Lynyrd Skynyrd To Call It Quits

Lynyrd Skynyrd, the legendary southern rock band, has decided to put on a farewell tour and afterwards call it a career.   They first rose to prominence in the mid-1970's with songs such as Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird.  For their first two albums, their lineup included lead singer Ronnie van Zant, guitarists Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Ed King (formerly of Strawberry Alarm Clock), keyboard player Billy Powell, bassist Leon Wilkeson, and drummer Bob Burns.  Later, Burns left and was replaced by Artimus Pyle.  King also quit, leaving the band with two guitarists, but was later replaced by Steve Gaines, whose older sister Cassie had already become one of the Honkettes, a trio of female backing vocalists, the other two being Leslie Hawkins and JoJo Billingsley.  In 1977, the plane on which they (other than Billingsley) were flying to Louisiana crashed into a forest, killing van Zant, both Gaines siblings, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and the plane's two pilots.

For ten years, Lynyrd Skynyrd was put on hiatus, with some of the survivors taking part in other musical projects.  One of the most notable was the Rossington Collins band, which included Rossington, Collins, Powell and Wilkeson, along with drummer Derek Hess, guitarist Barry Harwood, and a female singer named Dale Krantz.  In 1987, the band was revived by Rossington, Powell, Wilkeson and Pyle, who brought back former guitarist King, and tapped Johnny van Zant, Ronnie's younger brother, to be the lead singer.  Collins was unable to participate due to paralysis caused by a car accident, and chose Randall Hall to be his replacement.  Since the revival, the band has had numerous personnel changes, and has endured the deaths of Powell, Wilkeson, and Ian Evans, who replaced Wilkeson.  Krantz later married Rossington, and is currently one of two backup singers for the band.  Today, of the pre-crash members, only Rossington is still in Lynyrd Skynyrd, while only he, King and Pyle are still alive.

Read more at The Florida Times-Union, Mass Live, Big Frog 104 and Live For Live Music.

During my own amateur musical career back in the day, I played several Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, mostly while jamming with other musicians.  I did, however, participate in public performances of Gimme Three Steps and Sweet Home Alabama.  Most of the time, however, the bands I was in did not play much southern rock.  Even so, it seemed that every once in a while, when I was playing in a club somewhere, someone would shout out "Skynyrd!"  Let me finish, then, with Gimme Three Steps, which was allegedly based on a true story.  From left to right, the album cover shows Wilkeson, Powell, Ronnie van Zant, Rossington, Burns, Collins and King.