Johnny Van Zant (Lynyrd Skynyrd) - No More Dirty Deals (2006)

2006 special collector's edition reissue for first time on CD. Includes a 16 page full color booklet and a 3,000 word essay including an interview with the younger Van Zant brother. Signed to Polydor in the UK and A&M in the US in 1980, he teamed with legendary producer and original Skynyrd A&R man Al Kooper to cut this blistering debut album. Drawing from his southern roots and Skynyrd's fiery guitar fuelled legacy, the music is a hot burrito of fuel injected riffing (aided and abetted by twin lead guitarists Robbie Gay and Eric Lundgren) and the kind of down home back porch rocking that brings to mind the best work of Skynyrd,.38 Special, Marshall Tucker and the Allman Brothers Band. Look out for 'Standing in the Darkness' a poignant and touching tribute originally written as a poem for late brother Ronnie, surely one of the finest closing tracks on any southern rock album.