.

One of the tapes I rescued from that bargain bin at K-Mart was Lynyrd Skynyrd's often overlooked classic, Nuthin' Fancy. With the exception of the opening cut, "Saturday Night Special", which made a bold stance against handguns and still gets played on classic rock radio today, Nuthin' Fancy is devoid of the hits that made Skynyrd popular outside the South. Instead, what you get is great music that refreshingly doesn't sound like it was created just to get played on the radio like the songs on many other 70s rock albums.

Stylistically, Nuthin' Fancy is all over the place. After the hard southern rock crunch of "Saturday Night Special", Ronnie gives one of his blues-iest vocal performances on "Cheatin' Woman". "Railroad Song" and "Made in the Shade" are fine slices of traditional American music, though they are probably my least favorite tunes on the album. "I'm a Country Boy" is a southern rock kiss-off to big city life, a common theme in Ronnie's lyrics over the years. "Am I Losin'" is a catchy mid-tempo song chronicling how Ronnie's relationships with some of his friends became strained once he started making lots of money. "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" is a barroom classic in which Ronnie boasts like a rapper about the female company awaiting him in every town including one special Memphis "queenie with long brown curly hair". Yes, lyrically it might put off some listeners, but "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller" is still a damn catchy song. Probably my favorite song on "Nuthin Fancy", though, is "On the Hunt", the hardest song Skynyrd ever recorded. This song, which describes Ronnie's empathy for a groupie who regularly hangs out near his hotel, sounds metal enough that it wouldn't feel that out of place on Corrosion of Confomity's Deliverance album.

If Nuthin' Fancy was Skynyrd's only album, I'd give it 5 stars and move on, but since they set the standard so high with their previous albums, Nuthin Fancy rates `only' a very strong 4 stars. Still, if you enjoy their classic earlier albums, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd and Second Helping, you're almost surely going to like Nuthin Fancy too. It is damn sure impressive for an album that K-Mart considers 'welfare music'.

This may not be the best Skynyrd album, but the songs never get boring, it's almost a side of the band you dont really see. The band took a bold stand against handguns in "Saturday Night Special", something that is definatley respectable considering the conservative position of most southernors on fire arms. Great albums go ahead, buy it or you'll be missing out.

After Skynyrd had released their debut album and "Second Helping", they were under much pressure from their record company to put out their next album. They were in quite a rush and didn't have nearly as much time to make this album as they did for their first two. Hence the title, "Nuthin' Fancy". That's one of the things I love about this band; not only is there so much meaning in most of the songs, but even the album titles have a meaning.

We start off with "Saturday Night Special", a song that they had written for some Burt Reynolds movie (I don't remember the name). Ronnie Van Zant wrote this song basically to protest against certain hand guns. He wasn't against having a gun in the house in case of burglars, but he was writing about hand guns that were only good for close-range shooting, so he's saying that those guns were just made to kill people, not for protection. Just listen to the words: "Hand guns are made for killin' ain't no good for nothin' else; ain't no good for nothin', but puting men six feet in a hole".

Next we have "Cheatin' Woman", one of the weaker tracks on the album. It's basically the story of a depressed man who's girlfriend is cheating on him; pretty basic.

After that, we hear "Railroad Song", a tune about a hobo who basically rides on a train from town to town trying to get his music out there, but nobody in town wants him around. So it's basically a never-ending story, getting the same reaction in every town, but he refuses to give up, so he just jumps on another train and writes more songs.

Next is "I'm A Country Boy". Funny, it's not really a country song. In this song, Ronnie talks about how he is happy where he is, living in the country, and that he has no interest in living in a big city, but also tries to show that he's not saying city people and city life are bad, just that it's not for him. "What's right for me, may not be right for you. You live your way, and I'll live mine".

Next we hear "On The Hunt". This song seems to basically be about a guy who is searching for a woman, who meets a woman who is always searching for a man. A pretty good song (I still give it 4/5), but the lyrics don't speak to me as much as the other songs.

Next is the real treat, and probably my favorite song on the album, "Am I Losin'". The lyrics of this song just stick with me so much, I could listen to this track over and over again. It was written about Skynyrd's original drummer, Bob Burns, who had left the band before they made this album. It's just such a sad song where Ronnie is basically asking God why he is losing someone who was one of his best friends. "Why these things happen Lord? I don't understand. But Lord, it can sure hurt a man." This song almost brings tears to my eyes sometimes. It should've been a classic. Definitely one of my top ten favorite Skynyrd songs.

Next is the only song on this album that I can honestly say that I just don't like: "Made In The Shade". It's basically a song about a woman who has left her man, and he doesn't totally understand why; he was good to her, he tried to make her happy, but he just wasn't good enough for her, and he's just saying that she had it easy with him, so leaving was her mistake. To me, this song just doesn't fit on this album, or any other Skynyrd album. It just doesn't really sound like a Skynyrd song to me.

The album ends with "Whiskey Rock-A-Roller", a song Ronnie wrote about being on the road and that playing music and touring is all he knows; it's what makes him happy. It's basically what "Travelin' Band" was to Creedence. While this is also a very good song (another one of my favorite Skynyrd tunes), the studio version on this album pales in comparisson to the live version on Skynyrd's "One More From The Road Album".

If you don't own this album, you don't know what you're missing. No, it's not Skynyrd's best album, but it's not their worst either; that wouldn't be possible, because all of their albums are good ones.

I remember reading that Ronnie wasn't too crazy about this album, but I don't think he ever gave himself enough credit. Most songwriters just come up with words because songs need them, but Ronnie wrote lyrics that people could really understand; lyrics that were about something and told us a story. I just wish more musicians put as much thought and meaning into their songs as Ronnie did.
Fly on Free Bird.

nuthin' fancy isn't one of skynyrd's most highly visible recordings, in terms of popularity, but it still ranks up there as one of their best. The sounds quality is excellent, one of the best out of all their studio albums, to be honest. The guitars are nice and crisp, Artimus' drums get wicked good treatment comapred to later showings, and Leon's bass even comes more to the forefront, showing what a good musician he is (many other of the band's recordings tend to shortchange him), just check out the clear bassline on cheatin woman, a really soulful song, with a nice drum ending as well. the great songs just abound. "Saturday Night Special" and "On The Hunt" are two really good riff-rockers, along with "Country Boy," which also has a strong pro-rural statement and Collins solo. "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller", one of their concert classics, shines too. And "made in the shade" shows the band try their hand at country style playing, with a good effect. All Skynyrd albums considered equal, which they pretty much are, Nuthin Fancy makes a good first Skynyrd album, right up there with Second Helping.