It’s virtually impossible to write about Southern rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd without mentioning the plane crash that decimated the band at its creative peak in October 1977, killing, among others, frontman Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines. The group was just four dates into a massive tour in support of its album , released just three days earlier, when the small chartered plane crashed into a Mississippi forest after running out of fuel. “It was like the sound of a billion baseball bats beating the side of the plane as it went down through the trees,” bassist Leon Wilkeson told journalist Bruce Pilato in 1996.
Rhode Island-born, Florida-raised Wilkeson – affectionately dubbed ‘Mad Hatter’ due to his fondness for wearing outlandish headgear on stage – first picked up the as a teenager and began developing a solid but highly mobile style that calls to mind Jack Bruce and Paul McCartney. After doing the rounds with a number of local bands, Wilkeson joined Skynyrd in 1971, but quit the following year, fearing a rock 'n' roll lifestyle was out of keeping with his Christian faith. To cover duties, Van Zant tapped acquaintance Ed King, formerly of the band Strawberry Alarm Clock.
Upon the completion of Skynyrd's 1973 debut album, , Wilkeson was persuaded to rejoin the band, and King switched to guitar. King – who wrote the music for during the new lineup's first rehearsal – told , “Leon played bass more like a guitar player than a bass player: much of .