Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gone With the Wind

the band would be ashamed of this, and probably somewhat angered.

Gives a clear picture of the amazing rise and tragic fall of Skynard and especially Ronnie Van Zant who was not only a forward thinker but a hater of the over-abundance of handguns in this country (even though he possessed an antique revolver gifted to him). Though he was born and raised in the Deep South, Van Zant held his own thoughts and beliefs, never compromised. You simply cannot place him in a box and slap on a label (right winger or otherwise) on Ronnie Van Zant. There’s not enough time to cover every detail of this fabulous band of incredibly talented musicians in one documentary; It would need to be a mini-series. But this particular documentary does provide a good amount of pertinent information to get a clearer understanding of just how hard this group of men worked to get to the level of legendary under the meticulous guidance of their one-of-a-kind leader.

Although, some very interesting new bits of information, the documentary leaves out key voices who should've contributed (Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke, Donnie Van Zant, Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's Wife and family, family members of the other band members). Most of the commentary is by Robert Christgau (who arrogantly wears a NY Yankees shirt during the entire interview, and can't even properly remember the name of "Gimme Three Steps") What a douche. They were also trying to paint Ronnie as a left wing sympathizer by analyzing a single line (out of context) in Sweet Home Alabama. "In Bermingham they love the Governor", yet completely failing to see that he was mocking this liberal "DEMOCRAT" with the "Boo, Boo, Boo" refrain. In the next two lines Ronnie states "Watergate does not bother me, Does your concious bother you...tell the truth!" Which is a direct response to the Democratic outrage over Watergate, which pales in comparison to the atrocities Liberals and Progressives have committed in recent times (i.e. Clintons). Yet...they never even touched on that. Lastly, the injection of the stock video footage (with the "old timey" scratched film filter) behind certain songs was a cheap effect. They ended up looking like amateur, YouTube music video from a high schooler. I thought Al Kooper provided a honest commentary and can tell he really cared for these guys. He seemed very genuine in contrast to the self serving commentary by Robert Christgau. There were also several another critics/biographers/friend who provided some excellent commentary too (Sorry...I wish I captured their names)..