DESCRIPTION:
"Well, I heard Mister Young sing about her
Well, I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around anyhow"

Or does he?

Ronnie & Neil.

Less than a month after Ronnie Van Zant and other band members untimely death in a horrible plane crash, Neil Young paid tribute by playing his song "Alabama," followed by a (VERY) brief segue into Lynyrd Skynyrd's mega hit "Sweet Home Alabama." Recording is from Nov 12, 1977 at Bicentennial Park, Miami, Florida. The show was a benefit for the Children's Hospital Charity and Neil played with his band, dubbed the Gone With The Wind Orchestra:

Neil Young - vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica
Nicolette Larson - background vocals - RIP
Ben Keith - steel guitar - RIP
Spooner Oldham - piano
Tim Drummond - bass - RIP
Rufus Thibodeaux - fiddle - RIP
Karl T. Himmel - drums

According to the wonderful Thrasher's Wheat website: http://neilyoungnews.thrasherswheat.org/2010/02/ronnie-and-neil-laying-to-rest-feud.html

As Fred Mills puts it in his book review of Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering The Free Birds Of Southern Rock by Gene Odom, "[Ronnie Van Zant] would just as soon go onstage wearing one of several Neil Young T-shirts that he owned in order to fuck with any yahoos in the crowd who missed the humor and irony of the “Sweet Home Alabama” lyrics."

As for Neil Young's reaction to all of this? One widely circulated theory during the 1970's was found in Neil's stunning response to Lynyrd Skynyrd with On The Beach's "Walk On."

I hear some people been talkin' me down,
Bring up my name, pass it 'round.
They don't mention happy times
They do their thing, I'll do mine.

Little did we realize at the time the symbolism in "Walk On", but years later as On The Beach surfaces and makes its place with other classics, did some of Neil's meanings sink in. (The lyrics in "Walk On" have also been interpreted to refer to bandmates Crosby, Stills, & Nash. Others argue that the song is in response to press reviews of Young's Time Fades Away tour.)

It seems that whatever grudges Lynyrd Skynyrd had for Neil's music may have been resolved - if there ever was any feud to begin with. From an interview with Ronnie Van Zant:

"We wrote Alabama as a joke. We didn't even think about it - the words just came out that way. We just laughed like hell, and said 'Ain't that funny'... We love Neil Young, we love his music..."

As for the rumor that Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded the Neil Young song "Powderfinger" (see for lyrics analysis), here's an interview in MOJO Magazine , where Young said:

Young:Lynyrd Skynyrd almost ended up recording Powderfinger before my version came out. We sent them an early demo of it because they wanted to do one of my songs.

Interviewer Q. Surprising, that. After all, Lynyrd Skynyrd put you down by name on Sweet Home Alabama, their first hit single....
Young: Oh, they didn't really put me down! But then again, maybe they did! (laughs) But not in a way that matters. Shit, I think Sweet Home Alabama is a great song. I've actually performed it live a couple of times myself. "

***Neil Young, from his book, "Waging Heavy Peace" (2012) - "Everyone played, and it was the country wall of sound, the Gone With the Wind Orchestra. What a sound! Soon after I was so high on that orchestra that I did a free concert in Miami, and took the whole group down there and played. But we didn't record it - I can't believe it. It must be the only thing I've ever done that I didn't record. I did "Sweet Home Alabama" at that show, and the folks loved it. My own song "Alabama" richly deserved the shot Lynyrd Skynyrd gave me with their great record. I don't like my words when I listen to it today...)"

1977-11-12
Bicentennial Park, Miami, Florida, USA
Children's Hospital Charity
w/ The Gone With The Wind Orchestra

1. Are You Ready For The Country?
2. Dance Dance Dance Love Is A Rose
3. Old Man
4. The Losing End
5. Heart Of Gold
6. The Needle And The Damage Done
7. Sugar Mountain
8. Already One*
9. Lady Wingshot*
10. Four Strong Winds
11. Down By The River
12. Alabama Sweet Home Alabama
13. Are You Ready For The Country?

* - song debut