What's Your Name (Lynyrd Skynyrd song)

"What's Your Name" is a rock song by Lynyrd Skynyrd, the opening track on their album Street Survivors. It peaked at #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at #6 in Canada.

"What's Your Name"
Single by Lynyrd Skynyrd
from the album Street Survivors
ReleasedNovember 1977
Recorded1977
GenreSouthern rock
Length3:31
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant
Producer(s)Tom Dowd
Lynyrd Skynyrd singles chronology
"Free Bird (live)"
(1976)		 "What's Your Name"
(1977)		 "You Got That Right"
(1978)

Background

Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Gary Rossington wrote "What's Your Name" while in Miami with producer Tom Dowd and Booker T. & the M.G.'s guitarist Steve Cropper. The lyrics depict a true story of the band drinking at their hotel bar during a tour when one of their roadies got into a fight. The band got kicked out of the bar, but they went into another room and ordered champagne. However, unlike the song suggests, the incident did not happen in the city of Boise, Idaho. Instead, when Van Zant found out that the band 38 Special (led by his younger brother Donnie) was starting its first national tour in that city, the lyric was changed.[1]

Reception

Billboard Magazine praised the "strong, accessible melody" and the "excellent instrumentation."[2]

Music video

The music video, released after the plane crash that killed several band members, depicts Ronnie's brother Johnny along with a newly reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd live in concert (presumably at the Pensacola Civic Center as the video suggests). Interspersed within are shots of the road crew setting up for the show and the musicians tuning their instruments, having makeup done, meeting with fans, autographing albums and playing baseball together.[3] At the end of the video, a hat in the style of Ronnie's trademark "High Roller" look is seen atop a microphone stand as a tribute to him.

Chart performance

Rock Band Music Gaming Platform

The song was made available to download on November 30, 2010 for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic and Pro mode, the latter of which takes advantage of the use of a real guitar or bass guitar and MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits and keyboards in addition to three-part harmony vocals.

References
  1. "What's Your Name by Lynyrd Skynyrd". Songfacts. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  2. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. November 26, 1977. p. 96. Retrieved 2020-07-11.
  3. "What's Your Name". Retrieved 24 January 2013.
  4. Cash Box Top 100 Singles, March 11, 1978
  5. "Top 200 Singles of '78 – Volume 30, No. 14, December 30 1978". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  6. Musicoutfitters.com
  7. Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 78, 1978


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