4 out of 5 Stars!

After the horrible tragedy in 1977 that tore the band apart, Lynyrd Skynyrd not only returned to the music scene several years later, but did so (and shocked more than a few fans in the process) with a revamped band led by a female singer. I read interviews with Skynyrd’s surviving band members at the time saying that, in respect to Ronnie Van Zant (Skynyrd’s deceased former frontman), Rossington Collins Band didn’t want to step on the exact same musical territory as covered by Skynyrd, wanting to avoid direct comparisons, and selecting a female to front the group helped to achieve that goal.

Of course, the new outfit played a style similar to Skynyrd’s in many ways, but with Dale Krantz (later Dale Krantz Rossington) fronting the band, the group opened itself to a potentially updated fan base as well (and sadly, perhaps a bit of scorn from old Skynyrd fans, too).

Regardless, RCB proved to be a decent group on its debut album Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere (displaying an appropriate “phoenix rising from the ashes” cover), gained some radio play with the catchy single “Don’t Misunderstand Me,” and Dale proved herself an enjoyable and highly capable vocalist. With a deep, sometimes-gruff voice, more than a tad masculine sounding, she was often compared to Janis Joplin, especially on tracks such as “Three Times as Bad,” “One Good Man,” “Prime Time,” “Sometimes You Can Put It Out,” and “Getaway.”

Now, whether it’s a fair comparison or not is up to the listener, but I loved her voice and manner of delivery quite a bit, and because of her, I even followed the later band Rossington, which was more AOR oriented than the Southern Rock leanings of Rossington Collins Band.

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