Have you listened to Gabe Lee’s new album Drink The River yet?
If not, you’re really missing out.
The nine track record dropped last month, and it undoubtedly contains some of Lee’s best songwriting yet. The original music on this project is some of the best you’ll hear all year, but one of the surprising highlights, for me at least, is Lee’s cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “All I Can Do is Write About It.”
Nestled right in the middle of the tracklist, I didn’t didn’t put two and two together that Drink The River included this cover until I pressed play and listened to it all the way through. As a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd fan myself, it was an awesome surprise to hear a new take on some of their music, let alone one the super casual Skynyrd fan may not be too familiar with.
Written by Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zandt and guitarist Allen Collins, “All I Can Do Is Write About It” was originally recorded in 1976 for their fourth record Gimme Back My Bullets, and is a prime example of the band’s underrated lyricism and the members’ sometimes overlooked songwriting expertise.
If you aren’t familiar with the song, check out the original version here:
And then give Lee’s rendition a listen as well to hear his take on it.
Man, both Van Zandt and Lee can flat out sing.
If you haven’t listened to any of the other songs on Lee’s Drink the River yet, here are a couple of my favorites off of the record.
“Eveline”
“Even Jesus Got the Blues”
It’s always cool to see modern day artists pay homage to some of the music that influenced their sound or they enjoy listening to, and Gabe Lee did a great job on “All I Can Do Is Write About It.”
To anybody who may just know Lynyrd Skynyrd for their biggest hits, this is a great example of what you might find if you just pop the hood on their catalog even a little bit.
And this is a great year to do it, as we are nearing the 50th anniversary of their debut album Pronounced ‘Leh-’Nerd ‘Skin-’Nerd. So go listen to some of the best southern rock music ever made in memoriam of Lynyrd Skynyrd, whose last living member Gary Rossington unfortunately passed away earlier this year.
And keep listening to Gabe Lee and his latest album Drink the River, too, because that guy is making some of the best music out there right now.
