There have been many bands in history. Some have never been, or never will be famous, while others have become world-renowned. One world famous band is one of my personal favorites, Lynyrd Skynyrd. This southern rock band has become known by almost everyone on the planet. If you walk up to someone on the street and ask them if they've ever heard of "Sweet Home Alabama", there's a good chance they have. I'm here to tell you the history of the band, starting from the beginning.
It all started in 1964, when three members of the band (Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Ronnie Van Zant) attended the same high school in Florida. They formed a band with two other students (Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns), before winning a contest together. At the high school, they all had a PE teacher who protested them having long hair. The teacher's name was Leonard Skinner, and that was the source of the band's final name. Several other names were considered, including My Backyard, The Noble Five, and One Percent. They simply took the teacher's name and changed the vowels and last name (Skinner to Skynyrd), by adding a D to the end. This way they could avoid lawsuit.
The band eventually, in 1970, met their first manager (Alan Walden), and began working on other projects in the meantime. In 1972 one of the band's roadies (Billy Powell) joined as the keyboard player, and the band began to incorporate keyboards into songs. A good example of this is is their iconic song, "Sweet Home Alabama", in which Powell demonstrates his prowess at the instrument by breaking into a solo near the end of the song. Specifically, at the end of the third chorus. The band was eventually discovered by Al Kooper, who produced their first album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd. Kooper also happened to be keyboardist and vocalist for The Blues Project temporarily and, interestingly, on Skynyrd's recording of "Sweet Home Alabama", according to Wikipedia: "There is a semi-hidden vocal line in the second verse after the "Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her" line. In the left channel, you can hear the phrase "Southern Man" being sung lightly (at approximately 0:55). This was producer Al Kooper doing a Neil Young impression and was just another incident of the band members messing around in the studio while being recorded". By now, the band consisted of Rossington, Burns, Collins, Van Zant, Leon Wilkeson, who replaced Junstrom as bassist, and Powell.
The association with Al Kooper marked the beginning of Lynyrd Skynyrd's work for MCA Records, which inspired one of their later songs, Workin' For MCA. The album Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd was released on August 13, 1973, and included the tracks:
1."I Ain't the One" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:53
2."Tuesday's Gone" (Allen Collins, Rossington, Van Zant) – 7:32
3."Gimme Three Steps" (Collins, Van Zant) – 4:30
4."Simple Man" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:57
on side one, and:
1."Things Goin' On" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:00
2."Mississippi Kid" (Al Kooper, Van Zant, Bob Burns) – 3:56
3."Poison Whiskey" (Ed King, Van Zant) – 3:13
4."Free Bird" (Collins, Van Zant) – 9:18
on side two.
"Free Bird" in particular was a big hit. According to Songfacts.com: "Frontman Johnny Van Zant discussed this song in a track-by-track commentary to promote the band's 2010 CD/DVD Live From Freedom Hall. He said: 'For years Skynyrd has always closed the show with that song and the song has different meanings for different people. This kid was telling me that they used it for their graduation song and not too long ago somebody told me that they used it at a funeral. And really it's a love song, its one of the few that Lynyrd Skynyrd's ever had. It's about a guy and a girl. Of course at the end it was dedicated to Duane Allman from the band Allman Brothers because it goes into the guitar part. If you can get through that one you've had a good night at a Skynyrd show.'".
Collins, Rossington, Van Zant, and recently added guitar player Ed King all were credited with writing the songs on their 1974 album, Second Helping, which included songs such as Don't Ask Me No Questions, The Needle And The Spoon, and a Skynyrd recording of the J. J. Cale song Call Me The Breeze, which particularly highlights the superior keyboard playing skills of Billy Powell, who breaks into a very complex, impressive solo in the middle of the song, from approximately the 2:54 mark to approximately the 3:55 mark.
Their most famous song, "Sweet Home Alabama", made it's debut on the Second Helping album, helping the song get it's reputation as Lynyrd Skynyrd's most popular single. Amusingly enough, according to Songfacts.com: "The guitar solo in the song is actually played in the wrong key. Producer Al Kooper noticed that Ed King played the solo in the key of G instead of D, the first chord in the progression. He was so vexed that he took to tune to California, and played it for his guitarist friend Michael Bloomfield. In fact, the song is in G, and King himself rips the exuberant, melodic blues lines in the E minor pentatonic Blues scale, which in the song functions as the G pentatonic scale. (from Guitar Edge magazine - July/August 2006)." Interestingly, according to Wikipedia: "The famous 'Turn it up' line uttered by Ronnie Van Zant in the beginning was not intended to be in the song. Van Zant was simply asking producer Al Kooper and engineer Rodney Mills to turn up the volume in his headphones so that he could hear the track better.".
Specifically, Second Helping includes:
1."Sweet Home Alabama" (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:43
2."I Need You" (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 6:55
3."Don't Ask Me No Questions" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:26
4."Workin' for MCA" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:49
on side one, and:
5."The Ballad of Curtis Loew" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:51
6."Swamp Music" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:31
7."The Needle and the Spoon" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:53
8."Call Me the Breeze" (J. J. Cale) – 5:09
on side two.
Skynyrd's next drummer was Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle from Kentucky. He played drums on Lynyrd Skynyrd songs such as "Saturday Night Special" and "Made In The Shade", serving as drummer for the band for their third album, Nuthin' Fancy, which included the tracks:
1."Saturday Night Special" (E. King, R. Van Zant) – 5:08
2."Cheatin' Woman" (R. Van Zant, G. Rossington, A. Kooper) – 4:38
3."Railroad Song" (E. King, R. Van Zant) – 4:14
4."I'm a Country Boy" (A. Collins, R. Van Zant) – 4:24
on side one, and
1."On the Hunt" (A. Collins, R. Van Zant) – 5:25
2."Am I Losin'" (G. Rossington, R. Van Zant) – 4:32
3."Made in the Shade" (R. Van Zant) – 4:40
4."Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" (E. King, R. Van Zant, B. Powell) – 4:33
on side two.
Apparently, Gary Rossington had a car crash while intoxicated. He was injured, and this interfered with some concert dates. Ronnie Van Zant was not at all happy with Rossington, and the song "That Smell", a warning about alcohol and drinking, was written by Van Zant and Allen Collins. The song was released on the album Street Survivors on side 1 of the record. According to Songfacts.com: "The band fined Rossington $5000 for holding up the tour. Skynyrd made an effort to stay sober on this tour. Drugs and alcohol were banned from the dressing rooms.".
1976 was the year that Skynyrd added several backup singers (Cassie Gaines, Leslie Hawkins, and JoJo Billingsley), and they became known as The Honkettes, collectively. Cassie Gaines got her brother, Steve Gaines from the band Crawdad, to join Skynyrd. He became their guitar player, and demonstrated his skills in their album Street Survivors. According to Wikipedia: "Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day."". Street Survivors was the final album released by Lynyrd Skynyrd's most famous Incarnation. Interestingly, the album's cover subtly depicted Ronnie Van Zant wearing a Neil Young T-shirt, since the two were close friends (though many thought they hated each other).
On October 20, 1977, three day after Street Survivors was released, the airplane chartered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, a Convair CV-300, ran out of fuel in mid flight forcing it to crash land in Mississippi. Three members of the band (Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant) were killed on impact, as well as pilot Walter McCreary, co-pilot William Gray, and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The other members of the band (guitar player Allen Collins, guitar player Gary Rossington, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, drummer Artimus Pyle, and backup vocalist Leslie Hawkins) suffered serious injuries, but survived. This marked the end of The band's most popular incarnation, as well as the Lynyrd Skynyrd band altogether, for a period.
According to wikipedia: "The original cover sleeve for Street Survivors had featured a photograph of the band, particularly Steve Gaines, engulfed in flames. Out of respect for the deceased (and at the request of Teresa Gaines, Steve's widow), MCA Records withdrew the original cover and replaced it with a similar image of the band against a simple black background. Thirty years later, for the deluxe CD version of Street Survivors, the original "flames" cover was restored.".
Street Survivors included the tracks:
1."What's Your Name" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:30
2."That Smell" (Allen Collins, Van Zant) – 5:47
3."One More Time" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:03
4."I Know a Little" (Steve Gaines) – 3:26
on side one, side two included:
1."You Got That Right" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:44
2."I Never Dreamed" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 5:21
3."Honky Tonk Night Time Man" (Merle Haggard) – 3:59
4."Ain't No Good Life" (Gaines) – 4:36
and the 2001 CD reissue includes:
9."Georgia Peaches" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:15
10."Sweet Little Missy" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:10
11."You Got That Right (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:26
12."I Never Dreamed (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 4:55
13."Jacksonville Kid" (Haggard, Van Zant) - 4:03
Unfortunately, following a car crash that killed his girlfriend and severely injured him, Allen Collins was paralysed from the waist down, and was unable to perform any further in Skynyrd, who had reunited in 1987. He passed away because of pneumonia on January 23, 1993.
In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited with several pre-crash members. The new version of the band consisted of pre-crash guitar player Gary Rossington, Pre-crash keyboardist Billy Powell, pre-crash bassist Leon Wilkeson, pre-crash drummer Artimus Pyle, Ronnie Van Zant's brother, Johnny Van Zant, as vocalist, and pre-crash guitar player Ed King who, coincidentally, was not on board the aircraft at the time of the crash, due to his departure from Lynyrd Skynyrd several years prior.
The pre-crash members of Skynyrd have gradually left the band for various reasons. Keyboardist Billy Powell Passed Away in Jacksonville, Florida on January 28, 2009 at 1:52 A.M. He had missed a very important doctor's appointment the day before, and supposedly was killed by a heart attack (although this was never determined). Ed King temporarily left the band, and was simply not allowed to return. He currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee and is, in his own words, "quite happily retired". Leon Wilkeson was found dead on July 27, 2001 due to liver disease. Artimus Pyle left the band in 1991. In his own words: "I left the band in 1991 basically because there was a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I felt as though we should have put all that stuff behind us years and years ago". He currently lives in North Carolina. The sole remaining pre-crash member still with the band today is Gary Rossington.
Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd consists of Johnny Van Zant as the vocalist, Gary Rossington, Mark Matejka, and Blackfoot's Rickey Medlocke as guitarists, Michael Cartellone as the drummer, Peter Keys playing keyboards,and Robert Kearns as the bass player. They've played alongside bands such as The Doobie Brothers and ZZ Top. One of their most recent albums is God & Guns, including songs such as "Skynyrd Nation" and "Still Unbroken", available for purchase on itunes. Another interesting fact is that they use a "Y" wherever an "I" or an "E" would normally go. an example of this is the documentary "Skynyrd Frynds", or the album "Thyrty: the 30th anniversary collection" (Released on August 12, 2003).
It all started in 1964, when three members of the band (Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Ronnie Van Zant) attended the same high school in Florida. They formed a band with two other students (Larry Junstrom and Bob Burns), before winning a contest together. At the high school, they all had a PE teacher who protested them having long hair. The teacher's name was Leonard Skinner, and that was the source of the band's final name. Several other names were considered, including My Backyard, The Noble Five, and One Percent. They simply took the teacher's name and changed the vowels and last name (Skinner to Skynyrd), by adding a D to the end. This way they could avoid lawsuit.
The band eventually, in 1970, met their first manager (Alan Walden), and began working on other projects in the meantime. In 1972 one of the band's roadies (Billy Powell) joined as the keyboard player, and the band began to incorporate keyboards into songs. A good example of this is is their iconic song, "Sweet Home Alabama", in which Powell demonstrates his prowess at the instrument by breaking into a solo near the end of the song. Specifically, at the end of the third chorus. The band was eventually discovered by Al Kooper, who produced their first album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd. Kooper also happened to be keyboardist and vocalist for The Blues Project temporarily and, interestingly, on Skynyrd's recording of "Sweet Home Alabama", according to Wikipedia: "There is a semi-hidden vocal line in the second verse after the "Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her" line. In the left channel, you can hear the phrase "Southern Man" being sung lightly (at approximately 0:55). This was producer Al Kooper doing a Neil Young impression and was just another incident of the band members messing around in the studio while being recorded". By now, the band consisted of Rossington, Burns, Collins, Van Zant, Leon Wilkeson, who replaced Junstrom as bassist, and Powell.
The association with Al Kooper marked the beginning of Lynyrd Skynyrd's work for MCA Records, which inspired one of their later songs, Workin' For MCA. The album Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd was released on August 13, 1973, and included the tracks:
1."I Ain't the One" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:53
2."Tuesday's Gone" (Allen Collins, Rossington, Van Zant) – 7:32
3."Gimme Three Steps" (Collins, Van Zant) – 4:30
4."Simple Man" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:57
on side one, and:
1."Things Goin' On" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:00
2."Mississippi Kid" (Al Kooper, Van Zant, Bob Burns) – 3:56
3."Poison Whiskey" (Ed King, Van Zant) – 3:13
4."Free Bird" (Collins, Van Zant) – 9:18
on side two.
"Free Bird" in particular was a big hit. According to Songfacts.com: "Frontman Johnny Van Zant discussed this song in a track-by-track commentary to promote the band's 2010 CD/DVD Live From Freedom Hall. He said: 'For years Skynyrd has always closed the show with that song and the song has different meanings for different people. This kid was telling me that they used it for their graduation song and not too long ago somebody told me that they used it at a funeral. And really it's a love song, its one of the few that Lynyrd Skynyrd's ever had. It's about a guy and a girl. Of course at the end it was dedicated to Duane Allman from the band Allman Brothers because it goes into the guitar part. If you can get through that one you've had a good night at a Skynyrd show.'".
Collins, Rossington, Van Zant, and recently added guitar player Ed King all were credited with writing the songs on their 1974 album, Second Helping, which included songs such as Don't Ask Me No Questions, The Needle And The Spoon, and a Skynyrd recording of the J. J. Cale song Call Me The Breeze, which particularly highlights the superior keyboard playing skills of Billy Powell, who breaks into a very complex, impressive solo in the middle of the song, from approximately the 2:54 mark to approximately the 3:55 mark.
Their most famous song, "Sweet Home Alabama", made it's debut on the Second Helping album, helping the song get it's reputation as Lynyrd Skynyrd's most popular single. Amusingly enough, according to Songfacts.com: "The guitar solo in the song is actually played in the wrong key. Producer Al Kooper noticed that Ed King played the solo in the key of G instead of D, the first chord in the progression. He was so vexed that he took to tune to California, and played it for his guitarist friend Michael Bloomfield. In fact, the song is in G, and King himself rips the exuberant, melodic blues lines in the E minor pentatonic Blues scale, which in the song functions as the G pentatonic scale. (from Guitar Edge magazine - July/August 2006)." Interestingly, according to Wikipedia: "The famous 'Turn it up' line uttered by Ronnie Van Zant in the beginning was not intended to be in the song. Van Zant was simply asking producer Al Kooper and engineer Rodney Mills to turn up the volume in his headphones so that he could hear the track better.".
Specifically, Second Helping includes:
1."Sweet Home Alabama" (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:43
2."I Need You" (Ed King, Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 6:55
3."Don't Ask Me No Questions" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:26
4."Workin' for MCA" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:49
on side one, and:
5."The Ballad of Curtis Loew" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) – 4:51
6."Swamp Music" (Ed King, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:31
7."The Needle and the Spoon" (Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:53
8."Call Me the Breeze" (J. J. Cale) – 5:09
on side two.
Skynyrd's next drummer was Thomas Delmer "Artimus" Pyle from Kentucky. He played drums on Lynyrd Skynyrd songs such as "Saturday Night Special" and "Made In The Shade", serving as drummer for the band for their third album, Nuthin' Fancy, which included the tracks:
1."Saturday Night Special" (E. King, R. Van Zant) – 5:08
2."Cheatin' Woman" (R. Van Zant, G. Rossington, A. Kooper) – 4:38
3."Railroad Song" (E. King, R. Van Zant) – 4:14
4."I'm a Country Boy" (A. Collins, R. Van Zant) – 4:24
on side one, and
1."On the Hunt" (A. Collins, R. Van Zant) – 5:25
2."Am I Losin'" (G. Rossington, R. Van Zant) – 4:32
3."Made in the Shade" (R. Van Zant) – 4:40
4."Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" (E. King, R. Van Zant, B. Powell) – 4:33
on side two.
Apparently, Gary Rossington had a car crash while intoxicated. He was injured, and this interfered with some concert dates. Ronnie Van Zant was not at all happy with Rossington, and the song "That Smell", a warning about alcohol and drinking, was written by Van Zant and Allen Collins. The song was released on the album Street Survivors on side 1 of the record. According to Songfacts.com: "The band fined Rossington $5000 for holding up the tour. Skynyrd made an effort to stay sober on this tour. Drugs and alcohol were banned from the dressing rooms.".
1976 was the year that Skynyrd added several backup singers (Cassie Gaines, Leslie Hawkins, and JoJo Billingsley), and they became known as The Honkettes, collectively. Cassie Gaines got her brother, Steve Gaines from the band Crawdad, to join Skynyrd. He became their guitar player, and demonstrated his skills in their album Street Survivors. According to Wikipedia: "Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day."". Street Survivors was the final album released by Lynyrd Skynyrd's most famous Incarnation. Interestingly, the album's cover subtly depicted Ronnie Van Zant wearing a Neil Young T-shirt, since the two were close friends (though many thought they hated each other).
On October 20, 1977, three day after Street Survivors was released, the airplane chartered by Lynyrd Skynyrd, a Convair CV-300, ran out of fuel in mid flight forcing it to crash land in Mississippi. Three members of the band (Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and Ronnie Van Zant) were killed on impact, as well as pilot Walter McCreary, co-pilot William Gray, and assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The other members of the band (guitar player Allen Collins, guitar player Gary Rossington, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboardist Billy Powell, drummer Artimus Pyle, and backup vocalist Leslie Hawkins) suffered serious injuries, but survived. This marked the end of The band's most popular incarnation, as well as the Lynyrd Skynyrd band altogether, for a period.
According to wikipedia: "The original cover sleeve for Street Survivors had featured a photograph of the band, particularly Steve Gaines, engulfed in flames. Out of respect for the deceased (and at the request of Teresa Gaines, Steve's widow), MCA Records withdrew the original cover and replaced it with a similar image of the band against a simple black background. Thirty years later, for the deluxe CD version of Street Survivors, the original "flames" cover was restored.".
Street Survivors included the tracks:
1."What's Your Name" (Gary Rossington, Ronnie Van Zant) – 3:30
2."That Smell" (Allen Collins, Van Zant) – 5:47
3."One More Time" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:03
4."I Know a Little" (Steve Gaines) – 3:26
on side one, side two included:
1."You Got That Right" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:44
2."I Never Dreamed" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 5:21
3."Honky Tonk Night Time Man" (Merle Haggard) – 3:59
4."Ain't No Good Life" (Gaines) – 4:36
and the 2001 CD reissue includes:
9."Georgia Peaches" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:15
10."Sweet Little Missy" (Rossington, Van Zant) – 5:10
11."You Got That Right (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 3:26
12."I Never Dreamed (Alternate Version)" (Gaines, Van Zant) – 4:55
13."Jacksonville Kid" (Haggard, Van Zant) - 4:03
Unfortunately, following a car crash that killed his girlfriend and severely injured him, Allen Collins was paralysed from the waist down, and was unable to perform any further in Skynyrd, who had reunited in 1987. He passed away because of pneumonia on January 23, 1993.
In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited with several pre-crash members. The new version of the band consisted of pre-crash guitar player Gary Rossington, Pre-crash keyboardist Billy Powell, pre-crash bassist Leon Wilkeson, pre-crash drummer Artimus Pyle, Ronnie Van Zant's brother, Johnny Van Zant, as vocalist, and pre-crash guitar player Ed King who, coincidentally, was not on board the aircraft at the time of the crash, due to his departure from Lynyrd Skynyrd several years prior.
The pre-crash members of Skynyrd have gradually left the band for various reasons. Keyboardist Billy Powell Passed Away in Jacksonville, Florida on January 28, 2009 at 1:52 A.M. He had missed a very important doctor's appointment the day before, and supposedly was killed by a heart attack (although this was never determined). Ed King temporarily left the band, and was simply not allowed to return. He currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee and is, in his own words, "quite happily retired". Leon Wilkeson was found dead on July 27, 2001 due to liver disease. Artimus Pyle left the band in 1991. In his own words: "I left the band in 1991 basically because there was a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I felt as though we should have put all that stuff behind us years and years ago". He currently lives in North Carolina. The sole remaining pre-crash member still with the band today is Gary Rossington.
Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd consists of Johnny Van Zant as the vocalist, Gary Rossington, Mark Matejka, and Blackfoot's Rickey Medlocke as guitarists, Michael Cartellone as the drummer, Peter Keys playing keyboards,and Robert Kearns as the bass player. They've played alongside bands such as The Doobie Brothers and ZZ Top. One of their most recent albums is God & Guns, including songs such as "Skynyrd Nation" and "Still Unbroken", available for purchase on itunes. Another interesting fact is that they use a "Y" wherever an "I" or an "E" would normally go. an example of this is the documentary "Skynyrd Frynds", or the album "Thyrty: the 30th anniversary collection" (Released on August 12, 2003).