Skynyrd

	In the mid-1970's, after a decade of paying their dues, a Southern band with the unlikely name of Lynyrd Skynyrd Burst on to the national scene with a ferocity that forced the rock world to sit up and take notice. Their infectious blend of blues, boogie, and honkey tonk sounds seemed to pick up where The Allman Brothers had left off, and it wasn't long before the distinctive and overpowering thrust of their trademark three-guitar attack, in support of raucous, rowdy, and sometimes menacing vocals, had earned the newcomers a rabidly faithful following.
Adopting a working class stance that resonated with their audiences, and successfully attempting to deliver "common songs for the common people," Lynyrd Skynyrd built a two-pronged legend during their "all too brief heyday" that was equally based on both the success of their music and the reckless life style that produced it. The sad fact that they were at the height of their powers when it all came to a sudden and untimely end remains one of rock and roll's greatest tragedies.
	The heart and soul of the band was lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant. While attending high school in Jacksonville, Florida in the mid-60's, Van Zant recruited guitarists and classmates Gary Rossington and Allen Collins to form a band, which was later fleshed out to a quintet with the additions of Larry Jungstrom on bass and Bob Burns on drums. After numerous name changes, they settled on Lynyrd Skynyrd, a variation of Leonard Skinner, a high school coach who had expelled members of the band for having long hair.
Lynyrd Skynyrd honored their craft at thousadns of live gigs throughout the South, weathered personnel changes, such as the additions of Leon Wilkeson and later Ed King on bass, and Billy Powell on keyboards, and made their first recordings in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1971. Their big break came when producer and performer Al Kooper signed them to his Sounds Od The South label, which was affliliated with MCA, in 1972. The opportunity to open for The Who on their fall of 1973 Quadrophenia tour was another welcome boost.
	With the successful release of their debut album, Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd, in 1973, the band's legend rapidly began coalescing around such performances as the biting immortal guitar anthem "Free Bird." Further gold and platinum albums such as Second Helping, in 1974, featuring the biting "Sweet Home Alabama" (a response to Neil Young's "Southern Man"), and Nuthin' Fancy, in 1975, followed. In 1975, worn out from touring, Ed King left and was replaced by Steve Gaines, whose guitar skills and songwriting talents promised to breath new life into the band's efforts.
With compositions like "That Smell," Ronnie Van Zant seemed to be indicating that the group would tone down their flambouyant lifestyle on their way to the next artistic plateau. Sadly, they never made it. On October 20, 1977, Van Zant; Steve Gaines and his sister Cassie (one of the group's backing singers); and personal manager Dean Kilpatrick were killed in a plane crash near McComb, Missippi. It was a horrible and insurmountable loss.
	Lynyrd Skynyrd was elevated to mythical status in the awake of this disaster, but even though there were eventually offshoot bands and reunion concerts, the glory days were over.

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