Gimme Back My Bullets

Gimme Back My Bullets is the fourth studio album by American Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, released on February 2, 1976. Produced by Tom Dowd, it reached number 20 on the U.S. albums chart and was certified gold on January 20, 1981, by the RIAA.^[4]

Gimme Back My Bullets
Studio album by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Released	February 2, 1976
Recorded	September 7–9 (tracks 2, 4, 8) and November 28–30, 1975
Studio	Record Plant, Los Angeles (tracks 2, 4, 8) and Capricorn Studios, Macon, Georgia
Genre	Southern rock hard rock
Length	35:16
Label	MCA
Producer	Tom Dowd
Lynyrd Skynyrd chronology
Nuthin' Fancy (1975) Gimme Back My Bullets (1976) One More from the Road (1976)
Singles from Gimme Back My Bullets
"Double Trouble" Released: February 2, 1976 "Gimme Back My Bullets" Released: 1976

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[2]
Rolling Stone	(mixed)[3]

Critical reception

Record World said the title track had "a sinewy, guitar-heavy number sound the group is most comfortable with," and said that "the beat is reminiscent of Bad Company and rocks with a stormy aggression."^[5]

Robert Christgau, who gave the album a positive review, stated: "Ronnie Van Zant may intend those bullets for 'pencil pushers' (which means not only me but you, I'll bet) but that's no reason to shoot him down. In fact, it's just the opposite—his attraction has always been the way he gets his unreconstructed say. Unfortunately, the music could use some Yankee calculation—from Al Kooper of Forest Hills, who I figure was good for two hooks per album, and Ed King of New Jersey, the guitarist turned born-againer whose guitar fills carried a lot more zing than three doodooing Honnicutts."^[6]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Gimme Back My Bullets"	Gary Rossington Ronnie Van Zant	3:28
2.	"Every Mother's Son"	Allen Collins Van Zant	4:56
3.	"Trust"	Collins Rossington Van Zant	4:25
4.	"(I Got the) Same Old Blues"	J. J. Cale	4:08

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Double Trouble"	Collins Van Zant	2:49
2.	"Roll Gypsy Roll"	Collins Rossington Van Zant	2:50
3.	"Searching"	Collins Van Zant	3:17
4.	"Cry for the Bad Man"	Collins Rossington Van Zant	4:48
5.	"All I Can Do Is Write About It"	Collins Van Zant	4:16

• Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–9 on CD reissues.

1999 CD reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Gimme Back My Bullets" (Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, March 7, 1976)	Rossington Van Zant	4:18
11.	"Cry for the Bad Man" (Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, March 7, 1976)	Collins Rossington Van Zant	5:35

• Tracks 10 and 11 are previously unreleased

2006 CD deluxe edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"Double Trouble" (Live at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff, Wales, November 4, 1975)	Collins Van Zant	3:13
11.	"I Got the Same Old Blues" (Live at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff, Wales, November 4, 1975)	Cale	4:13
12.	"Gimme Back My Bullets" (Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, March 7, 1976)	Rossington Van Zant	4:18
13.	"Cry for the Bad Man" (Live at the Winterland in San Francisco, CA, March 7, 1976)	Collins Rossington Van Zant	5:35
14.	"All I Can Do Is Write About It" (Acoustic Version)	Collins Van Zant	4:24
15.	"Double Trouble" (Alternate Version)	Collins Van Zant	2:51

• Tracks 10 and 14 originally released on the Lynyrd Skynyrd (Box Set) (1991)
• Track 15 originally released on Skynyrd's Innyrds (1989)
• Track 11 is previously unreleased

2006 deluxe edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Double Trouble"	Collins Van Zant
2.	"I Ain't the One"	Rossington Van Zant
3.	"Call Me the Breeze"	Cale
4.	"I Got the Same Old Blues"	Cale
5.	"Every Mother's Son"	Allen Collins Van Zant
6.	"Sweet Home Alabama"	Ed King Rossington Van Zant
7.	"Free Bird"	Collins Van Zant

• All tracks recorded live for The Old Grey Whistle Test on BBC television on November 11, 1975.

Personnel

Lynyrd Skynyrd

• Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals, lyrics
• Gary Rossington – guitars
• Allen Collins – guitars
• Leon Wilkeson – bass, background vocals
• Artimus Pyle – drums, percussion
• Billy Powell – keyboards

Additional personnel

• The Honeycuts – background vocals ("Double Trouble", "Cry for the Bad Man")
• The Honkettes – background vocals (on bonus live tracks)
• Lee Freeman – harp ("I Got the Same Old Blues")
• Barry Lee Harwood – dobro, mandolin ("All I Can Do Is Write About It")

Charts

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[7]	73
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8]	20
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[9]	50
UK Albums (OCC)[10]	34
US Billboard 200[11]	20

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.