Lynyrd Skynyrd
This is a direct excerpt from UNCLE JOE'S RECORD GUIDE - AMERICANS, Volume One, Copyright (c) 1989 by J. Benson Unlimited. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the most critically lauded and commercially successful Southern rock bands.
Vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, drummer Bob Burns and guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington met in high school in Jacksonville, Florida in 1965. They began playing covers of the Yardbirds, Beatles, Stones and Who, and went through a series of names such as the Noble Five, the Wild Cats, Sons Of Satan, Conqueror Worm and Pretty Ones. They eventually settled on Lynyrd Skynyrd - inspired by a gym teacher who gave them grief about their long hair.
By 1970, bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy Powell had joined Lynyrd Skynyrd. Inspired by another Jacksonville group, the Allman Brothers Band, Skynyrd began to forge their own musical identity. Guitarist Ed King (who had met Skynyrd when they opened for his Strawberry Alarm Clock in 1970) joined the boys on bass after Wilkeson left in 1972. Three months later, the band secured a record contract. The day after their debut album was recorded, the band talked Wilkeson into rejoining, which allowed King to return to guitar. Featuring three lead guitars instead of the Allman Brothers' two, Skynyrd's sound was immediately unique. The three guitarists could also push songwriter Van Zant in slightly different directions.
When Lynyrd Skynyrd made their national debut in 1973, "Glam-rock" bands like Queen, Alice Cooper, Kiss and David Bowie were making it big. Skynyrd's image was the exact opposite - a laid back stage presence. The band members usually dressed in t-shirts and jeans, and played straight ahead rock & roll. Their lyrics were always based on true stories and personal experiences, one of Van Zant's trademarks.
Like the Doors, Skynyrd's first charting single was a million-seller, but singles were never their strong point. A band with so much energy had to play live and hope to survive the incessant touring and partying. Skynyrd's lyrics became progressively more biting with each album, matching the sharp edge of the music. By late 1977, they had scaled back on the partying, undergone a couple of personnel changes, and recorded their best, most mature album, Street Survivors. Poised on the brink of their greatest success and another national tour, the Skynyrd band was struck by tragedy. The late October plane crash that killed Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and two other members of the entourage destroyed one of the finest, most hard-hitting American rock bands ever.
In 1987, surviving members of the band reunited for a tribute tour and a live album. The public's overwhelming reaction demonstrated how deeply Lynyrd Skynyrd had touched the American soul.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Birth Dates
Allen Collins - 7/19/52
Steve Gaines - 9/14/49-10/20/77
Ed King - 1950
Billy Powell - 6/3/52
Artimus Pyle - 7/15/48
Gary Rossington - 12/4/51
Ronnie Van Zant - 1/15/49-10/20/77
Leon Wilkeson - 4/2/52
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Pronounced Leh'-nerd Skin'-nerd
1st LP, released 9/73. Vocalist Ronnie Van Zant, guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, keyboardist Billy Powell, bassist Leon Wilkeson and drummer Bob Burns had known each other and played in bands together since high school in 1965. When Leon Wilkeson left the band in 1972, they brought in guitarist Ed King (formerly of the Strawberry Alarm Clock) to handle the bass. After being discovered on the Georgia bar circuit in 1972 by producer Al Kooper (who'd worked with Bob Dylan and Blood Sweat & Tears), Skynyrd started recording this album in Doraville, Georgia in the spring of 1973. Producer Kooper (playing under the pseudonym Roosevelt Gook) supplied various instrumental parts, Robert Nix (of the Atlanta Rhythm Section) played drums on a track, Steve Katz (who'd also worked in Blood Sweat & Tears) supplied harmonica. Guitarist Jeff Carlisi (who later formed .38 Special) was given a "special thanks" in the album's liner notes.
Right after this album was finished, bassist Leon Wilkeson was talked into rejoining the band, which allowed Ed King to switch back to guitar. With Rossington, Collins and King, Skynyrd established their mark with three lead guitarists, a format only Buffalo Springfield had successfully used before. In 1973, the combination of three lead guitarists, Ronnie Van Zant's stage presence and lyrics (all based on true stories), and the band's straightforward songwriting were totally unique on the rock music scene. Lynyrd Skynyrd was soon hailed as the biggest and best of the "Southern Rock" bands.
After this Top 30 charting album was released, Lynyrd Skynyrd got the enviable job of opening for the Who's Quadrophenia tour. The Who were in a shambles during that tour, and Skynyrd (averaging 22 years of age) quickly established themselves as one of America's hottest live bands. Although Lynyrd Skynyrd didn't achieve a big commercial breakthrough until their second album, it was during their first year of touring that they perfected the technique of touring, playing and partying until they dropped from exhaustion.
Considering the strength the group displayed on stage, both producer Kooper and the band later said they didn't think that Pronounced Leh'-nerd Skin'-nerd captured the true spirit of the band.
** Special Note: Lynyrd Skynyrd took their name from a disliked high school gym teacher, Leonard Skinner.
