I dunno how many of ya'll caught Lynyrd Skynyrd (named after the core members' high school gymn teacher -Leonard Skinnard- back in Jacksonville, Florida) live on stage, but this Yankee here was a BIG fan back in the days...
Still a major enthusiast for blues rock, i.e. Cream, early Humble Pie (with Peter Frampton), early 70s Status Quo, et. al, actually- and I really do think these guys are the ones who got me into it.
Still a major enthusiast for blues rock, i.e. Cream, early Humble Pie (with Peter Frampton), early 70s Status Quo, et. al, actually- and I really do think these guys are the ones who got me into it.
But the plane crash that ended the band kept me from ever seeing the real Skynyrd. I did -though- have the opportunity to see the new Rossington-Collins Band -made up of surviving members and a few new faces, including new female background singers- play live in Cleveland (where I grew up) in 1979.
Particularly moving was the final tune of the set, when they played an instrumental 'Free Bird' with a steady spotlight on the abandoned mike stand where Ronnie Van Zant would have been- wasn't all that emotional in 1979, but it did bring a tear to my eye. What a great band, and all-American, baby: