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AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Mobile Fidelity - MFSL 1-400 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue

 Numbered Limited Edition -  Pressed at RTI  

Pure Analogue Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich from the Original Master Tape

Half Speed Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System

It might have been easier to dismiss this band if listening to the poorer original, but with so many sonic treats liberated from the mix, it’s great fun finding all the tidbits you’ve never heard over the years.  The bongos in “Gimme Three Steps” are but one example. The overall sound is so much more clean and dynamic, you just can’t turn this one up too loud. You haven’t lived until you hear the reverb-laden guitars on “Freebird.”  -Jeff Dorgay Toneaudio

"Sometimes, when life drags you down, you sit down between your speakers and you don't know what to play. What do you do then? One solution, at least for those of us who were born in Alabama, is to have another bourbon. Then have another. Then another. Then have one more, and put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd, preferably Pronounced. You'll be okay after that, I promise." - Jim Austin, Stereophile Magazine

Lynyrd Skynyrd Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd on Numbered Limited Edition 180g LP from Mobile Fidelity The South Rises Again: Bluesy, Hard-Rocking 1973 Debut Raised Southern Rock Flag Forget, for a moment, “Free Bird.” Consider, instead, the authentic down-home rowdiness, distinctive first-person narratives, searing triple-guitar front, gritty vocals, and bluesy boogie bluster. And the undeniable youthful hunger pumping through the subtly witty songs, all strongly rooted in Southern heritage and working-class values. Independent of the most-requested tune in history, Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd bleeds red, white, and blue and encapsulates the wondrous dichotomies of Southern rock. Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g LP at RTI, this vinyl edition of the Floridian group’s ground-shaking debut is the equivalent of having access to the band’s amplifiers and producer Al Kooper’s control boards in the studio.

Affording palpable spaciousness to each of the instruments, expanding the dynamic range, and clearing away previous tonal congestion, this version presents the septet’s raw, honest tunes in the most direct, hard-hitting sound they’ve ever enjoyed. It lays waste to all prior reissues—none of which on LP went back to the master tapes. Months before Lynyrd Skynyrd enjoyed the privilege of recording its debut, the band entered its seventh year of playing juke joints and assorted dives in a bootstraps effort to land a deal. During a residency at a hardscrabble Georgian club, the group’s rambunctious rock, swaggering attitude, blue-collar determination, and country-reared cadence caught the ear of producer/musician Al Kooper. The rest is history. Kooper inked the ensemble to his new imprint and hustled everyone into a Georgia studio for sessions that occurred March through April 1973.

It’s at the Studio One space that Lynyrd Skynyrd flashed scampering tempos, cutting give-and-take riffs, loose barroom lines, and off-the-cuff vocalese that entirely separated its approach from that of the more jazz-styled affairs of the Allman Brothers Band. Confederate flags, empty whiskey bottles, cocked pistols, rotgut habits, scorned women, and prodigal drifters populate the songs, nearly all written from first-person perspectives that add to their genuineness. Prophetic touches—twinkling piano notes, soaring mellotrons, a one-off harmonica—provide ideal complements to the intertwined guitar melodies and singer Ronnie Van Zant’s comfortable gruffness and way of expressing local customs.

Whether it’s the them’s-fightin’-words edginess of the humorous albeit entirely believable Southern-etched yarn “Gimme Three Steps,” which sails on a triple mast of six-string exchanges and clicks heels to a trotting percussive beat that doubles as the sound of cowboy-boot heels, or the spiritual pleas and lived-in wisdom echoed on the barbed-wire balladry of “Simple Man,” Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd burns with forthright and freewheeling desire, rebellious and sincere earnestness. Seen from either a lyrical, musical, or performance perspective, there’s not a wasted second or awkward moment to be found.

Then, of course, there’s the sugary drip of Van Zant’s political ragtime-referencing affair “Things Goin’ On,” bluegrass-tinted swing of “Mississippi Kid,” and swampy get-go of “Poison Whiskey.” They all lead up to the epic “Free Bird,” a greasy slide-guitar anthem that no matter how many times it’s played or requested in jest, never loses its power to grip the listener’s emotions like an iron vice. What a record.

Lynyrd Skynyrd built the genre of Southern Rock, brick by brick, with clever songwriting, badass lead guitar playing (with three lead guitarists), and sheer grit. Legendary producer Al Kooper created a masterpiece here, and it finally gets the treatment it deserves.

The gold band at the top of the record jacket, marked “Original Master Recording,” means the original master tape was used for the reissue. It only takes a cursory listen to an early MCA pressing, which sounds like a CD in comparison, to hear the increase in sound quality on this MoFi edition. Much like early Van Halen records, there is almost a non-existent bass line in the original, now replaced by a big, fat sound that anchors the rest of the rhythm section and provides a proper foundation. And yes, there’s more cowbell too.

It might have been easier to dismiss this band if listening to the poorer original, but with so many sonic treats liberated from the mix, it’s great fun finding all the tidbits you’ve never heard over the years.  The bongos in “Gimme Three Steps” are but one example. The overall sound is so much more clean and dynamic, you just can’t turn this one up too loud. You haven’t lived until you hear the reverb-laden guitars on “Freebird.”  -Jeff Dorgay Toneaudio

Get out your lighter and boogie.  Do it.

• Numbered, Limited Edition
• Mastering by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
• Specially Plated and Pressed on 180 grams of High Definition Vinyl
• Special Static Free - Dust Free Inner Sleeve • Heavy Duty Protective Packaging
• Mastered from the Original Master Tapes • Pressed at RTI

Bass – Leon Wilkeson
Drums – Bob Burns
Guitar – Allen Collins, Ed King , Gary Rossington
Keyboards – Billy Powell
Lead Vocals – Ronnie Van Zant
Producer, Engineer – Al Kooper

Lynyrd Skynyrd Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd Track Listing:

1. I Ain’t the One

2. Tuesday’s Gone

3. Gimme Three Steps
4. Simple Man
5. Things Goin’ On
6. Mississippi Kid
7. Poison Whiskey
8. Free Bird

GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. We then play back master tapes at half speed enabling the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system to fully extract the master’s sonic information. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal. (Due to this process, there may be occasional pops or ticks inherent in initial play back, but as the disc is played more, a high quality stylus will actually polish the grooves and improve the sound). We further ensure optimum sound quality by strictly limiting the number of pressings printed for each release. These limited editions, in addition to being collectors’ items, ensure that the quality of the last pressing matches the quality of the first.

As you can imagine, all these efforts involve a tremendous amount of time, technology, cost and effort. The introduction of GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ maintains Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s position as the world’s leading audiophile record label, where a passion for music with extraordinary sound quality matters most.

RTI HQ-180 Vinyl

Record Technology is a world class record pressing plant located in Camarillo, California. We have been operating since 1974, pressing for most audiophile record labels and for many quality minded independent and major record labels from around the world.