Lynyrd Skynyrd

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Lynyrd Skynyrd
Origin Jacksonville, Florida, USA
Genre(s) Southern rock, hard rock, blues-rock
Years active 1970–1977, 1987–present
Label(s) MCA Records, Atlantic Records, Capricorn Records, SPV Records, CMC International, Sanctuary Records, Universal Records
Website LynyrdSkynyrd.com
Members
Johnny Van Zant
Gary Rossington
Billy Powell
Ean Evans
Rickey Medlocke
Michael Cartellone
Mark Matejka
Dale Krantz Rossington
Carol Chase
Former members
Ronnie Van Zant
Allen Collins
Steve Gaines
Leon Wilkeson
Cassie Gaines
Hughie Thomasson
Ed King
Artimus Pyle
Bob Burns
Randall Hall

Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced /ˌlɛnɚdˈskɪnɝd/, although in Southern American English dialects with the pin-pen merger, it is pronounced [ˌlɪnɚdˈskɪnɚd]) is a U.S. Southern rock band. The band reached prominence during the 1970s under the leadership of vocalist and primary songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, until he died, along with guitar player Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines in a plane crash in 1977 in McComb, Mississippi. The band got the idea for their name from Leonard Skinner, a gym teacher/basketball coach for some of the members at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida.[1][2] Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most critically acclaimed Southern Rock groups[citation needed] (although the term did not exist at the time they formed) of the 1970s, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 13, 2006. Their distinctive triple-lead guitar sound made their songs "Free Bird" and "Sweet Home Alabama" American anthems and staples of FM radio.[citation needed]

Members inducted include singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King, and Steve Gaines, bassist Leon Wilkeson, keyboard player Billy Powell, and drummers Bob Burns and Artimus Pyle.

Contents

[edit] Background

The band, originally called "My Backyard," was formed in Jacksonville, Florida in the summer of 1964 by teenage friends Van Zant, Collins, Gary Rossington (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass) and Burns. Their early influences included British Invasion bands such as Free, The Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, as well as Southern blues and country & western music.[citation needed]

In 1968, the singing group won a local Battle of the Bands contest, using the prize money to record the songs "Need All My Friends" and "Michelle," the former released as their debut single on Jacksonville-based Shade Tree Records. They also won the opening slot on several Southeast shows for California-based psychedelic rock band, Strawberry Alarm Clock[citation needed].

[edit] Early years (1970–1972)

In 1970, the band began rehearsing at the Hell House, an isolated farm in Green Cove Springs, a small city in Clay County on the outskirts of Jacksonville. Roadie Billy Powell joined as keyboardist around this time.[citation needed]

The original name of the band was to be "One Percent".[citation needed] The band went through other name changes, including the "Noble Five", before they settled on "Leonard Skinnerd." "Leonard Skinnerd" was a mocking tribute to Rossington's and Burns' gym teacher at Robert E. Lee High School, Leonard Skinner.[2] Skinner would strictly enforce the school's dress code, which did not allow boys to have long hair touching the collar or sideburns below the ears. Despite their high school acrimony, the band developed a friendlier relationship with Skinner in later years; they invited Skinner to introduce them at a concert at the Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum,[3] and Skinner attended a celebration concert for the band at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[4]

The band continued to perform throughout the South in the early 1970s, further developing their hard-driving, Blues-rock sound and image. In 1972, Leon Wilkeson replaced Larry Junstrom on bass. But Wilkeson surprised his bandmates and left just before they were to record the first album. (Wilkeson was to rejoin the band shortly after, at Van Zant's invitation.)[citation needed] Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King was asked to fill in as bass player. After the album was completed, Van Zant said jokingly to King that he was "the worst bass player he'd ever played with".[citation needed] He suggested King move to guitar, so they could reproduce the studio album's three-guitar mix.

[edit] Peak years (1973–1977)

In 1973, the group changed the spelling of the band name from Leonard Skinnerd to Lynyrd Skynyrd [5].The evolution of the spelling of Lynyrd Skynyrd is a variation of the name Lynerd Sknerd in a song by Allan Sherman. The song, "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" was released in 1963 and was #2 on the Billboard hot 100. Musician, songwriter, and producer Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat, and Tears was impressed with the band during a performance at an Atlanta club called Funocchio's in 1972, and signed them to MCA Records. Kooper produced their first album[citation needed], 1973's (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd), which featured the hit songs "I Aint The One", "Simple Man" "Gimmie Three Steps" and "Free Bird". "Free Bird" began to receive national airplay, eventually reaching #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. The song has also become the subject of a Rock and Roll cliché, which is the shouting of a request to hear the song at almost any live concert, regardless of the performer. This practice has become so commonplace at live concerts that it has largely evolved into a parody of itself.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly during 1973, due in large part to their opening slot on The Who's Quadrophenia tour in the United States. Their second album, 1974's Second Helping, was the band's breakthrough hit. It featured their most popular single, "Sweet Home Alabama" (#8 on the charts in August 1974), a tongue in cheek answer song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man". Today, Young claims that he and Van Zant were not rivals, but that they were actually fans of each other's music and good friends, and that they had talked of collaborations together.[citation needed] Young was going to give his song, "Powderfinger," to Lynyrd Skynyrd to perform, a fact which Young has never denied.[citation needed] The album also included the hits "Workin For MCA", "Don't ask me no questions" and "Call Me The Breeze"

The Skynyrd plane crash happened months after that song was penned, leaving Young to perform the song himself on his 1979 album, Rust Never Sleeps. Young has occasionally included the chorus from "Sweet Home Alabama" as a tribute to Skynyrd at his own live concerts, including at his first live performance following Van Zant's death. Finally, one of the last photographs of Ronnie Van Zant prior to his passing features the frontman wearing a Neil Young t-shirt.[1]

Second Helping reached #12 in 1974, eventually going multi-platinum. In July 1974, Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the headline acts at The Ozark Music Festival, at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri. Some estimates have put the crowd count at 350,000 people, which would make this one of the largest music events in history. The band also toured the UK in 1975 with Golden Earring, and in 1976 with The Rolling Stones.

In 1975, Burns left the band and was replaced by Kentucky native Artimus Pyle at the drums. The new lineup's first album, Nuthin' Fancy, was released, becoming their first Top Ten album.[citation needed] It features the hit song, "Saturday Night Special" (#27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart). Guitarist Ed King left the band midway through the Nuthin' Fancy tour. The band decided to continue on as a 6-piece band, with only two guitarists.[citation needed]

Gimme Back My Bullets followed in 1976, but did not reach the same success as the previous two albums. The most redeeming song on Lynyrd Skynyrds 4th album was "Double Trouble" and it has been on many southern rock CDs over the years. In December 1975, backup singers Leslie Hawkins, Cassie Gaines and JoJo Billingsley (collectively known as the Honkettes) were added to the band. Guitarist Steve Gaines, brother of backup singer Cassie Gaines, replaced King in 1976, just in time to record the double-live album One More from the Road, the band's second Top Ten hit. At its peak, the band's unique triple guitar style included one slide and a rocking Gibson Firebird. Adding to the wall of sound was the melodic bass playing, the wild yet rhythmic percussion section, Van Zant's strong vocals, and the furious keyboard/piano playing of Powell.

Lynyrd Skynyrd's sixth album, Street Survivors had the hits "What's Your Name" and "That Smell", it was released on October 17, 1977. It would be the final album released by the "classic" line-up.

[edit] Plane crash (1977)

On Thursday, October 20, 1977, three days after the release of Street Survivors, the band was three dates into their most successful headlining tour to date, and the Skynyrd touring party was in a relaxed, joyful mood. However, near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 began to develop mechanical difficulties, and the pilots attempted an emergency landing on a small airstrip. Just short of its goal, the plane crashed in a forest near McComb, Mississippi. The crash killed singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray. Other band members were injured, some seriously. Drummer Artimus Pyle crawled out of the plane wreckage with several broken ribs, but was ambulatory, as were road crew members Kenneth Peden, Jr. and Mark Frank. The three injured men hiked some distance from the crash site, through swampy woods, and finally flagged down farmer Johnny Mote, who had come to investigate. Varying accounts have Mote either firing a warning shot into the air or actually shooting Pyle in the shoulder. Pyle claimed in a February 2007 appearance on Howard Stern's Sirius radio program that Mote had shot him; Mote has always denied shooting the drummer. Video of a barechested Pyle at the 1979 Volunteer Jam does not show evidence of a gunshot wound.

Medical personnel arrived and began to ferry out the injured and the dead. Allen Collins suffered two cracked vertebrae in his neck, and both Collins and Leon Wilkeson nearly had arms amputated as a result of crash injuries. Wilkeson suffered severe internal injuries, including a punctured lung, and had most of his teeth knocked out. Gary Rossington broke both of his arms and both of his legs in the crash, and took many months to recuperate. Leslie Hawkins sustained a concussion, broke her neck in three places and had severe facial lacerations. Security manager Gene Odom was seriously burned on his arm and face and lost sight in one eye as a result of an emergency flare on board the plane that was activated during the crash. Victims were taken to the hospital in McComb, Mississippi by ambulances and other vehicles. Road crew member Steve Lawler, who suffered severe contusions and facial lacerations, was taken to the hospital in a pickup truck.

Pianist Billy Powell survived but his nose was nearly torn off and he suffered severe facial lacerations. He later caused a controversy by giving a lurid account of Cassie Gaines' final moments on a VH1 Behind The Music special about the band, claiming that the backing singer's throat was cut from ear to ear and that she bled to death in his arms. Powell also claimed that Ronnie Van Zant's head had been smashed. Powell's version of events has been discounted by both Artimus Pyle and Judy Van Zant Jenness, who posted the autopsy reports on the band's website in early 1998 in order to set the record straight. Despite this faux pas, Powell has been on good terms with the remaining band members since the incident. Pyle did confirm (from Pyle's interview on the The Howard Stern Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, February 12, 2007) that Van Zant's cause of death was trauma to the head caused by equipment, such as Betamax tapes and Trinitron televisions, flying forward in the plane's cabin.

Notably, the third member of The Honkettes, JoJo Billingsley, was not on the plane and in fact was home tending to a family member's illness. She was planning to join the tour in Little Rock on October 23, three days after the crash. According to an interview in the book Freebirds, Billingsley had dreamed of the plane crash and begged Allen Collins by telephone not to continue using the Convair.

The Convair 240 itself had been inspected by members of Aerosmith's flight crew for possible use in the early summer of 1977, but was rejected because it was felt that neither the plane nor the crew were up to standards. In an interview in the book Walk This Way, Aerosmith's assistant chief of flight operations Zunk Buker tells of seeing pilots McCreary and Gray trading a bottle of Jack Daniels back and forth while Buker and his father were inspecting the plane. Aerosmith's touring family was also relieved because the band, specifically Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, had been trying to pressure their management into renting that specific plane.

The official NTSB accident report reads, "The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion and total loss of power from both engines due to crew inattention to fuel supply. Contributing to the fuel exhaustion were inadequate flight planning and an engine malfunction of undetermined nature in the right engine which resulted in higher-than-normal fuel consumption." It was known that the right engine's magneto — a small power generator that provides spark and timing for the engine — had been malfunctioning (Powell, among others, spoke of seeing flames shooting out of the right engine on a trip just prior to the accident), and that pilots McCreary and Gray had intended to repair the damaged part when the travelling party arrived in Baton Rouge. It is possible that the damaged magneto fooled the pilots into creating an exceptionally rich fuel mixture, causing the Convair to run out of fuel. It was suggested on the VH-1 Behind The Music profile on Skynyrd that this was the case, or that the pilots, panicking when the right engine failed, accidentally dumped the remaining fuel. Pyle maintains in the Howard Stern interview that the fuel gauge in the older model plane malfunctioned and the pilots had failed to manually check the tanks before taking off.

Street Survivors became the band's second platinum album, and was the #5 top selling album on the U.S. album chart. The single "What's Your Name" reached #13 on the single airplay charts in January of 1978. Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the airplane tragedy (although the surviving members, plus Judy Van Zant and Teresa Gaines, reunited to perform "Free Bird" at Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam in January 1979). On the original pressing of the cover of Street Survivors was a photograph of the band engulfed in flames. MCA Records withdrew the sleeve and replaced it with a cover of the band striking a similar pose against a plain black background.

[edit] Hiatus (1977–1987)

Rossington and Collins formed The Rossington-Collins Band between 1980 and 1982, releasing two albums. Pyle formed The Artimus Pyle Band in 1982. Collins formed The Allen Collins Band in 1983. Tragedy struck the band again in 1986 when Collins crashed his car while driving drunk near his home in Jacksonville, killing his girlfriend and leaving him permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

[edit] Reunion years (1987–present)

In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for a full-scale tour with crash survivors Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle and former guitarist Ed King. Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer and primary songwriter. Due to Collins' paralysis from a car accident, he was only able to participate as the musical director, choosing Randall Hall, his former bandmate in the Allen Collins Band, as his stand-in. Collins was stricken with pneumonia in 1989 and died on January 23, 1990.

The reunited band was meant to be a one-time tribute to the original lineup, captured on the double-live album Southern By The Grace Of God/Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour - 1987.

In 1994, various country music artists united to record a Skynyrd tribute album titled Skynyrd Frynds.

The reconstituted Lynyrd Skynyrd has gone through several lineup changes and continues to record and tour today. Leon Wilkeson, Skynyrd's bassist since 1972, was found dead in his hotel room due to liver / lung disease on July 27, 2001. The remaining members released a double album called Thyrty which had songs from the original line up to the present. Lynyrd Skynyrd also released a live DVD of their Vicious Cycle Tour and on June 22, 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd released the album Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour. On December 10, 2004 Lynyrd Skynyrd did a show for CMT, Crossroads, a concert featuring country duo Montgomery Gentry and others genres of music.

In the beginning of 2005 Hughie Thomasson left the band to pursue other musical opportunites. On February 5, 2005 Lynyrd Skynyrd did a Super Bowl party with special guests 3 Doors Down, Jo Dee Messina, Charlie Daniels and Ronnie and Johnny Van Zant's brother Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special. On February 13 of that year Lynyrd Skynyrd did a tribute to Southern Rock on the Grammy Awards with Gretchen Wilson, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban. On May 10, 2005 Johnny and Donnie Van Zant released a country album called Get Right With The Man which featured the hit single "Help Somebody". In the summer of 2005, lead singer Johnny Van Zant had to have surgery on his vocal cord to have a polyp removed. He was told not to sing for three months. On September 10, 2005 Lynyrd Skynyrd performed without Johnny Van Zant at the Music Relief Concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, with Kid Rock standing in for Johnny. In December of 2005, Johnny Van Zant returned to sing for Lynyrd Skynyrd.

In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked the group #95 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[6]

Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenness, operates a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute web-site for the educational purpose of sharing the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band's history - (http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/index.html) as well as Freebird Live, (http://www.freebirdlive.com), a live music venue in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.

The band performed live at Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky as part of their 2007 tour. That night was recorded in high definition for broadcast on HDNet (premiering December 1, 2007 at 9pm).

On September 9, 2007, former Skynyrd guitarist Hughie Thomasson died of a heart attack at his home in Florida.

[edit] Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

On November 28, 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Lynyrd Skynyrd would be inducted alongside Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis, and the Sex Pistols. They were inducted in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan on March 13, 2006. Lynyrd Skynyrd had been nominated 7 times.

On March 13, 2006: Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the 21st annual induction ceremony. The inductees included Ronnie Van Zant (Lead Singer/Song Writer), Allen Collins (Songwriter/Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Steve Gaines (Singer, Song Writer, Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Ed King (Backup Vocals, Songwriter, Lead and Rhythm Guitar), Gary Rossington (Songwriter, Lead and Rhythm Guitar;), Billy Powell (Keyboards), Leon Wilkeson (Songwriter, Bass Guitar), Bob Burns (Drums), and Artimus Pyle (Drums).

[edit] Freebird... The Movie

In 1996, Freebird... The Movie was released [2], consisting of backstage and home footage of the band, live concert performances of the original line-up, including their Knebworth festival performance. The film also includes footage from the cockpit of their plane, as it takes off and in the air.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] Lives and videos

[edit] Singles

[edit] Shade Tree Records

  • 1968 - "Michelle / Need All My Friends" (101/102) (reissued in 1978 by MCA around the release of the "First and Last" album)

[edit] Sounds of The South/ MCA Records

  • November 1973 - "Gimme Three Steps / Mr. Banker (demo)" (MCA 40158)
  • April 1974 - "Don't Ask Me No Questions (remix) / Take Your Time (demo)" (MCA 40231)
  • August 1974 - "Sweet Home Alabama / Take Your Time (demo)" (MCA 40258) #8 US

[edit] MCA Records

  • November 1974 - "Free Bird" (edit of 1973 album version) / Down South Jukin' (demo)" (MCA 40328) #19 US
  • 1975 - "Saturday Night Special / Made In The Shade" (MCA 40416) #27 US
  • 1976 - "Double Trouble / Roll Gypsy Roll" (MCA 40532) #80 US
  • 1976 - "Gimme Back My Bullets / All I Can Do Is Write About It" (MCA 40565)
  • 1976 - "Gimme Three Steps (live) / Travellin' Man (live)" (MCA 40647)
  • 1976 - "Freebird (live) / Searchin' (live)" (MCA 40665) #38 US
  • 1977 - "What's Your Name? / I Know A Little" (MCA 40819) #13 US
  • 1978 - "You Got That Right / Ain't No Good Life" (MCA 40888)
  • 1978 - "Down South Jukin' / Wino" (MCA 40957)
  • 2006 - "Sweet Home Alabama" #61 UK
  • 2007 - "Sammy Del. SWR"/ "street survivors" (MCA 40567)

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Robert E. Lee high school website
  2. ^ a b "Origins of bands' names"
  3. ^ Cox, Billy (2006-06-02). Skynyrd Namesake in Brevard. Florida Today. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.
  4. ^ Craft, Dan. "Lynyrd Skynyrd: The agony and ecstasy", Pantagraph, 2000-02-25, p. D1. 
  5. ^ Lynyrd Skynyrd history, by Judy VanZant Jenness
  6. ^ The Immortals: The First Fifty. Rolling Stone Issue 946. Rolling Stone.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Johnny Van Zant · Gary Rossington · Rickey Medlocke · Mark Matejka · Billy Powell · Ean Evans · Michael Cartellone · Dale Krantz-Rossington · Carol Chase
Ronnie Van Zant · Allen Collins · Leon Wilkeson · Ed King · Artimus Pyle · Steve Gaines · Bob Burns · Hughie Thomasson · Randall Hall · Owen Hale · Kurt Custer · Mike Estes · Leslie Hawkins · JoJo Billingsley · Cassie Gaines · Jeff McAllister · Greg T. Walker · Kenny Aronoff
Albums (pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd) · Second Helping · Nuthin' Fancy · Gimme Back My Bullets · One More from the Road · Street Survivors · Skynyrd's First And... Last · Legend · Southern By The Grace Of God · Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 · The Last Rebel · Endangered Species · Twenty · Lyve From Steel Town · Edge Of Forever · Christmas Time Again · Vicious Cycle · Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour
Tribute albums Skynyrd Frynds
DVDs Lyve From Steel Town · Lynyrd Skynyrd Lyve: The Vicious Cycle Tour
Spin-Off Bands The Rossington-Collins Band · Allen Collins Band · .38 Special · Van Zant · Artimus Pyledriver
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd"
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