Free Bird

"Free Bird" is a song by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Since its release on their 1973 debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, it has become the band's signature song and a staple of rock radio. It has also developed into a popular culture cliché over the years, which is the shouting of a request to hear the song by audience members at almost any concert, regardless of the performer or style of music.

Popular culture cliché

The popular culture cliché of "Free Bird", which is the shouting of a request to hear the song by audience members at almost any concert, regardless of the performer or style of music, can be traced back to Skynyrd's first live album, 1976's One More From The Road. On the record, Van Zant can be heard asking the crowd which song they would like to hear, immediately followed by several shouts of "Free Bird", at which time the band responds with a 14-minute version.

Related Topics:
1976 - One More From The Road

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In the mid-1980s, Chicago DJ Kevin Matthews encouraged his listeners to reenact this request at an upcoming Florence Henderson concert. He disliked her music and thought it would be a humorous thing to do to break up the monotony. His suggestion was a success, and the idea was so popular with his listeners that it soon became a routine of his to poll their opinion as to which performers coming into town deserved the same treatment.

Related Topics:
Chicago - DJ - Kevin Matthews - Florence Henderson

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Since that time, the phenomena has become so widespread that it is now considered cliché, largely evolving into a parody of itself. Matthews has claimed that "It was never meant to be yelled at a cool concert -- it was meant to be yelled at someone really lame," he says. "If you're going to yell 'Free Bird,' yell 'Free Bird' at a Jim Nabors concert." http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB111102511477881964-ZkAKwALO87RaHLbFJrSJSA_i9xg_20050415,00.html?mod=blogs

Related Topics:
Parody - Jim Nabors

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To this day, one is likely to hear a request of "Free Bird" shouted at any given concert, anywhere around North America.

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