Southern Man (song)
Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their song "Sweet Home Alabama" in response to "Southern Man" and "Alabama" from Young's 1972 album "Harvest". Young has said that he is a fan of both "Sweet Home Alabama" and Ronnie Van Zant, the lead vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. "They play like they mean it," Young said in 1976. "I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs." Young has also been known to play "Sweet Home Alabama" in concert occasionally. To demonstrate this camaraderie, Van Zant frequently wore a Neil Young "Tonight's the Night" T-shirt while performing "Sweet Home Alabama". Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot can often be seen reciprocating by wearing a Jack Daniel's-styled Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt (including at the "Live Rust" concert).
I Wanna Come Over
"I Wanna Come Over" also proved crucial for introducing Alabama's fans to one aspect core to their style — the mellow love ballad, which would be repeated on their most successful songs, including "Feels So Right," "There's No Way" and "Forever's as Far as I'll Go." The song also paved the way for the bigger success of the follow-up single, "My Home's in Alabama" (which provided fans with the country rock-influenced side of the band's sound), the group earning an invitation to the "New Faces" show at the annual Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, and an eventual contract with RCA Records.