Without question. Skynyrd's numbers alone make them a more formidable act.

Ed King, Steve Gaines, Gary Rossington, and Allen Collins were all phenomenal guitar players who had chops as good as anyone in Southern rock. Billy Powell is a classically-trained pianist who is just as responsible as anyone for making "Free Bird" into the anthem we know it to be.

Artimus Pyle was solid on the drum kit and Ronnie Van Zant's north Florida drawl made those songs identifiable with blue collar, working class America. His voice isn't necessarily powerful and his range doesn't stand out by any means, but dammit I'm not sure anyone else can deliver those songs with the same feeling and purpose that he did.

Plus, you have the lovely Honkettes.

Also, Rickey Medlocke and Greg T. Walker of Blackfoot were each in the band shortly before Lynyrd SKynyrd made it big. I realize this is a sort of honorable mention, but Medlocke paired with Rossington is something special.

quote:
Fogerty was a better songwriter

I'm not so sure it's that cut and dry.

I will acknowledge that CCR has about 10-15 of some of my favorite songs in music, but as I have said before...Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote anthems, not just songs.

AC/DC did the same thing for hard rock. No one will ever say that Malcolm and Angus Young are masterful songwriters on par with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, etc., but you have to acknowledge that when it comes to making 20,000+ people belt out song lyrics at full volume along with the lead singer and with a ferocity and passion like no other, AC/DC is about as good as it gets.

The same can be said about Lynyrd Skynyrd for Southern rock with songs like "Sweet Home Alabama", "Free Bird", "Call Me The Breeze", "Simple Man", and the often forgot "All I Can Do Is Write About It". Some of these songs have become the brunt of jokes because of their widespread popularity, but that tends to happen when a song plays such a prominent role in mainstream culture. Some people seem to hate the Beatles for the same reason.

Still, this is a damn good debate to be had. Fogerty is one of the greats, and it's almost inconceivable to think of how much music they released in such a limited amount of time.

This post was edited on 4/28/16 at 12:23 pm