Ed King, a former member of Strawberry Alarm Clock, had joined in 1973, right in time to fill the bass part for (Pronounced ‘Lĕh-’nérd ‘Skin-’nérd)’s “Simple Man,” the only part not written for the song yet. Replacements and New Additionsīy 1972, Leon Wilkeson (bassist) had taken a brief break from the band due to having reservations about their rising fame. It was in the early 1970s that the spelling morphed from Leonard Skinnerd to Lynyrd Skynyrd. The picture above shows Skinner holding the album. Skinner also allowed the band to use a picture of his Realty sign for the inside of their third album, Nuthin’ Fancy. Later though, Skinner and the Skynyrds became friendly and he was even invited to one of their concerts. Rossington actually dropped out because he was tired for his teachers giving him trouble for his hair. Lee, the high school that the boys attended, could not have long hair. Skinner had a reputation for hating rock and enforcing a policy with an iron fist that said boys attending Robert E.
Wikipedia writes that they dropped the latest name because Zant became “tired of taunts from the audiences that the band had “1% talent.”” Bob Burns was the one who suggested the name Lynyrd Skynyrd (originally spelled Leonard Skinnerd) because of both the song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh” by Allan Sherman and their gym teacher who they intended to mock, Leonard Skinner, by adding a ‘d,’ making Skin nerd. Originally, the band called themselves The Nobel Five, but this didn’t stick, and they had changed it to The One Percent by 1968. Photo Credit: YouTube Where Does the Name Lynyrd Skynyrd Come From? Larry Junstrom also joined, completing the original lineup.
“Van Zant and Burns both had a reputation for trouble, and Collins fled on his bicycle and hid up a tree when he saw them pull up in his driveway.” (From Wikipedia)īut after the situation was explained, Collins agreed to join the band. Recruiting Collins had not been an easy task though. The band that defined southern rock had just formed, although, they weren’t quite finished, they still needed to recruit second guitarist, Allen Collins, and bassist Larry Junstrom. They ran through a popular Rolling Stones song and realized that they weren’t bad. Zant had hit a line drive into Burns’ head, and his first words to a horrified Gary Rossington were: “I think it’s funny as hell!” After the incident, some afternoon later, the three somehow ended up in Burns’ parents garage after deciding that they wanted to play music together. The three had met while playing baseball. It was summer in Jacksonville, Florida when Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, and Gary Rossington first played music together. It would be another eight years before the The Marshall Tucker band formed and another fifteen years before the Allman Brothers formed. To put things into perspective, the Beatles landed in America for the first time on February 7, 1964, the same year that the earliest version of Lynyrd Skynyrd formed as My Backyard.
When most people die, they are lost in history, but Lynyrd Skynyrd will never be lost in history nor time.
The spirits and souls of the members who died continue to live through their songs. Their plane crash was one of the darkest moments in rock and roll history, but their lives were far more rich than any black abyss might seem. They defined Southern rock, they brought pride to their nation, they lived their lives wildly and fully, and their hard work let them lead a life that they were proud of and happy with, which few people can say. But while their crash was tragic, what most people overlook is how their lives were represented by so much more than a faulty engine.
This didn’t just mean that they were rednecks, but that they brought it all together - the blues, country, garage rock, Southern poetry.” ~Thomas Erlewine A Southerner’s Note:Īs Tim O’Brien said, “It wasn’t a war story, it was a love story.” Lynyrd Skynyrd is known today for their hit song “Sweet Home Alabama” and their infamous plane crash. “Skynyrd was nothing but rockers, and they were Southern rockers to the bone.