Guy Plays Free Bird Guitar Solo On Drums While Standing
Without question Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird is one of the greatest American rock songs ever written and recorded. Furthermore, it has the most kick ass, girl on your shoulders at the stadium show, bikini top shaking, solo ever. Guitar solo, that is. Right? It’s a guitar solo. Allen Collins perfected it in studio and live, with a little back and forth with his buddy Gary Rossington.
It’s not a drum solo. Of course not. A drum solo is Bonzo crashing Moby Dick for 10 minutes.
However, what if the guitar solo to Free Bird was reimagined. What if, it was performed in perfect time, note for note, by one man? One man, two sticks, and 17 drums? Blasphemy! Hold on there rock purist! Don’t be so quick to judge. What I have uncovered while scrolling Instagram one Friday night recently may just blow your mind. Or perhaps, at least give you a better appreciation of musical cross pollination. This fellow has some true musical chops, as you can see here.
Before we get to this unimaginable feat, let’s talk about the magic of Free Bird and it’s unforgettable guitar solo.
According to Wikipedia, Free Bird was recorded on April 3rd, 1973, at Studio One in Doraville, Georgia. The album version of the song is 9 minutes and 8 seconds. It was cut down to 4 minutes and 41 seconds for the radio air play single. However, on the Skynyrd’s Innyrds Greatest Hits package, an extended version of 10 minutes and 7 seconds was included. The song was written about freedom, and was dedicated to the memory of Duane Allman. Finally, the guitar solos at the end, were simply created to give lead singer Ronnie Van Zant a rest. Well, the rest, as they say, is history.
So here it is, the Free Bird guitar solo, done on 17 drums. Oh, and one more thing. At one point (if you’re a certain age), you may think you are listing to a Flinstones cartoon. I did too.
