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Lynyrd Skynyrd
“The Free Birds of Southern Rock”
By: Clay Burgh

SP20: HISTORY OF AMERICAN POP MUSIC: 24071

SPRING 2020
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Clay Burgh
Concert Report
May 9, 2020

A Band for the Ages

Lynyrd Skynyrd were pioneers of Southern rock and were a complete embodiment of the

genre. Known for integrating blues, country, and rock n roll into songs and performed them with

a Rockstar attitude. One of the most recognizable song of all time is by the band known as

Lynyrd Skynyrd. The song “Sweet Home Alabama” is a staple in some homes and can be heard

playing all year round around the world. They are responsible for producing many of the classics

you hear today. The band itself went through many hardships and had to overcome many

obstacles throughout their playing days and some members are even keeping the band going

today with things like ringtones and performance cruises. The band fought through many things

such as dealing with the death of three members and their lead, Ronnie Van Slant, in a plane

crash, as well as just time itself weeding out a lot of members. Their music is a direct reflection

of the hardships they have all experienced. All members played a huge part it the band

development and their eventual rise to fame. The band members give off a bad boy vibe which

was very appealing to people currently. Everybody wanted to be rock stars and live the Rockstar

lifestyle, but most had no clue the actual work that had to go into it. This was a group of guys

who made it look like all fun and everyone wanted a piece of the pie. With the band becoming so

popular its often easy to forget that they came from a garage in Jacksonville Florida.

It is often easy for people to forget their roots and for Lynyrd Skynyrd their roots are

what defined their music. Still in high school, Ronnie Van Slant began forming a band in his

garage in Jacksonville Florida. They called themselves “The Backyard”. The band started with
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the three original members Van Slant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington. Within a few months

of playing Van Slant felt he needed more. He quickly added bassist Leon Wilkeson and

keyboardist Billy Powell and they ended up changing their band name to Lynyrd Skynyrd. The

name originated from making fun of a gym teacher who was notorious for punishing students,

the teachers name was Leonard Skinner. The band added drummer Bob Burns to the band and

began touring and performing show looking to grab somebody’s attention. The eventually did

this while performing in a club in Atlanta in 1972. Al Cooper was there this night and offered the

band a contract with MCA Records, and from there the band took off

The band was beginning to establish themselves, but still needed something to set them

apart from everyone else. The one thing they had over most bands was numbers and they were

not afraid to add more. They added one more guitarist, Ed King, and became famous for their

triple guitar attack. Their debut album was released in 1973 and was titled “Pronounced Leh-

Nerd Skin-Nerd”. This album featured the song “Free Bird” Which was responsible for landing

Lynyrd Skynyrd band its first big national exposure. Not only is “Free Bird” a staple for the

band, but it is a staple song of the Rock N’ Roll genre.

The band really started to notice its national recognition after releasing their second

album in 1994 titled “Seconds helping”. This album featured many popular songs including their

most well-known song “Sweet Home Alabama”. The album ended up going triple platinum and

peaked at number fourteen on the charts. This was a staple group for Lynyrd Skynyrd, having

many different members join and leave over the years.

It seemed that the band fought adversity at all moments and no matter what they just kept

trying to play. Yet again a new group released the bands first top ten hit with the release of

record “Nuthin Fancy”. The band continued to change members and release new music gaining
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more and more popularity over time. An article on The Houston Press written by Bob Rugierro,

says “the band retained their following through constant touring, which was documented on the

double-live album One More from the Road. Released in late 1976, the album featured the band's

new guitarist, Steve Gaines, and a trio of female backup singers, and it became Skynyrd's second

Top Ten album.” (Ruggiero) It seems they always found a way to adapt and grow that wasn’t

already being done.

The success of Lynyrd Skynyrd was suddenly put to a halt after the release of their sixth

album titled “Street Survivors”. According to an article done by Stephen Erlewine on

allmusic.com, he states “Three days later, a privately chartered plane carrying the band between

shows in Greenville, South Carolina and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside of Gillsburg,

Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and his sister Cassie, one of the group's backing

vocalists, died in the crash; the remaining members were injured.” (Biography) The cause of the

crash was either fuel shortage or a fault with the plane's mechanics. Originally the cover of Street

Fighters was the band with a background of flames and after this event the band decided to

change the original cover. This ended up being too big of an event to ignore especially losing

their lead vocalist. The band broke up and members went separate ways many joining another

band or attempting solo careers.

This may have been the end of the original band, but member of the band still tried to

keep the legacy alive. In the late 2000s older member of the group started doing throwback

concerts. They also have become quite famous for their cruises where they are headlining the

entire vacation. An article on the Lynard Skynyrd online website quotes Van Stant saying,

“People may say, ‘they need the money,’ well I don’t think any of us need the money,” Van Zant

says. “It’s just that we love the music, it’s bigger than the money, it’s not even about that
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anymore. We have to make a living, sure, but it’s about the legacy of Lynyrd Skynyrd, and what

it stands for, what the fans are all about. There’s nothing like getting out there playing a great

show with Skynyrd and seeing people love this music.” (The Band) Like they always have this is

evidence showing that Lynyrd Skynyrd truly pushed through all the obstacles. Even today the

few member of the band that are still alive are giving fans one last farewell tour and still are

producing new music.

It is obvious to most that the music made by the monumental band will survive and be

listened to throughout the ages. An article done by Rolling Stones Magazines states that, “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 during the Hall's 21st

annual induction ceremony.” (Geller) Lynyrd Skynyrd being inducted into the hall of fame is

something most people would expect. They have produced countless classics and it was only

right that they got this accolade. They will forever go down in history as Rock N’ Roll greats.

Lynyrd Skynyrd has been forced into my ears from my parents all my life and growing

up listening to them made this essay very enjoyable to write. While writing this paper I have

continuously listened to their popular songs on Spotify and it is very good music to be productive

to. I have realized through listening to hours of songs that my favorite part about the band is the

instruments themselves. The long individual solos done by the instruments flood their songs and

I love that. I think in today’s music we are not as focused on the actual sound as much as the

words. Lynyrd Skynyrd felt like they put work into both their sounds and their song, allowing

each member to get solos or features on songs. I have found myself listening to their music more
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often since I started doing research and I like that I can have actual conversations with my dad

about them now. Learning more has allowed me to bond and become closer just through music.

Their music is filed with countless classics the most notable being “Sweet Home

Alabama”. I remember going on vacation to Alabama in the early 2000’s and being annoyed by

my dad playing tis song every thirty minutes. The song itself is extremely catchy like most of the

bands songs which has made many of their song timeless classics. My favorite song that I have

listened to be a new one I discovered while researching them. The song “Free Bird” which

features three guitarists. The reason this song hit differently to me is because I have recently

picked up trying to learn guitar during quarantine. I hope to one day be able to play some solos

that they have done but playing an instrument like that make you appreciate the music these

artists put out just that much more. The appreciation I had for Lynyrd Skynyrd was mainly based

on just their music before this project, but after learning about all the hardships and just how cool

they actually were, I not only just appreciate them, but I have a bigger respect for their music.
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Bibliography

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.keno.org/classic_rock/lynyrd_skynyrd_bio.htm

Erlewine, S. T. (n.d.). Lynyrd Skynyrd: Biography & History. Retrieved from

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lynyrd-skynyrd-mn0000170369/biography

Geller, W. (2018, October 19). 35 Years After Tragedy, Lynyrd Skynyrd Still Carries On. Retrieved

from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/35-years-after-tragedy-lynyrd-skynyrd-

still-carries-on-247019/

Lynyrd Skynyrd. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/lynyrd-skynyrd

Wikimedia Foundation. (2020, May 3). Lynyrd Skynyrd. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd

Ruggiero, B. (2019, October 24). The Best Biography of Lynyrd Skynyrd to Date. Retrieved from

https://www.houstonpress.com/music/the-best-biography-of-lynyrd-skynyrd-to-date-7373313

The Band. (2015, April 2). Retrieved from https://lynyrdskynyrd.com/band