No band has been cut down in their prime so suddenly, and so horrifically, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. Having risen from humble origins in Jacksonville, Florida, Skynyrd had become major stars by the mid-70s. Their name a joke on their despised former schoolteacher Leonard Skinner, the band popularised the soulful sound of southern rock with anthems such as and .
Then, on October 20, 1977, during a US tour, the near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Six people were killed, including singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines. In the aftermath of this tragedy, four of the survivors – guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins, bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboard player Billy Powell – regrouped in the Rossington Collins Band.
Then in 1987, the previously unthinkable happened. Ten years after the plane crash, a new version of Skynyrd was formed, with Ronnie Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny as the singer alongside Rossington, Wilkeson and Powell, with returning guitarist Ed King replacing Collins, who had been paralysed in a car crash in 1986. Now, more than three decades since that unlikely comeback, Lynyrd Skynyrd are still rocking.
Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson and Powell have all since died, but Johnny Van Zant continues to lead the band, along with guitarist , who was Skynyrd’s drummer in the early 70s. Skynyrd were not the originators of southern rock – before them, blazed the trail – but it was Skynyrd’s blend of southern soul and hard rock that defined the genre. And their influence has been far-reaching: have covered their ballad , and referenced Skynyrd when they recorded .
Axl Rose stated: “I got some old Skynyrd tapes to make sure that we’d got that heartfelt feeling.” That depth of feeling – in the music, and in the words of Ronnie Van Zant – is what made Lynyrd Skynyrd one of the great American rock’n’roll bands. And it’s still true today.
Skynyrd’s 2012 album was pointedly titled , and as Gary Rossington proudly proclaimed: “While I’m still alive, I just want to keep the band going, keep the Skynyrd name going, and to let people hear this music.” In the decade and more since, that has not changed. This, their classic debut, is the quintessential southern rock album and includes the most sacred of all southern rock songs.
Gary Rossington said of : “It wasn’t anything heavy, just a love song about leavin’ town.” But this nine-minute epic is Skynyrd’s , a legendary rock anthem. The album also features two beautiful blues-based songs: and .
And on the swinging , Ronnie Van Zant recalled having a gun pulled on him by the jealous boyfriend of a girl named Linda Lou – the archetypal southern tale. Few bands have followed a great first album with an equally great second, but Skynyrd did. introduced the three-guitar attack that would become the band’s signature, with Ed King promoted from stand-in bassist.
And King was co-author of the album’s three key tracks: satirical heavy hitter , self-mythologising boogie , and the band’s biggest hit, . Famously, the latter was Van Zant’s riposte to Neil Young’s civil rights protest song . And although Van Zant’s defence of the south was bullish,Young later said, “I’m proud to have my name in a song like theirs.
” The surprise success story of 1976 was Peter Frampton’s album. Many rock artists would follow Frampton’s lead, but none acted quicker than Skynyrd. Three months after .
.. topped the US chart, Skynyrd recorded this double live album at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, with new guitarist Steve Gaines coming in for Ed King.
became the band’s first million seller, and is now revered as one of the all-time great live albums, capped by an electrifying and emotionally charged 11-minute version of . The last album made by Ronnie Van Zant and the original Lynyrd Skynyrd was released just three days before the fatal plane crash. The album’s title would take on a cruel irony.
Its cover photo of the band standing amid flames was subsequently replaced by a more sober group shot. And there was an eerie prescience in drug song , on which Van Zant warned: ‘ ’ might be a memorial, but it is also, more simply, a great rock’n’roll record. And it features Skynyrd’s most beautiful song, , written by the doomed Van Zant and Gaines.
With a title declaring the band’s no-bullshit ethos, this third album isn’t quite as great as the first two. But it’s a close call. Having replaced drummer Bob Burns with Artimus Pyle, Skynyrd toughened up their sound a little on .
Opener has a stinging riff and an equally hard-hitting message, with Van Zant condemning America’s gun culture and noting bluntly: ‘ ’ Ronnie had good reason to fear guns (see ), but he liked a drink. , the album’s woozy finale, is his self-portrait. Skynyrd cut their fourth album with only Rossington and Collins on guitars, and a new producer, Tom Dowd, who had worked with giants including Ray Charles, and .
But when failed to match the success of preceding album , Ronnie Van Zant complained that Dowd’s mix was “too refined”. Really, this was just the singer’s pride talking. There’s plenty of grit and grease in this album – not least on its badass title track and the funky .
Ronnie was wrong: is a Skynyrd classic. In the 25 years since Skynyrd re-formed, the band have made seven new studio albums. Of those, it’s the two most recent records that stand tallest.
was modern and classic, with producer Bob Marlette giving Skynyrd’s signature sound a contemporary edge. 2012’s was even better. Retaining Marlette and key co-songwriters including Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5, Skynyrd delivered their best album since the 70s.
From the rollicking title track to the porch blues , this is prime southern rock as only Skynyrd know how. A year after the plane crash, MCA released a collection of Skynyrd’s earliest recordings from sessions at Alabama’s fabled Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, symbolically titled . Twenty years later came an expanded version with eight extra tracks, rebranded as .
It features formative versions of future Skynyrd standards, including a deeply soulful rendition of . As a portrait of a legendary band in the making, this album is fascinating stuff. In the early 80s, while Skynyrd were temporarily defunct, some great music was made by past and future members of the band.
Rickey Medlocke’s Blackfoot cut a series of rowdy albums. The Johnny Van Zant Band blended southern rock with AOR. But closest in style and spirit to classic Skynyrd was the Rossington Collins Band, which featured four veterans of Skynyrd’s peak years.
was the first and best of the band’s two albums, with a brilliant hit single in . No Skynyrd collection is complete without it. Some of the best Christmas records have been made by rockers: , Wizzard, Greg Lake and, most recently, .
But Skynyrd were really over-egging the pudding when they recorded a whole album’s worth of festive tunes. In fairness, was never intended to be anything other than a bit of fun. And with tongues firmly in cheeks, they deliver a rocking version of , alongside amusing guest turns from fellow southern stars Charlie Daniels and .
38 Special. But it’s hard to imagine that Ronnie Van Zant would ever have tolerated such tomfoolery. Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! Freelance writer for since 2005, Paul Elliott has worked for leading music titles since 1985, including and .
He is the author of several books including the first biography of Guns N’ Roses and the autobiography of bodyguard-to-the-stars Danny Francis. He has written liner notes for classic album reissues by artists such as Def Leppard, Thin Lizzy and Kiss, and currently works as content editor for . He lives in Bath - of which David Coverdale recently said: “How very Roman of you!” David Gilmour shares video for up-tempo new single Dark And Velvet Nights King Crimson announce 50th anniversary reissue of Red "We haven't done anything decent in 15 years.
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