|
|
Lynyrd Skynyrd's origins date back to the early 60s, when a group of high school friends formed a band called My Backyard in Jacksonville, Florida. The core members were Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen Collins (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass) and Bob Burns (drums). The group began performing on small stages and recorded a few demos over the next few years. In 1969, it took on its definitive name, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and two years later Billy Powell, then just a roadie, was hired as keyboardist.
After a few line-up changes, with Ed King replacing Leon Wilkeson on bass and Wilkeson becoming the third guitarist, Lynyrd Skynyrd released their first album in 1973, "Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd", which already contained one of their biggest hits, "Free Bird", which has become synonymous with the band's identity and one of the greatest rock anthems of all time. "Second Helping" came out the following year and included the emblematic Southern rock anthem 'Sweet Home Alabama', a song which responded to Neil Young's criticism of the South but which helped to give the band a very conservative image.
Lynyrd Skynyrd went on to record several albums, some of them painful, as the members often struggled to write the songs: 'Nuthin Fancy' in 1975, 'Gimme Back My Bullets' a year later, considered to be one of their weakest albums, and above all 'Street Survivor' in 1977, which included the hits 'That Smell' and 'What's Your Name' and saw the arrival of Steve Gaines to replace Ed King.
At the height of his career, tragedy struck Lynyrd Skynyrd on 20 October 1977. On its way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for a concert, the band's chartered Convair 240 plane crashed in a swamp near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backing singer Cassie Gaines, as well as the pilot and co-pilot, were killed in the crash. The injuries and trauma suffered by the survivors were to prove the undoing of the band, which ceased operations that same year.
Over the next ten years, the surviving members embarked on a variety of musical projects, with Gary and Allen founding the Rossington Collins Band. A tour was organised in 1987 as a tribute to the tenth anniversary of the crash. It was so successful that further dates had to be added to the calendar. The decision to reform Lynyrd Skynyrd was taken the following year, with Ronnie Van Zant's younger brother Johnny taking on the role of lead singer.
A new album was released in 1991 with the new line-up comprising Gary Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson, Artimus Pyle, Ed King, Randall Hall and Kurt Custer (drums). In July 1992, Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded their seventh studio album, "The Last Rebel", in Nashville. The tour that followed was marked by a bizarre incident when bassist Leon Wilkeson was found with his throat partially slit. Tensions arose, and Wilkeson left the band temporarily under the influence of his girlfriend Rhonda.
In 1994, the band changed record labels, recorded an acoustic album in Nashville and then went through a number of line-up changes. In 1995, guitarist Ed King suffered heart failure while on tour. In 1997, the band released "Twenty," their eighth studio album, marking the twentieth anniversary of the 1977 crash. The departure of key members, legal disputes and label changes were to have a major effect on the band over the next few years. Bassist Leon Wilkeson died in 2001, and the period between 2008 and 2009 was marked by the illness and death of bassist Ean Evans, followed by the death of pianist Billy Powell. Meanwhile, Lynyrd Skynyrd managed to release the album God and Guns in 2009.
Bassist Johnny Colt joined the band in 2012 for the release of their latest album 'Last Of A Dying Breed'. While the band continue to tour, they have announced a farewell tour in 2018, 'Last of the Street Survivors Farewell Tour', due to the health problems of guitarist Gary Rossington. The last surviving founding member, he will die in 2023 at the age of 71, bringing to an end the history of one of Southern Rock's greatest bands.
More informations on http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/
|
DID YOU KNOW?
 In 1969, the band officially adopted the name Lynyrd Skynyrd, following a joke about their school PE teacher, Leonard Skinner, who sent boys with long hair to the headmaster.
Before being called Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band was known as My Backyard, then The Noble Five and, a little later, One Percent.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DERNIERS ARTICLES ASSOCIES
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|