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(southern rock music)
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When Lynyrd Skynyrd emerged
on to the world stage in 1973
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for the band it was the result
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of their collective determination.
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Having struggled to gain real recognition
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since they had formed
eight years beforehand,
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and although they were
immediately identified both
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in the music industry and
the press as yet another act
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in the booming Southern
Rock movement of the time
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it soon became apparent that
these Floridians were not only
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an entirely distinctive musical unit,
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but also one of the greatest
rock bands in the world.
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- They wanted to cash in
on something you know,
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that would be unique to them you know,
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a Southern Redneck biker band.
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It was just such a crazy
concept, but they were
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just audacious enough to make it work.
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- Lynyrd Skynyrd was the show stopper.
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When I walked to the stage
with Lynyrd Skynyrd the hair
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on the back of my neck stood up.
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It was like the Gladiators
going into the arena.
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- [Voiceover] The driving force
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of the band was Ronnie VanZant,
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a tough, blue-collar brawler that
led Skynyrd from the front line
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with his powerful stage
presence, distinctive vocals
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and his gritty, honest lyrics.
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Head strong and domineering,
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his energy and vision propelled the group
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from it's formation until
it's tragic end in 1977.
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- From the minute I joined the band
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to the minute we had the plane crash
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he was the hardest working
band I've ever known of,
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that was due primarily to the
work ethic of Ronnie VanZant.
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He was the true leader,
writer, mentor of that band.
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- Ronnie was spectacular.
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He just had a charisma all of his own.
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Man, he grabbed my heart
hook, line, and sinker.
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I said, "Man, everything that comes out
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"of his mouth is meaningful."
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- [Voiceover] Ronnie VanZant
was a great song writer.
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He was a terrific lyricist
too, an observant person,
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and a very smart guy, and he knew how
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to be ambiguous about stuff.
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He was was very sharp.
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They put out six albums,
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and 80, 90 % of those songs
are absolutely top-rated.
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It's amazing.
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- [Voiceover] Ronnie Van Zant was born
in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1948.
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The eldest child of parents
Lacy and Marion Van Zant
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At the time this port city
on the Northeastern tip
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of Florida, was undergoing
rapid expansion,
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yet the Van Zants settled
away from the industrial
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and commercial center
of downtown Jacksonville
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in the semi-rural area of the Westside.
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Here Ronnie grew up
alongside his five siblings
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in a small family home close
to the unspoiled beauty
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of the Cedar River, known
to the locals a Cedar Creek.
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- They weren't guided
by any particular rules.
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Lacy Van Zant was almost never there.
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The Father he was hard
living, truck driving man,
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and he was very rarely
home and the Mother who
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everybody called Sis was kind
of a hands off kind of parent.
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- Ronnie was a barefoot
country boy you know,
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on the Westside of Jacksonville.
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We lived down the street
there on Mull Street,
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and me and Ronnie just
became fishing buddies.
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We'd ride our bicycles
down to Cedar Creek.
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I'd be on the handlebars
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or he'd be on the handlebars,
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and we'd go down and take a croaker sack
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and we'd catch mullet.
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We'd catch a sack full of mullet,
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and we'd bring them back
and give them to everybody,
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some black folks on the other
end of the street down there,
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we gave fish to everybody.
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- [Voiceover] Although fishing
was the young Van Zant's
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favorite past time during his childhood
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the area surrounding the family home
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on Mull Street was a rough,
working-class neighborhood
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renamed Shantytown by it's residents,
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and the quick tempered
Ronnie soon developed
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in part through necessity,
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into one of the toughest
kids on the block.
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- The old saying then and now even,
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the farther North you go into Florida,
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the more in the South you are,
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and when you were in Jacksonville
you were at the upper tip
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of Florida, and it was pretty bad.
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It was bad country.
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- Ronnie lived in a
neighborhood that where
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12 o'clock noon on a summer
day you don't want to be
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in that neighborhood.
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Okay, and I lived about 1/4 mile away
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and the houses, not much
bigger than this room,
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but they were brick and
they were a whole level
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up from where Ronnie's people were.
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They used to call us the rich folk.
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He lived in the roughest
neighborhood they was.
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- It was blue-collar and it
was working-class people,
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rednecks you know.
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I'm happy to be a redneck,
you know. (laughs)
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It was a great neighborhood back then.
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We called it Shantytown.
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They call it the bottom now.
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- The Westside was
everybody knew each other
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in the Westside.
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We played baseball together.
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We went fishing together.
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We wanted to live here all our lives,
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but we knew we weren't going to
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really amount to much of anything here.
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You work for the railroad
or you join the Navy.
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That was pretty much it
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or you went to college to become a lawyer,
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and starting a band just seemed
to be a whole lot more fun.
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- [Voiceover] Despite being
drawn to music from an early age
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in particular country in
the work of Merle Haggard
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and having already developed
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an enthusiasm for singing, Van Zant's
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earliest ambitions were not artistic,
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yet they all involved
breaking out of Shantytown.
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00:05:38,734 --> 00:05:40,895
Growing up within walking
distance from Jacksonville's
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Speedway Park his initial
childhood aspiration was
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to become a champion stock car driver.
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00:05:46,509 --> 00:05:49,069
Although with his enrollment
in Robert E. Lee High School
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in 1961 his thoughts turned
to more athletic pursuits.
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- At Lee, early on, he
wanted to play football.
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He wanted to be a running back,
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and he got to play and
they did a scrimmage
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00:06:01,385 --> 00:06:03,667
and the first play from scrimmage
he got his ankle broken.
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They put pins in it and made him 4F,
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so he couldn't be drafted.
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Right before that when
Cassius Clay was in his heyday
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before he turned over and changed his name
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to Muhammed Ali, Ronnie
loved Cassius Clay,
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and he wanted to be a boxer, but boxer,
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and I wasn't there that day
Orestes Godwin which lived
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over on Pangola, the
other side of Woodcrest,
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Ronnie's side boxed Ronnie
and he just beat the hell
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out of Ronnie, so that
changed Ronnie's mind
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about wanting to be a boxer.
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You get your ass beat
the first time you want
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to be somebody you don't
want to be that, next day.
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- [Voiceover] The single event
that caused Van Zant to focus
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not on sport, but on
music occurred in 1965
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when he and a friend attended a concert
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at the Jacksonville Coliseum.
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Despite the rich, musical
heritage of the South
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it was a British band
channeling this heritage
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into their own distinctive
sound that provided the young
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Floridian with a clear
roadmap for his future.
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The Rolling Stones played to
a packed house on May the 8th,
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and that performance proved inspirational.
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- Mick Jagger and the
Stones is what inspired him.
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He liked music, country music.
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Mick Jagger, The Rolling
Stones is what put the shuffle
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in his feet and what put
him into wanting to be
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in the music business.
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♪ I can't get no ♪
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♪ I can't get no ♪
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♪ When I'm driving in my car ♪
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♪ A man comes on the radio ♪
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♪ Telling me more and more ♪
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♪ About some useless information ♪
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♪ Supposed to fire my imagination ♪
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♪ I can't get no ♪
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♪ A no, no, no ♪
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♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪
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♪ That's what I say ♪
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He seen the reaction of
the fans and the people
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especially the girls, and
the girls loved the singers.
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They don't care much about the band,
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but they loved that front man.
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Ronnie loved it.
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He just had that reaction
because truthfully speaking
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he wanted to get out of Shantytown.
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He hated it.
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He didn't bring nobody over to his house,
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us close friends, but if
he didn't if you wasn't
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a close friend you didn't
come over to Shantytown.
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In Ronnie's eyes he wanted to be somebody.
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Mick Jagger did that dancing.
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Ronnie Van Zant come
back, "Hey, I want to be
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"I want to be in rock-n-roll."
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He put that in his mind,
and that is what guided him.
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Ron Van Zant had a goal.
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- [Voiceover] It didn't take Van Zant long
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to begin working towards this goal.
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Within weeks he had joined
young teen-aged group
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00:08:38,629 --> 00:08:41,253
The Squires, and several
years older than the other
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band members, he quickly took charge.
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Renaming them Us.
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This would soon bring him
into contact with rival bands
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The Mods which featured young guitarist,
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Allen Collins and bassist, Larry Steele.
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- I first met Ronnie Van Zant in 1965.
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Allen and I had a band
together called The Mods
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We attended Lake Shore
Junior High School together
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00:09:06,408 --> 00:09:09,603
as did Gary Rossington
and Allen and I's band
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00:09:09,603 --> 00:09:13,582
had a Battle of the Bands
coming up with another band.
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We had had a Battle of
the Bands previously
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and we won.
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00:09:18,019 --> 00:09:22,776
But now this band that we
were competing against, now,
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thier new lead singer was Ronnie Van Zant.
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Ronnie came over to Lake
Shore Junior High School
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to kind of advance the gig.
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He was always calculating.
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He was like a field general
and he had requested
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00:09:34,924 --> 00:09:37,186
through someone to meet with me.
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That was terrifying, you know?
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It was like, what?
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It just didn't sound
good at all, you know?
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I knew of him.
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I knew the name everybody on the Westside
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00:09:47,318 --> 00:09:50,177
of Jacksonville knew the
name because Ronnie had
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a fairly big reputation
as a street fighter.
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00:09:55,702 --> 00:09:58,571
He was a tough guy.
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00:09:58,571 --> 00:10:03,571
I was expecting to meet Attila the Hun,
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but he was very soft spoken.
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00:10:06,528 --> 00:10:08,373
He was very polite.
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00:10:08,373 --> 00:10:10,965
He was very intelligent.
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00:10:10,965 --> 00:10:12,735
He knew what he wanted to do.
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00:10:12,735 --> 00:10:15,114
He was as nice as he can be.
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00:10:15,114 --> 00:10:16,788
- [Voiceover] Although Us won the contest,
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00:10:16,788 --> 00:10:18,740
Van Zant quickly decided
that his band mates lacked
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00:10:18,740 --> 00:10:21,727
the skill and focus to
match his own ambitions,
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00:10:21,727 --> 00:10:24,340
and he began looking for
a new outfit to front.
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00:10:24,340 --> 00:10:26,324
Another group on the
local high school circuit
229
00:10:26,324 --> 00:10:28,009
soon caught his attention.
230
00:10:28,009 --> 00:10:29,801
A recently formed three-piece band
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consisting of bassist Larrry Youngstrom,
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00:10:32,238 --> 00:10:34,116
guitarist, Gary Rossington, and drummer,
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00:10:34,116 --> 00:10:35,705
Bob Burns.
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00:10:35,705 --> 00:10:37,411
- First it was me and Larry.
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00:10:37,411 --> 00:10:38,777
We were trying to do something and I said,
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00:10:38,777 --> 00:10:41,496
"Larry, we got to get
us a guitar partner."
237
00:10:41,496 --> 00:10:42,744
He said, "I don't know none."
238
00:10:42,744 --> 00:10:43,741
I said, "I do."
239
00:10:44,792 --> 00:10:48,035
- Gary Rossington, yes, I told
Gary about it and he said,
240
00:10:48,035 --> 00:10:49,938
"Sure." Because he
didn't have an amplifier.
241
00:10:50,861 --> 00:10:53,581
So we walked about two miles and got one,
242
00:10:53,581 --> 00:10:56,013
and that's what we
started practicing with.
243
00:10:56,013 --> 00:10:59,111
We named the band Me, You and Him.
244
00:10:59,959 --> 00:11:02,679
The way I met Ronnie,
he knocked on my door
245
00:11:02,679 --> 00:11:05,410
one morning to say, right before school.
246
00:11:05,410 --> 00:11:07,249
I said, "I don't want to fight you, man."
247
00:11:09,196 --> 00:11:11,617
He said, "I ain't here to fight."
248
00:11:11,617 --> 00:11:12,806
He said, "I'm a singer."
249
00:11:13,814 --> 00:11:14,977
I said, "You're a singer?"
250
00:11:14,977 --> 00:11:16,534
He said, "Yeah."
251
00:11:16,534 --> 00:11:17,996
I said, "Well, I'll be dang."
252
00:11:17,996 --> 00:11:22,996
I said, "I got a bass player
and I have a guitar player.
253
00:11:23,563 --> 00:11:26,443
"Let's try to put something together."
254
00:11:26,443 --> 00:11:28,160
- [Voiceover] As they
began to practice, however,
255
00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,795
this new as yet unnamed
band quickly realized
256
00:11:30,795 --> 00:11:33,024
that something was
missing from their sound.
257
00:11:33,024 --> 00:11:34,895
Enter guitarist, Allen Collins.
258
00:11:35,765 --> 00:11:38,890
- Allen was playing in
a band called the Mods.
259
00:11:38,890 --> 00:11:41,439
He was their lead-guitar player.
260
00:11:41,439 --> 00:11:42,474
We were practicing.
261
00:11:42,474 --> 00:11:43,434
We stopped.
262
00:11:43,434 --> 00:11:46,900
We said, "Look it's just
not full enough, you know?
263
00:11:46,900 --> 00:11:49,386
The sound is just not full enough."
264
00:11:49,386 --> 00:11:51,001
I said, "We need another axe."
265
00:11:52,009 --> 00:11:53,561
Everybody said, "Yeah, where?"
266
00:11:54,729 --> 00:11:58,089
I went, "Bingo, Allen Collins."
267
00:11:58,089 --> 00:12:00,233
And Gary just about thought about it
268
00:12:00,233 --> 00:12:02,505
at the same time because
he didn't know Allen
269
00:12:02,505 --> 00:12:03,881
like I did.
270
00:12:03,881 --> 00:12:05,598
He was just a distant, distant friend.
271
00:12:05,598 --> 00:12:07,187
I know Allen, good
272
00:12:07,187 --> 00:12:09,250
He was in a lot of my classes.
273
00:12:10,675 --> 00:12:13,640
We approached him about it.
274
00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:15,496
- They needed another guitar player.
275
00:12:15,496 --> 00:12:18,002
Ronnie was of the opinion
that he could take
276
00:12:18,002 --> 00:12:22,152
two mediocre at best, at
that time, the truth is
277
00:12:22,152 --> 00:12:24,162
Allen and Gary neither one,
they were both learning
278
00:12:24,162 --> 00:12:25,602
from each other.
279
00:12:25,602 --> 00:12:28,546
Ronnie felt like if he
could take the two of them
280
00:12:28,546 --> 00:12:30,999
and combine that energy
and have them feed off
281
00:12:30,999 --> 00:12:34,284
of each other that ultimately
he could come up with
282
00:12:34,284 --> 00:12:37,964
at the very least a
very good guitar player.
283
00:12:37,964 --> 00:12:40,823
As it turned out, he knew exactly
what he was talking about.
284
00:12:40,823 --> 00:12:43,958
As it turned out he got two
very good guitar players.
285
00:12:43,958 --> 00:12:45,612
- [Voiceover] With the
band's line-up in place
286
00:12:45,612 --> 00:12:47,563
after some rehearsing, they
made their way on to the
287
00:12:47,563 --> 00:12:49,238
Jacksonville Live Circuit.
288
00:12:49,238 --> 00:12:51,115
Although as the majority
of the members were still
289
00:12:51,115 --> 00:12:53,547
high school students, they
were restricted to playing
290
00:12:53,547 --> 00:12:56,000
teen clubs and youth centers.
291
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,656
Their set list almost
exclusively made up of covers
292
00:12:58,656 --> 00:13:01,653
of songs by British invasion
acts, this group eventually
293
00:13:01,653 --> 00:13:04,277
named the Noble Five was the first step
294
00:13:04,277 --> 00:13:06,741
in the journey towards Lynyrd Skynyrd.
295
00:13:06,741 --> 00:13:09,487
- That band right there,
if we jumped on a copy tune
296
00:13:11,370 --> 00:13:13,988
at first it was good,
people were very impressed.
297
00:13:14,868 --> 00:13:19,689
Then they were saying,
"Damn, that sounds good."
298
00:13:19,689 --> 00:13:22,825
And before we quit playing copy tunes
299
00:13:22,825 --> 00:13:25,790
and we played anywhere from
the Doors and the Stones
300
00:13:25,790 --> 00:13:30,403
to Beatles, a lot of
rock-n-roll, some blues-rock,
301
00:13:31,603 --> 00:13:34,003
just on and on forever, good stuff.
302
00:13:34,003 --> 00:13:36,702
All the copy tunes, okay.
303
00:13:36,702 --> 00:13:41,702
And I'll vow it to say this
the band Ronnie, me, Gary,
304
00:13:41,757 --> 00:13:45,992
Allen and Larry probably had
one of the best copy bands
305
00:13:45,992 --> 00:13:47,453
in the world.
306
00:13:47,453 --> 00:13:48,584
We knocked it out.
307
00:13:48,584 --> 00:13:50,141
People loved it.
308
00:13:50,141 --> 00:13:50,913
- How good were they?
309
00:13:52,477 --> 00:13:53,650
Not really good.
310
00:13:53,650 --> 00:13:55,261
The Noble Five when
they were the Noble Five
311
00:13:55,261 --> 00:13:58,183
they were playing other people's
music and they were trying
312
00:13:58,183 --> 00:13:59,900
to put some of the
original stuff, you know,
313
00:13:59,900 --> 00:14:01,116
trying to come up with something.
314
00:14:01,116 --> 00:14:04,876
You know, they were average
young band, young musicians,
315
00:14:04,876 --> 00:14:07,303
they didn't hit every note perfect.
316
00:14:07,303 --> 00:14:09,052
- [Voiceover] If the Noble
Five still had to develop
317
00:14:09,052 --> 00:14:12,359
instrumental prowess and
musical creativity one thing
318
00:14:12,359 --> 00:14:15,750
it wasn't lacking was a
commanding presence out front.
319
00:14:15,750 --> 00:14:17,990
From the get go Ronnie
Van Zant was a striking
320
00:14:17,990 --> 00:14:20,838
and very singular lead singer.
321
00:14:20,838 --> 00:14:22,795
- I would say that Noble
Five was very average,
322
00:14:23,835 --> 00:14:28,835
but he knew his limitations
and he was very confident.
323
00:14:30,832 --> 00:14:34,459
He had a lot of stage
presence, a lot of charisma.
324
00:14:34,459 --> 00:14:36,698
In the beginning I think
that's what got him by
325
00:14:36,698 --> 00:14:37,765
more than anything.
326
00:14:37,765 --> 00:14:39,781
At that time he had not really come
327
00:14:39,781 --> 00:14:41,424
into his own as a singer.
328
00:14:41,424 --> 00:14:43,770
He had just recently made
up his mind that that's what
329
00:14:43,770 --> 00:14:44,933
he wanted to do.
330
00:14:44,933 --> 00:14:48,207
Actually to phrase it
like Ronnie did to me,
331
00:14:48,207 --> 00:14:51,343
not what he wanted to
do, what he had to do.
332
00:14:51,343 --> 00:14:54,052
He took it from there, he had, like I say,
333
00:14:54,052 --> 00:14:57,305
all the confidence in the
world and he had his plan,
334
00:14:57,305 --> 00:15:00,846
his idea about how it was
all going to come together
335
00:15:00,846 --> 00:15:02,457
and he stuck to it.
336
00:15:02,457 --> 00:15:04,601
- [Voiceover] As a Top-40
cover band the Noble Five
337
00:15:04,601 --> 00:15:06,926
were competing in a crowded market.
338
00:15:06,926 --> 00:15:09,464
The coming of the Beatles,
The Stones and the numerous
339
00:15:09,464 --> 00:15:11,747
other artists from across
the Atlantic had seen
340
00:15:11,747 --> 00:15:15,320
an explosion of musical
activity across the US.
341
00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:17,752
The major hub for the artists
who developed in the wake
342
00:15:17,752 --> 00:15:20,546
of this British invasion was California.
343
00:15:20,546 --> 00:15:23,160
Here the members of The Byrds,
The Mama's and the Papa's,
344
00:15:23,160 --> 00:15:25,634
and the Greatful Dead, among
many others were forging
345
00:15:25,634 --> 00:15:27,053
new sounds.
346
00:15:27,053 --> 00:15:29,197
The musicians dragging
themselves out of the once
347
00:15:29,197 --> 00:15:32,514
dominant folk revival scene
and into the brave new world
348
00:15:32,514 --> 00:15:35,095
suggested by the British acts.
349
00:15:35,095 --> 00:15:37,687
As distant as this all seemed
to the young bands playing
350
00:15:37,687 --> 00:15:40,215
cover songs in the South
and actually on occasion
351
00:15:40,215 --> 00:15:42,902
played the same clubs as
the Noble Five had made
352
00:15:42,902 --> 00:15:45,104
an attempt to break into
this competitive world.
353
00:15:46,145 --> 00:15:49,099
Brothers Dwayne and Gregg
Allman from Daytona Beach
354
00:15:49,099 --> 00:15:51,339
had initially began playing
on the Florida Circuit
355
00:15:51,339 --> 00:15:54,283
in the ensemble The Escorts in 1964.
356
00:15:54,283 --> 00:15:56,864
The following year they
had become The Allman Joys
357
00:15:56,864 --> 00:15:58,773
and they quickly rose
to the top of the scene.
358
00:15:58,773 --> 00:16:00,853
Playing venues not only
in their home state,
359
00:16:00,853 --> 00:16:02,159
but across the South.
360
00:16:03,104 --> 00:16:06,314
In 1967 they became the
Hour Glass and with industry
361
00:16:06,314 --> 00:16:09,461
support behind them they
relocated to Los Angles.
362
00:16:09,461 --> 00:16:12,703
Yet, despite several high
profile shows and two albums
363
00:16:12,703 --> 00:16:14,762
they failed to make their mark.
364
00:16:14,762 --> 00:16:17,546
To musicians on the Florida
Circuit however, including
365
00:16:17,546 --> 00:16:20,020
the ambitious, young
members of the Noble Five,
366
00:16:20,020 --> 00:16:21,929
they were an inspiration.
367
00:16:21,929 --> 00:16:23,966
As well as Gregg Allman's powerful vocals
368
00:16:23,966 --> 00:16:26,878
and Dwayne Allman's technical
virtuosity as a guitarist,
369
00:16:26,878 --> 00:16:29,886
the band wrote original material.
370
00:16:29,886 --> 00:16:32,521
- We opened up for the Allman Brothers.
371
00:16:32,521 --> 00:16:34,984
They were called the Hour Glass back then,
372
00:16:34,984 --> 00:16:36,894
but it was the Allman Brothers.
373
00:16:36,894 --> 00:16:39,741
We were on first.
374
00:16:39,741 --> 00:16:44,520
We got in there and Gregg
and Dwayne just sat there.
375
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:48,840
They said, "Look, you
guys got a tremendously
376
00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,127
"powerful band."
377
00:16:51,127 --> 00:16:55,281
"You sound great, but
you'll never go anywhere
378
00:16:56,578 --> 00:16:59,099
"until you do your own stuff."
379
00:17:00,108 --> 00:17:03,287
He said, "What you gotta
do is get you a place
380
00:17:03,287 --> 00:17:07,201
"that to where you can
practice seven days a week
381
00:17:07,201 --> 00:17:09,985
"from morning till night,
you know, and put a little
382
00:17:09,985 --> 00:17:13,185
"recorder in there to keep
place with the songs."
383
00:17:13,185 --> 00:17:16,229
So we did that for seven years.
384
00:17:17,174 --> 00:17:20,213
- [Voiceover] Inspired by
Dwayne Allman's advice the band,
385
00:17:20,213 --> 00:17:23,211
having recently changed their
name to the One Percent.
386
00:17:23,211 --> 00:17:25,216
looked for a location in
which they could work up
387
00:17:25,216 --> 00:17:27,584
new material and hone
their musical skiills
388
00:17:27,584 --> 00:17:29,274
through repetitious rehearsals.
389
00:17:30,282 --> 00:17:32,821
After exhausting the patience
of family and friends
390
00:17:32,821 --> 00:17:35,029
they eventually found a
run down cabin in the town
391
00:17:35,029 --> 00:17:37,172
of Russell which they would call over time
392
00:17:37,172 --> 00:17:38,442
Hell House.
393
00:17:38,442 --> 00:17:41,385
Under Van Zant's stern
leadership they began their slow
394
00:17:41,385 --> 00:17:43,747
metamorphosis into a major rock band.
395
00:17:45,364 --> 00:17:49,677
- We practiced seven days a
week, from 10 in the morning
396
00:17:49,677 --> 00:17:51,789
until 10 at night.
397
00:17:51,789 --> 00:17:55,586
Tin roof, no air conditioning,
it was hard work.
398
00:17:55,586 --> 00:18:00,322
It was hard work, but we loved it, man.
399
00:18:00,322 --> 00:18:01,751
You know, we loved it.
400
00:18:01,751 --> 00:18:05,026
- Ronnie was just realizing
that we were going to have
401
00:18:05,026 --> 00:18:07,889
to work harder than
everybody else to make it.
402
00:18:07,889 --> 00:18:11,462
His work ethic just went into overdrive.
403
00:18:11,462 --> 00:18:12,817
There was no time off.
404
00:18:12,817 --> 00:18:14,609
If you weren't playing a
gig you were rehearsing
405
00:18:14,609 --> 00:18:16,611
to play the next gig.
406
00:18:16,611 --> 00:18:21,611
As a result of that there
was a huge transition.
407
00:18:22,737 --> 00:18:27,600
When they became One Percent
basically it was the same band
408
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,951
the whole attitude was
completely different.
409
00:18:30,951 --> 00:18:33,184
- [Voiceover] This new vigor
led One Percent to quickly rise
410
00:18:33,184 --> 00:18:36,456
to the top of the local
circuit and in 1968
411
00:18:36,456 --> 00:18:38,681
they began playing regularly
at the recently opened
412
00:18:38,681 --> 00:18:42,467
Comic Book Club, the most
vibrant venue in Jacksonville.
413
00:18:42,467 --> 00:18:45,304
As the band continued to
develop, the following year
414
00:18:45,304 --> 00:18:47,459
there was a significant
shift in the music industry
415
00:18:47,459 --> 00:18:48,696
of the South.
416
00:18:48,696 --> 00:18:51,000
After the collapse of
their band The Hour Glass
417
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:53,837
guitarist Dwayne Allman who
worked as session musician
418
00:18:53,837 --> 00:18:56,205
at famed studios in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama,
419
00:18:56,205 --> 00:18:59,010
immediately drawing the
attention of Atlantic Records,
420
00:18:59,010 --> 00:19:00,226
Jerry Wexler.
421
00:19:00,226 --> 00:19:03,842
He in turn introduced Allman
to an associate, Phil Walden
422
00:19:03,842 --> 00:19:06,466
a manager from Macon,
Georgia, who has previously
423
00:19:06,466 --> 00:19:10,572
represented R&B heavy weights,
Otis Redding and Al Green.
424
00:19:10,572 --> 00:19:13,516
So impressed was Walden by
the young guitarist's talent
425
00:19:13,516 --> 00:19:15,632
he encouraged Allman to form a new band
426
00:19:15,632 --> 00:19:17,840
and set up a record label, Capricorn
427
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:19,909
to release their albums.
428
00:19:19,909 --> 00:19:23,727
In March 1969, The Allman
Brothers Band was born
429
00:19:23,727 --> 00:19:26,095
bring together musicians
from Floridian groups
430
00:19:26,095 --> 00:19:29,551
The 31st of February and
the Second Coming alongside
431
00:19:29,551 --> 00:19:30,831
Greg and Dwayne.
432
00:19:30,831 --> 00:19:33,689
By April they had moved to Macon.
433
00:19:33,689 --> 00:19:37,123
Here Walden set up a studio
and began to build Capricorn.
434
00:19:37,123 --> 00:19:39,699
a record label that would
become a beacon for talented
435
00:19:39,699 --> 00:19:42,530
young, local acts playing rock music.
436
00:19:42,530 --> 00:19:46,796
Phil Walden totally believed
that there was a lot
437
00:19:46,796 --> 00:19:50,967
of creativity where we
lived, where we came from
438
00:19:50,967 --> 00:19:52,108
and we experienced it.
439
00:19:52,108 --> 00:19:55,670
We experienced it in Alabama,
in Macon, Georgia, where
440
00:19:55,670 --> 00:19:58,140
I'd gone to school and Phil grew up.
441
00:19:58,140 --> 00:20:00,262
Phil was the leader of this thinking
442
00:20:00,262 --> 00:20:03,771
and his brother Alan joined in, too.
443
00:20:03,771 --> 00:20:08,336
You know, you've got great players around
444
00:20:08,336 --> 00:20:10,747
just look over your shoulder.
445
00:20:10,747 --> 00:20:12,763
Turn around and look about.
446
00:20:12,763 --> 00:20:14,715
Joe got a call from Gary Wexler
447
00:20:14,715 --> 00:20:17,914
about Dwayne Allman
and then he took action
448
00:20:17,914 --> 00:20:19,365
on that phone call.
449
00:20:19,365 --> 00:20:24,303
Dwayne was ready to make a move.
450
00:20:24,303 --> 00:20:27,865
♪ I've been run down ♪
451
00:20:27,865 --> 00:20:31,348
♪ I've been lied to ♪
452
00:20:31,348 --> 00:20:33,215
♪ I don't know why, ♪
453
00:20:33,215 --> 00:20:36,927
♪ I let that mean woman make me a fool ♪
454
00:20:36,927 --> 00:20:40,329
♪ She took all my money ♪
455
00:20:40,329 --> 00:20:44,414
♪ Wrecks my new car ♪
456
00:20:44,414 --> 00:20:47,411
♪ Now she's with one of
my good time buddies ♪
457
00:20:47,411 --> 00:20:49,950
♪ They're drinkin' in
some cross town bar ♪
458
00:20:49,950 --> 00:20:54,950
♪ Sometimes I feel ♪
459
00:20:55,006 --> 00:20:57,235
♪ Sometimes I feel ♪
460
00:20:57,235 --> 00:20:58,888
♪ Like I've been tied ♪
461
00:20:58,888 --> 00:21:02,349
♪ To the whipping post ♪
462
00:21:02,349 --> 00:21:05,068
♪ Tied to the whipping post ♪
463
00:21:05,068 --> 00:21:07,458
- It was very inspirational.
464
00:21:07,458 --> 00:21:10,881
It was the first inkling
that we had that it could
465
00:21:10,881 --> 00:21:12,385
actually be done.
466
00:21:12,385 --> 00:21:14,390
It was Ronnie in fact
that turned me onto Greg
467
00:21:14,390 --> 00:21:17,846
and Dwayne Allman and
we had known for years
468
00:21:17,846 --> 00:21:22,177
that they were the best around.
469
00:21:22,177 --> 00:21:24,736
If they didn't make it
we better start thinking
470
00:21:24,736 --> 00:21:26,230
about something else.
471
00:21:26,230 --> 00:21:29,344
Once they finally did,
once Capricorn signed
472
00:21:29,344 --> 00:21:34,344
The Allman Brothers, we knew
then, we can do this, too.
473
00:21:34,441 --> 00:21:36,387
♪ In Memory of Elizabeth Reed ♪
by The Allman Brothers ♪
474
00:21:52,104 --> 00:21:55,037
- The Allman brothers opened
the door for all of us.
475
00:21:55,037 --> 00:21:57,277
They were the ones that went out there
476
00:21:57,277 --> 00:21:59,538
and paid the dues, first.
477
00:21:59,538 --> 00:22:00,786
Little Richard had done a lot.
478
00:22:00,786 --> 00:22:01,954
Otis Redding had done a lot.
479
00:22:01,954 --> 00:22:03,212
Ray Charles had done a lot.
480
00:22:03,212 --> 00:22:05,079
James Brown had done a lot,
481
00:22:05,079 --> 00:22:09,009
but for a white band
482
00:22:09,009 --> 00:22:11,526
they were the pioneers.
483
00:22:11,526 --> 00:22:14,161
They were the first ones out there
484
00:22:14,161 --> 00:22:16,843
that really meant something,
that played the Fillmores
485
00:22:17,733 --> 00:22:21,989
and really played original music.
486
00:22:21,989 --> 00:22:24,997
That was one thing, they
set the example for,
487
00:22:24,997 --> 00:22:27,375
was playing original music.
488
00:22:27,375 --> 00:22:29,434
- [Voiceover] The Allman Brothers
immediately made an impact
489
00:22:29,434 --> 00:22:30,767
on the One Percent.
490
00:22:30,767 --> 00:22:33,156
Their distinctive, sonic
approach quickly absorbed
491
00:22:33,156 --> 00:22:35,546
into the young Jacksonville band sound.
492
00:22:35,546 --> 00:22:37,689
Yet, it was a British
group traveling to Florida,
493
00:22:37,689 --> 00:22:40,217
on a US tour that would
prove and even greater
494
00:22:40,217 --> 00:22:43,321
inspiration musically for the One Percent.
495
00:22:43,321 --> 00:22:45,214
- We followed the brothers a lot,
496
00:22:46,105 --> 00:22:49,053
the double leads kind of came in you know.
497
00:22:50,137 --> 00:22:53,454
Ronnie liked the way Greg sang.
498
00:22:53,454 --> 00:22:55,224
Hell, who didn't?
499
00:22:55,224 --> 00:22:59,479
Then we heard a band called Free that was
500
00:22:59,479 --> 00:23:01,431
supposed to be coming to town
501
00:23:01,431 --> 00:23:03,426
an English band.
502
00:23:03,426 --> 00:23:05,446
We heard them at a skating rink
503
00:23:06,561 --> 00:23:08,908
and I'm telling you what, right there
504
00:23:08,908 --> 00:23:13,078
I think Free changed our band more
505
00:23:13,078 --> 00:23:14,715
than any band in this world.
506
00:23:21,707 --> 00:23:24,768
♪ Every single day ♪
507
00:23:24,768 --> 00:23:28,651
♪ I got a heartache coming my way ♪
508
00:23:28,651 --> 00:23:32,693
♪ I don't want to say goodbye, baby ♪
509
00:23:32,693 --> 00:23:36,832
♪ But look at the tears in my eyes ♪
510
00:23:36,832 --> 00:23:40,181
♪ I don't want to say goodbye, baby ♪
511
00:23:40,181 --> 00:23:44,500
♪ But look at the way you made me cry ♪
512
00:23:44,500 --> 00:23:46,911
♪ In every way that's nice ♪
513
00:23:46,911 --> 00:23:50,260
♪ You show you got a
heart that's made of ice ♪
514
00:23:50,260 --> 00:23:54,409
♪ And I know Fire and water ♪
515
00:23:54,409 --> 00:23:59,409
Paul Kossoff, Gary
Rossington, it's identical
516
00:23:59,443 --> 00:24:01,310
to what Gary does.
517
00:24:01,310 --> 00:24:03,704
That was really beautiful, man.
518
00:24:04,819 --> 00:24:08,595
Beautiful , Simon Kirke on drums
519
00:24:08,595 --> 00:24:11,639
and Andy Frasier, that
little hat, you know?
520
00:24:14,835 --> 00:24:17,240
- [Voiceover] For Ronnie Van
Zant the emergence of Free
521
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,725
was almost as influential
as his initial exposure
522
00:24:19,725 --> 00:24:21,905
to The Stones five years before him.
523
00:24:21,905 --> 00:24:23,410
♪ Took her home to my place ♪
524
00:24:23,410 --> 00:24:26,727
♪ Watching every move on her face ♪
525
00:24:26,727 --> 00:24:30,929
♪ She said, Look man ,what's your game ♪
526
00:24:30,929 --> 00:24:34,150
♪ Are you trying to put me in shame ♪
527
00:24:34,150 --> 00:24:38,385
♪ I said slow baby, don't go so fast ♪
528
00:24:38,385 --> 00:24:42,107
♪ Don't you think that love can last ♪
529
00:24:42,107 --> 00:24:46,246
♪ She said Love, Lord above ♪
530
00:24:46,246 --> 00:24:50,203
♪ Now you're trying to trick me in love ♪
531
00:24:50,203 --> 00:24:53,957
♪ All right now, baby ♪
532
00:24:53,957 --> 00:24:57,722
♪ It's all right now ♪
533
00:24:57,722 --> 00:24:58,575
♪ All right now, baby♪
534
00:24:58,575 --> 00:25:00,751
- The Stones may have ignited something,
535
00:25:00,751 --> 00:25:04,036
but it was really Paul Rogers
who was his great hero.
536
00:25:04,036 --> 00:25:06,201
He wanted to sing like Paul Rogers.
537
00:25:06,201 --> 00:25:08,974
The inside joke with people like Al Cooper
538
00:25:08,974 --> 00:25:11,193
who produced the Skynyrd albums was that
539
00:25:11,193 --> 00:25:14,499
on each one of those
there had to be Free song
540
00:25:14,499 --> 00:25:18,830
a song in which Ronnie would
try to sound like Paul Rogers.
541
00:25:18,830 --> 00:25:22,349
That was his (mumbles) ideal
of what a rock-n-roll star
542
00:25:22,349 --> 00:25:23,427
would be.
543
00:25:23,427 --> 00:25:27,341
Here's a guy in the deep South
and his hero is you know,
544
00:25:27,341 --> 00:25:28,888
across the pond.
545
00:25:28,888 --> 00:25:30,989
His sights were very broad even then.
546
00:25:30,989 --> 00:25:34,125
And it was very canny because
that wasn't being done
547
00:25:34,125 --> 00:25:35,703
back then in Jacksonville.
548
00:25:35,703 --> 00:25:37,698
Even The Allman Brothers
didn't sing that kind.
549
00:25:37,698 --> 00:25:40,492
They were a great blues
band but they didn't emulate
550
00:25:40,492 --> 00:25:43,532
Paul Rogers or Mick Jagger.
551
00:25:43,532 --> 00:25:46,913
So this is a whole new thing
that's coming with Skynyrd.
552
00:25:46,913 --> 00:25:49,217
It's taken a little time,
but it's on the way.
553
00:25:49,217 --> 00:25:51,862
- [Voiceover] Quickly
assimilating these influences
554
00:25:51,862 --> 00:25:55,073
hold up in the backwater
isolation of Hell House
555
00:25:55,073 --> 00:25:58,021
Van Zant and the band began
developing their own material.
556
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:02,166
- Let's say Gary Rossington
and Allen went home
557
00:26:02,166 --> 00:26:04,811
and were just picking
around on their guitars.
558
00:26:04,811 --> 00:26:06,976
We practice all day,
they go home and clean up
559
00:26:06,976 --> 00:26:10,336
and play guitar and practicing.
560
00:26:10,336 --> 00:26:13,162
Well, they get into a groove,
something really cool,
561
00:26:13,162 --> 00:26:16,639
you know, it's a whole measure, you know.
562
00:26:16,639 --> 00:26:19,242
And a whole measure, so it could be a song
563
00:26:19,242 --> 00:26:22,143
even with a cord some of them sometimes,
564
00:26:22,143 --> 00:26:26,030
a whole song right there
and if the band liked it
565
00:26:26,921 --> 00:26:30,772
and Ronnie could dig it
and put some words to it
566
00:26:30,772 --> 00:26:31,838
we'd keep it.
567
00:26:31,838 --> 00:26:34,510
Ronnie never wrote down
one word to any song.
568
00:26:36,222 --> 00:26:38,878
If that don't freak
y'all out, I don't know.
569
00:26:38,878 --> 00:26:41,555
Nobody's ever done that.
570
00:26:41,555 --> 00:26:45,885
Intricate songs and they'd ask him,
571
00:26:45,885 --> 00:26:48,989
"Ronnie, why don't you write it down?"
572
00:26:48,989 --> 00:26:52,893
And he'd say, "Look, if
it ain't worth remembering
573
00:26:52,893 --> 00:26:54,391
"it ain't no good."
574
00:26:55,250 --> 00:26:56,744
- [Voiceover] With a clutch
of self-penned tracks
575
00:26:56,744 --> 00:27:00,226
now in their arsenal in
May 1969 the One Percent
576
00:27:00,226 --> 00:27:02,689
were offered their
first stab at recording.
577
00:27:02,689 --> 00:27:05,542
Local manager, David Griffin
seemed to capture the best
578
00:27:05,542 --> 00:27:08,790
of the up and coming
Jacksonville acts on vinyl booked
579
00:27:08,790 --> 00:27:10,683
both Van Zants band and Larry Steele's
580
00:27:10,683 --> 00:27:12,592
new ensemble Black Bear Angel
581
00:27:12,592 --> 00:27:15,675
into Norm Vincent's studios
to produce two promotional
582
00:27:15,675 --> 00:27:18,320
singles for Shade Tree Records.
583
00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:21,471
- David Griffin was the one
that set up the studio time
584
00:27:21,471 --> 00:27:25,141
for One Percent and Black Bear Angel.
585
00:27:25,141 --> 00:27:28,852
My band wasted time, Ronnie's did not.
586
00:27:28,852 --> 00:27:31,401
Ronnie went in there he knew
exactly what he wanted to do.
587
00:27:31,401 --> 00:27:33,513
He took advantage of the situation.
588
00:27:33,513 --> 00:27:37,150
They put down two songs
and the next thing you know
589
00:27:37,150 --> 00:27:41,705
he had TV exposure, a lot of
air play and stuff like that.
590
00:27:41,705 --> 00:27:45,385
That was a big thing to their career.
591
00:27:45,385 --> 00:27:49,448
♪ It's been so long since I been gone ♪
592
00:27:49,448 --> 00:27:53,683
♪ Lord I'm tired and want to go home ♪
593
00:27:53,683 --> 00:27:57,458
♪ I going strong but
I'm singing the blues ♪
594
00:27:57,458 --> 00:28:02,458
♪ Need all my friends to talk to ♪
595
00:28:03,367 --> 00:28:06,834
♪ Now yes I do ♪
596
00:28:06,834 --> 00:28:11,350
♪ Need all my friends to talk to ♪
597
00:28:16,811 --> 00:28:21,478
- Those were the days I enjoyed the most.
598
00:28:21,478 --> 00:28:24,486
These All My Friends,
that was the first really
599
00:28:24,486 --> 00:28:29,486
professional one we
just really grooved on.
600
00:28:29,547 --> 00:28:31,802
Everybody liked it, the crowd, my friends,
601
00:28:32,832 --> 00:28:36,885
and we like it, yeah, that
was a pretty good time.
602
00:28:36,885 --> 00:28:40,431
The songs brought us joy, you know?
603
00:28:46,399 --> 00:28:48,665
♪ Michelle, little girl I need you baby ♪
604
00:28:48,665 --> 00:28:51,652
♪ More than the air I breathe ♪
605
00:28:51,652 --> 00:28:53,481
♪ My love for you grows stronger, babe ♪
606
00:28:53,481 --> 00:28:57,129
♪ My words you must believe ♪
607
00:28:57,129 --> 00:28:59,582
♪ Well I need to see you laugh again ♪
608
00:28:59,582 --> 00:29:02,558
♪ And I want to see you smile ♪
609
00:29:02,558 --> 00:29:04,617
♪ Michelle, little girl I love you baby ♪
610
00:29:04,617 --> 00:29:06,691
♪ You're my only child ♪
611
00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:16,957
- To me I don't think they
have a distinctive, original
612
00:29:16,957 --> 00:29:19,187
sound on this first single.
613
00:29:19,187 --> 00:29:22,802
They sound like the typical
rock band of the day.
614
00:29:22,802 --> 00:29:25,441
Ronnie's voice is kind of Gregish.
615
00:29:26,599 --> 00:29:31,068
I'm sure that they were all
well aware of Greg and Dwayne
616
00:29:31,068 --> 00:29:35,366
from Daytona Beach and Gary told me
617
00:29:35,366 --> 00:29:37,627
that when he was 15 he was a massive
618
00:29:37,627 --> 00:29:39,718
Dickie Betts fan from Second Coming
619
00:29:39,718 --> 00:29:41,616
from before The Allman Brothers.
620
00:29:41,616 --> 00:29:45,930
They had been steeped in
that Florida thing already,
621
00:29:46,917 --> 00:29:51,482
but in Allen Collins solo
in Michelle I hear there's
622
00:29:51,482 --> 00:29:53,935
a little bit of that
Free Bird thing already.
623
00:29:53,935 --> 00:29:58,935
Michelle is a lot like While
My Guitar Gently Weeps,
624
00:29:59,012 --> 00:30:00,751
but a little more sped up.
625
00:30:00,751 --> 00:30:04,431
Allen Collins was a
huge Johnny Winter fan.
626
00:30:04,431 --> 00:30:06,639
You really hear the
Johnny Winter influence
627
00:30:06,639 --> 00:30:10,212
in his writing and his playing.
628
00:30:10,212 --> 00:30:11,880
(guitar music)
629
00:30:30,674 --> 00:30:33,148
Meet All My Friends and
Michelle, I don't think they
630
00:30:33,148 --> 00:30:34,887
sound all that original.
631
00:30:34,887 --> 00:30:36,978
They sound fairly derivative.
632
00:30:36,978 --> 00:30:40,028
Based on those tracks
you wouldn't really say
633
00:30:40,028 --> 00:30:42,119
this is a band that's going somewhere.
634
00:30:42,119 --> 00:30:44,465
I don't hear a lot of
really original music.
635
00:30:44,465 --> 00:30:46,540
I hear a little bit of the Yardbirds.
636
00:30:46,540 --> 00:30:49,030
I hear impact of Cream.
637
00:30:49,900 --> 00:30:53,259
Other really British
bands, but Ronnie Van Zant
638
00:30:53,259 --> 00:30:57,110
has a very distinctly
Southern, American, country
639
00:30:57,110 --> 00:31:01,280
tinged voice and you can
look back in retrospect
640
00:31:01,280 --> 00:31:03,659
and hear the budding of
something, but I don't think
641
00:31:03,659 --> 00:31:06,987
taken on their own those
cuts sound like a band
642
00:31:06,987 --> 00:31:09,493
on the cusp of great originality.
643
00:31:09,493 --> 00:31:11,573
- [Voiceover] Yet, week by week the band
644
00:31:11,573 --> 00:31:14,005
were adding new songs to
their set list and before
645
00:31:14,005 --> 00:31:16,735
the limited release of this
single they changed their
646
00:31:16,735 --> 00:31:17,909
name once again.
647
00:31:17,909 --> 00:31:19,956
This time it would be permanent.
648
00:31:19,956 --> 00:31:22,026
In a bastardization of the name of their
649
00:31:22,026 --> 00:31:23,892
high school gym teacher, they became
650
00:31:23,892 --> 00:31:27,252
Lynyrd Skynyrd stepping out
onto the Jacksonville Circuit
651
00:31:27,252 --> 00:31:30,473
with a fresh moniker and an
ever expanding catalogue.
652
00:31:30,473 --> 00:31:33,918
By the end of 1969 they
had their first break.
653
00:31:33,918 --> 00:31:36,958
An audition for Alan Walden,
the brother of Capricorn
654
00:31:36,958 --> 00:31:40,163
Records founder, Phil who was
looking to sign fresh talent.
655
00:31:41,182 --> 00:31:43,912
- My brother and I had seperated.
656
00:31:43,912 --> 00:31:48,552
I had gone out and auditioned 187 bands
657
00:31:48,552 --> 00:31:49,955
in one year.
658
00:31:49,955 --> 00:31:52,707
You know how many bands that is a week?
659
00:31:52,707 --> 00:31:54,200
Some of them I'd tape.
660
00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:55,437
Some of them I'd video.
661
00:31:55,437 --> 00:31:57,613
Some of them in person, you know?
662
00:31:57,613 --> 00:32:00,632
But I was invited to come
down to Jacksonville, Florida,
663
00:32:00,632 --> 00:32:04,554
and audition bands in a warehouse
664
00:32:04,554 --> 00:32:09,007
and a guy named Pat Armstrong,
he had 13 bands lined up.
665
00:32:10,079 --> 00:32:12,682
Lynyrd Skynyrd was the last
band that played that day.
666
00:32:12,682 --> 00:32:17,682
Allen Collins got down and
flipped all over the floor
667
00:32:17,695 --> 00:32:20,340
and did all sort of
stunts with the guitar.
668
00:32:20,340 --> 00:32:22,356
Played behind his head and everything.
669
00:32:22,356 --> 00:32:26,793
They were doing it, but they didn't stop.
670
00:32:26,793 --> 00:32:29,417
They kept going and driving.
671
00:32:29,417 --> 00:32:32,653
By the time they finished with
Free Bird, I was blown away.
672
00:32:33,512 --> 00:32:37,320
I assigned them to management,
production, publishing,
673
00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:40,595
recording, all of it.
674
00:32:40,595 --> 00:32:44,301
- Alan Walden is probably
one of the coolest people
675
00:32:44,301 --> 00:32:46,370
I have ever met.
676
00:32:46,370 --> 00:32:49,777
He used to ask, "Would you
like for me to mange you."
677
00:32:50,615 --> 00:32:53,911
He says, "I'll take a shot with you."
678
00:32:53,911 --> 00:32:58,182
And I said, "Yes, yeah, let's try."
679
00:33:00,367 --> 00:33:05,174
Both parties had something
to gain, nothing to lose.
680
00:33:05,174 --> 00:33:06,604
- [Voiceover] With a manager now looking
681
00:33:06,604 --> 00:33:08,971
after their interests
the bands live schedule
682
00:33:08,971 --> 00:33:10,998
intensified over the following year.
683
00:33:10,998 --> 00:33:13,382
While Walden himself tried
to secure Lynyrd Skynyrd
684
00:33:13,382 --> 00:33:16,187
recording time at Muscle Shoals Sound.
685
00:33:16,187 --> 00:33:18,886
This studio set up in
Sheffield, Alabama, by the
686
00:33:18,886 --> 00:33:20,853
session musicians who
had played along side
687
00:33:20,853 --> 00:33:24,298
Dwayne Allman at famed
studios in the late 1960's
688
00:33:24,298 --> 00:33:26,741
was an emblem of the growing
strength of the music
689
00:33:26,741 --> 00:33:28,874
industry in the South.
690
00:33:28,874 --> 00:33:30,655
As Phil Walden was building Capricorn
691
00:33:30,655 --> 00:33:33,492
and the Allman Brothers first
album was being released
692
00:33:33,492 --> 00:33:36,116
these session musicians were
recording The Rolling Stones
693
00:33:36,116 --> 00:33:39,102
in their isolated studio in rural Alabama.
694
00:33:39,102 --> 00:33:42,654
First trying to secure
sessions for the close of 1970
695
00:33:42,654 --> 00:33:45,086
Walden finally managed to
lock down a studio time
696
00:33:45,086 --> 00:33:48,617
in late June 1971 with
guitarist turned producer
697
00:33:48,617 --> 00:33:50,131
Jimmy Johnson.
698
00:33:50,131 --> 00:33:52,147
Although for Ronnie Van
Zant and his band mates
699
00:33:52,147 --> 00:33:55,234
it was an invaluable opportunity
to prove their talents
700
00:33:55,234 --> 00:33:57,698
the sessions coincided
with another unplanned
701
00:33:57,698 --> 00:33:59,288
personnel changes.
702
00:33:59,288 --> 00:34:01,826
Drummer Bob Burns left
the band shortly before
703
00:34:01,826 --> 00:34:04,930
the recordings while days
in bassist Larry Youngstrom
704
00:34:04,930 --> 00:34:07,511
was ejected from Skynyrd by manager Walden
705
00:34:07,511 --> 00:34:09,804
and they were replaced
temporarily by two musicians
706
00:34:09,804 --> 00:34:13,121
from fellow Florida band
Blackfoot, Ricky Medlock
707
00:34:13,121 --> 00:34:14,785
and Gary T. Walker.
708
00:34:14,785 --> 00:34:17,132
They were also joined in
the studio by their roadie
709
00:34:17,132 --> 00:34:19,329
Billy Powell who Ronnie had
only recently discovered
710
00:34:19,329 --> 00:34:22,123
was a pianist of some talent.
711
00:34:22,123 --> 00:34:24,854
Despite these unexpected
set backs and new editions
712
00:34:24,854 --> 00:34:27,808
the young Jacksonville
musicians took to the studio
713
00:34:27,808 --> 00:34:29,643
remarkably well.
714
00:34:29,643 --> 00:34:32,432
- Lynyrd Skynyrd, I didn't call
them a natural talent band.
715
00:34:33,376 --> 00:34:37,291
They were a rehearsed talent band.
716
00:34:37,291 --> 00:34:40,229
Without rehearsals they
would have been a weak band,
717
00:34:40,229 --> 00:34:44,457
but these guys went to,
every Monday through Friday
718
00:34:45,402 --> 00:34:50,052
they went to Hidden Hills
every day, so they were
719
00:34:50,052 --> 00:34:53,038
well rehearsed when the
came to Muscle Shoals
720
00:34:53,038 --> 00:34:55,534
all Jim and them had to
do was get the balances
721
00:34:55,534 --> 00:34:59,384
and the tones and let these
guys go to work, you know?
722
00:34:59,384 --> 00:35:02,024
And maybe suggest something
about the arrangement
723
00:35:02,024 --> 00:35:03,709
but very little.
724
00:35:03,709 --> 00:35:05,971
Jimmy Johnson and Roger Hawkins
725
00:35:05,971 --> 00:35:09,202
and those guys, Barry Baker all of them
726
00:35:09,202 --> 00:35:12,008
they taught Lynyrd Skynyrd how to record,
727
00:35:12,008 --> 00:35:14,657
how to really record, you know?
728
00:35:16,690 --> 00:35:18,957
Did I think their recordings were good?
729
00:35:18,957 --> 00:35:19,820
I do.
730
00:35:19,820 --> 00:35:22,316
I think they were excellent recordings.
731
00:35:22,316 --> 00:35:23,852
- [Voiceover] With the recordings in place
732
00:35:23,852 --> 00:35:25,409
Skynyrd hit the road hard
733
00:35:25,409 --> 00:35:27,681
for the remainder of 1971.
734
00:35:27,681 --> 00:35:30,945
Playing further afield venues
in Georgia and South Carolina,
735
00:35:30,945 --> 00:35:33,900
alongside their regular
shows in their home town.
736
00:35:33,900 --> 00:35:36,549
In the new year drummer, Bob
Burns returned to the band.
737
00:35:37,409 --> 00:35:39,979
Shortly afterwards they
brought in a new bassist,
738
00:35:39,979 --> 00:35:42,912
Leon Wilkeson who years
before played alongside
739
00:35:42,912 --> 00:35:45,824
another Van Zant, Ronnie's
younger brother Donny
740
00:35:45,824 --> 00:35:48,416
In high school band The Collegiates.
741
00:35:48,416 --> 00:35:50,246
After grueling rehearsals with this lineup
742
00:35:50,246 --> 00:35:53,605
at Hell House in September
1972 Skynyrd returned
743
00:35:53,605 --> 00:35:57,066
to the studio in Alabama, to
record six new compositions.
744
00:35:58,096 --> 00:36:00,543
Although the final collection
of Muscle Shoals tracks
745
00:36:00,543 --> 00:36:03,263
was passed around record
companies following the completion
746
00:36:03,263 --> 00:36:05,471
of these sessions, they would
not be heard by the public
747
00:36:05,471 --> 00:36:09,012
until 1978 when they
were issued as the LP,
748
00:36:09,012 --> 00:36:11,135
Skynyrd's First And Last.
749
00:36:11,135 --> 00:36:13,513
- You're hearing the pieces in place
750
00:36:13,513 --> 00:36:15,753
and they're getting there.
751
00:36:15,753 --> 00:36:17,268
Most of the picture's there.
752
00:36:17,268 --> 00:36:18,462
I think it's impressive.
753
00:36:18,462 --> 00:36:21,577
I think in a very short
amount of time they did
754
00:36:21,577 --> 00:36:24,286
develop their own sound and the song,
755
00:36:24,286 --> 00:36:26,905
Down South Jukin turned this country
756
00:36:26,905 --> 00:36:30,920
honkey-tonk, but rocked up thing.
757
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:33,042
You don't really hear that
in any of The Allman Brothers
758
00:36:33,042 --> 00:36:35,751
music at all, but Skynyrd
is kind of defined
759
00:36:35,751 --> 00:36:40,019
by shit-kicking music, you know,
760
00:36:40,019 --> 00:36:41,950
for lack of another term.
761
00:36:41,950 --> 00:36:43,661
I think you hear it right away.
762
00:36:50,259 --> 00:36:55,259
♪ Well Billy Joe told me, said
every thing's lookin' fine ♪
763
00:36:57,565 --> 00:37:02,565
♪ He got the place all secured,
got the icebox full of wine ♪
764
00:37:04,829 --> 00:37:08,434
♪ He said, "Hurry on
over and don't be late" ♪
765
00:37:08,434 --> 00:37:12,540
♪ He got three lovely
ladies who just won't wait ♪
766
00:37:12,540 --> 00:37:14,449
♪ Do some down south jukin' ♪
767
00:37:14,449 --> 00:37:19,449
♪ And lookin' for a peace of mind ♪
768
00:37:19,452 --> 00:37:20,262
♪ Now put your Sunday pants on ♪
769
00:37:20,262 --> 00:37:22,256
- They were great recordings.
770
00:37:22,256 --> 00:37:25,179
They were a juking
band, right up my alley.
771
00:37:25,179 --> 00:37:27,536
I mean this was right up my alley, man.
772
00:37:27,536 --> 00:37:29,579
I been jukin with Johnny Taylor,
773
00:37:29,579 --> 00:37:31,722
who''s making love to you're old lady,
774
00:37:31,722 --> 00:37:33,743
all that, for years.
775
00:37:33,743 --> 00:37:36,293
Here's this white rock-n-roll band
776
00:37:36,293 --> 00:37:37,829
just jamming.
777
00:37:37,829 --> 00:37:41,679
They're getting it on,
and an original song.
778
00:37:41,679 --> 00:37:44,132
♪ Wino on the street. ♪
779
00:37:44,132 --> 00:37:46,361
♪ Drinkin' a bottle of booze ♪
780
00:37:46,361 --> 00:37:48,633
♪ Ain't got nothing to say, yeah ♪
781
00:37:48,633 --> 00:37:50,990
♪ And he don't got much to lose ♪
782
00:37:50,990 --> 00:37:53,347
♪ Times are on his face. ♪
783
00:37:53,347 --> 00:37:55,705
♪ Blisters on his brain ♪
784
00:37:55,705 --> 00:37:58,104
♪ Wonders who's at fault. ♪
785
00:37:58,104 --> 00:38:03,104
♪ Knows that he's to blame ♪
786
00:38:06,045 --> 00:38:07,148
♪ Yeah ♪
787
00:38:10,034 --> 00:38:12,289
- Muscle Shoals was a great studio,
788
00:38:13,127 --> 00:38:15,996
but whoever recorded
at Muscle Shoals needed
789
00:38:15,996 --> 00:38:17,330
a producer.
790
00:38:17,330 --> 00:38:20,007
The studio was fantastic,
the acoustics unbelievable,
791
00:38:20,007 --> 00:38:23,697
but they have to rely on
Jimmy Johnson as the producer
792
00:38:23,697 --> 00:38:27,270
and he's a great musician,
a great, you know, owner
793
00:38:27,270 --> 00:38:30,033
of a studio, but he's
not a great producer.
794
00:38:30,033 --> 00:38:33,195
He just gets it on tape, so again
795
00:38:33,195 --> 00:38:35,488
if you know Skynyrd's music
796
00:38:35,488 --> 00:38:36,736
from later on you can go back and listen
797
00:38:36,736 --> 00:38:40,288
to those Muscle Shoals tapes
and hear all the great stuff
798
00:38:40,288 --> 00:38:42,667
that would be, that would come out of it,
799
00:38:42,667 --> 00:38:44,495
but at the time it just
sounded like demos.
800
00:38:45,610 --> 00:38:47,509
- [Voiceover] Whatever the
quality of the recordings
801
00:38:47,509 --> 00:38:49,418
it was the band and their songs themselves
802
00:38:49,418 --> 00:38:51,957
that Alan Walden struggled to push.
803
00:38:51,957 --> 00:38:54,356
Armed with the Muscle
Shoals album he traveled
804
00:38:54,356 --> 00:38:56,415
to Los Angeles with Jimmy
Johnson and arranged
805
00:38:56,415 --> 00:38:59,647
several meetings with
record company executives.
806
00:38:59,647 --> 00:39:01,956
Yet, the reaction was in
most cases was overwhelmingly
807
00:39:01,956 --> 00:39:04,911
negative, and after two
years as their manager
808
00:39:04,911 --> 00:39:07,545
Walden was running out
of both money and options
809
00:39:07,545 --> 00:39:09,849
in his attempts to break the band.
810
00:39:09,849 --> 00:39:14,849
- Those first three years
were hard, hard, hard work.
811
00:39:14,947 --> 00:39:17,955
Lynyrd Skynyrd was turned
down by nine different
812
00:39:17,955 --> 00:39:19,619
major record companies.
813
00:39:19,619 --> 00:39:24,120
Turned down, not we like you
guys but the songs are weak.
814
00:39:24,120 --> 00:39:28,760
I'm talking about, we are not interested.
(laughs)
815
00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:31,032
It's like don't send us any more tapes.
816
00:39:31,032 --> 00:39:32,898
We don't want you, you know.
817
00:39:32,898 --> 00:39:35,085
That just broke my heart.
818
00:39:35,085 --> 00:39:38,189
I'm sitting there listening
to Gimme Three Steps,
819
00:39:38,189 --> 00:39:41,900
Simple Man, Free Bird, you know.
820
00:39:41,900 --> 00:39:44,486
These are great songs and
we were being turned down.
821
00:39:45,484 --> 00:39:48,663
My own brother turned Lynyrd
Skynyrd down, you know.
822
00:39:48,663 --> 00:39:51,841
At Grand Slammers, he heard them there
823
00:39:51,841 --> 00:39:55,062
and I asked him afterwards
what he thought he said,
824
00:39:55,062 --> 00:39:57,867
"You're lead singer's too cocky.
825
00:39:57,867 --> 00:40:01,099
"He can't sing and the songs are weak.
826
00:40:01,099 --> 00:40:03,269
"And they sound too much
like The Allman Brothers."
827
00:40:04,950 --> 00:40:09,103
I'm standing there listening
to him and he walks away
828
00:40:10,197 --> 00:40:12,608
and I'm walking this way and
Ronnie stops me and said,
829
00:40:12,608 --> 00:40:13,557
"What'd he say, man?"
830
00:40:13,557 --> 00:40:15,573
And i said, "Nothing important."
831
00:40:15,573 --> 00:40:17,450
All of the major record
companies said they sounded
832
00:40:17,450 --> 00:40:19,477
too much like The Allman Brothers.
833
00:40:19,477 --> 00:40:22,090
You take a Lynyrd Skynyrd
record and play it back-to-back
834
00:40:22,090 --> 00:40:25,215
to an Allman Brothers record
and tell me what are they
835
00:40:25,215 --> 00:40:27,988
similar, they're Southern bands, you know.
836
00:40:27,988 --> 00:40:30,772
They've got a massive guitar line-up.
837
00:40:30,772 --> 00:40:32,532
Great guitar work, you know,
838
00:40:32,532 --> 00:40:36,605
but what else to they
have really in common?
839
00:40:37,859 --> 00:40:40,088
- [Voiceover] By late 1972 when Walden was
840
00:40:40,088 --> 00:40:42,456
attempting to attract major label interest
841
00:40:42,456 --> 00:40:44,429
The Allman Brothers were no longer simply
842
00:40:44,429 --> 00:40:46,157
a Southern phenomenon.
843
00:40:46,157 --> 00:40:48,600
Despite the tragic death
of their driving force,
844
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,437
Dwayne Allman, with the
release of their third album,
845
00:40:51,437 --> 00:40:54,893
Live at the Fillmore East
in 1971 and Eat A Peach
846
00:40:54,893 --> 00:40:57,463
the following year, they
had been propelled into
847
00:40:57,463 --> 00:41:00,194
the top flight both
critically and commercially.
848
00:41:00,194 --> 00:41:02,530
The negative comparisons to the band were
849
00:41:02,530 --> 00:41:04,535
damaging for Skynyrd and Alan Walden
850
00:41:04,535 --> 00:41:07,084
began to actively distance
himself and his group
851
00:41:07,084 --> 00:41:09,590
from both the Allmans and Capricorn.
852
00:41:09,590 --> 00:41:11,734
Yet, although his brother
Phil was uninterested
853
00:41:11,734 --> 00:41:14,667
in the Jacksonville act,
his colleague and promoter
854
00:41:14,667 --> 00:41:18,373
Alex Hodges was far
more intrigued by them.
855
00:41:18,373 --> 00:41:21,302
- I call up Alan and say, "I
want to know about your band."
856
00:41:21,302 --> 00:41:24,049
He said, "Well, they're probably
not going to sign with you
857
00:41:24,049 --> 00:41:27,120
"as a booking agent for
two or three reasons.
858
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:30,192
"One, you represent The
Allman Brothers Band.
859
00:41:30,192 --> 00:41:34,768
"Two, you're in partnership
with my brother.
860
00:41:34,768 --> 00:41:37,637
"and your best friends with my brother,
861
00:41:37,637 --> 00:41:40,218
"and I'll think of a third reason
862
00:41:40,218 --> 00:41:43,898
"and we're just not
going to sign with you."
863
00:41:43,898 --> 00:41:48,250
I said, "Alan, who's the
best agent you know?"
864
00:41:48,250 --> 00:41:49,370
He said, "You are."
865
00:41:49,370 --> 00:41:52,164
I said, "So we've got to talk."
(laughs)
866
00:41:52,164 --> 00:41:53,545
I went to see them in Atlanta.
867
00:41:53,545 --> 00:41:55,316
Alan introduced me.
868
00:41:55,316 --> 00:41:56,734
Saw their whole show.
869
00:41:56,734 --> 00:41:58,121
It was fantastic.
870
00:41:58,121 --> 00:42:02,227
I met them in a hotel
and I think Allen Collins
871
00:42:02,227 --> 00:42:05,342
probably said, "So we might sign with you.
872
00:42:05,342 --> 00:42:07,891
"We want two shows with
The Allman Brothers Band,
873
00:42:07,891 --> 00:42:10,387
"but we don't want you
to be putting us on tour
874
00:42:10,387 --> 00:42:12,403
"with The Allman Brothers Band.
875
00:42:12,403 --> 00:42:13,288
"They do their thing.
876
00:42:13,288 --> 00:42:14,227
"We do our thing.
877
00:42:14,227 --> 00:42:17,778
"They're obviously enormously successful,
878
00:42:17,778 --> 00:42:20,776
"and we just want to be sure though,
879
00:42:20,776 --> 00:42:24,684
"that we play with them a few times,
880
00:42:25,698 --> 00:42:28,066
"but you've got to figure
out how to break us
881
00:42:28,066 --> 00:42:29,020
"on the road.
882
00:42:29,922 --> 00:42:31,799
"Give us our sense of independence
883
00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:32,855
"on the road."
884
00:42:32,855 --> 00:42:34,700
It was an independent nature,
885
00:42:35,943 --> 00:42:38,198
probably of most great bands.
886
00:42:39,185 --> 00:42:41,905
I felt I saw that and it was expressed
887
00:42:41,905 --> 00:42:45,361
in their words when I first met them.
888
00:42:45,361 --> 00:42:47,643
But we hit it off, and it was great.
889
00:42:47,643 --> 00:42:49,424
- [Voiceover] Hodges
respected Skynyrd's wish
890
00:42:49,424 --> 00:42:51,611
to only play on the same
bill as The Allman Brothers
891
00:42:51,611 --> 00:42:52,656
on occasion.
892
00:42:52,656 --> 00:42:55,099
Although towards the end
of 1972 he did arrange
893
00:42:55,099 --> 00:42:57,360
the first of these
shows in Macon, Georgia,
894
00:42:57,360 --> 00:42:59,760
in which the Jacksonville
ensemble held their own
895
00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:02,612
supporting the Capricorn
Headliners on their home turf.
896
00:43:03,600 --> 00:43:05,413
Van Zant and his band
mates had been gaining
897
00:43:05,413 --> 00:43:08,410
the most traction as a live
tour in Atlanta, however,
898
00:43:08,410 --> 00:43:10,415
where they had been booked
to support Bob Seger
899
00:43:10,415 --> 00:43:13,092
and his band at the club The
Head Rest, but also managed
900
00:43:13,092 --> 00:43:15,695
to secure a residency
at a more run down venue
901
00:43:15,695 --> 00:43:17,604
called Funocchio's.
902
00:43:17,604 --> 00:43:20,494
It was here that they
finally caught a break.
903
00:43:20,494 --> 00:43:22,414
- When we got into
Atlanta there was a club
904
00:43:22,414 --> 00:43:24,025
called Funocchio's.
905
00:43:24,025 --> 00:43:25,501
Fruit and nut bar all the way.
906
00:43:26,893 --> 00:43:29,538
More drug addicts than any other club
907
00:43:29,538 --> 00:43:30,652
in the whole city.
908
00:43:31,575 --> 00:43:34,886
I told the Skynyrd guys,
"If you can entertain,
909
00:43:35,746 --> 00:43:39,297
"these drug heads and
these junkies, then you can
910
00:43:39,297 --> 00:43:42,817
"entertain the world, cos
some of these guys are coming
911
00:43:42,817 --> 00:43:46,348
"in there and they need
something and they don't want
912
00:43:46,348 --> 00:43:49,739
"to hear nothing and if
you can entertain them,
913
00:43:49,739 --> 00:43:51,841
"you can entertain the world."
914
00:43:51,841 --> 00:43:54,998
And we stayed right there in Funocchio's.
915
00:43:54,998 --> 00:43:59,168
We played there probably
seven or eight times.
916
00:43:59,168 --> 00:44:01,888
- The first time we came
down and played for a week
917
00:44:01,888 --> 00:44:05,205
we got laughed at, we got laughed at.
918
00:44:05,205 --> 00:44:08,277
And they said, "Who in the
hell are these hillbillies?
919
00:44:08,277 --> 00:44:11,605
"What in the hell is
this hillbilly stuff?"
920
00:44:11,605 --> 00:44:13,807
But then they give us another chance.
921
00:44:14,842 --> 00:44:17,348
It started catching on, catching on,
922
00:44:17,348 --> 00:44:19,972
catching on, you know.
923
00:44:19,972 --> 00:44:22,926
Before we knew it every time we packed
924
00:44:22,926 --> 00:44:26,963
Funocchio's which would
hold 400, 500 people
925
00:44:28,067 --> 00:44:29,422
we'd pack it out.
926
00:44:29,422 --> 00:44:32,174
Ain't nobody dancing,
ain't nobody up there
927
00:44:32,174 --> 00:44:35,848
at the bar getting drinks,
all around the stage.
928
00:44:36,694 --> 00:44:39,213
- They worked, and they
worked, and they worked,
929
00:44:39,213 --> 00:44:41,944
and they always were better
every time you heard them
930
00:44:41,944 --> 00:44:43,213
they got better.
931
00:44:43,213 --> 00:44:45,570
You knew there was something
there, something was
932
00:44:45,570 --> 00:44:47,654
going to happen and you could just see it.
933
00:44:47,654 --> 00:44:49,730
The first time I knew they
were gonna make it big
934
00:44:49,730 --> 00:44:52,364
I was with them in Atlanta, Georgia.
935
00:44:52,364 --> 00:44:53,819
There's a place called The Head Rest.
936
00:44:54,913 --> 00:44:57,904
There were stages at each
end of the dance floor.
937
00:44:58,796 --> 00:45:01,068
The other band played,
they played a lot of Top-40
938
00:45:01,068 --> 00:45:03,190
stuff and everything and
all the kids were packing
939
00:45:03,190 --> 00:45:05,259
the dance floor and
dancing and everything.
940
00:45:05,259 --> 00:45:07,354
When they finished their
sets Skynyrd played.
941
00:45:09,302 --> 00:45:13,637
Well, one night, Skynyrd
started the set with Simple Man
942
00:45:14,635 --> 00:45:16,843
and all the people were
still on the dance floor
943
00:45:16,843 --> 00:45:20,634
from the other band playing and
nobody left the dance floor.
944
00:45:22,048 --> 00:45:23,097
Nobody danced.
945
00:45:23,957 --> 00:45:27,402
They just stood there
motionless and stared at them
946
00:45:27,402 --> 00:45:30,836
and everybody in the club,
when you looked around the club
947
00:45:30,836 --> 00:45:33,545
was staring at them and you
could've if not for the band
948
00:45:33,545 --> 00:45:35,988
you could've heard a pin
drop because everybody
949
00:45:35,988 --> 00:45:40,660
was tuned into Lynyrd Skynyrd
and that was the first time
950
00:45:40,660 --> 00:45:44,371
I knew, yeah these guys have got it.
951
00:45:44,371 --> 00:45:45,773
They're gonna make it.
952
00:45:46,782 --> 00:45:48,766
- [Voiceover] The crucial
figure would recognize Skynyrd's
953
00:45:48,766 --> 00:45:51,272
potential and take them into
the next level witnessed the
954
00:45:51,272 --> 00:45:53,949
band playing at Funocchio's
during their second residency
955
00:45:53,949 --> 00:45:56,397
at the club in January 1973.
956
00:45:57,618 --> 00:45:59,848
Al Kooper had been involved
in the music industry
957
00:45:59,848 --> 00:46:02,493
since his early teens as
first a musician and then
958
00:46:02,493 --> 00:46:05,767
song writer and in the mid
to late '60s was a key figure
959
00:46:05,767 --> 00:46:08,380
on the East Coast scene
playing in multiple sessions
960
00:46:08,380 --> 00:46:11,026
with Bob Dylan, Steven
Stills, The Rolling Stones
961
00:46:11,026 --> 00:46:14,497
and The Who and forming the
band, Blood, Sweat and Tears.
962
00:46:15,879 --> 00:46:19,708
In 1972 he had temporarily
relocated to Georgia to work
963
00:46:19,708 --> 00:46:22,321
with The Atlanta Rhythm
Section at their newly opened
964
00:46:22,321 --> 00:46:24,896
studio in Doraville, Studio one.
965
00:46:25,862 --> 00:46:28,912
During his time off in
Atlanta he had by chance begun
966
00:46:28,912 --> 00:46:32,101
frequenting Funniccio's
at the turn of 1973
967
00:46:32,101 --> 00:46:33,936
and was there to witness Lynyrd Skynyrd
968
00:46:33,936 --> 00:46:37,061
in all their glory during
their week long residency.
969
00:46:37,061 --> 00:46:39,333
By the third night he
was joining them on stage
970
00:46:39,333 --> 00:46:41,903
and was eager to develop
a working relationship
971
00:46:41,903 --> 00:46:44,431
with Van Zant and his band mates.
972
00:46:44,431 --> 00:46:47,838
- Just sounded great,
just had a great sound.
973
00:46:48,740 --> 00:46:52,495
The thing that we had
in common was we were
974
00:46:52,495 --> 00:46:57,284
both gigantic fans of the band Free
975
00:46:57,284 --> 00:46:59,614
and that's what really made it work
976
00:47:00,658 --> 00:47:04,770
because they understood what was great
977
00:47:04,770 --> 00:47:09,249
about Free and I
understood that and I heard
978
00:47:09,249 --> 00:47:11,953
the Free in them.
979
00:47:11,953 --> 00:47:15,468
Ronnie was not as great
a singer as Paul Rogers,
980
00:47:15,468 --> 00:47:20,080
but he wrote those songs
and he had a sound.
981
00:47:21,132 --> 00:47:25,264
Paul Rogers was influenced
by a lot of soul singers.
982
00:47:26,491 --> 00:47:29,763
and Ronnie didn't have that voice,
983
00:47:29,763 --> 00:47:32,495
so he just did his thing.
984
00:47:32,495 --> 00:47:34,367
And he sounded like Ronnie.
985
00:47:34,367 --> 00:47:36,627
- [Voiceover] Kooper's
response to this explosion
986
00:47:36,627 --> 00:47:38,665
to Skynyrd was incredibly committed.
987
00:47:38,665 --> 00:47:40,759
Within days he decided
to introduce their music
988
00:47:40,759 --> 00:47:44,644
to MCA Records who allowed
him to set up his own label,
989
00:47:44,644 --> 00:47:47,706
Sound Of The South in
order to represent Skynyrd
990
00:47:47,706 --> 00:47:50,405
and any other Southern
acts he could discover.
991
00:47:50,405 --> 00:47:52,376
Although the terms of
the contract that Kooper
992
00:47:52,376 --> 00:47:54,687
presented them with
were poor, offering only
993
00:47:54,687 --> 00:47:58,453
a $9000 advance, both
Skynyrd and Alan Walden knew
994
00:47:58,453 --> 00:48:00,737
that as Capricorn had shown no interest
995
00:48:00,737 --> 00:48:03,624
this was the only other horse in town.
996
00:48:03,624 --> 00:48:06,557
- If Capricorn turned you down
997
00:48:06,557 --> 00:48:09,256
you were through down there
998
00:48:09,256 --> 00:48:11,637
because there was nothing like it.
999
00:48:11,637 --> 00:48:12,932
I mean it was South
1000
00:48:13,831 --> 00:48:16,686
for white bands.
1001
00:48:17,598 --> 00:48:20,566
Alan Walden really didn't
have to do anything
1002
00:48:20,566 --> 00:48:23,558
because there was really no choice.
1003
00:48:23,558 --> 00:48:27,360
They'd been to Muscle
Shoals and nothing happened
1004
00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:28,498
with that.
1005
00:48:28,498 --> 00:48:33,498
I already had the makings
of a deal with MCA.
1006
00:48:33,637 --> 00:48:37,958
- Al Kooper was a last resort.
1007
00:48:41,065 --> 00:48:44,749
When I knew that Lynyrd
Skynyrd could not take
1008
00:48:44,749 --> 00:48:46,818
another year of starving to death.
1009
00:48:47,765 --> 00:48:51,355
When I knew that I was
ready to sign a deal
1010
00:48:51,355 --> 00:48:53,572
with almost anybody at that point
1011
00:48:53,572 --> 00:48:55,227
because it was gonna mean
1012
00:48:55,227 --> 00:48:57,984
the salvation of the band.
1013
00:48:57,984 --> 00:49:00,248
If I'd told them they
were going to play bars
1014
00:49:00,248 --> 00:49:02,818
for another year and a 1/2, two years
1015
00:49:02,818 --> 00:49:04,672
the band probably would've broke up.
1016
00:49:04,672 --> 00:49:08,790
- We were getting nowhere and
Ronnie called me one night
1017
00:49:08,790 --> 00:49:12,111
and said, "Someone broke
into our van and took a lot
1018
00:49:12,111 --> 00:49:13,772
"of our stuff.
1019
00:49:13,772 --> 00:49:14,781
"We can't work.
1020
00:49:14,781 --> 00:49:16,365
"We can't put food on the table.
1021
00:49:16,365 --> 00:49:19,912
"We need an advance of $5000."
1022
00:49:21,727 --> 00:49:24,460
I said, "You want me
to mail it or you want
1023
00:49:24,460 --> 00:49:25,954
"to come up and get it?"
1024
00:49:27,769 --> 00:49:31,066
And he said, "You can mail it
1025
00:49:31,066 --> 00:49:34,519
"and you just bought yourself a band."
1026
00:49:35,466 --> 00:49:37,801
- When they got ready to
sign their record deal
1027
00:49:37,801 --> 00:49:40,444
with Sounds Of The South
which was Al Kooper's label
1028
00:49:41,473 --> 00:49:44,547
had the recording contract
laid out on the hood
1029
00:49:44,547 --> 00:49:47,481
of my Ford pick-up
truck in the parking lot
1030
00:49:47,481 --> 00:49:50,778
of the Macon Coliseum, okay.
1031
00:49:50,778 --> 00:49:54,344
I laid out all the
contracts for them to sign
1032
00:49:54,344 --> 00:49:57,360
and Ronnie picks up the
pen and he looks at me
1033
00:49:57,360 --> 00:50:00,871
and he said, "Alan, what do
you think of our record deal?"
1034
00:50:02,358 --> 00:50:04,798
My reply was, "This is
the worst piece of shit
1035
00:50:04,798 --> 00:50:06,289
"I've ever seen in my life.
1036
00:50:06,289 --> 00:50:09,448
"It's worse than R&B
contracts that we have."
1037
00:50:10,442 --> 00:50:12,519
He said, "What else we got?"
1038
00:50:12,519 --> 00:50:13,692
I said, "Nothing."
1039
00:50:13,692 --> 00:50:15,933
He said, "Give me that God damn pen."
1040
00:50:15,933 --> 00:50:17,059
And he signed it.
1041
00:50:17,059 --> 00:50:19,312
- [Voiceover] Having finally
landing a recording contract
1042
00:50:19,312 --> 00:50:23,032
no matter the compromises
involved, the band set
1043
00:50:23,032 --> 00:50:25,636
about preparing to
record their debut album.
1044
00:50:25,636 --> 00:50:28,288
Yet, unexpectedly this
opportunity caused bassist
1045
00:50:28,288 --> 00:50:31,350
Leon Wilkeson to question
his commitment to Skynyrd
1046
00:50:31,350 --> 00:50:32,644
and he quit the band.
1047
00:50:33,509 --> 00:50:35,293
With the recording sessions due to begin
1048
00:50:35,293 --> 00:50:37,862
in March, rather than enlist
a player from the Jacksonville
1049
00:50:37,862 --> 00:50:41,283
pool Ronnie Van Zant turned
to an experienced musician
1050
00:50:41,283 --> 00:50:43,371
who they had toured with
three years before hand
1051
00:50:43,371 --> 00:50:46,519
as a support act, Californian
guitarist, Ed King.
1052
00:50:47,654 --> 00:50:50,693
- I think it was back in
1970 I was with a band called
1053
00:50:50,693 --> 00:50:52,312
The Strawberry Alarm Clock.
1054
00:50:52,312 --> 00:50:54,870
We had a number one record in 1967.
1055
00:50:54,870 --> 00:50:58,002
In 1970 our old manager
put together a bogus
1056
00:50:58,002 --> 00:51:00,799
Strawberry Alarm Clock and started booking
1057
00:51:00,799 --> 00:51:03,697
tours in the South, all these
Souther colleges and stuff.
1058
00:51:03,697 --> 00:51:04,788
We found out.
1059
00:51:04,788 --> 00:51:07,803
We filed an injunction him to stop him
1060
00:51:07,803 --> 00:51:10,115
and then we decided well,
were bankrupt, let's go ahead
1061
00:51:10,115 --> 00:51:12,919
and do the tour our
self, so our first gig,
1062
00:51:12,919 --> 00:51:15,535
I think we met down in
Jacksonville, Florida,
1063
00:51:15,535 --> 00:51:18,316
and the guys in Skynyrd
were our opening band.
1064
00:51:18,316 --> 00:51:21,202
The band was good and
Ronnie was spectacular.
1065
00:51:21,202 --> 00:51:23,983
He just had a charisma all of his own
1066
00:51:23,983 --> 00:51:26,306
and I told Ronnie later
I said, "If you ever need
1067
00:51:26,306 --> 00:51:29,533
"another guitar player
or bass player, you know,
1068
00:51:29,533 --> 00:51:30,741
"don't forget about about me.
1069
00:51:30,741 --> 00:51:31,903
"I'd love to play with you."
1070
00:51:31,903 --> 00:51:34,484
- Leon got kind of scared of a record deal
1071
00:51:34,484 --> 00:51:37,746
and didn't really know if he wanted to be
1072
00:51:37,746 --> 00:51:40,210
go through all that being famous routine
1073
00:51:40,210 --> 00:51:42,991
or whatever it was the work
that followed the commitment,
1074
00:51:42,991 --> 00:51:46,651
so he quit and went to work
at an ice cream factory
1075
00:51:46,651 --> 00:51:49,373
and then I joined the band on bass.
1076
00:51:49,373 --> 00:51:50,828
It was a real shock to me.
1077
00:51:50,828 --> 00:51:52,612
I had to really try and get used to it.
1078
00:51:52,612 --> 00:51:55,862
I didn't really hear my bass playing
1079
00:51:55,862 --> 00:51:57,035
with this band.
1080
00:51:57,035 --> 00:51:58,689
For some reason it was a different style
1081
00:51:58,689 --> 00:52:01,200
than I was used to, so
I had an awkward time.
1082
00:52:01,200 --> 00:52:02,878
- [Voiceover] In
preparation for the upcoming
1083
00:52:02,878 --> 00:52:05,401
studio sessions, King was
thrust into Skynyrd's world
1084
00:52:05,401 --> 00:52:07,947
beginning with intensive
rehearsals at Hell House
1085
00:52:07,947 --> 00:52:10,191
in which he was initiated into the band.
1086
00:52:11,044 --> 00:52:13,086
- Long before I joined
the band somebody came up
1087
00:52:13,086 --> 00:52:15,127
in a boat late at night
and stole a couple of amps,
1088
00:52:15,127 --> 00:52:17,427
so every night somebody had to stay there,
1089
00:52:17,427 --> 00:52:19,680
but my initiation for the
first week was to spend
1090
00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:21,522
every night there for the first week.
1091
00:52:21,522 --> 00:52:24,021
So here I am the first
night there, they all leave.
1092
00:52:24,021 --> 00:52:27,376
I'm out with a bag of potato
chips and a couple of Cokes,
1093
00:52:27,376 --> 00:52:31,952
you know, and I have two
at least maybe 150 watt
1094
00:52:31,952 --> 00:52:34,393
light bulbs hanging from
the ceiling and they stay on
1095
00:52:34,393 --> 00:52:39,393
all night long because the
sounds outside are unbelievable.
1096
00:52:39,450 --> 00:52:42,359
I mean, one time an
alligator came up on shore.
1097
00:52:42,359 --> 00:52:44,319
The guy who owned the house way up front
1098
00:52:44,319 --> 00:52:46,423
had to come up with a rifle
and shoot it in the head.
1099
00:52:48,496 --> 00:52:51,022
That week was absolutely terrifying.
1100
00:52:52,145 --> 00:52:54,116
- [Voiceover] Outside of this
initiation, King also had
1101
00:52:54,116 --> 00:52:57,026
more significant hurdles to overcome.
1102
00:52:57,026 --> 00:53:00,534
Having already enjoyed chart
success in the late 1960s
1103
00:53:00,534 --> 00:53:03,103
he had to adapt himself
to Ronnie Van Zant's often
1104
00:53:03,103 --> 00:53:05,779
oppressive leadership of
the ensemble while also
1105
00:53:05,779 --> 00:53:09,099
ingratiating himself
with the rest of the band
1106
00:53:09,099 --> 00:53:11,176
in which he was the first non-Southerner.
1107
00:53:11,176 --> 00:53:13,358
Ronnie and I had a
disagreement where he told me
1108
00:53:13,358 --> 00:53:14,555
he was the leader of the band.
1109
00:53:14,555 --> 00:53:16,280
I said something that everybody around
1110
00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:20,492
that I disagreed with
and he pulled me aside
1111
00:53:20,492 --> 00:53:23,886
and made it extremely clear
(laughs)
1112
00:53:24,974 --> 00:53:27,203
that it was his band
and if I didn't like it
1113
00:53:27,203 --> 00:53:29,526
there was the door and it
was gonna be done his way.
1114
00:53:29,526 --> 00:53:30,629
And I said, "That's fine."
1115
00:53:30,629 --> 00:53:34,982
I said, "As long as I can
just throw in my two cents."
1116
00:53:34,982 --> 00:53:37,153
He said, "That's okay, I
just want you to understand,
1117
00:53:37,153 --> 00:53:38,408
"this is going to be my way."
1118
00:53:38,408 --> 00:53:41,365
No problem, I never had
a problem with that.
1119
00:53:41,365 --> 00:53:45,765
If you want to get a
glimpse of me integrating
1120
00:53:45,765 --> 00:53:47,888
with the band, here it is.
1121
00:53:47,888 --> 00:53:50,082
In the box set there's
a picture of us standing
1122
00:53:50,082 --> 00:53:51,350
in front of Hell House.
1123
00:53:51,350 --> 00:53:53,555
You've got six guys on
one side of the door
1124
00:53:53,555 --> 00:53:56,629
and me on the other and that says it all.
1125
00:53:56,629 --> 00:54:00,032
It was difficult and I was
invited there by Ronnie,
1126
00:54:00,032 --> 00:54:01,842
but the other guys really
didn't want me there.
1127
00:54:05,758 --> 00:54:09,841
- [Voiceover] On March 27, 1973
the band entered Studio one
1128
00:54:09,841 --> 00:54:12,856
in Doraville to begin
recording their debut album
1129
00:54:12,856 --> 00:54:15,696
with Ed Kind on board and
ex-roadie, Billy Powell
1130
00:54:15,696 --> 00:54:18,382
now a permanent member
of the group on piano.
1131
00:54:18,382 --> 00:54:20,940
Al Kooper himself decided
to produce the record
1132
00:54:20,940 --> 00:54:23,435
and the peculiarities of
the band he had only seen
1133
00:54:23,435 --> 00:54:26,380
perform live were
immediately revealed to him.
1134
00:54:26,380 --> 00:54:30,310
- When started working
with them I discovered
1135
00:54:30,310 --> 00:54:32,809
what really made the unique.
1136
00:54:32,809 --> 00:54:37,809
There was no, not one
moment of improvisation
1137
00:54:40,013 --> 00:54:42,281
in their whole show.
1138
00:54:45,387 --> 00:54:50,127
When we recorded every
guitar solo they played was
1139
00:54:50,127 --> 00:54:55,127
pre-written and memorized
and never differed.
1140
00:54:55,149 --> 00:54:59,572
The whole solo in Free Bird
he could play in exactly
1141
00:54:59,572 --> 00:55:02,329
the same every time he played it
1142
00:55:02,329 --> 00:55:05,650
and I'd never worked with anyone
1143
00:55:05,650 --> 00:55:08,759
that pre-wrote guitar solos.
1144
00:55:08,759 --> 00:55:10,769
It was phenomenal.
1145
00:55:11,823 --> 00:55:13,454
- [Voiceover] And although
Ronnie Van Zant had a
1146
00:55:13,454 --> 00:55:15,777
domineering approach to
his fellow band mates
1147
00:55:15,777 --> 00:55:18,570
with Al Kooper he relented
recognizing the producer's
1148
00:55:18,570 --> 00:55:20,929
previous track record
and experience although
1149
00:55:20,929 --> 00:55:23,604
others were less certain
of his creative vision
1150
00:55:23,604 --> 00:55:24,894
for the album.
1151
00:55:24,894 --> 00:55:27,957
- If I wanted to change
something, they would fight me
1152
00:55:27,957 --> 00:55:30,385
tooth and nail to the point where
1153
00:55:32,628 --> 00:55:35,037
I was discussing something
with Allen Collins
1154
00:55:36,441 --> 00:55:39,703
and he said, "Why don't
you just leave us alone."
1155
00:55:39,703 --> 00:55:43,226
And Ronnie came over and
said, "No, no, no, no.
1156
00:55:45,822 --> 00:55:50,822
"If he suggests 20 things
over the course of this album
1157
00:55:52,275 --> 00:55:55,819
"and we use one of those,
then that's one thing
1158
00:55:55,819 --> 00:56:00,819
"that made us better and
I'll suffer the other 19
1159
00:56:02,765 --> 00:56:05,369
"to get that one thing."
1160
00:56:05,369 --> 00:56:09,054
- Al Kooper, you know, he's a
dominating guy in the studio.
1161
00:56:09,054 --> 00:56:10,297
He was very difficult.
1162
00:56:10,297 --> 00:56:12,773
We had two different
personalities and we clashed
1163
00:56:12,773 --> 00:56:14,943
from the beginning to the end.
1164
00:56:14,943 --> 00:56:17,045
And I finally told him after
I saw him at the 20th reunion
1165
00:56:17,045 --> 00:56:21,754
after I saw him at the 20th reunion
1166
00:56:22,724 --> 00:56:24,918
I said, "Al Kooper, I
have to say one thing,
1167
00:56:24,918 --> 00:56:27,769
""You certainly sweetened
the Skynyrd sound.""
1168
00:56:27,769 --> 00:56:30,480
And that was the highest
compliment I ever paid him
1169
00:56:30,480 --> 00:56:32,028
and he did.
1170
00:56:32,028 --> 00:56:34,387
That was exactly what
he did to their sound.
1171
00:56:34,387 --> 00:56:36,839
- Al had a vision for the
band, and it was good.
1172
00:56:36,839 --> 00:56:40,594
Nobody else did and he mixed
the band a certain way,
1173
00:56:40,594 --> 00:56:42,037
how he heard it.
1174
00:56:42,037 --> 00:56:45,111
I could tell it was fit for radio.
1175
00:56:45,111 --> 00:56:47,669
But there was one special
time when there was a real
1176
00:56:47,669 --> 00:56:51,939
big clash and that was when
we thought the album was fully
1177
00:56:51,939 --> 00:56:54,884
recorded and Kooper called
up and said, "We need one
1178
00:56:54,884 --> 00:56:55,987
"more song."
1179
00:56:55,987 --> 00:56:58,205
That was the time when Leon showed up
1180
00:56:58,205 --> 00:57:01,079
and showed us Simple Man,
showed me Simple Man.
1181
00:57:01,079 --> 00:57:02,569
We worked it up.
1182
00:57:02,569 --> 00:57:04,846
Within a couple of days we
went to Atlanta to record it.
1183
00:57:04,846 --> 00:57:08,612
We set up in the studio
for Al and we played it
1184
00:57:08,612 --> 00:57:10,583
for him, live.
1185
00:57:10,583 --> 00:57:12,859
And he said, "I'm really sorry
you guys, we can't cut that
1186
00:57:12,859 --> 00:57:14,971
"we're looking for something else."
1187
00:57:14,971 --> 00:57:18,298
♪ Mama told me ♪
1188
00:57:18,298 --> 00:57:22,440
♪ When I was young ♪
1189
00:57:22,440 --> 00:57:26,183
♪ Come sit beside me ♪
1190
00:57:26,183 --> 00:57:30,325
♪ My only son ♪
1191
00:57:30,325 --> 00:57:33,915
♪ And listen closely ♪
1192
00:57:33,915 --> 00:57:38,362
♪ To what I say ♪
1193
00:57:38,362 --> 00:57:42,140
♪ And if you do this it'll help you ♪
1194
00:57:42,140 --> 00:57:44,631
♪ Some sunny day ♪
1195
00:57:48,593 --> 00:57:51,949
Ronnie asked Al to step
outside and Al drove
1196
00:57:51,949 --> 00:57:55,844
a I think it was an old Bele,
and Ronnie opened the door
1197
00:57:55,844 --> 00:57:58,150
to the Bele and told Al to get in the car.
1198
00:57:58,150 --> 00:58:01,580
Al gets in Ronnie rolls down
the window, shuts the dorr
1199
00:58:01,580 --> 00:58:03,058
and he sticks his head through the window
1200
00:58:03,058 --> 00:58:05,979
and he said, "Al, when
we're done cutting it,
1201
00:58:05,979 --> 00:58:07,775
"we'll call you."
1202
00:58:07,775 --> 00:58:11,424
So he sent Al on his way and
the rest of us were really
1203
00:58:11,424 --> 00:58:12,433
kind of surprised.
1204
00:58:12,433 --> 00:58:16,504
You don't hear very many times in history
1205
00:58:16,504 --> 00:58:19,848
when a first album band tells the producer
1206
00:58:19,848 --> 00:58:21,150
to get lost.
1207
00:58:21,150 --> 00:58:23,731
Usually they get fired or
something, but you want
1208
00:58:23,731 --> 00:58:27,345
to talk about Al Kooper's
passion, he put up with that
1209
00:58:27,345 --> 00:58:29,375
you know, where many others wouldn't.
1210
00:58:29,375 --> 00:58:32,226
They'd say, "Like, you're gone, you know."
1211
00:58:32,226 --> 00:58:34,995
- [Voiceover] With the album
completed Kooper's mind
1212
00:58:34,995 --> 00:58:37,202
now turned to selling
Lynyrd Skynyrd to as wide
1213
00:58:37,202 --> 00:58:39,936
an audience as possible
and the first obstacle
1214
00:58:39,936 --> 00:58:42,822
for the general public that
he envisaged was the band's
1215
00:58:42,822 --> 00:58:44,453
name itself.
1216
00:58:44,453 --> 00:58:47,023
- They were the second
band to come into the club
1217
00:58:47,023 --> 00:58:49,721
when we were residents in Atlanta.
1218
00:58:49,721 --> 00:58:53,370
Up on the marquee it
said, "Linerd Skinerd."
1219
00:58:53,370 --> 00:58:55,333
I went, "What the hell is this?
1220
00:58:56,796 --> 00:58:58,251
"What is that?
1221
00:58:58,251 --> 00:59:00,390
"Linderd Skinerd, what is that?"
1222
00:59:01,830 --> 00:59:04,294
And then they introduced them and said,
1223
00:59:04,294 --> 00:59:07,215
"Oh, it's Lynyrd Skynyrd,
I see, yeah, I get it."
1224
00:59:07,215 --> 00:59:10,231
They said, "What a dumb way to do that."
1225
00:59:10,231 --> 00:59:12,379
So I was saddled with that.
1226
00:59:12,379 --> 00:59:14,667
It was the first thing
that came to me was let's
1227
00:59:14,667 --> 00:59:16,849
put it to our advantage.
1228
00:59:16,849 --> 00:59:21,273
It's like, what is who is
Linerd Skinerd and I thought
1229
00:59:21,273 --> 00:59:24,980
everyone would mispronounce
it, so I thought the best
1230
00:59:24,980 --> 00:59:28,500
thing to do was to name
the album, Pronounced
1231
00:59:28,500 --> 00:59:33,299
and put that dictionary thing 'Lĕh-'nérd
1232
00:59:33,299 --> 00:59:36,045
'Skin-'nérd like that.
1233
00:59:36,045 --> 00:59:37,503
- [Voiceover] One, two, three.
1234
00:59:49,550 --> 00:59:52,647
- [Voiceover] Released on August 13, 1973,
1235
00:59:52,647 --> 00:59:54,513
Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd
'Skin-'nérd was an album
1236
00:59:54,513 --> 00:59:56,683
that may never have
existed given the struggles
1237
00:59:56,683 --> 00:59:58,775
the band had gone through to get it made.
1238
00:59:59,675 --> 01:00:01,928
In the press Kooper was declaring the band
1239
01:00:01,928 --> 01:00:04,873
America's Rolling Stones
and while not an overnight
1240
01:00:04,873 --> 01:00:07,900
success the LP's reputation steadily grew
1241
01:00:07,900 --> 01:00:10,399
with Skynyrd slowly seeping into the heart
1242
01:00:10,399 --> 01:00:13,485
of American culture
across the following year.
1243
01:00:13,485 --> 01:00:15,130
- Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd
'Skin-'nérd is a very, very
1244
01:00:15,130 --> 01:00:16,538
strong debut.
1245
01:00:16,538 --> 01:00:19,166
It announces them from
the very first notes
1246
01:00:19,166 --> 01:00:22,909
of I Ain't The One as a unique
entity, as a self-confident
1247
01:00:22,909 --> 01:00:26,727
entity and it has a handful of songs on it
1248
01:00:26,727 --> 01:00:30,572
that are rock-n-roll classics,
that stand up to this day.
1249
01:00:30,572 --> 01:00:34,057
It has Tuesday's Gone, Gimme
Three Steps, Free Bird,
1250
01:00:34,057 --> 01:00:35,875
that was all there on their first record
1251
01:00:35,875 --> 01:00:38,644
and they had a very distinct
sound, a very distinct
1252
01:00:38,644 --> 01:00:41,675
vision and it's a very,
very impressive debut.
1253
01:00:53,569 --> 01:00:57,757
♪ Train roll on ♪
1254
01:00:57,757 --> 01:01:00,399
♪ On down the line ♪
1255
01:01:00,399 --> 01:01:05,399
♪ Won't you please take me far ♪
1256
01:01:06,300 --> 01:01:11,300
♪ Away ♪
1257
01:01:11,791 --> 01:01:15,874
♪ Well I feel the wind blow ♪
1258
01:01:15,874 --> 01:01:19,430
♪ Outside my door ♪
1259
01:01:19,430 --> 01:01:24,404
♪ Because I'm leaving my woman ♪
1260
01:01:24,404 --> 01:01:28,030
♪ at home ♪
1261
01:01:28,030 --> 01:01:30,294
♪ Lord and ♪
1262
01:01:30,294 --> 01:01:33,052
♪ Tuesday's gone ♪
1263
01:01:33,052 --> 01:01:38,052
♪ With the wind ♪
1264
01:01:39,258 --> 01:01:40,128
♪ My baby's gone ♪
1265
01:01:40,128 --> 01:01:42,193
- They had been working
hard for a long time
1266
01:01:42,193 --> 01:01:44,295
by that point, and you can hear it.
1267
01:01:44,295 --> 01:01:46,313
To me it's a phenomenally strong debut
1268
01:01:46,313 --> 01:01:49,154
because they sound, they
are a fully formed entity
1269
01:01:49,154 --> 01:01:51,528
at this point and you've got
1270
01:01:54,180 --> 01:01:55,368
Gimme Three Steps,
1271
01:01:55,368 --> 01:01:59,627
You've got Tuesday's Gone
which is a great pop song
1272
01:01:59,627 --> 01:02:01,704
like fantastic pop song
1273
01:02:01,704 --> 01:02:04,344
and then I mean Free Bird, you know.
1274
01:02:04,344 --> 01:02:07,089
It's their first real album, it has their
1275
01:02:07,089 --> 01:02:09,823
the biggest song they every wrote on it.
1276
01:02:09,823 --> 01:02:13,894
If you had to boil Lynyrd
Skynyrd down to one song
1277
01:02:13,894 --> 01:02:15,684
it would have to be to me it would have
1278
01:02:15,684 --> 01:02:17,315
to be Free Bird.
1279
01:02:17,315 --> 01:02:19,078
♪ Free Bird ♪
1280
01:02:20,189 --> 01:02:21,718
(piano)
1281
01:02:48,034 --> 01:02:51,346
(guitar)
1282
01:02:57,474 --> 01:02:59,046
- Free Bird had developed quite a bit
1283
01:02:59,046 --> 01:03:00,806
from the time they had first recorded it
1284
01:03:00,806 --> 01:03:04,056
as a demo until their first album.
1285
01:03:04,056 --> 01:03:05,628
One of the things that
had happened I think
1286
01:03:05,628 --> 01:03:07,893
was a result of all these
gigs they had played
1287
01:03:07,893 --> 01:03:09,805
and gaining their confidence on the stage
1288
01:03:09,805 --> 01:03:11,027
and as a live band.
1289
01:03:11,027 --> 01:03:13,221
It was also the addition of
keyboard player, Billy Powell
1290
01:03:13,221 --> 01:03:17,375
and the elegant piano playing
he brought to that song
1291
01:03:17,375 --> 01:03:18,994
and to the band in general.
1292
01:03:18,994 --> 01:03:21,364
iIthink that in many ways
Billy Powell was sort
1293
01:03:21,364 --> 01:03:25,083
of the underrated secret
weapon that Skynyrd had
1294
01:03:25,083 --> 01:03:27,430
because as much as they
could be a hard-hitting
1295
01:03:27,430 --> 01:03:30,422
rock ban,d as much as people think of them
1296
01:03:30,422 --> 01:03:33,484
right off the bat as a two or
even three at various stages
1297
01:03:33,484 --> 01:03:36,722
a guitar band which they certainly were
1298
01:03:36,722 --> 01:03:40,360
they also had this sort of
elegant swinging piano playing
1299
01:03:40,360 --> 01:03:42,976
of Billy Powell and
that can really be heard
1300
01:03:42,976 --> 01:03:43,891
on Free Bird.
1301
01:03:43,891 --> 01:03:46,625
He added a tremendous
amount by having this
1302
01:03:46,625 --> 01:03:49,816
beautiful piano intro rather
than it being just a finger-
1303
01:03:49,816 --> 01:03:51,694
picked guitar and that's something else
1304
01:03:51,694 --> 01:03:52,949
that set them apart.
1305
01:03:52,949 --> 01:03:57,949
♪ If I leave here tomorrow ♪
1306
01:04:00,963 --> 01:04:05,963
♪ Would you still remember me ♪
1307
01:04:09,164 --> 01:04:14,164
♪ For I must be traveling on now ♪
1308
01:04:14,627 --> 01:04:17,008
- You have this terrain and you start
1309
01:04:17,008 --> 01:04:19,730
on this journey with this song.
1310
01:04:19,730 --> 01:04:22,687
It really draws you in with
the slide-guitar playing
1311
01:04:22,687 --> 01:04:25,761
the sort of haunting melody
and it's kind of hypnotic
1312
01:04:25,761 --> 01:04:28,847
you know, it's kind of slow mournful.
1313
01:04:28,847 --> 01:04:30,118
It's like a ballad
1314
01:04:30,994 --> 01:04:35,994
and then a lot like Stairway To Heaven
1315
01:04:36,391 --> 01:04:38,421
which is the same thing.
1316
01:04:38,421 --> 01:04:43,220
The song builds in intensity
very gradually, you know
1317
01:04:43,220 --> 01:04:47,233
and it's that shift where
you're going from this sort
1318
01:04:47,233 --> 01:04:49,802
of gentle thing and then
the power starts to come
1319
01:04:49,802 --> 01:04:52,348
behind it and the tempo's
picking up a little bit.
1320
01:04:52,348 --> 01:04:54,624
It's true for both songs.
1321
01:04:54,624 --> 01:04:57,886
You know, that's it's
there's a payoff there
1322
01:04:57,886 --> 01:04:59,884
for the listener, everytime.
1323
01:05:01,523 --> 01:05:05,907
♪ Oh, I can't change ♪
1324
01:05:05,907 --> 01:05:08,905
♪ Won't you fly ♪
1325
01:05:08,905 --> 01:05:12,378
♪ Oh, Free Bird, yeah ♪
1326
01:05:12,378 --> 01:05:14,165
(guitar music)
1327
01:05:19,676 --> 01:05:24,299
- When I heard Free
Bird for the first time
1328
01:05:24,299 --> 01:05:26,563
I thought I would like to see
1329
01:05:26,563 --> 01:05:30,254
any kid
1330
01:05:30,254 --> 01:05:34,364
between the ages of 12 and 21
1331
01:05:36,789 --> 01:05:41,789
when they hear this they will
just put their heads down
1332
01:05:41,799 --> 01:05:44,826
and run into the nearest wall.
1333
01:05:44,826 --> 01:05:46,786
I thought it was irresistible.
1334
01:05:46,786 --> 01:05:50,540
I thought it was much more primiative
1335
01:05:50,540 --> 01:05:54,208
than Whipping Post which
is the Allman's big song
1336
01:05:54,208 --> 01:05:55,334
at the time.
1337
01:05:55,334 --> 01:05:59,089
This is very simple,
other than it starts slow
1338
01:05:59,089 --> 01:06:02,648
and then it gets fast, but
that's very simple, too.
1339
01:06:04,380 --> 01:06:06,062
And it was phenomenal.
1340
01:06:07,173 --> 01:06:09,602
- [Voiceover] Initial reactions
to the LP in the music press
1341
01:06:09,602 --> 01:06:12,382
saw lazy comparisons to The
Allman Brothers mirroring
1342
01:06:12,382 --> 01:06:14,318
the record company's initial reception
1343
01:06:14,318 --> 01:06:16,266
to the Muscle Shoals demos.
1344
01:06:16,266 --> 01:06:18,143
And although these weren't
necessarily negative
1345
01:06:18,143 --> 01:06:20,689
they continued to baffle
the band themselves
1346
01:06:20,689 --> 01:06:23,318
along with the more
perceptive critics who found
1347
01:06:23,318 --> 01:06:25,128
no in distinguishing the two bands.
1348
01:06:26,145 --> 01:06:28,069
- They were a blues band and later on kind
1349
01:06:28,069 --> 01:06:30,674
of a what?
A fusion band.
1350
01:06:30,674 --> 01:06:34,147
I mean but in their own
way they were virtuoso's.
1351
01:06:34,147 --> 01:06:36,313
We were not virtuoso's
because Ronnie liked
1352
01:06:36,313 --> 01:06:37,838
the same thing every night.
1353
01:06:37,838 --> 01:06:39,727
He wanted to make sure the band sounded
1354
01:06:39,727 --> 01:06:40,853
like the record.
1355
01:06:40,853 --> 01:06:42,402
He's very scripted.
1356
01:06:42,402 --> 01:06:43,916
There was no improvisation.
1357
01:06:43,916 --> 01:06:44,457
We couldn't really.
1358
01:06:44,457 --> 01:06:46,901
We were lousy improvisers and that's okay.
1359
01:06:47,836 --> 01:06:50,523
We're still in the Rock-N-Roll
Hall of Fame, you know?
1360
01:06:50,523 --> 01:06:52,846
- The Allman Brothers were a jam band
1361
01:06:52,846 --> 01:06:54,571
and Lynyrd Skynyrd is a song band.
1362
01:06:54,571 --> 01:06:55,944
That's the difference.
1363
01:06:55,944 --> 01:06:58,220
Ronnie Van Zant was a great song writer.
1364
01:06:58,220 --> 01:07:00,578
Dwayne Allman was not a great song writer.
1365
01:07:00,578 --> 01:07:03,429
He wasn't, great player?
Sure.
1366
01:07:03,429 --> 01:07:04,479
Knew a great song when he heard it?
1367
01:07:04,479 --> 01:07:07,976
Damn right, but he wasn't
a great song writer.
1368
01:07:07,976 --> 01:07:11,460
The good song writer in
that band was Dickey Betts,
1369
01:07:11,460 --> 01:07:14,147
for better or worse and
he wasn't so great either.
1370
01:07:14,147 --> 01:07:16,717
Ronnie Van Zant on the
other hand, I mean what?
1371
01:07:16,717 --> 01:07:19,908
They put out six albums, 80,
90 percent of those songs
1372
01:07:19,908 --> 01:07:21,281
were absolutely top grade.
1373
01:07:21,281 --> 01:07:24,038
It's amazing, it's amazing,
1374
01:07:24,038 --> 01:07:25,951
and so you know, when
I heard the first album
1375
01:07:25,951 --> 01:07:28,508
I just knew something
different was going on there.
1376
01:07:28,508 --> 01:07:30,656
First I noticed that
Al Kooper was involved,
1377
01:07:30,656 --> 01:07:33,354
not exactly a Southerner, New York, Jew
1378
01:07:33,354 --> 01:07:35,877
from Queens, my stomping ground.
1379
01:07:35,877 --> 01:07:38,462
And he understands that this
band is something special.
1380
01:07:39,408 --> 01:07:42,717
I liked the record when it came out,
1381
01:07:42,717 --> 01:07:44,817
but I'd say it was a
little hard for me to hear
1382
01:07:44,817 --> 01:07:48,212
from my own prejudices about Southerners,
1383
01:07:49,100 --> 01:07:51,529
exactly how good Van Zant was.
1384
01:07:51,529 --> 01:07:52,670
But it didn't take long.
1385
01:07:54,122 --> 01:07:55,659
- [Voiceover] Comparisons
to The Allmans quickly
1386
01:07:55,659 --> 01:07:57,735
diminished however, once
Van Zant and his band
1387
01:07:57,735 --> 01:08:00,047
began doing the rounds
for the Music Press.
1388
01:08:00,047 --> 01:08:02,839
Unlike the Capricorn
act these were clearly
1389
01:08:02,839 --> 01:08:05,655
not Southern hippies and
the simmering aggression
1390
01:08:05,655 --> 01:08:07,920
and redneck swagger of
Lynyrd Skynyrd quickly
1391
01:08:07,920 --> 01:08:10,254
mobbed them out as
something totally distinct
1392
01:08:10,254 --> 01:08:12,097
from any their contemporaries.
1393
01:08:12,097 --> 01:08:15,253
- That was the beauty
of late '60s early '70s,
1394
01:08:15,253 --> 01:08:19,281
the beginning of rock, the
first good 10 years of rock
1395
01:08:19,281 --> 01:08:21,300
was be different, you know?
1396
01:08:23,448 --> 01:08:27,310
Do everything you can to
sound like yourselves.
1397
01:08:27,310 --> 01:08:29,012
They had a band personality.
1398
01:08:29,012 --> 01:08:30,995
It was a very strong personality
1399
01:08:30,995 --> 01:08:32,309
and it was distinct.
1400
01:08:32,309 --> 01:08:33,658
- They were bringing something
that had never been heard
1401
01:08:33,658 --> 01:08:35,512
before, it was redneck rock.
1402
01:08:35,512 --> 01:08:38,176
They made redneck rock into an art.
1403
01:08:38,176 --> 01:08:39,912
They made it into an idiom itself
1404
01:08:39,912 --> 01:08:43,387
not just an offshoot
rock-a-billy or country
1405
01:08:43,387 --> 01:08:44,502
or something like that.
1406
01:08:44,502 --> 01:08:47,376
It was totally indescribable
which was the reason
1407
01:08:47,376 --> 01:08:49,394
they had such a hard time at the beginning
1408
01:08:49,394 --> 01:08:52,644
getting that contract, but
in the end, you really have
1409
01:08:52,644 --> 01:08:55,613
to admire people like Al
Kooper and the MCA people
1410
01:08:55,613 --> 01:08:57,209
for recognizing that.
1411
01:08:57,209 --> 01:09:00,459
At the time there was nothing like it.
1412
01:09:00,459 --> 01:09:02,207
There'd never been anything like it.
1413
01:09:02,207 --> 01:09:06,571
- All of those guys except
Ed King were rough and tough.
1414
01:09:06,571 --> 01:09:08,452
But they portrayed that on stage.
1415
01:09:09,624 --> 01:09:14,028
I can remember getting to New York
1416
01:09:14,028 --> 01:09:17,583
one of the early trade magazines
came in to interview us
1417
01:09:17,583 --> 01:09:21,068
and they said, "Well, we heard
y'all are from deep South
1418
01:09:21,068 --> 01:09:24,298
"and might be referred to as rednecks."
1419
01:09:25,221 --> 01:09:28,319
And Ronnie's answer was,
"Hell yes, damn right,
1420
01:09:28,319 --> 01:09:31,252
"where's your daughter?"
(laughs)
1421
01:09:31,252 --> 01:09:36,219
He took the poor white trash image
1422
01:09:37,353 --> 01:09:39,961
and turned it into something glamorous.
1423
01:09:40,908 --> 01:09:45,672
He made people feel proud
that they were rednecks
1424
01:09:45,672 --> 01:09:48,538
and that The Allman's hadn't done that.
1425
01:09:49,661 --> 01:09:51,738
- [Voiceover] The white,
Southern, working-class mentality
1426
01:09:51,738 --> 01:09:54,178
and outlook was not only
expressed through the band's
1427
01:09:54,178 --> 01:09:57,546
image but also in the lyrics
and Ronnie Van Zant himself.
1428
01:09:57,546 --> 01:10:01,007
The album introduced a very
singular if under appreciated
1429
01:10:01,007 --> 01:10:02,723
writer into the rock world.
1430
01:10:03,717 --> 01:10:08,105
- I gotta say that working-class
was never something
1431
01:10:08,105 --> 01:10:12,611
that I as a very class-conscious
person actually thought of.
1432
01:10:12,611 --> 01:10:14,723
I never thought of them
as a proletarian band.
1433
01:10:14,723 --> 01:10:15,708
iIwas wrong.
1434
01:10:15,708 --> 01:10:17,327
It's a very good way to think about them.
1435
01:10:17,327 --> 01:10:19,721
When you say Ronnie Van
Zant is a great song writer,
1436
01:10:19,721 --> 01:10:20,753
well, why is that?
1437
01:10:20,753 --> 01:10:23,904
Well, one of the reasons
is that they were narrative
1438
01:10:23,904 --> 01:10:27,201
details in his songs that he observed life
1439
01:10:27,201 --> 01:10:28,597
and wrote about it.
1440
01:10:28,597 --> 01:10:31,777
Gimme two steps is a great song
1441
01:10:31,777 --> 01:10:35,285
about being in a bar fight, or not.
1442
01:10:35,285 --> 01:10:36,708
Great, great song.
1443
01:10:40,846 --> 01:10:42,020
There are a lot of songs
1444
01:10:42,020 --> 01:10:43,744
about Saturday night's
alright for fighting
1445
01:10:43,744 --> 01:10:47,241
as Elton John did it,
but very few good songs
1446
01:10:47,241 --> 01:10:49,059
about how he doesn't
actually want to fight
1447
01:10:49,059 --> 01:10:52,263
and he's gonna get the fuck
out of there, you know.
1448
01:10:52,263 --> 01:10:57,088
I always thought that was, I
loved it because he had the
1449
01:10:57,088 --> 01:10:59,611
guts to paint himself in that way.
1450
01:11:04,629 --> 01:11:06,553
♪ Well the crowd cleared away ♪
1451
01:11:06,553 --> 01:11:08,161
♪ And I began to pray ♪
1452
01:11:08,161 --> 01:11:11,845
♪ And the water fell on the floor ♪
1453
01:11:11,845 --> 01:11:13,441
♪ And I'm telling you, son ♪
1454
01:11:13,441 --> 01:11:15,353
♪ Well, it ain't no fun ♪
1455
01:11:15,353 --> 01:11:18,838
♪ Staring straight down a forty-four ♪
1456
01:11:18,838 --> 01:11:22,440
♪ Well, he turned and
screamed at Linda Lou ♪
1457
01:11:22,440 --> 01:11:26,030
♪ And that's the break I was looking for ♪
1458
01:11:26,030 --> 01:11:29,515
♪ Well, you could hear me
screaming a mile away ♪
1459
01:11:29,515 --> 01:11:33,340
♪ I was headed out toward the door ♪
1460
01:11:33,340 --> 01:11:35,194
♪ Look at here big man ♪
1461
01:11:35,194 --> 01:11:36,156
♪ Oh, won't you ♪
1462
01:11:36,156 --> 01:11:38,784
♪ Gimme three steps, gimme
three steps, mister ♪
1463
01:11:38,784 --> 01:11:42,971
♪ Gimme three steps toward the door ♪
1464
01:11:42,971 --> 01:11:46,053
♪ Gimme three steps, gimme
three steps, mister ♪
1465
01:11:46,053 --> 01:11:49,644
♪ And you'll never see me no more ♪
1466
01:11:49,644 --> 01:11:50,500
♪ Whoo ♪
1467
01:11:50,500 --> 01:11:53,226
- Ronnie Van Zant was the
son of a truck driver.
1468
01:11:56,390 --> 01:11:58,341
And that's what he knew.
1469
01:12:00,579 --> 01:12:03,586
His experiences with women
1470
01:12:04,779 --> 01:12:09,779
were lyrically in some songs
1471
01:12:10,024 --> 01:12:12,335
hilarious to me.
1472
01:12:12,335 --> 01:12:14,298
I'm trying to tell you I love you
1473
01:12:15,433 --> 01:12:17,580
in each and every way.
1474
01:12:17,580 --> 01:12:19,727
I'm trying to tell you I need you
1475
01:12:19,727 --> 01:12:22,206
much more than just a piece of leg.
1476
01:12:23,341 --> 01:12:24,854
I couldn't write that.
1477
01:12:24,854 --> 01:12:27,709
A, it was from the heart
1478
01:12:29,278 --> 01:12:34,278
and B, it was realer
1479
01:12:34,611 --> 01:12:36,360
than most people
1480
01:12:36,360 --> 01:12:38,370
have the nerve to write.
1481
01:12:39,328 --> 01:12:41,323
- [Voiceover] Shortly after
the recording of the album
1482
01:12:41,323 --> 01:12:43,341
the band's lineup shifted once again
1483
01:12:43,341 --> 01:12:46,544
with Leon Wilkeson coming
back into the ensemble
1484
01:12:46,544 --> 01:12:49,489
and Ed King moving from bass to guitar.
1485
01:12:49,489 --> 01:12:51,460
Although apparently only a small change
1486
01:12:51,460 --> 01:12:53,834
it made an instant impact
on the Skynyrd sound.
1487
01:12:55,320 --> 01:12:58,101
- Ed was my favorite guitar player
1488
01:12:58,101 --> 01:13:00,439
and in the beginning I didn't
even know he played guitar.
1489
01:13:02,606 --> 01:13:04,100
First of all he played
1490
01:13:06,232 --> 01:13:09,224
Fender guitar, so there was that
1491
01:13:09,224 --> 01:13:13,663
and B, he was a phenomenal guitar player.
1492
01:13:15,184 --> 01:13:16,995
(guitar music)
1493
01:13:30,167 --> 01:13:32,795
Now, he had the opportunity to bring
1494
01:13:32,795 --> 01:13:35,248
his knowledge into the band and he was,
1495
01:13:35,248 --> 01:13:37,852
you know, he wasn't a Southern guy.
1496
01:13:37,852 --> 01:13:42,194
He was from California, so now
1497
01:13:42,194 --> 01:13:46,183
they had this added to
their pool of thought.
1498
01:13:46,183 --> 01:13:49,433
- Once I became the third
guitarist in the band
1499
01:13:49,433 --> 01:13:51,346
integrating myself was so much easier
1500
01:13:51,346 --> 01:13:52,898
than being a bass player.
1501
01:13:54,086 --> 01:13:57,453
Pretty much I stayed out
of the other guy's way.
1502
01:13:57,453 --> 01:13:59,870
I found myself a third part.
1503
01:13:59,870 --> 01:14:02,264
I try not to play too
much which I realize now,
1504
01:14:02,264 --> 01:14:05,197
I still overplayed some,
but I thought we integrated
1505
01:14:05,197 --> 01:14:08,998
very well and the crowd loved
it, but I think my really
1506
01:14:08,998 --> 01:14:11,943
clean Stratocaster sounded
against their dirty Gibsons
1507
01:14:11,943 --> 01:14:14,008
was a beautiful contrast.
1508
01:14:14,008 --> 01:14:15,393
I didn't have to explain it to them.
1509
01:14:15,393 --> 01:14:17,211
They just excepted it.
1510
01:14:17,211 --> 01:14:18,948
- [Voiceover] Now, playing
his favorite instrument,
1511
01:14:18,948 --> 01:14:21,353
King immediately contributed
to Skynyrd's material
1512
01:14:21,353 --> 01:14:22,726
in a crucial manner.
1513
01:14:22,726 --> 01:14:24,943
Before the first album
had even been released
1514
01:14:24,943 --> 01:14:27,208
bring his compositional
skills into the band's
1515
01:14:27,208 --> 01:14:28,901
daily Hell House rehearsals.
1516
01:14:30,206 --> 01:14:32,870
- How a typical day at rehearsal would go,
1517
01:14:32,870 --> 01:14:34,704
we'd all show up at
pretty much the same time
1518
01:14:35,850 --> 01:14:38,314
and Ronnie would say to
any of the guitar players
1519
01:14:38,314 --> 01:14:40,582
or whoever, "What do you got?"
1520
01:14:41,834 --> 01:14:44,720
And of course ideas were always flowing.
1521
01:14:44,720 --> 01:14:46,550
You made sure you showed up at rehearsal
1522
01:14:46,550 --> 01:14:49,437
with something to work on and somebody had
1523
01:14:49,437 --> 01:14:51,302
something good, you know,
Ronnie would be sitting
1524
01:14:51,302 --> 01:14:55,901
in his corner on this long sofa we had
1525
01:14:55,901 --> 01:14:59,234
and if he liked it he'd
have his head in his hands
1526
01:14:59,234 --> 01:15:00,970
and he'd go like this.
1527
01:15:00,970 --> 01:15:04,877
Keep going, keep going and
after a few minutes or so
1528
01:15:04,877 --> 01:15:08,655
20 minutes he might come
up and sing a verse.
1529
01:15:08,655 --> 01:15:10,722
I mean Sweet Home Alabama
didn't take longer than
1530
01:15:10,722 --> 01:15:12,177
20 minutes to write.
1531
01:15:12,177 --> 01:15:14,817
I walked into rehearsal and
Gary Rossington was playing
1532
01:15:14,817 --> 01:15:17,738
this figure on the guitar
and I picked up this Strat
1533
01:15:17,738 --> 01:15:19,816
that I had just bought, I
don't know, maybe a couple
1534
01:15:19,816 --> 01:15:22,562
months before and immediately
bounced mine off of his
1535
01:15:22,562 --> 01:15:23,888
a totally different lick.
1536
01:15:23,888 --> 01:15:25,296
Mine went dum, dum, da, da,
1537
01:15:25,296 --> 01:15:27,830
dadunen do dun na and Ronnie heard that
1538
01:15:27,830 --> 01:15:30,083
and just locked into it.
1539
01:15:30,083 --> 01:15:30,825
iIcould just see him
1540
01:15:30,825 --> 01:15:32,424
and you could tell when he locked into it.
1541
01:15:33,453 --> 01:15:36,539
20 minutes later he sang
it, he grabbed the mic
1542
01:15:36,539 --> 01:15:39,296
and sang us the first verse.
1543
01:15:39,296 --> 01:15:42,018
Once he started singing I
came up with the rest of it.
1544
01:15:42,018 --> 01:15:43,207
(guitar music)
1545
01:16:01,080 --> 01:16:05,785
♪ Big wheels keep on turning ♪
1546
01:16:05,785 --> 01:16:10,450
♪ Carry me home to see my kin ♪
1547
01:16:10,450 --> 01:16:15,167
♪ Singing songs about the Southland ♪
1548
01:16:15,167 --> 01:16:17,244
♪ I miss my family once again ♪
1549
01:16:17,244 --> 01:16:18,737
♪ And I think it's a sin ♪
1550
01:16:19,842 --> 01:16:22,729
- Ronnie called me up and
said, "I need a favor."
1551
01:16:22,729 --> 01:16:24,383
I said, "How much?"
1552
01:16:24,383 --> 01:16:25,944
He said, "No, no, no."
1553
01:16:25,944 --> 01:16:30,062
He said, "We wrote a new
song and I love the way
1554
01:16:30,062 --> 01:16:35,062
"it sounds now, and I think
maybe it'll change in tempo
1555
01:16:35,213 --> 01:16:39,041
"or this and that and I want
to record it right now."
1556
01:16:40,586 --> 01:16:43,015
I said, "I don't have
a problem with that."
1557
01:16:43,015 --> 01:16:45,761
I said, "The only thing I would like to do
1558
01:16:45,761 --> 01:16:49,281
"is the night before we
record, I'd like to go
1559
01:16:49,281 --> 01:16:52,871
"into the rehearsal studio
and just listen to it
1560
01:16:52,871 --> 01:16:56,340
"and see if I have anything
I want to change in it
1561
01:16:56,340 --> 01:16:58,428
"before we record it."
1562
01:16:58,428 --> 01:17:01,901
So he came down and they
played Sweet Home Alabama
1563
01:17:01,901 --> 01:17:03,720
and I thought the same thing.
1564
01:17:03,720 --> 01:17:06,418
I thought this is a number one record.
1565
01:17:06,418 --> 01:17:07,979
- [Voiceover] Both Kooper and the band
1566
01:17:07,979 --> 01:17:09,856
decided to hold Sweet Home Alabama
1567
01:17:09,856 --> 01:17:12,590
in the reserves and after
their debut was released
1568
01:17:12,590 --> 01:17:14,549
Skynyrd headed straight out on the road
1569
01:17:14,549 --> 01:17:16,125
playing shows across the South.
1570
01:17:17,130 --> 01:17:19,688
These dates in modest venues help spread
1571
01:17:19,688 --> 01:17:22,598
their name it had little wider impact.
1572
01:17:22,598 --> 01:17:24,956
In November however,
they began a second date
1573
01:17:24,956 --> 01:17:26,974
that would propel them into the spotlight
1574
01:17:26,974 --> 01:17:29,363
as they embarked on a 13 show run opening
1575
01:17:29,363 --> 01:17:33,246
for The Who on their
1973 Quadrophenia Tour.
1576
01:17:33,246 --> 01:17:36,121
Although Alan Walden and Alex
Hodges handled the logistics
1577
01:17:36,121 --> 01:17:39,441
of these shows, the opportunity
itself occurred by chance
1578
01:17:39,441 --> 01:17:42,351
after Al Kooper had been
meeting executives at MCA's
1579
01:17:42,351 --> 01:17:45,449
offices shortly before
the release of Pronounced.
1580
01:17:45,449 --> 01:17:47,701
- I came out of the meeting and I bumped
1581
01:17:47,701 --> 01:17:52,312
into Pete Townsend, who I
knew, and hey, how ya doing,
1582
01:17:52,312 --> 01:17:53,591
blah, blah, blah.
1583
01:17:53,591 --> 01:17:54,964
I said, "What are you doing?"
1584
01:17:54,964 --> 01:17:56,771
He says, "Well."
1585
01:17:56,771 --> 01:18:00,572
He says, "We're gonna tour
the Quadrophenia album.
1586
01:18:00,572 --> 01:18:02,180
I said, "Wow, that's great."
1587
01:18:02,180 --> 01:18:04,855
He says, "As a matter of
fact we're looking for
1588
01:18:04,855 --> 01:18:08,023
"an opening act, do you know anyone
1589
01:18:08,023 --> 01:18:09,161
"that would be good?"
1590
01:18:09,161 --> 01:18:13,658
I had just gotten a pressing
or two of the first album.
1591
01:18:15,696 --> 01:18:19,967
I had three of them with me,
so I said, "Take this home
1592
01:18:19,967 --> 01:18:21,082
"and play it.
1593
01:18:21,082 --> 01:18:24,637
"This band would be
phenomenal to open for you."
1594
01:18:24,637 --> 01:18:28,133
I wrote my phone number on the label
1595
01:18:28,133 --> 01:18:29,674
because it's just a white label.
1596
01:18:30,973 --> 01:18:33,296
So he called me the next day and said,
1597
01:18:33,296 --> 01:18:35,584
"You're right, this is great.
1598
01:18:35,584 --> 01:18:37,402
"This would be great.
1599
01:18:37,402 --> 01:18:38,822
"Let's do this."
1600
01:18:38,822 --> 01:18:42,307
- When we opened for The
Who, we only had 30 minutes.
1601
01:18:42,307 --> 01:18:45,428
We had eight inputs into the
sound board in 30 minutes,
1602
01:18:45,428 --> 01:18:48,842
plus we had to play Free
Bird which is nine minutes,
1603
01:18:48,842 --> 01:18:52,374
so we only got about maybe
five songs maybe six songs in,
1604
01:18:52,374 --> 01:18:54,016
but made quite an impact.
1605
01:18:54,016 --> 01:18:56,894
- I said, "Look, this is
the way we gotta do it.
1606
01:18:58,158 --> 01:19:00,895
"Don't give them a chance to boo you.
1607
01:19:02,030 --> 01:19:04,321
"Don't give them a chance to applaud you.
1608
01:19:05,444 --> 01:19:08,674
"No more than a three
second delay between songs.
1609
01:19:10,220 --> 01:19:14,091
"I want it, like that
,(clapping) all the way."
1610
01:19:14,091 --> 01:19:17,940
And buddy, Ronnie Van Zant delivered.
1611
01:19:17,940 --> 01:19:20,110
- We were more used to almost
1612
01:19:20,110 --> 01:19:23,372
like a nightclub deal.
1613
01:19:23,372 --> 01:19:25,977
You know where you just get tight
1614
01:19:25,977 --> 01:19:28,030
with everybody sitting
all around, you know,
1615
01:19:28,030 --> 01:19:32,078
but you look down and there's 15,000 feet
1616
01:19:32,078 --> 01:19:33,771
and there's the first person.
1617
01:19:35,528 --> 01:19:37,839
Leon way over there.
1618
01:19:37,839 --> 01:19:41,488
Ronnie way up there and
I'm looking down at him.
1619
01:19:41,488 --> 01:19:42,919
I hated it.
1620
01:19:42,919 --> 01:19:46,521
I was nervous, but I overcame it, see.
1621
01:19:46,521 --> 01:19:51,465
I overcame it and I actually
enjoyed turning them on
1622
01:19:52,447 --> 01:19:54,183
because if I turn them on,
1623
01:19:54,183 --> 01:19:56,835
here it come back,
1624
01:19:56,835 --> 01:19:58,513
and I turn it on some more,
1625
01:19:58,513 --> 01:20:00,226
here it come back.
1626
01:20:00,226 --> 01:20:02,106
- They were really, really, nervous,
1627
01:20:03,347 --> 01:20:07,281
but they were incredibly professional.
1628
01:20:08,169 --> 01:20:11,912
They got worried because
they're gonna play
1629
01:20:11,912 --> 01:20:14,927
20,000 seaters every night.
1630
01:20:14,927 --> 01:20:18,247
And you know we played
like Madison Square Garden,
1631
01:20:18,247 --> 01:20:20,410
Cobo Hall in Detroit.
1632
01:20:23,387 --> 01:20:26,156
And what must've that been like
1633
01:20:26,156 --> 01:20:27,587
for them?
1634
01:20:27,587 --> 01:20:30,192
Hanging out with The Who, you know who are
1635
01:20:30,192 --> 01:20:34,064
very generous with their time and drugs
1636
01:20:34,064 --> 01:20:38,065
to the lads, so it was
a wonderful experience
1637
01:20:38,065 --> 01:20:40,638
and it broke them as an act.
1638
01:20:41,843 --> 01:20:43,415
- [Voiceover] Riding high on the back
1639
01:20:43,415 --> 01:20:45,140
of The Who shows in the new year the band
1640
01:20:45,140 --> 01:20:48,542
returned to the studio to
begin work on a second album.
1641
01:20:48,542 --> 01:20:51,264
Now, partly established
the financial necessities
1642
01:20:51,264 --> 01:20:53,681
of staying in the South no longer applied
1643
01:20:53,681 --> 01:20:55,934
and for this LP Al Kooper decided to bring
1644
01:20:55,934 --> 01:20:57,987
the Jacksonville boys into the heart
1645
01:20:57,987 --> 01:21:00,064
of the entertainment
world, booking sessions
1646
01:21:00,064 --> 01:21:03,435
at the Record Plant in Los
Angeles in January 1974.
1647
01:21:04,493 --> 01:21:06,582
For the rising stars
what was becoming know
1648
01:21:06,582 --> 01:21:10,281
as Southern Rock it was a far
cry from Doraville, Georgia.
1649
01:21:11,193 --> 01:21:14,877
- They were out recording a track together
1650
01:21:14,877 --> 01:21:18,291
and John Lennon came into the control room
1651
01:21:18,291 --> 01:21:19,981
to ask me a question.
1652
01:21:19,981 --> 01:21:23,301
I think he was in there
for maybe 30 seconds.
1653
01:21:23,301 --> 01:21:26,446
He went back out and the
stopped playing and they said,
1654
01:21:26,446 --> 01:21:29,124
"Was that John Lennon that
just came in the booth?"
1655
01:21:30,881 --> 01:21:32,664
I said, "Yeah."
1656
01:21:32,664 --> 01:21:37,185
Ronnie said, "We have to take
a break for a few minutes."
1657
01:21:38,519 --> 01:21:40,948
- [Voiceover] Yet, despite
the prestigious, newly built
1658
01:21:40,948 --> 01:21:43,635
studio Kooper had chosen
to record the album in
1659
01:21:43,635 --> 01:21:46,122
some band members weren't
entirely convinced
1660
01:21:46,122 --> 01:21:49,214
with the Record Plant
or the material itself.
1661
01:21:49,214 --> 01:21:54,214
- To me it was not as much
fun as playing albums.
1662
01:21:54,447 --> 01:21:58,366
It seemed like it was
a whole lot harder work
1663
01:21:58,366 --> 01:22:01,581
cause those songs weren't to me
1664
01:22:01,581 --> 01:22:04,913
as close to me as the songs on Pronounced.
1665
01:22:04,913 --> 01:22:06,661
- The Second Helping was not as pleasant
1666
01:22:06,661 --> 01:22:08,715
because of the environment.
1667
01:22:08,715 --> 01:22:11,914
Really, Studio One in Doraville,
Georgia, is a great place
1668
01:22:11,914 --> 01:22:12,771
to record.
1669
01:22:12,771 --> 01:22:14,108
I don't even know if it's there anymore,
1670
01:22:14,108 --> 01:22:19,108
but the ambient sound,
the familiarity we had
1671
01:22:19,388 --> 01:22:24,388
with the board, the guys, we
missed it, missed it a lot.
1672
01:22:25,243 --> 01:22:26,733
The difference between playing in a room
1673
01:22:26,733 --> 01:22:31,461
where the floor is tiled or wood versus
1674
01:22:31,461 --> 01:22:33,831
playing in a room where
the whole floor is carpeted
1675
01:22:33,831 --> 01:22:36,647
and at Record Plant, the
whole floor was carpeted
1676
01:22:36,647 --> 01:22:38,395
and it was just dead in there.
1677
01:22:38,395 --> 01:22:40,742
To me Second Helping, except
for Sweet Home Alabama
1678
01:22:40,742 --> 01:22:43,793
which was recorded in
Doraville, Second Helping has
1679
01:22:43,793 --> 01:22:45,333
that dead sound to it.
1680
01:22:46,183 --> 01:22:48,299
♪ Swamp Music ♪
1681
01:23:06,411 --> 01:23:07,373
♪ Going down to ♪
1682
01:23:07,373 --> 01:23:09,684
- [Voiceover] Despite these
reservations upon it's release
1683
01:23:09,684 --> 01:23:13,345
in April 1974, Second
Helping proved an enormous
1684
01:23:13,345 --> 01:23:14,999
commercial success.
1685
01:23:14,999 --> 01:23:17,498
Although like Pronounced
it took it's time building
1686
01:23:17,498 --> 01:23:20,690
up momentum not aided by the
failure of it's lead single
1687
01:23:20,690 --> 01:23:22,864
Ask Me No Questions to chart.
1688
01:23:23,858 --> 01:23:26,263
Yet, the input of Ed King
as a composer the new
1689
01:23:26,263 --> 01:23:28,111
three pronged guitar line up
1690
01:23:28,111 --> 01:23:30,605
and Ronnie Van Zant's
continued development
1691
01:23:30,605 --> 01:23:33,057
as a songwriter meant
that over time the album
1692
01:23:33,057 --> 01:23:35,310
would make a significant impact.
1693
01:23:35,310 --> 01:23:37,118
- Lynyrd Skynyrd was very unique starting
1694
01:23:37,118 --> 01:23:39,773
with Second Helping and
having three guitar players.
1695
01:23:40,626 --> 01:23:43,888
It's something that on paper can't work,
1696
01:23:43,888 --> 01:23:46,129
but each of the guitarists, Ed King,
1697
01:23:46,129 --> 01:23:48,182
Gary Rossington, and Allen Collins were
1698
01:23:48,182 --> 01:23:50,974
very different and had their own strengths
1699
01:23:50,974 --> 01:23:53,169
and understood that about each other.
1700
01:23:53,169 --> 01:23:56,149
I think Second Helping
stands up as a great album.
1701
01:23:56,149 --> 01:23:57,545
It has Call me the Breeze.
1702
01:23:57,545 --> 01:23:59,364
It has The Ballad Of Curtis-Loew.
1703
01:23:59,364 --> 01:24:01,429
There was depth to the music
1704
01:24:01,429 --> 01:24:02,625
and to the singing,
1705
01:24:02,625 --> 01:24:04,098
and to everything about it,
1706
01:24:04,098 --> 01:24:06,632
that again made you feel things without
1707
01:24:06,632 --> 01:24:08,956
quite understanding them which is what
1708
01:24:08,956 --> 01:24:11,197
the best music should do.
1709
01:24:11,197 --> 01:24:15,045
♪ Well, I used to wake the morning ♪
1710
01:24:15,045 --> 01:24:19,445
♪ Before the rooster crow ♪
1711
01:24:19,445 --> 01:24:22,508
♪ Searching for soda bottles ♪
1712
01:24:22,508 --> 01:24:26,638
♪ To get myself some dough ♪
1713
01:24:26,638 --> 01:24:29,423
♪ Brought them down to the corner ♪
1714
01:24:29,423 --> 01:24:33,826
♪ Down to the country store ♪
1715
01:24:33,826 --> 01:24:36,395
♪ Cash them in and give my money ♪
1716
01:24:36,395 --> 01:24:38,898
♪ To a man named Curtis-Loew ♪
1717
01:24:40,491 --> 01:24:43,448
- Allen Collins and Ronnie
brought Curtis-Loew,
1718
01:24:43,448 --> 01:24:45,184
The Ballad of Curtis-Loew to the band
1719
01:24:45,184 --> 01:24:47,672
and unlike any other song we'd written,
1720
01:24:47,672 --> 01:24:50,112
that was written outside
of our rehearsal space.
1721
01:24:50,112 --> 01:24:52,377
That was written at home, so they already
1722
01:24:52,377 --> 01:24:54,547
brought it finished and I arranged it
1723
01:24:54,547 --> 01:24:57,774
and it was an inspiration.
1724
01:24:57,774 --> 01:24:59,581
Here's a song I didn't
write that I really kind
1725
01:24:59,581 --> 01:25:01,435
of grabbed on to and said, "Wow, this is
1726
01:25:01,435 --> 01:25:04,380
"it's a very cool song."
1727
01:25:04,380 --> 01:25:06,773
It's still one of my
favorite Skynyrd songs.
1728
01:25:06,773 --> 01:25:11,773
♪ Play me a song Curtis
Loew, Curtis Loew ♪
1729
01:25:13,273 --> 01:25:16,206
♪ I got your drinkin' money ♪
1730
01:25:16,206 --> 01:25:19,492
♪ So tune up your dobro ♪
1731
01:25:19,492 --> 01:25:22,401
♪ People said he was useless ♪
1732
01:25:22,401 --> 01:25:27,177
♪ Them people all were fools ♪
1733
01:25:27,177 --> 01:25:30,943
♪ 'Cause Curtis Loew
was the finest picker ♪
1734
01:25:30,943 --> 01:25:33,458
♪ To ever play the blues ♪
1735
01:25:34,862 --> 01:25:37,959
- I think the band was
definitely still growing
1736
01:25:37,959 --> 01:25:39,133
when they did Second Helping.
1737
01:25:39,133 --> 01:25:41,280
They were getting stronger
and more confident.`
1738
01:25:41,280 --> 01:25:45,234
Ballad of Curtis-Loew is
a great song, really cool
1739
01:25:45,234 --> 01:25:47,604
and sort of very distinctive.
1740
01:25:47,604 --> 01:25:49,868
It give Skynyrd this whole other part
1741
01:25:49,868 --> 01:25:53,036
of their personality
and Call Me The Breeze
1742
01:25:53,036 --> 01:25:55,101
is this boogie tune.
1743
01:25:55,101 --> 01:25:58,375
I can hear a connection to like Bob Dylan
1744
01:25:58,375 --> 01:26:01,026
Watching The River Flow
or something like that
1745
01:26:01,026 --> 01:26:04,611
and just the blues, but the
beat and the way they play
1746
01:26:04,611 --> 01:26:07,592
with the breaks and
things sort of designed
1747
01:26:07,592 --> 01:26:10,713
to sort of show off the
band, arrangement wise.
1748
01:26:10,713 --> 01:26:14,186
It was definitely a step
in the next direction.
1749
01:26:14,186 --> 01:26:18,034
I think that this was
creatively maybe the high point
1750
01:26:18,034 --> 01:26:19,387
of the band.
1751
01:26:24,405 --> 01:26:26,963
♪ Call me the breeze ♪
1752
01:26:26,963 --> 01:26:31,963
♪ I keep blowin' down the road ♪
1753
01:26:32,548 --> 01:26:36,326
♪ They call me the breeeze, baby ♪
1754
01:26:36,326 --> 01:26:41,326
♪ I keep blowing down the road ♪
1755
01:26:42,169 --> 01:26:45,677
♪ I ain't got me nobody ♪
1756
01:26:45,677 --> 01:26:50,677
♪ I don't carry me no load ♪
1757
01:26:51,520 --> 01:26:55,064
♪ Ain't no changin' the weather ♪
1758
01:26:55,064 --> 01:26:57,496
♪ Ain't no changes in me ♪
1759
01:26:58,644 --> 01:26:59,911
- Ronnie Van Zant was showing
1760
01:26:59,911 --> 01:27:02,070
an incredible ability to write songs
1761
01:27:02,070 --> 01:27:04,510
that move people and
also to have great taste
1762
01:27:04,510 --> 01:27:08,089
when picking outside song
writers which they didn't do
1763
01:27:08,089 --> 01:27:11,081
a lot of, but they did with
great effect when they did.
1764
01:27:11,081 --> 01:27:13,474
Call Me The Breeze I think
is the perfect example.
1765
01:27:13,474 --> 01:27:16,349
JJ Cale's a great songwriter
who also provided great songs
1766
01:27:16,349 --> 01:27:19,860
for Eric Clapton, just by pulling from him
1767
01:27:20,831 --> 01:27:23,963
with the same sort of
musical gusto and swagger
1768
01:27:23,963 --> 01:27:25,712
and upbeat swing.
1769
01:27:25,712 --> 01:27:28,692
It was again, music
that made you feel good.
1770
01:27:28,692 --> 01:27:31,320
They took a very cool, laid-back, sort
1771
01:27:31,320 --> 01:27:34,694
of swampy JJ Cale song and turned it
1772
01:27:34,694 --> 01:27:38,284
into an out and out party, rock anthem
1773
01:27:38,284 --> 01:27:39,833
that gets everybody up
1774
01:27:39,833 --> 01:27:41,279
and dancing and feeling good.
1775
01:27:42,355 --> 01:27:43,974
- [Voiceover] Shortly
after the album's release
1776
01:27:43,974 --> 01:27:46,051
the band played their biggest show to date
1777
01:27:46,051 --> 01:27:47,682
alongside The Allman Brothers Band
1778
01:27:47,682 --> 01:27:50,865
at the Georgia Jam in front of 61,000 fans
1779
01:27:50,865 --> 01:27:52,563
in Atlanta.
1780
01:27:52,563 --> 01:27:54,992
On the back of their
country hit Ramblin' Man
1781
01:27:54,992 --> 01:27:56,978
at this time Greg Allman's ensemble were
1782
01:27:56,978 --> 01:28:00,272
at the peak of their popularity
and other Capricorn acts
1783
01:28:00,272 --> 01:28:01,809
such as The Marshall Tucker Band
1784
01:28:01,809 --> 01:28:04,652
and Wet Willie had also begun
to build a strong following.
1785
01:28:05,622 --> 01:28:08,098
Despite being uncomfortable
about being identified
1786
01:28:08,098 --> 01:28:10,808
too closely with this wave
of music now being dubbed
1787
01:28:10,808 --> 01:28:13,333
Southern Rock, Skynyrd
were canny enough to know
1788
01:28:13,333 --> 01:28:15,616
they had the songs to distinguish them
1789
01:28:15,616 --> 01:28:17,669
from these contemporaries.
1790
01:28:17,669 --> 01:28:19,276
- They played with The
Marshall Tucker Band
1791
01:28:19,276 --> 01:28:20,321
on a lot of dates.
1792
01:28:20,321 --> 01:28:22,303
They played with The Allman
Brothers on a few dates.
1793
01:28:22,303 --> 01:28:24,674
They played with Charlie
Daniels on some dates.
1794
01:28:24,674 --> 01:28:26,958
Skynyrd got a bigger picture
actually that we are who we are
1795
01:28:26,958 --> 01:28:29,575
and we're going to knock them dead
1796
01:28:29,575 --> 01:28:32,086
and just give us that
stage and give us our time
1797
01:28:32,086 --> 01:28:33,802
and we're gonna go prove it.
1798
01:28:35,993 --> 01:28:38,445
If somebody can follow us, God Bless them,
1799
01:28:38,445 --> 01:28:40,240
but it wasn't really competitive.
1800
01:28:40,240 --> 01:28:42,622
It was an amount of self-assurance.
1801
01:28:42,622 --> 01:28:44,866
- Lynyrd Skynyrd was the show stopper.
1802
01:28:46,177 --> 01:28:48,559
When I walked to the stage
1803
01:28:48,559 --> 01:28:50,929
with Lynyrd Skynyrd the hairs
1804
01:28:50,929 --> 01:28:52,857
on the back of my neck stood up.
1805
01:28:53,968 --> 01:28:58,968
It was like the Gladiators
going into the arena.
1806
01:28:58,989 --> 01:29:01,113
We're fixing to kill.
1807
01:29:01,113 --> 01:29:04,363
We're gonna blow this
roof off of this place,
1808
01:29:04,363 --> 01:29:08,767
and we did, over and over and over again.
1809
01:29:09,702 --> 01:29:12,060
- [Voiceover] Yet, from
the beginning of 1974
1810
01:29:12,060 --> 01:29:14,563
controversy had surrounded
Skynyrd's live shows.
1811
01:29:15,451 --> 01:29:17,833
While they were in part
looking to distance themselves
1812
01:29:17,833 --> 01:29:20,261
from the Southern Rock
boom, the new decision
1813
01:29:20,261 --> 01:29:23,042
to use the Confederate
Flag as the band's onstage
1814
01:29:23,042 --> 01:29:25,588
backdrop in many ways identified them
1815
01:29:25,588 --> 01:29:27,864
as the quintessential Southern band.
1816
01:29:27,864 --> 01:29:30,422
The connotations of the
flag itself raise serious
1817
01:29:30,422 --> 01:29:31,736
questions.
1818
01:29:31,736 --> 01:29:34,411
Not only did it represent the
South's historical defense
1819
01:29:34,411 --> 01:29:37,767
of slavery it had also been
subsequently appropriated
1820
01:29:37,767 --> 01:29:40,395
by the Ku Klux Klan and
a number of other white
1821
01:29:40,395 --> 01:29:41,654
supremacist groups.
1822
01:29:42,765 --> 01:29:45,124
- They were not in favor
of this at the beginning.
1823
01:29:45,124 --> 01:29:48,949
According to them it was all MCA's doing.
1824
01:29:48,949 --> 01:29:52,820
It was the marketing people,
the promotions people.
1825
01:29:52,820 --> 01:29:57,126
Sat back in L.A. and New
York and they would say,
1826
01:29:57,126 --> 01:29:59,414
"How we gonna present this band?
1827
01:29:59,414 --> 01:30:00,635
"You know they come on stage.
1828
01:30:00,635 --> 01:30:03,849
"They sing about growing
up in the deep South
1829
01:30:03,849 --> 01:30:05,997
"and all that goes along with that.
1830
01:30:05,997 --> 01:30:07,921
"How we gonna present it?"
1831
01:30:07,921 --> 01:30:09,352
And they come up with,
"Well, why don't we do
1832
01:30:09,352 --> 01:30:12,415
"the Confederate Flag behind them?"
1833
01:30:12,415 --> 01:30:13,916
One of the worse decisions ever made,
1834
01:30:13,916 --> 01:30:15,172
but also one of the best
1835
01:30:15,172 --> 01:30:17,753
because it really became
identified with them,
1836
01:30:17,753 --> 01:30:20,780
but also forced them to have to explain.
1837
01:30:20,780 --> 01:30:22,857
They had some splainin' to do.
1838
01:30:22,857 --> 01:30:26,494
Mostly the critics who
are based in New York
1839
01:30:26,494 --> 01:30:29,122
and L.A. you know,
people like Lester Bangs,
1840
01:30:29,122 --> 01:30:31,434
and you know, Robert Christgau, and people
1841
01:30:31,434 --> 01:30:34,418
very araldite men, Robert
Hilburn, people like that.
1842
01:30:35,470 --> 01:30:38,239
Were not so, quick to
accept the Confederate Flag
1843
01:30:38,239 --> 01:30:40,937
as an innocent symbol of rock-n-roll.
1844
01:30:40,937 --> 01:30:42,463
That was a symbol of slavery.
1845
01:30:42,463 --> 01:30:44,457
That was a symbol of treason.
1846
01:30:44,457 --> 01:30:47,285
That was a symbol of 1/2
a million Americans dying
1847
01:30:47,285 --> 01:30:49,162
in a war.
1848
01:30:49,162 --> 01:30:51,990
- As to who's decision it was,
I think if the band didn't
1849
01:30:51,990 --> 01:30:53,550
want to do it they wouldn't have done it.
1850
01:30:53,550 --> 01:30:58,550
As a natural thing to do
because the band didn't see it
1851
01:30:59,186 --> 01:31:01,548
in the way it was often interpreted.
1852
01:31:02,621 --> 01:31:04,162
A piece of history, you know.
1853
01:31:06,341 --> 01:31:08,676
I think that they kind of wanted to do it
1854
01:31:08,676 --> 01:31:13,676
as rebels, as Southerners,
not to relive the past
1855
01:31:15,094 --> 01:31:18,426
in stretch of the imagination.
1856
01:31:18,426 --> 01:31:21,723
I don't think it was any more
than we grew up in the South
1857
01:31:21,723 --> 01:31:24,398
let's put the flag up
there and go play for it.
1858
01:31:24,398 --> 01:31:26,956
Unfortunately it could be misunderstood.
1859
01:31:26,956 --> 01:31:30,100
- The idea of using a
Confederate Flag as a back drop
1860
01:31:30,100 --> 01:31:32,470
on the stage came from the band.
1861
01:31:32,470 --> 01:31:37,470
MCA would never have suggested that
1862
01:31:38,114 --> 01:31:41,352
because you know, it's derisive
1863
01:31:41,352 --> 01:31:43,550
and racially.
1864
01:31:47,113 --> 01:31:50,331
But MCA didn't stop them from it either.
1865
01:31:51,560 --> 01:31:52,725
Nor I.
1866
01:31:53,578 --> 01:31:55,189
That's what they wanted to do.
1867
01:31:56,241 --> 01:31:59,773
That's what they felt in their hearts.
1868
01:31:59,773 --> 01:32:01,924
That's who they believed they were.
1869
01:32:03,304 --> 01:32:06,546
That's who they were,
so that's what they did.
1870
01:32:07,669 --> 01:32:10,802
- I always thought it was a Rebel Flag.
1871
01:32:10,802 --> 01:32:13,113
Me personally, understand
I'm from Southern
1872
01:32:13,113 --> 01:32:17,220
California, I'm about as
anti-slavery as you can get.
1873
01:32:17,220 --> 01:32:19,496
The flag being part of their heritage,
1874
01:32:19,496 --> 01:32:20,755
I understand that, too.
1875
01:32:21,725 --> 01:32:24,353
Just because we draped a
flag back there doesn't mean
1876
01:32:24,353 --> 01:32:27,862
that we believed in slavery or anything.
1877
01:32:27,862 --> 01:32:30,537
It's simply a Rebel Flag
1878
01:32:30,537 --> 01:32:32,418
and the band was surely Rebels.
1879
01:32:34,092 --> 01:32:35,699
- [Voiceover] This
controversy was heightened
1880
01:32:35,699 --> 01:32:37,412
with the release of Skynyrd's next single,
1881
01:32:37,412 --> 01:32:39,642
Sweet Home Alabama which was in part
1882
01:32:39,642 --> 01:32:41,331
an anthem for the South.
1883
01:32:41,331 --> 01:32:43,420
It also a highly ambiguous statement
1884
01:32:43,420 --> 01:32:44,620
from Ronnie Van Zant.
1885
01:32:45,778 --> 01:32:48,265
Not only did he address
Neil Young in the lyrics
1886
01:32:48,265 --> 01:32:50,484
taking him to task for
the songs, Southern Man
1887
01:32:50,484 --> 01:32:52,795
and Alabama in which Young had condemned
1888
01:32:52,795 --> 01:32:54,790
white Southerners for their racism.
1889
01:32:54,790 --> 01:32:57,547
He also made reference to
Alabama's segregationist
1890
01:32:57,547 --> 01:32:58,935
Governor, George Wallace.
1891
01:33:00,633 --> 01:33:04,340
- I draw the line in the
dust and toss the gauntlet
1892
01:33:04,340 --> 01:33:08,987
before the feet of tyranny
I say segregation now,
1893
01:33:08,987 --> 01:33:12,944
segregation tomorrow,
and segregation forever.
1894
01:33:14,138 --> 01:33:15,784
- [Voiceover] These lyrics
would forever cause doubt
1895
01:33:15,784 --> 01:33:18,737
over Van Zant's own
position on segregation.
1896
01:33:18,737 --> 01:33:21,013
Yet, the controversy in
no way damaged the impact
1897
01:33:21,013 --> 01:33:23,595
of the single itself which
not only provided the band
1898
01:33:23,595 --> 01:33:26,505
with their first top 10
hit on the Billboard Chart,
1899
01:33:26,505 --> 01:33:28,514
but also broke them internationally.
1900
01:33:29,567 --> 01:33:31,996
- Ronnie was proud to be from the South.
1901
01:33:31,996 --> 01:33:35,081
It's a rallying cry for the South.
1902
01:33:35,081 --> 01:33:37,369
That's really what Sweet Home Alabama is.
1903
01:33:37,369 --> 01:33:40,256
If they hadn't written this great song,
1904
01:33:40,256 --> 01:33:42,686
really strong song we wouldn't be talking
1905
01:33:42,686 --> 01:33:44,821
about it today, nobody would care.
1906
01:33:44,821 --> 01:33:47,156
- Sweet Home Alabama
represents the growing
1907
01:33:47,156 --> 01:33:50,265
confidence of young southern men.
1908
01:33:50,265 --> 01:33:52,707
- It represents the growing
confidence of the band.
1909
01:33:52,707 --> 01:33:57,142
It represents some sort of
swagger awash in America.
1910
01:33:57,142 --> 01:33:59,923
It gave people a sort of wistful feeling
1911
01:33:59,923 --> 01:34:04,229
of wanting something
that was gone and again
1912
01:34:04,229 --> 01:34:06,904
for some people that
represented wanting something
1913
01:34:06,904 --> 01:34:09,524
that most of the world
was happy it was gone,
1914
01:34:10,389 --> 01:34:12,935
but for many other people
it didn't represent
1915
01:34:12,935 --> 01:34:14,495
that specifically at all.
1916
01:34:14,495 --> 01:34:19,495
It just represented something
good in some indefinable way.
1917
01:34:20,620 --> 01:34:23,987
It was a song that made you
happy, made you stomp your feet,
1918
01:34:23,987 --> 01:34:28,270
made you jump up out of your
seat and they just nailed it.
1919
01:34:28,270 --> 01:34:31,179
Everything came together
into a perfect song
1920
01:34:31,179 --> 01:34:32,986
for that band at that time.
1921
01:34:32,986 --> 01:34:37,539
♪ Well, I heard Mr. Young sing about her ♪
1922
01:34:37,539 --> 01:34:42,302
♪ Well, I hear old Neil put her down ♪
1923
01:34:42,302 --> 01:34:47,113
♪ Well, I hope Neil Young will remember ♪
1924
01:34:47,113 --> 01:34:52,064
♪ A Southern Man don't
need him around anyhow ♪
1925
01:34:52,064 --> 01:34:56,922
♪ Sweet Home Alabama ♪
1926
01:34:56,922 --> 01:35:01,568
♪ Where the skis are so blue, whoo ♪
1927
01:35:01,568 --> 01:35:04,243
- What I always thought
was it was a completley
1928
01:35:04,243 --> 01:35:05,862
legitimate song.
1929
01:35:05,862 --> 01:35:08,631
I never had any problem with that song.
1930
01:35:08,631 --> 01:35:10,896
I'm not suggesting that
the political logic
1931
01:35:10,896 --> 01:35:14,873
of Sweet Home Alabama is anything special,
1932
01:35:14,873 --> 01:35:18,405
but simply as an expression of feeling
1933
01:35:18,405 --> 01:35:20,388
it seem completely legitimate.
1934
01:35:20,388 --> 01:35:23,098
Basically, he's saying to Neil Young
1935
01:35:23,098 --> 01:35:24,899
who's after all a Canadian,
1936
01:35:24,899 --> 01:35:26,601
don't you moralize at us.
1937
01:35:26,601 --> 01:35:28,227
And I don't think that's a bad thing
1938
01:35:28,227 --> 01:35:29,271
fort somebody to say.
1939
01:35:29,271 --> 01:35:30,620
He was moralizing.
1940
01:35:30,620 --> 01:35:32,075
And I love Neil Young.
1941
01:35:32,075 --> 01:35:33,577
Neil Young is one of my favorite artists
1942
01:35:33,577 --> 01:35:34,953
in the whole history of his music.
1943
01:35:35,794 --> 01:35:40,794
♪ Southern man better keep your head ♪
1944
01:35:41,497 --> 01:35:46,497
♪ Don't forget what your good book said ♪
1945
01:35:48,008 --> 01:35:53,008
♪ Southern change gonna come at last ♪
1946
01:35:54,133 --> 01:35:59,133
♪ Now your crosses are burning fast. ♪
1947
01:35:59,671 --> 01:36:00,871
♪ Southern man ♪
1948
01:36:06,418 --> 01:36:08,048
- The Neil Young thing of course
1949
01:36:08,048 --> 01:36:10,512
it was a repost to Neil Young
1950
01:36:10,512 --> 01:36:13,987
for dumping on Southern men, you know,
1951
01:36:13,987 --> 01:36:16,345
didn't do what the good book says
1952
01:36:16,345 --> 01:36:18,152
and yeah, he had every
right to, Neil Young
1953
01:36:18,152 --> 01:36:21,097
had every right to do a song like that.
1954
01:36:21,097 --> 01:36:22,271
It was perfectly timed.
1955
01:36:22,271 --> 01:36:26,788
And Ronnie had every
perfect right to dispute it
1956
01:36:26,788 --> 01:36:28,970
and stand up for Southern manhood.
1957
01:36:28,970 --> 01:36:30,707
That part of it was fine,
1958
01:36:30,707 --> 01:36:35,042
but when you get into the
Governor in Birmingham
1959
01:36:35,042 --> 01:36:37,776
Birmingham, why did he choose Birmingham?
1960
01:36:38,699 --> 01:36:39,896
It's not the capital of the state.
1961
01:36:39,896 --> 01:36:41,985
Birmingham is a place where the worse,
1962
01:36:41,985 --> 01:36:45,575
bloodiest race riots happened in Alabama.
1963
01:36:45,575 --> 01:36:48,239
Why did is he choosing, in Birmingham
1964
01:36:48,239 --> 01:36:50,234
they love the governor,.
1965
01:36:50,234 --> 01:36:51,196
Yeah, we know that.
1966
01:36:51,196 --> 01:36:53,425
They love him because
they're a bunch of racists.
1967
01:36:53,425 --> 01:36:56,010
So is he was he sending them up?
1968
01:36:56,921 --> 01:36:59,421
Or was he endorsing them?
1969
01:36:59,421 --> 01:37:00,829
We never knew.
1970
01:37:00,829 --> 01:37:03,515
- I put the background vocals on that
1971
01:37:03,515 --> 01:37:06,930
without discussing it with them.
1972
01:37:06,930 --> 01:37:08,901
It was a very tough session
1973
01:37:08,901 --> 01:37:10,711
because I used black women
1974
01:37:11,635 --> 01:37:14,380
and they don't think Sweet Home Alabama
1975
01:37:14,380 --> 01:37:17,071
they think George Wallace.
1976
01:37:20,176 --> 01:37:23,029
♪ In Birmingham they love the governor ♪
1977
01:37:23,029 --> 01:37:25,287
♪ Boo, hoo, hoo ♪
1978
01:37:25,287 --> 01:37:27,634
♪ Now we all did what we could do ♪
1979
01:37:27,634 --> 01:37:28,764
- What's he doing there?
1980
01:37:29,805 --> 01:37:31,729
He's playing both ends against the middle.
1981
01:37:31,729 --> 01:37:33,172
That's what he's doing.
1982
01:37:33,172 --> 01:37:35,131
That boo, boo, boo thing.
1983
01:37:35,131 --> 01:37:36,786
Who was booing?:
1984
01:37:36,786 --> 01:37:38,827
He leaves that completely open.
1985
01:37:38,827 --> 01:37:41,001
I really tried to pin him down on it.
1986
01:37:45,246 --> 01:37:48,376
He said, with a fair amount of clarity
1987
01:37:49,944 --> 01:37:54,286
that he did not agree with
George Wallace's view of race.
1988
01:37:54,286 --> 01:37:57,547
He said that with a
fair amount of clarity.
1989
01:37:57,547 --> 01:38:01,045
Did he therefore think that
the appeal that George Wallace
1990
01:38:01,045 --> 01:38:04,491
had to working-class
Southerners was all together
1991
01:38:04,491 --> 01:38:07,953
illegitimate when no other candidate was
1992
01:38:07,953 --> 01:38:09,549
in any way trying to meet
1993
01:38:09,549 --> 01:38:12,506
any of their interests and
George Wallace was smart enough
1994
01:38:12,506 --> 01:38:16,131
to do class stuff and in
fact did some liberal stuff
1995
01:38:16,131 --> 01:38:18,032
for working people in Alabama.
1996
01:38:18,032 --> 01:38:20,543
He understands that there's
something about George Wallace
1997
01:38:20,543 --> 01:38:22,162
that he want to celebrate.
1998
01:38:22,162 --> 01:38:23,535
And there's something about George Wallace
1999
01:38:23,535 --> 01:38:25,330
that he wants to critcize.
2000
01:38:25,330 --> 01:38:27,434
There's a certain type
of chip on shoulder,
2001
01:38:29,026 --> 01:38:34,026
double-dare you thing
going on where he wants
2002
01:38:34,083 --> 01:38:38,180
to rile up and get his core audience,
2003
01:38:38,180 --> 01:38:39,862
the people he grew up with
2004
01:38:40,778 --> 01:38:45,701
and wants to say to the
rest of the rock audience
2005
01:38:45,701 --> 01:38:47,727
who he really would love to have on board,
2006
01:38:47,727 --> 01:38:49,319
who he wants to have buying his record.
2007
01:38:49,319 --> 01:38:51,149
No, this is who I am.
2008
01:38:51,149 --> 01:38:52,757
Take it or leave it.
2009
01:38:52,757 --> 01:38:53,969
I'm gonna do this now
2010
01:38:55,115 --> 01:38:59,433
because I'm not simply going
to be kissing ass here.
2011
01:38:59,433 --> 01:39:02,006
It's a very, very complicated gesture
2012
01:39:03,269 --> 01:39:06,449
that he brought off with
more subtly than I can
2013
01:39:06,449 --> 01:39:09,914
in the end penetrate and
that speaks well of him.
2014
01:39:10,919 --> 01:39:13,289
- [Voiceover] With a
bonafide hit to propel them
2015
01:39:13,289 --> 01:39:15,812
Skynyrd continued to tour
the US into the Summer.
2016
01:39:15,812 --> 01:39:18,557
Yet, despite their growing
fame, their devotion
2017
01:39:18,557 --> 01:39:21,725
to the chaotic routine, of
the rock-n-roll lifestyle
2018
01:39:21,725 --> 01:39:23,579
was beginning to take
it's toll on the band
2019
01:39:23,579 --> 01:39:25,550
and strained their
relationship with manager,
2020
01:39:25,550 --> 01:39:26,817
Alan Walden.
2021
01:39:26,817 --> 01:39:29,399
- By the time the band got out there
2022
01:39:29,399 --> 01:39:31,992
they had been playing the bars so long
2023
01:39:31,992 --> 01:39:35,418
that almost everybody in
the band was an alcoholic,
2024
01:39:35,418 --> 01:39:37,412
myself included, you know.
2025
01:39:37,412 --> 01:39:41,812
I needed to grasp real control of the band
2026
01:39:41,812 --> 01:39:45,144
before they started
fucking up the whole thing.
2027
01:39:45,144 --> 01:39:50,144
I began to have to talk to hotel managers
2028
01:39:51,633 --> 01:39:55,238
more and more and more about
them tearing up hotels.
2029
01:39:56,608 --> 01:39:57,906
Spend a good bit of time trying
2030
01:39:57,906 --> 01:40:01,801
to convince the law officials
not to arrest them all, okay?
2031
01:40:01,801 --> 01:40:05,603
Finally in Saint Louis one
night, they were checking
2032
01:40:05,603 --> 01:40:09,174
in to a hotel and on
the way in, checking in,
2033
01:40:09,174 --> 01:40:12,712
they busted out the exit
signs in the hallway.
2034
01:40:13,670 --> 01:40:16,333
Well, the bellman calls down to the desk
2035
01:40:16,333 --> 01:40:19,059
and the desk comes up and says,
"Hey, you guys gotta leave."
2036
01:40:19,947 --> 01:40:21,789
"Well, that ain't no problem,
we'll get our manager to get
2037
01:40:21,789 --> 01:40:23,467
"another hotel."
2038
01:40:23,467 --> 01:40:25,348
There was a convention in town.
2039
01:40:26,236 --> 01:40:30,296
That was the last hotel
that had any rooms, okay.
2040
01:40:30,296 --> 01:40:33,264
So now they're mad with me
because I can't get them
2041
01:40:33,264 --> 01:40:34,590
a room in the middle of the night.
2042
01:40:34,590 --> 01:40:35,755
I said, "Let me tell you something,
2043
01:40:36,796 --> 01:40:39,706
"this just goes to show you
why you shouldn't be doing
2044
01:40:39,706 --> 01:40:41,841
"this dumb shit."
2045
01:40:41,841 --> 01:40:43,660
- [Voiceover] In August
the band members returned
2046
01:40:43,660 --> 01:40:45,678
to Jacksonville and back
in the relatively tranquil
2047
01:40:45,678 --> 01:40:48,775
environment of their home
turf were able to recover
2048
01:40:48,775 --> 01:40:50,652
from their excesses.
2049
01:40:50,652 --> 01:40:53,811
Work soon began at Hell House
and new material however,
2050
01:40:53,811 --> 01:40:56,204
with a creative partnership
of Ed King and Ronnie Van Zant
2051
01:40:56,204 --> 01:40:57,381
continued to thrive.
2052
01:40:58,246 --> 01:41:00,193
- I came to rehearsal with this groove
2053
01:41:00,193 --> 01:41:01,320
that Ronnie really liked.
2054
01:41:01,320 --> 01:41:03,537
Actually Ronnie contributed to the groove.
2055
01:41:03,537 --> 01:41:05,379
It was the first time he ever did.
2056
01:41:05,379 --> 01:41:07,280
He says, "Look, I like that and the verses
2057
01:41:07,280 --> 01:41:09,122
"want you to do this and then go back
2058
01:41:09,122 --> 01:41:10,126
"to what you have."
2059
01:41:10,126 --> 01:41:12,039
Saturday Night Special
2060
01:41:12,039 --> 01:41:13,466
So I'm there rehearsing
with the band trying
2061
01:41:13,466 --> 01:41:15,730
to teach them the groove
and Ronnie's over there
2062
01:41:15,730 --> 01:41:18,769
in the corner and after
about 20 minutes Ronnie comes
2063
01:41:18,769 --> 01:41:20,951
up to me, not on the mic
which he usually did,
2064
01:41:20,951 --> 01:41:24,882
sing for everybody, this
is really, this tore me up.
2065
01:41:24,882 --> 01:41:28,308
He cupped my ear with his hand
2066
01:41:28,308 --> 01:41:29,368
and he sung to me.
2067
01:41:30,631 --> 01:41:33,756
"Two feets they come a creepin
2068
01:41:34,738 --> 01:41:36,891
"like a black cat do."
2069
01:41:36,891 --> 01:41:39,194
You know, and he sang
the whole verse to me.
2070
01:41:43,708 --> 01:41:47,697
♪ Two thiefs they come a creepin' ♪
2071
01:41:47,697 --> 01:41:51,604
♪ Like a black cat do ♪
2072
01:41:51,604 --> 01:41:55,628
♪ Two bodies laying necked ♪
2073
01:41:55,628 --> 01:41:59,618
♪ Creeper think he got nothing to lose ♪
2074
01:41:59,618 --> 01:42:03,759
♪ So he creeps into the house, Lord ♪
2075
01:42:03,759 --> 01:42:07,678
♪ Unlocks the door ♪
2076
01:42:07,678 --> 01:42:11,609
♪ And as a man's reaching
for his trousers ♪
2077
01:42:11,609 --> 01:42:15,809
♪ Shoots him full of bullet holes ♪
2078
01:42:15,809 --> 01:42:20,010
♪ Mister Saturday night special ♪
2079
01:42:20,010 --> 01:42:21,820
- I mean I feel inspired
now just thinking about it.
2080
01:42:21,820 --> 01:42:25,209
I went right to the chorus
and then he wrote the chorus.
2081
01:42:25,209 --> 01:42:27,403
So he had a verse and a chorus,
2082
01:42:27,403 --> 01:42:28,518
went to go fishing.
2083
01:42:28,518 --> 01:42:30,477
He went fishing, you know.
2084
01:42:30,477 --> 01:42:31,932
- [Voiceover] Although
Saturday Night Special
2085
01:42:31,932 --> 01:42:34,431
developed quickly the
rehearsals also highlighted
2086
01:42:34,431 --> 01:42:37,364
the limitations of drummer
Bob Burns who was struggling
2087
01:42:37,364 --> 01:42:39,781
to recover from the heavy
touring during the first half
2088
01:42:39,781 --> 01:42:41,224
of the year.
2089
01:42:41,224 --> 01:42:43,724
Although Ronnie Van Zant
started looking for a temporary
2090
01:42:43,724 --> 01:42:46,856
replacement, Burns himself
sensed that his time with Skynyrd
2091
01:42:46,856 --> 01:42:48,021
was coming to an end.
2092
01:42:49,039 --> 01:42:50,955
- I just got so burned out.
2093
01:42:51,926 --> 01:42:54,898
What they were asking for I just
2094
01:42:56,572 --> 01:42:58,523
had had so much of it
2095
01:42:59,705 --> 01:43:01,104
and for so long
2096
01:43:06,768 --> 01:43:08,778
I just told them to get another drummer.
2097
01:43:11,402 --> 01:43:12,837
You see the way I'm playing
2098
01:43:17,175 --> 01:43:20,752
and I developed some
pretty serious illnesses
2099
01:43:25,301 --> 01:43:28,340
to keep me where I
couldn't play correctly.
2100
01:43:28,340 --> 01:43:30,393
- We tried to rehearse Saturday
Night Special with him,
2101
01:43:30,393 --> 01:43:31,906
but it just wasn't right.
2102
01:43:31,906 --> 01:43:35,235
Leon and I went to Atlanta
and auditioned Artimus Pyle
2103
01:43:35,235 --> 01:43:38,098
who was a good friend of
the Marshall Tucker boys.
2104
01:43:38,098 --> 01:43:42,322
Al Kooper dropped by and
said, "You know that song
2105
01:43:42,322 --> 01:43:45,102
"you guys worked up,
Saturday Night Special,
2106
01:43:45,102 --> 01:43:46,513
"why don't you work that up with Artimus
2107
01:43:46,513 --> 01:43:50,374
"because it's gonna be in
this movie, The Longest Yard."
2108
01:43:50,374 --> 01:43:52,393
So we started working up with Artimus
2109
01:43:52,393 --> 01:43:54,282
and Al liked what he heard and he said,
2110
01:43:54,282 --> 01:43:56,605
"Go over to Studio one and record it."
2111
01:43:56,605 --> 01:43:58,200
So we did.
2112
01:43:58,200 --> 01:44:00,272
- [Voiceover] Artimus Pyle
who had previously worked
2113
01:44:00,272 --> 01:44:03,174
with Charlie Daniels proved a
perfect replacement for Burns.
2114
01:44:04,027 --> 01:44:06,564
♪ For 20 dollars you can
buy yourself one too ♪
2115
01:44:08,356 --> 01:44:09,588
- Well, he was very good.
2116
01:44:09,588 --> 01:44:11,418
I thought he was better than Bob.
2117
01:44:11,418 --> 01:44:13,542
It was a good thing for the band,
2118
01:44:13,542 --> 01:44:16,804
musically it was really a
good thing for the band.
2119
01:44:16,804 --> 01:44:19,714
- Ronnie called me
after talking to Charlie
2120
01:44:19,714 --> 01:44:21,908
and after talking to the Caldwell brothers
2121
01:44:21,908 --> 01:44:24,594
Toy and Tommy, I think
Charlie said something
2122
01:44:24,594 --> 01:44:26,988
to the effect of, "I know
a guy that's crazy enough
2123
01:44:26,988 --> 01:44:28,947
"to be in your band, Ronnie.
2124
01:44:28,947 --> 01:44:32,131
"He's as crazy or
crazier than all of you."
2125
01:44:34,005 --> 01:44:37,713
To be the drummer of Skynyrd
you have to be a little crazy.
2126
01:44:37,713 --> 01:44:41,174
Ed knew that Bob had to take a break
2127
01:44:41,174 --> 01:44:43,204
and they needed somebody, so I was
2128
01:44:43,204 --> 01:44:46,528
Mister Somebody and I was thrilled.
2129
01:44:47,850 --> 01:44:49,951
- [Voiceover] During this
break in their touring schedule
2130
01:44:49,951 --> 01:44:52,684
Van Zant also actively sought
to severe the band's ties
2131
01:44:52,684 --> 01:44:55,453
with Alan Walden and another
option was interested
2132
01:44:55,453 --> 01:44:57,108
and available.
2133
01:44:57,108 --> 01:44:59,830
British manager Peter Rutch
who had been overseeing
2134
01:44:59,830 --> 01:45:03,045
The Who's affairs since 1971 was over awed
2135
01:45:03,045 --> 01:45:05,919
by Skynyrd shows opening
the Quadrophenia tour
2136
01:45:05,919 --> 01:45:08,407
and had let Van Zant know that
if the nature of the band's
2137
01:45:08,407 --> 01:45:10,554
relationship changed with Walden he'd
2138
01:45:10,554 --> 01:45:11,848
happily take his place.
2139
01:45:12,830 --> 01:45:16,584
- It was heart-breaking to
me, but at the same time
2140
01:45:16,584 --> 01:45:20,128
it was like a big old
concrete block falling off
2141
01:45:20,128 --> 01:45:21,735
of my shoulders.
2142
01:45:21,735 --> 01:45:23,440
- I don't think Ronnie trusted Alan.
2143
01:45:25,267 --> 01:45:27,402
Didn't think for where the band was headed
2144
01:45:27,402 --> 01:45:29,620
that Alan was the right guy.
2145
01:45:29,620 --> 01:45:31,157
Needed somebody bigger.
2146
01:45:31,157 --> 01:45:35,029
I and I think Peter Rutch,
you know not many people
2147
01:45:35,029 --> 01:45:38,267
could get to Ronnie as far
as making an impression
2148
01:45:38,267 --> 01:45:42,999
on him because Ronnie could
suss you out pretty quick.
2149
01:45:43,840 --> 01:45:45,565
I mean real, real fast.
2150
01:45:45,565 --> 01:45:48,651
He was very, very bright,
but Peter Rutch I think
2151
01:45:48,651 --> 01:45:50,587
put one over on him.
2152
01:45:50,587 --> 01:45:53,860
Not that Peter Rutch was
deceptive or anything
2153
01:45:53,860 --> 01:45:57,063
except Ronnie was
overwhelmed by Peter's accent
2154
01:45:57,063 --> 01:45:59,797
his demeanor, just Peter was the guy.
2155
01:45:59,797 --> 01:46:02,214
Of course, Peter managed
The Who, and Tanya Tucker,
2156
01:46:02,214 --> 01:46:04,224
and The Stones, so why
wouldn't he be, you know.
2157
01:46:05,136 --> 01:46:07,107
- [Voiceover] Rutch took
over shortly before Skynyrd
2158
01:46:07,107 --> 01:46:09,477
was due to head to Europe
for their first non-domestic
2159
01:46:09,477 --> 01:46:12,731
tour to capitalize on their
surging popularity overseas.
2160
01:46:13,689 --> 01:46:16,036
The issue of a drummer now became pressing
2161
01:46:16,036 --> 01:46:18,230
as they still hadn't
formerly invited Artimus Pyle
2162
01:46:18,230 --> 01:46:20,506
to take on the roll full time.
2163
01:46:20,506 --> 01:46:22,993
And a flagging Bob Burns
was reluctantly taken along
2164
01:46:22,993 --> 01:46:24,366
for the show.
2165
01:46:24,366 --> 01:46:27,010
It would prove to be the end
of his journey with the band.
2166
01:46:28,707 --> 01:46:33,424
- They were kind of phasing
Bob out, but they had to go do
2167
01:46:33,424 --> 01:46:36,451
a European tour and there
wasn't time to teach me the
2168
01:46:36,451 --> 01:46:41,386
entire set, so for a little short time,
2169
01:46:41,386 --> 01:46:44,401
just maybe two weeks we were on the road
2170
01:46:44,401 --> 01:46:47,460
and Bob and I played
together, one little tour.
2171
01:46:47,460 --> 01:46:50,763
And then they went to
Paris and Bob had a nervous
2172
01:46:50,763 --> 01:46:52,359
breakdown.
2173
01:46:52,359 --> 01:46:53,474
- I don't think it was drugs.
2174
01:46:53,474 --> 01:46:55,140
I don't think it was drugs.
2175
01:46:55,140 --> 01:46:57,604
I think Bob was under a lot of pressure.
2176
01:46:57,604 --> 01:46:59,974
There was times on stage
where he would lose his place
2177
01:46:59,974 --> 01:47:04,092
in songs and none of us
got on Bob that much,
2178
01:47:04,092 --> 01:47:05,559
but Ronnie sure did.
2179
01:47:05,559 --> 01:47:09,114
I mean if you messed up, Ronnie
would get on you real bad.
2180
01:47:09,114 --> 01:47:12,575
In Europe one night, one
morning, early morning
2181
01:47:12,575 --> 01:47:15,496
we had a bus ride and
Ronnie got on Bob's case
2182
01:47:15,496 --> 01:47:18,398
about the night before,
just really, really, bad
2183
01:47:19,427 --> 01:47:21,140
and Bob lost it.
2184
01:47:21,140 --> 01:47:26,140
♪ Oh, 9000 dollars,
that's all we could win ♪
2185
01:47:27,219 --> 01:47:29,308
♪ But we smiled at the Yankee Slicker ♪
2186
01:47:29,308 --> 01:47:32,699
♪ With a big ol' Southern grin ♪
2187
01:47:32,699 --> 01:47:35,233
♪ They're gonna take me
out to California gonna ♪
2188
01:47:35,233 --> 01:47:38,448
♪ Make me a superstar ♪
2189
01:47:38,448 --> 01:47:40,736
♪ Just pay me all of my money ♪
2190
01:47:40,736 --> 01:47:44,173
♪ And mister maybe you won't get a scar ♪
2191
01:47:44,173 --> 01:47:47,025
♪ Should have signed the contract ♪
2192
01:47:47,025 --> 01:47:49,852
♪ Should have signed today ♪
2193
01:47:49,852 --> 01:47:52,433
♪ Gonna give you lots of money ♪
2194
01:47:52,433 --> 01:47:54,713
♪ Workin' for MCA ♪
2195
01:47:55,637 --> 01:47:57,631
- It was a good tour.
2196
01:47:57,631 --> 01:47:59,485
We played some damn good music.
2197
01:47:59,485 --> 01:48:01,573
I kept a diary of it.
2198
01:48:01,573 --> 01:48:04,155
I got road fatigue, you know.
2199
01:48:04,155 --> 01:48:05,750
I wasn't eating right.
2200
01:48:05,750 --> 01:48:07,804
I wasn't sleeping right.
2201
01:48:07,804 --> 01:48:09,704
I was down to skin and bones.
2202
01:48:09,704 --> 01:48:10,905
I wasn't eating.
2203
01:48:12,761 --> 01:48:16,410
All the perverted sex, you know,
2204
01:48:16,410 --> 01:48:20,274
I didn't think it was perverted back then,
2205
01:48:21,428 --> 01:48:25,914
later on in my older
life I can see, wow, man.
2206
01:48:28,773 --> 01:48:31,179
My mind just blew a 50 amp fuse.
2207
01:48:31,179 --> 01:48:33,255
I pushed so hard.
2208
01:48:33,255 --> 01:48:37,960
I pushed harder than a man
should ever push himself.
2209
01:48:37,960 --> 01:48:40,495
I snapped a 50 amp fuse.
2210
01:48:40,495 --> 01:48:41,836
Had to go in the hospital.
2211
01:48:42,829 --> 01:48:44,132
- It was sad.
2212
01:48:44,132 --> 01:48:45,317
It was really sad.
2213
01:48:45,317 --> 01:48:48,649
I think it just because the
band was just overworked.
2214
01:48:48,649 --> 01:48:51,257
We were under Peter's
direction at the time
2215
01:48:52,556 --> 01:48:54,836
and we hadn't really had much
of a break that whole year.
2216
01:48:55,712 --> 01:48:59,291
What happened with Bob in
England, I could go into detail,
2217
01:48:59,291 --> 01:49:00,546
but I'd really rather not.
2218
01:49:00,546 --> 01:49:03,413
He just had a breakdown of all breakdowns.
2219
01:49:05,110 --> 01:49:07,445
it was quite visible to everyone.
2220
01:49:07,445 --> 01:49:10,214
It was so bad the hotel guy kicked us out.
2221
01:49:10,214 --> 01:49:11,532
Wouldn't let us come back.
2222
01:49:13,664 --> 01:49:15,952
Actually he threw the
house cat out the window
2223
01:49:15,952 --> 01:49:17,704
and killed him from five stories above
2224
01:49:19,425 --> 01:49:21,704
and it got worse after that.
2225
01:49:23,191 --> 01:49:24,047
Yeah, it was sad.
2226
01:49:24,047 --> 01:49:25,232
It didn't have to happen.
2227
01:49:25,232 --> 01:49:27,649
Bob had grown up with these guys.
2228
01:49:27,649 --> 01:49:30,105
I think if we just
handled our tours better.
2229
01:49:31,005 --> 01:49:33,858
Nobody who managed the band really saw
2230
01:49:33,858 --> 01:49:36,545
any longevity, of course
how could you back then?
2231
01:49:36,545 --> 01:49:39,013
It was just good, go for all
the money you can right now.
2232
01:49:39,901 --> 01:49:42,060
- [Voiceover] The relentless
nature of the Skynyrd schedule
2233
01:49:42,060 --> 01:49:44,512
continued directly for all the tour.
2234
01:49:44,512 --> 01:49:47,527
Returning to the US in late December 1975
2235
01:49:47,527 --> 01:49:50,989
by January 6th the were
booked into WEBB IV studios
2236
01:49:50,989 --> 01:49:52,651
in Atlanta to record a new album.
2237
01:49:53,712 --> 01:49:55,996
Artimus Pyle had now been drafted in
2238
01:49:55,996 --> 01:49:58,843
as a replacement for
Bob Burns and Al Kooper
2239
01:49:58,843 --> 01:50:00,862
was once again present as a producer
2240
01:50:00,862 --> 01:50:03,384
despite MCA having recently bought out his
2241
01:50:03,384 --> 01:50:06,071
Sounds Of The South deal with the band.
2242
01:50:06,071 --> 01:50:08,218
Yet, his circumstances
were totally foreign
2243
01:50:08,218 --> 01:50:09,790
to all involved.
2244
01:50:09,790 --> 01:50:12,160
With no time to compose
new material during the
2245
01:50:12,160 --> 01:50:15,739
previous year Skynyrd
had 21 days to both write
2246
01:50:15,739 --> 01:50:17,440
and record the album.
2247
01:50:17,440 --> 01:50:19,411
- We were putting out a
new album, new material
2248
01:50:19,411 --> 01:50:20,503
every nine months.
2249
01:50:20,503 --> 01:50:22,333
Bands don't do that today.
2250
01:50:22,333 --> 01:50:24,668
It might take two or
three years, you know?
2251
01:50:24,668 --> 01:50:26,546
But they wanted new
product every nine months
2252
01:50:26,546 --> 01:50:30,242
which I thought was just way too much.
2253
01:50:30,242 --> 01:50:34,214
Nuthin' Fancy was written
and recorded in the studio.
2254
01:50:34,214 --> 01:50:37,300
Up until this time everything
was written at Hell House,
2255
01:50:37,300 --> 01:50:39,318
thoroughly rehearsed,
maybe played once or twice
2256
01:50:39,318 --> 01:50:41,882
in front of people, then
taken in the studio.
2257
01:50:41,882 --> 01:50:43,313
- We had a month.
2258
01:50:43,313 --> 01:50:45,300
We were in Atlanta.
2259
01:50:46,693 --> 01:50:50,822
I said, "I'm gonna go to New York
2260
01:50:52,121 --> 01:50:53,732
"for two weeks,
2261
01:50:54,808 --> 01:50:58,085
"and I'm gonna party my brains out.
2262
01:51:01,343 --> 01:51:05,273
"This is your time to
do what you normally do,
2263
01:51:05,273 --> 01:51:07,260
"but you only have two weeks to do it."
2264
01:51:08,670 --> 01:51:11,768
I came back and it was
what I thought it would be
2265
01:51:11,768 --> 01:51:15,299
which is it was almost done.
2266
01:51:15,299 --> 01:51:19,523
This was a very tense making of a record.
2267
01:51:19,523 --> 01:51:23,548
There was no fun involved
for me what-so-ever.
2268
01:51:23,548 --> 01:51:26,399
- Things changed with
our relationship with Al.
2269
01:51:26,399 --> 01:51:28,077
It was really out of control.
2270
01:51:28,077 --> 01:51:30,271
There was times at the
studio when other band
2271
01:51:30,271 --> 01:51:32,300
members would bring all their friends by.
2272
01:51:32,300 --> 01:51:34,131
All these people coming and going
2273
01:51:34,131 --> 01:51:37,416
and lots of drugs, beer which we never had
2274
01:51:37,416 --> 01:51:38,378
at Hell House.
2275
01:51:38,378 --> 01:51:41,010
At Hell House it was all business.
2276
01:51:42,382 --> 01:51:44,034
Nuthin' Fancy was just difficult
2277
01:51:44,034 --> 01:51:47,355
and Al was totally fed
up and understandably so.
2278
01:51:47,355 --> 01:51:50,476
It was really hard for him
because they were really
2279
01:51:50,476 --> 01:51:53,037
everybody was really
putting it in his face.
2280
01:51:54,524 --> 01:51:57,645
He was a Yankee and it
really got tough for Al.
2281
01:51:57,645 --> 01:52:00,092
- [Voiceover] With no one
satisfied with the situation
2282
01:52:00,092 --> 01:52:01,746
the music itself suffered.
2283
01:52:01,746 --> 01:52:03,184
Yet, the hectic schedule that had been
2284
01:52:03,184 --> 01:52:05,429
imposed on the band was
apparently inflexible.
2285
01:52:06,411 --> 01:52:09,332
It not only proved detrimental
to the album itself
2286
01:52:09,332 --> 01:52:11,702
but also spelled the end
of Skynyrd's creative
2287
01:52:11,702 --> 01:52:13,310
partnership with Kooper.
2288
01:52:13,310 --> 01:52:16,161
- The last song on the
record Ronnie has a head cold
2289
01:52:16,161 --> 01:52:18,871
that's so bad, you can just tell.
2290
01:52:18,871 --> 01:52:21,617
There are sections on it
that needed to be redone
2291
01:52:21,617 --> 01:52:22,778
maybe expanded.
2292
01:52:22,778 --> 01:52:24,201
It was just unfinished record.
2293
01:52:25,782 --> 01:52:29,959
But yet the minute it was
over, the rest of the band
2294
01:52:29,959 --> 01:52:32,798
was on a bus going to
Detroit to start a tour
2295
01:52:32,798 --> 01:52:34,675
the second it was over.
2296
01:52:34,675 --> 01:52:36,776
Ronnie and I stayed
back to finish the vocal
2297
01:52:36,776 --> 01:52:38,682
on Whisky Rock and
Roller, then we both took
2298
01:52:38,682 --> 01:52:40,888
a plane to Detroit to meet the band
2299
01:52:40,888 --> 01:52:42,754
and then the tour just started.
2300
01:52:42,754 --> 01:52:45,984
- I remember vividly the last day.
2301
01:52:47,693 --> 01:52:50,404
The tour bus was parked outside.
2302
01:52:50,404 --> 01:52:51,894
It wasn't like they were gonna go home
2303
01:52:51,894 --> 01:52:53,900
and get ready to tour.
2304
01:52:53,900 --> 01:52:56,786
The tour bus was there and
they were going right out
2305
01:52:56,786 --> 01:52:59,239
and they were gonna start touring.
2306
01:52:59,239 --> 01:53:02,899
I thought to myself while
all this was going on,
2307
01:53:02,899 --> 01:53:06,889
"I can't do this again.
2308
01:53:06,889 --> 01:53:09,094
"This is torture."
2309
01:53:09,094 --> 01:53:14,057
So I said to them, "I
would rather be your friend
2310
01:53:14,057 --> 01:53:16,889
"than be your producer from now on."
2311
01:53:19,009 --> 01:53:21,371
And I think you know,
they had had enough of me.
2312
01:53:22,505 --> 01:53:25,424
- [Voiceover] Issued in
late March in 1975 the album
2313
01:53:25,424 --> 01:53:27,354
Nuthin Fancy peaked at number nine on the
2314
01:53:27,354 --> 01:53:28,639
Billboard Charts.
2315
01:53:28,639 --> 01:53:31,103
The band's first Top-10 album.
2316
01:53:31,103 --> 01:53:33,614
Yet, Van Zant himself
expressed his dissatisfaction
2317
01:53:33,614 --> 01:53:34,721
with the end result.
2318
01:53:36,266 --> 01:53:41,266
♪ Cheating woman make you crazy ♪
2319
01:53:43,153 --> 01:53:48,153
♪ Cheating woman make you a fool ♪
2320
01:53:49,876 --> 01:53:54,876
♪ She'll leave your house or home ♪
2321
01:53:56,986 --> 01:54:01,986
♪ Brother, there's
nothing that you can do ♪
2322
01:54:05,681 --> 01:54:09,517
♪ Well, I can't stand the pain no more ♪
2323
01:54:09,517 --> 01:54:12,779
♪ She don't want my love for sure ♪
2324
01:54:12,779 --> 01:54:17,779
♪ She don't want poor me ♪
2325
01:54:18,910 --> 01:54:22,200
♪ Oh knocking on her front door ♪
2326
01:54:23,863 --> 01:54:26,682
- I think it was a more laid back record
2327
01:54:27,758 --> 01:54:32,758
than the other two because they felt
2328
01:54:32,838 --> 01:54:35,162
comfortable in a way
2329
01:54:35,162 --> 01:54:38,071
and they were trying to be even more
2330
01:54:38,071 --> 01:54:40,488
of themselves on that record
2331
01:54:40,488 --> 01:54:43,609
and also they'd changed as human beings
2332
01:54:43,609 --> 01:54:48,609
over the course of the three albums.
2333
01:54:48,619 --> 01:54:53,619
♪ I pick cotton down on the Dixie line ♪
2334
01:54:54,194 --> 01:54:58,847
♪ I work all day tryin' to make a dime ♪
2335
01:54:58,847 --> 01:55:03,763
♪ But that's all right, that's OK by me ♪
2336
01:55:03,763 --> 01:55:08,763
♪ 'Cause that's the way
that it was meant to be ♪
2337
01:55:09,460 --> 01:55:14,460
♪ Big city, hard times never bother me ♪
2338
01:55:14,798 --> 01:55:18,345
♪ I'm a country boy, I'm
as happy as I can be ♪
2339
01:55:20,187 --> 01:55:21,674
- Do we sound like a tired band?
2340
01:55:21,674 --> 01:55:23,950
Well, the songs aren't as strong.
2341
01:55:23,950 --> 01:55:25,921
Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd
'Skin-'nérd and Second Helping
2342
01:55:25,921 --> 01:55:27,916
were really strong records,
you know they're like,
2343
01:55:27,916 --> 01:55:31,917
you know, like bang out of
the gate, like big time.
2344
01:55:31,917 --> 01:55:35,366
No sophomore jinx with them at all,
2345
01:55:35,366 --> 01:55:38,616
so their sophomore jinx
kind of came with their next
2346
01:55:38,616 --> 01:55:42,770
record although their
musicianship as players hadn't
2347
01:55:42,770 --> 01:55:46,301
dropped and their ability
to play like a great band
2348
01:55:46,301 --> 01:55:49,939
hadn't changed, but you
know, compositionally
2349
01:55:49,939 --> 01:55:53,517
those songs didn't stand the test of time.
2350
01:55:53,517 --> 01:55:55,137
- Nuthin' Fancy is a disappointing record
2351
01:55:55,137 --> 01:55:57,425
because it didn't have
any of the classic songs
2352
01:55:57,425 --> 01:56:00,845
that had defined Lynyrd
Skynyrd's first two albums.
2353
01:56:00,845 --> 01:56:03,403
it still sonically sounds pretty good.
2354
01:56:03,403 --> 01:56:05,421
They're introducing some new elements
2355
01:56:05,421 --> 01:56:08,319
with mandolin and other
stringed instruments
2356
01:56:08,319 --> 01:56:10,536
and it has a couple of really solid songs,
2357
01:56:10,536 --> 01:56:13,544
Saturday Night Special,
Whiskey Rock and Roller
2358
01:56:14,608 --> 01:56:17,048
and maybe most poignantly Am I losing
2359
01:56:17,048 --> 01:56:19,442
which really seems to be Ronnie reflecting
2360
01:56:19,442 --> 01:56:24,442
on the band's state and his
own state as they struggle
2361
01:56:24,511 --> 01:56:27,291
with success and all
the problems that come
2362
01:56:27,291 --> 01:56:29,004
with success.
2363
01:56:29,004 --> 01:56:31,844
♪ I recall when I used to come home ♪
2364
01:56:31,844 --> 01:56:34,073
♪ Never had a dime ♪
2365
01:56:34,073 --> 01:56:39,073
♪ Lord, I always had a good time ♪
2366
01:56:39,576 --> 01:56:42,356
♪ I recall drinking wine ♪
2367
01:56:42,356 --> 01:56:45,172
♪ With one of my friends ♪
2368
01:56:45,172 --> 01:56:50,147
♪ Lord, can't go back again ♪
2369
01:56:50,147 --> 01:56:53,644
♪ Am I losing ♪
2370
01:56:53,644 --> 01:56:55,755
♪ My own way back home ♪
2371
01:56:55,755 --> 01:56:58,876
♪ Am I losing ♪
2372
01:56:58,876 --> 01:57:02,256
- That's an honest reflection
of what happens now.
2373
01:57:02,256 --> 01:57:03,429
Where am I now?
2374
01:57:03,429 --> 01:57:05,071
Am I losing what made me great,
2375
01:57:05,071 --> 01:57:07,125
what made me strong, what made me
2376
01:57:07,125 --> 01:57:08,380
who I am?
2377
01:57:08,380 --> 01:57:10,637
And I think that in itself
is a powerful statement.
2378
01:57:12,076 --> 01:57:13,695
- [Voiceover] During the
recording of the album
2379
01:57:13,695 --> 01:57:16,383
new comer Artimus Pyle was
introduced into Skynyrd's
2380
01:57:16,383 --> 01:57:18,424
inner sanctum and the following few months
2381
01:57:18,424 --> 01:57:21,651
would prove a baptism
of fire for the drummer.
2382
01:57:21,651 --> 01:57:23,915
If life on the road for the
band had proven excessive
2383
01:57:23,915 --> 01:57:26,203
from previous tours, under the management
2384
01:57:26,203 --> 01:57:28,409
of Pete Rutch their parting increased
2385
01:57:28,409 --> 01:57:30,674
and as they moved directly from the studio
2386
01:57:30,674 --> 01:57:33,044
to the tour bus following
the Nuthin' Fancy
2387
01:57:33,044 --> 01:57:35,860
sessions the drink, drugs
and punch outs became
2388
01:57:35,860 --> 01:57:37,878
a daily phenomenon once more.
2389
01:57:37,878 --> 01:57:39,203
- Yes, there were fights,
2390
01:57:39,203 --> 01:57:41,397
but I've never been afraid of a fight.
2391
01:57:41,397 --> 01:57:42,712
I can take a punch.
2392
01:57:42,712 --> 01:57:47,334
I just immediately integrated
into what I was doing
2393
01:57:47,334 --> 01:57:49,951
in their world, you know.
2394
01:57:49,951 --> 01:57:53,521
Which was a tour bus,
an airplane, a stage,
2395
01:57:54,468 --> 01:57:57,460
a tour bus, an airplane,
a stage, you know,
2396
01:57:57,460 --> 01:58:01,027
just a hotel room, hotel
room, tour bus, airplane,
2397
01:58:01,027 --> 01:58:04,652
stage, studio, studio,
you know, just those five
2398
01:58:04,652 --> 01:58:07,938
things in a row all the
time for three years.
2399
01:58:07,938 --> 01:58:10,695
Back in those days I enjoyed smoking weed,
2400
01:58:10,695 --> 01:58:14,039
but the guys they were hard on themselves.
2401
01:58:14,039 --> 01:58:15,931
You can't burn the candle at both ends,
2402
01:58:17,195 --> 01:58:20,081
and expect to have your
energy up all the time.
2403
01:58:20,081 --> 01:58:22,451
I don't see how they functioned.
2404
01:58:22,451 --> 01:58:26,597
Backstage at our concert it
looked like an ABC store.
2405
01:58:27,438 --> 01:58:31,556
There were cases of
scotch, and cases of vodka,
2406
01:58:31,556 --> 01:58:34,841
and Jack Daniels, and cases of beer.
2407
01:58:34,841 --> 01:58:37,516
The promoter you know,
the promoter always trying
2408
01:58:37,516 --> 01:58:40,168
to make the band feel really good
2409
01:58:40,168 --> 01:58:41,776
and I never understood that.
2410
01:58:41,776 --> 01:58:44,767
They brought all this you
know cartons and cartons
2411
01:58:44,767 --> 01:58:48,675
of cigarettes and the
guys would my boys thought
2412
01:58:48,675 --> 01:58:51,608
that at every show we
played these big arenas,
2413
01:58:51,608 --> 01:58:54,858
stadiums ,all that stuff
that was backstage they were
2414
01:58:54,858 --> 01:58:58,096
supposed to smoke and
drink all of it then.
2415
01:58:58,096 --> 01:59:00,208
- [Voiceover] Ronnie Van Zant
in particular was struggling
2416
01:59:00,208 --> 01:59:02,942
to control his intake which
had a disturbing effect
2417
01:59:02,942 --> 01:59:04,725
on his temperament.
2418
01:59:04,725 --> 01:59:07,307
Never one to back down
from conflict alcohol
2419
01:59:07,307 --> 01:59:10,780
not only fueled an inner
rage, but let him intimidate
2420
01:59:10,780 --> 01:59:13,655
and often physically
abused his own band mates.
2421
01:59:13,655 --> 01:59:17,398
- Ronnie was a maniac that
whole tour, just a maniac,
2422
01:59:17,398 --> 01:59:20,237
night after night something
traumatic would happen.
2423
01:59:20,237 --> 01:59:23,686
One time in Lake Charles,
Louisiana, Ronnie had vowed
2424
01:59:23,686 --> 01:59:25,760
well, he had vowed two weeks before that
2425
01:59:25,760 --> 01:59:28,083
to stop drinking and he did,
2426
01:59:28,083 --> 01:59:30,829
It was really he was a lot better.
2427
01:59:30,829 --> 01:59:33,422
I think he was miserable
but towards the second week
2428
01:59:33,422 --> 01:59:36,496
he got better, but something
snapped in Lake Charles
2429
01:59:36,496 --> 01:59:39,018
two weeks later where he just went crazy,
2430
01:59:39,018 --> 01:59:41,529
and he gathered everybody in the room.
2431
01:59:41,529 --> 01:59:43,172
He ripped off his shirt.
2432
01:59:43,172 --> 01:59:46,727
He grabbed a lamp on the
nightstand and broke it
2433
01:59:46,727 --> 01:59:49,120
against the night stand all
this jagged glass hanging
2434
01:59:49,120 --> 01:59:51,479
and he slammed me up against
the wall held it right
2435
01:59:51,479 --> 01:59:53,791
to my neck and he said,
"I don't want you to say
2436
01:59:53,791 --> 01:59:55,915
"a fucking word."
2437
01:59:55,915 --> 01:59:57,819
"Okay, no problem."
2438
02:00:01,218 --> 02:00:04,374
I can't remember really
what his gripe was.
2439
02:00:04,374 --> 02:00:06,322
"Y'all are stealing from me."
2440
02:00:06,322 --> 02:00:07,299
That was one thing .
2441
02:00:08,844 --> 02:00:13,084
I can't it was just
unjustified it was stupid.
2442
02:00:14,218 --> 02:00:16,823
- [Voiceover] As this run
of 61 shows aptly named
2443
02:00:16,823 --> 02:00:19,416
the torture tour continued across America
2444
02:00:19,416 --> 02:00:21,657
the camaraderie between
the band members quickly
2445
02:00:21,657 --> 02:00:24,355
began to break down exacerbated
by Van Zant's routinely
2446
02:00:24,355 --> 02:00:27,206
drunken and abusive behavior.
2447
02:00:27,206 --> 02:00:29,846
Struggling with both of
volatile atmosphere and his own
2448
02:00:29,846 --> 02:00:33,143
substance abuse issues Ed King
decided midway through the
2449
02:00:33,143 --> 02:00:35,596
tour that it was time to
take his exit from the world
2450
02:00:35,596 --> 02:00:37,714
of Skynyrd.
2451
02:00:37,714 --> 02:00:40,741
- Things started to fall apart
around the middle of May.
2452
02:00:40,741 --> 02:00:43,581
There were decisions just
being made that everybody
2453
02:00:43,581 --> 02:00:47,335
disagreed with and I didn't
think it would hurt to take a
2454
02:00:47,335 --> 02:00:51,876
month off and go rest
and maybe write some more
2455
02:00:51,876 --> 02:00:54,707
and get back in our
little groove that we had
2456
02:00:58,095 --> 02:01:01,052
and I know people will
disagree and say this is a lie,
2457
02:01:01,052 --> 02:01:03,199
but it's the absolute truth
because I have no reason
2458
02:01:03,199 --> 02:01:07,165
to lie, but Ronnie said to
me in front of everybody,
2459
02:01:07,165 --> 02:01:11,389
"Look man I've had it with
all this bickering back
2460
02:01:11,389 --> 02:01:14,838
"and forth management and
all this and I just want
2461
02:01:14,838 --> 02:01:16,203
"to focus on what I do.
2462
02:01:17,267 --> 02:01:19,453
" I'll let you you make the decisions.
2463
02:01:22,117 --> 02:01:25,590
"Just check it with me, but
you deal with them, you know."
2464
02:01:25,590 --> 02:01:26,447
So I did.
2465
02:01:26,447 --> 02:01:30,900
I told Peter Rutch I said,
" I wanna cut this tour
2466
02:01:30,900 --> 02:01:33,845
"and go home and rest take
at least maybe two weeks off,
2467
02:01:33,845 --> 02:01:36,483
"and maybe 2 weeks writing
and then resume it."
2468
02:01:37,395 --> 02:01:38,493
Well that was around the middle of May
2469
02:01:38,493 --> 02:01:40,503
and by the 26th of May
I was out of the band.
2470
02:01:43,996 --> 02:01:46,976
The only thing I can
surmise is that sometime
2471
02:01:46,976 --> 02:01:49,968
between then and the
26th of May somebody got
2472
02:01:49,968 --> 02:01:52,565
together with Ronnie and
said, "You know, you can't
2473
02:01:52,565 --> 02:01:55,535
"do this, you can't just stop a tour"
2474
02:01:57,855 --> 02:02:00,413
Then the pressure
started coming down on me
2475
02:02:00,413 --> 02:02:03,194
to move me out and
rather than move me out I
2476
02:02:03,194 --> 02:02:05,118
just decided, "Well, this isn't worth it.
2477
02:02:05,118 --> 02:02:06,479
"I'm just going to leave."
2478
02:02:06,479 --> 02:02:09,630
- One night during the
making of Nuthin' Fancy I was
2479
02:02:09,630 --> 02:02:14,630
living in a hotel separate
from wherever they were living.
2480
02:02:14,911 --> 02:02:18,771
Ed came over one night and
he was complaining to me
2481
02:02:18,771 --> 02:02:22,361
about how much money he
had spent the last year
2482
02:02:22,361 --> 02:02:24,384
on serious drugs
2483
02:02:27,712 --> 02:02:29,543
and that he didn't know how much
2484
02:02:29,543 --> 02:02:31,740
longer he could stay in the band,
2485
02:02:34,776 --> 02:02:37,474
so I wasn't totally surprised
2486
02:02:37,474 --> 02:02:42,444
by that and if that's why he left
2487
02:02:42,444 --> 02:02:44,321
I was glad he left.
2488
02:02:44,321 --> 02:02:46,233
- I had my share of drugs, oh yeah,
2489
02:02:46,233 --> 02:02:48,862
and I'd had enough, too, yeah.
2490
02:02:48,862 --> 02:02:53,132
I'm not saying I was perfect
by no means you know,
2491
02:02:53,132 --> 02:02:56,136
but I know when I left the band
I knew the band wasn't going
2492
02:02:56,136 --> 02:02:57,532
to end well.
2493
02:02:57,532 --> 02:02:59,228
I had no idea it would end like it did,
2494
02:02:59,228 --> 02:03:01,199
but it wasn't going to end
well and I really didn't want
2495
02:03:01,199 --> 02:03:04,930
to be a part of it after
that because my creativity
2496
02:03:04,930 --> 02:03:08,562
at that point was shot, really
there's just so much friction
2497
02:03:08,562 --> 02:03:10,352
and everybody needed some rest.
2498
02:03:10,352 --> 02:03:13,124
People don't come to your
hotel room crying and saying
2499
02:03:13,124 --> 02:03:16,032
they need a break if they
are just kidding, you know.
2500
02:03:16,032 --> 02:03:18,042
I mean it was some mental stuff going on.
2501
02:03:19,317 --> 02:03:20,924
- [Voiceover] Now a man down
2502
02:03:20,924 --> 02:03:22,825
in July they rode back to Florida,
2503
02:03:22,825 --> 02:03:25,788
to close the tour at the
Jacksonville Coliseum.
2504
02:03:25,788 --> 02:03:27,666
Despite the tensions within the group,
2505
02:03:27,666 --> 02:03:29,667
the hotels damaged and the various run-ins
2506
02:03:29,667 --> 02:03:32,581
with the police for their
audiences had for most part
2507
02:03:32,581 --> 02:03:35,651
seen no knock on effect
for the show themselves.
2508
02:03:35,651 --> 02:03:37,547
Yet, back in their own stomping grounds
2509
02:03:37,547 --> 02:03:39,170
things finally fell apart.
2510
02:03:40,175 --> 02:03:43,866
End of the '75 torture tour,
the hometown boys came home.
2511
02:03:43,866 --> 02:03:45,203
Big deal, right?
2512
02:03:45,203 --> 02:03:48,624
We get into town and a
guy named Sidney Drashin
2513
02:03:48,624 --> 02:03:51,880
he's the promoter, he brings a big fat bag
2514
02:03:51,880 --> 02:03:53,569
of pure cocaine.
2515
02:03:53,569 --> 02:03:55,177
Well everybody gets into it.
2516
02:03:55,177 --> 02:03:58,239
Charlie Daniels open the
show then we came out
2517
02:03:58,239 --> 02:04:01,772
and played like four songs
2518
02:04:01,772 --> 02:04:04,846
and Ronnie collapsed.
2519
02:04:04,846 --> 02:04:07,040
Charlie Daniels came
out and jammed with us,
2520
02:04:07,040 --> 02:04:09,578
tried to kind of save the day,
2521
02:04:10,630 --> 02:04:12,625
but it just wasn't enough for the crowd
2522
02:04:12,625 --> 02:04:14,995
because we didn't do the whole set.
2523
02:04:14,995 --> 02:04:17,822
The crowd was like carnivores you know,
2524
02:04:17,822 --> 02:04:19,125
(growls)
2525
02:04:19,125 --> 02:04:20,767
They wanted that music
2526
02:04:20,767 --> 02:04:23,595
and we couldn't deliver that night.
2527
02:04:23,595 --> 02:04:27,177
Even doing Free Bird when
we went to the fast part
2528
02:04:28,159 --> 02:04:30,928
I will never forget leaving
the stage and looking back
2529
02:04:30,928 --> 02:04:34,882
and seeing glass bottles
bouncing off my drums.
2530
02:04:34,882 --> 02:04:39,305
- The amazing thing is how
little Peter Rutch cared.
2531
02:04:39,305 --> 02:04:41,511
He's doing tons of cocaine himself.
2532
02:04:41,511 --> 02:04:43,259
This is no secret.
2533
02:04:43,259 --> 02:04:45,360
And he's encouraging all this coke use.
2534
02:04:45,360 --> 02:04:48,352
Looking back I can't even fathom it.
2535
02:04:48,352 --> 02:04:51,050
Alan Walden would have never done that.
2536
02:04:51,050 --> 02:04:53,033
He never would have met them at an airport
2537
02:04:53,033 --> 02:04:56,013
with coke for them to
do or take on a plane.
2538
02:04:56,013 --> 02:04:57,468
They were kicked off planes.
2539
02:04:57,468 --> 02:05:01,023
They were refused flights
because when they would
2540
02:05:01,023 --> 02:05:03,745
get drunk and stoned on a
plane it would be a physical
2541
02:05:03,745 --> 02:05:07,762
threat to the plane
going down, ironically.
2542
02:05:08,603 --> 02:05:12,568
Ronnie, so the story goes
tried to throw a groupie
2543
02:05:12,568 --> 02:05:15,877
out of a plane at 35,000 feet,
2544
02:05:15,877 --> 02:05:19,268
Tried to open the back, the door and throw
2545
02:05:19,268 --> 02:05:20,582
a guy out.
2546
02:05:20,582 --> 02:05:23,257
These are guys in big, big trouble.
2547
02:05:23,257 --> 02:05:26,566
Making great music, but in big trouble
2548
02:05:26,566 --> 02:05:28,561
and nobody cared.
2549
02:05:28,561 --> 02:05:30,602
- [Voiceover] Following a
much needed Summer break
2550
02:05:30,602 --> 02:05:33,876
the band returned for
further shows in August '75
2551
02:05:33,876 --> 02:05:36,879
including a number of dates
supporting Peter Frampton.
2552
02:05:36,879 --> 02:05:39,519
At the same time with only
nine months past since
2553
02:05:39,519 --> 02:05:42,429
they had completed Nuthin'
Fancy plans were already
2554
02:05:42,429 --> 02:05:44,424
under way for Skynyrd
to return to the studio
2555
02:05:44,424 --> 02:05:46,547
to begin work on a fourth album.
2556
02:05:46,547 --> 02:05:49,316
Without Al Kooper to oversee
the recordings Peter Rutch
2557
02:05:49,316 --> 02:05:51,722
arranged for Van Zant and
his bandmates to meet with
2558
02:05:51,722 --> 02:05:54,713
legendary producer Tom Dowd
who had begun his career
2559
02:05:54,713 --> 02:05:58,139
in jazz before moving
into soul and then rock.
2560
02:05:58,139 --> 02:06:01,272
Operating out of Criteria
Studios in Miami, Dowd
2561
02:06:01,272 --> 02:06:03,760
seemed an obvious choice
having been the producer
2562
02:06:03,760 --> 02:06:06,341
behind The Allman Brothers
Band's break-through albums.
2563
02:06:06,341 --> 02:06:10,048
In September 300 miles
South of their home town,
2564
02:06:10,048 --> 02:06:13,076
SKynyrd began recording
Gimme Back My Bullets.
2565
02:06:13,076 --> 02:06:14,519
- They liked Dowd.
2566
02:06:14,519 --> 02:06:17,088
How do you not like a guy
with that kind of record?
2567
02:06:17,088 --> 02:06:22,075
He's tremendous, pivotal
figure in the music industry.
2568
02:06:22,075 --> 02:06:25,801
The whole thing with Tom Dowd
was sort of a master plan
2569
02:06:25,801 --> 02:06:29,016
to get Skynyrd to go to Atlantic Records.
2570
02:06:29,016 --> 02:06:30,236
It was a whole thing.
2571
02:06:30,236 --> 02:06:33,251
We're gonna move off MCA, you know.
2572
02:06:33,251 --> 02:06:34,753
We're sick and tired of these guys.
2573
02:06:34,753 --> 02:06:35,868
We're not getting paid enough.
2574
02:06:35,868 --> 02:06:38,367
It was sort of a plan
where it was going to be
2575
02:06:38,367 --> 02:06:39,423
an incremental thing.
2576
02:06:39,423 --> 02:06:42,790
The skins would be
greased by having Tom Dowd
2577
02:06:42,790 --> 02:06:44,550
do their album and they
they would just make a break
2578
02:06:44,550 --> 02:06:45,559
completely.
2579
02:06:45,559 --> 02:06:49,619
- They respected Tom as
like a Father figure.
2580
02:06:49,619 --> 02:06:53,502
Al Kooper was like one
of the bros, you know?
2581
02:06:53,502 --> 02:06:55,990
Al should have been
put out on a little bit
2582
02:06:55,990 --> 02:06:57,163
of a pedestal.
2583
02:06:57,163 --> 02:07:00,190
Al should have be given a
little bit more respect.
2584
02:07:00,190 --> 02:07:03,593
Tom Dowd, they called him Father Dowd.
2585
02:07:03,593 --> 02:07:08,593
Tom liked to rehearse
parts and go over things.
2586
02:07:08,603 --> 02:07:11,736
He was meticulous and had good ideas.
2587
02:07:11,736 --> 02:07:14,446
And yes, Ed was missed.
2588
02:07:14,446 --> 02:07:16,218
I missed Ed.
2589
02:07:16,218 --> 02:07:19,784
And Ronnie missed that guy
that he wrote songs with,
2590
02:07:19,784 --> 02:07:24,784
but the sessions were better
on Gimme Back My Bullets
2591
02:07:25,111 --> 02:07:27,857
because we were a little more prepared.
2592
02:07:27,857 --> 02:07:30,254
Some songs had been written on the road
2593
02:07:31,118 --> 02:07:32,984
and on break.
2594
02:07:32,984 --> 02:07:35,225
There was some material
that had been looked at.
2595
02:07:49,293 --> 02:07:51,792
- [Voiceover] Completed in November 1975
2596
02:07:51,792 --> 02:07:53,681
Gimme Back My Bullets was rushed released
2597
02:07:53,681 --> 02:07:55,875
and out in stores the following February.
2598
02:07:55,875 --> 02:07:57,870
Yet, there were signs
that Skynyrd were losing
2599
02:07:57,870 --> 02:07:59,231
their wider appeal.
2600
02:07:59,231 --> 02:08:01,425
Although it was the first
of their albums to chart
2601
02:08:01,425 --> 02:08:03,678
in the UK, where they
were steadily amassing
2602
02:08:03,678 --> 02:08:05,379
a significant fan base.
2603
02:08:05,379 --> 02:08:07,714
In the US it sold disappointingly.
2604
02:08:07,714 --> 02:08:10,706
It's lead single Double
Trouble peaking at number 80
2605
02:08:10,706 --> 02:08:12,137
on the Billboard Chart.
2606
02:08:12,137 --> 02:08:14,390
Without Ed King's input as a song writer
2607
02:08:14,390 --> 02:08:16,572
or Al Kooper's slick production, for many
2608
02:08:16,572 --> 02:08:19,799
it was a sign that the band
were in a creative rut.
2609
02:08:19,799 --> 02:08:23,776
- The thing that I really
contributed to those records
2610
02:08:23,776 --> 02:08:26,792
was capturing the sound of the band
2611
02:08:26,792 --> 02:08:29,947
and using the studio
2612
02:08:31,140 --> 02:08:33,639
to enhance it even further
2613
02:08:33,639 --> 02:08:38,148
than it was and the best way to judge that
2614
02:08:39,271 --> 02:08:41,199
is I did the first three albums
2615
02:08:42,580 --> 02:08:44,809
and is to listen to the fourth album
2616
02:08:45,744 --> 02:08:50,396
because it's devoid of anything that I did
2617
02:08:50,396 --> 02:08:52,250
which surprised me.
2618
02:08:52,250 --> 02:08:54,691
It just made them sound
like an average band
2619
02:08:54,691 --> 02:08:57,424
which they weren't and I was disappointed.
2620
02:08:57,424 --> 02:09:00,725
I remember getting the actual LP
2621
02:09:02,341 --> 02:09:04,194
and I didn't know how I was going to feel
2622
02:09:04,194 --> 02:09:05,708
about it.
2623
02:09:05,708 --> 02:09:08,536
I took it out and put it on the turntable
2624
02:09:08,536 --> 02:09:11,387
and as I was putting
the needle down I said,
2625
02:09:11,387 --> 02:09:13,596
"Knock me on my ass, please."
2626
02:09:16,127 --> 02:09:16,870
So then I knew.
2627
02:09:17,816 --> 02:09:19,075
I wanted it to be good.
2628
02:09:20,902 --> 02:09:22,779
I was very disappointed
2629
02:09:22,779 --> 02:09:24,692
and I felt bad for them.
2630
02:09:24,692 --> 02:09:29,643
♪ Life is so strange when
it's changing, yes in deed ♪
2631
02:09:29,643 --> 02:09:31,462
♪ Well, I've seen the hard times ♪
2632
02:09:31,462 --> 02:09:34,724
♪ And the pressure's been on me ♪
2633
02:09:34,724 --> 02:09:36,859
♪ But I keep on workin' ♪
2634
02:09:36,859 --> 02:09:39,968
♪ Like a workin' man do ♪
2635
02:09:39,968 --> 02:09:42,186
♪ And I got my act together ♪
2636
02:09:42,186 --> 02:09:43,993
♪ I'm gonna walk all over you ♪
2637
02:09:43,993 --> 02:09:47,853
♪ Gimme back my bullets ♪
2638
02:09:47,853 --> 02:09:52,853
♪ Put em back where they belong ♪
2639
02:09:53,719 --> 02:09:58,719
♪ Ain't foolin' around
cause I done had my fun ♪
2640
02:09:59,023 --> 02:10:03,176
♪ Ain't gonna see no more damage done. ♪
2641
02:10:03,176 --> 02:10:04,916
♪ Gimme back my bullets ♪
2642
02:10:06,086 --> 02:10:08,280
- Al Kooper had a certain style
2643
02:10:08,280 --> 02:10:10,650
and the early recordings of the band
2644
02:10:10,650 --> 02:10:13,564
he had full control of that freshness.
2645
02:10:14,733 --> 02:10:18,499
When Tom came along we were looking
2646
02:10:18,499 --> 02:10:23,499
for some help and I
don't think Tom was able
2647
02:10:23,897 --> 02:10:25,833
to capture that sound.
2648
02:10:25,833 --> 02:10:27,068
It was nobody's fault,
2649
02:10:28,508 --> 02:10:32,004
but the facts were that the band
2650
02:10:33,960 --> 02:10:36,717
was very popular,
2651
02:10:36,717 --> 02:10:38,903
expected to come out
with some more material.
2652
02:10:39,979 --> 02:10:44,575
Tom Dowd was the magic
man, Aretha Franklin,
2653
02:10:44,575 --> 02:10:47,271
Live Cream, Derrick and the Dominos,
2654
02:10:47,271 --> 02:10:49,829
The Allman Brothers,
he had a track record,
2655
02:10:49,829 --> 02:10:51,636
so Ronnie liked that.
2656
02:10:51,636 --> 02:10:54,244
But capturing the magic from Pronounced,
2657
02:10:55,262 --> 02:10:57,913
that boat had left, you know had sailed,
2658
02:10:57,913 --> 02:10:59,263
that Pronounced boat.
2659
02:10:59,263 --> 02:11:00,964
You can't get that magic,
2660
02:11:00,964 --> 02:11:05,964
but Tom in his own way emphasized
2661
02:11:07,218 --> 02:11:10,268
the words and Ronnie
Van Zant and made sure
2662
02:11:10,268 --> 02:11:11,653
that those vocals were out there.
2663
02:11:11,653 --> 02:11:13,143
And that's what the band was about.
2664
02:11:13,143 --> 02:11:15,360
♪ Those misters dressed in blue ♪
2665
02:11:15,360 --> 02:11:17,942
♪ Never done so right by me ♪
2666
02:11:17,942 --> 02:11:20,437
♪ Some of the times I was innocent ♪
2667
02:11:20,437 --> 02:11:22,983
♪ but the judge said guilty ♪
2668
02:11:22,983 --> 02:11:26,633
♪ I'm not one to complain ♪
2669
02:11:26,633 --> 02:11:31,633
♪ Now son I tell you true ♪
2670
02:11:32,593 --> 02:11:34,740
♪ When the black cat cross your trail ♪
2671
02:11:34,740 --> 02:11:39,740
♪ Lord they come in pairs of two ♪
2672
02:11:41,536 --> 02:11:44,411
♪ Double Trouble ♪
2673
02:11:44,411 --> 02:11:49,411
♪ That's what my friends all call me ♪
2674
02:11:50,465 --> 02:11:53,515
♪ Double, double ♪
2675
02:11:53,515 --> 02:11:56,288
♪ T-R-O-U-B-L-E ♪
2676
02:11:58,080 --> 02:12:01,177
- I think that Tom Dowd was
probably a logical person
2677
02:12:01,177 --> 02:12:03,852
to work with because he was
clearly a great producer.
2678
02:12:03,852 --> 02:12:05,577
He had the history with
The Allman Brothers
2679
02:12:05,577 --> 02:12:07,994
as well as with Cream
who are very profound
2680
02:12:07,994 --> 02:12:09,590
influence on Lynyrd Skynyrd,
2681
02:12:09,590 --> 02:12:11,244
so I'm sure it all made sense.
2682
02:12:11,244 --> 02:12:14,635
I'm sure that Tom worked his very hardest
2683
02:12:14,635 --> 02:12:16,078
to get something out of them.
2684
02:12:16,078 --> 02:12:17,850
I think the biggest issue with that album
2685
02:12:17,850 --> 02:12:19,551
was that the material just wasn't there.
2686
02:12:19,551 --> 02:12:21,651
They really didn't have the songs.
2687
02:12:21,651 --> 02:12:24,045
The loss of Ed King almost certainly had
2688
02:12:24,045 --> 02:12:27,893
a volatarious impact on
Lynyrd Skynyrd song writing.
2689
02:12:27,893 --> 02:12:29,630
Their song writing suffered.
2690
02:12:29,630 --> 02:12:32,211
Their creativity suffered
and at that point
2691
02:12:32,211 --> 02:12:34,147
it seemed like a fairly reasonable bet
2692
02:12:34,147 --> 02:12:36,106
to think that Lynyrd
Skynyrd was petering out
2693
02:12:36,106 --> 02:12:39,427
and was not going to be
a creative or commercial
2694
02:12:39,427 --> 02:12:41,374
force for much longer.
2695
02:12:41,374 --> 02:12:44,061
- [Voiceover] Yet, Gimme Back
My Bullets would be divisive
2696
02:12:44,061 --> 02:12:47,816
with some critics and fans
viewing it as an overlooked gem
2697
02:12:47,816 --> 02:12:49,564
in Skynyrd's cannon.
2698
02:12:49,564 --> 02:12:51,887
- I think Gimmie Back My
Bullets was one of their best
2699
02:12:51,887 --> 02:12:54,457
albums, that's just my opinion, always.
2700
02:12:54,457 --> 02:12:56,510
Me and Alan always agreed on that.
2701
02:12:56,510 --> 02:12:58,293
I loved that album.
2702
02:12:58,293 --> 02:13:00,412
Of course none of the rest of them,
2703
02:13:00,412 --> 02:13:02,418
it didn't sell well.
2704
02:13:02,418 --> 02:13:04,718
Nobody else was really satisfied with it.
2705
02:13:04,718 --> 02:13:06,853
I thought it was a great album.
2706
02:13:06,853 --> 02:13:09,200
- I feel like this record
really did get it's
2707
02:13:09,200 --> 02:13:11,019
short's ripped.
2708
02:13:11,019 --> 02:13:14,128
Maybe because there isn't a big hit song
2709
02:13:14,128 --> 02:13:15,407
on the record.
2710
02:13:15,407 --> 02:13:17,613
I think that they are
actually getting stronger
2711
02:13:17,613 --> 02:13:19,220
as a band when I listen to this record
2712
02:13:19,220 --> 02:13:20,550
now, today.
2713
02:13:21,590 --> 02:13:24,418
It's very, it's a very
self assured record.
2714
02:13:24,418 --> 02:13:25,990
The playing is great.
2715
02:13:25,990 --> 02:13:27,011
It's a great record.
2716
02:13:27,011 --> 02:13:30,718
Probably a better record than even fans
2717
02:13:30,718 --> 02:13:34,004
might give it credit for,
just because it doesn't have
2718
02:13:34,004 --> 02:13:38,321
Free Bird or Sweet Home
Alabama or Simple Man
2719
02:13:38,321 --> 02:13:41,113
or like one of these tunes,
2720
02:13:41,113 --> 02:13:42,897
these block buster tunes.
2721
02:13:42,897 --> 02:13:46,358
I think the record actually
hasn't gotten it's due.
2722
02:13:46,358 --> 02:13:48,837
I think it's a better
record than people think.
2723
02:13:50,371 --> 02:13:52,940
If a Skynyrd fan was
sitting here he go, "I know.
2724
02:13:52,940 --> 02:13:55,650
"You don't have to tell me."
2725
02:13:55,650 --> 02:13:57,516
- [Voiceover] If Gimme Back
my Bullets was commercially
2726
02:13:57,516 --> 02:14:00,132
a disappointment, as a live
act, Skynyrd was losing none
2727
02:14:00,132 --> 02:14:01,834
of it's appeal.
2728
02:14:01,834 --> 02:14:03,688
Just before the album's release the band
2729
02:14:03,688 --> 02:14:06,621
headed across the Atlantic
for another European tour.
2730
02:14:06,621 --> 02:14:09,261
Returning to the US in March
to embark on a three month
2731
02:14:09,261 --> 02:14:10,786
run of shows.
2732
02:14:10,786 --> 02:14:13,590
Now a headlining act playing large venues,
2733
02:14:13,590 --> 02:14:16,817
Ronnie Van Zant was keen to
expand Skynyrd's live sound
2734
02:14:16,817 --> 02:14:19,598
and brought female backing
singers Leslie Hawkins,
2735
02:14:19,598 --> 02:14:23,470
Deborah, Jo Jo Billingsly and
Cassie Gains into the fold
2736
02:14:23,470 --> 02:14:26,498
who would collectively
be know as The Honkettes.
2737
02:14:26,498 --> 02:14:28,656
It was a welcome addition
to the stage show
2738
02:14:28,656 --> 02:14:30,616
and although the widest
Southern Rock movement
2739
02:14:30,616 --> 02:14:34,288
had by 1976 begun to wain,
Lynyrd Skynyrd remained
2740
02:14:34,288 --> 02:14:36,322
one of the top live draws in the world.
2741
02:14:38,172 --> 02:14:41,316
- We had three beautiful women
that sang back-up with us,
2742
02:14:41,316 --> 02:14:43,651
The Honkettes, hand-picked
by Ronnie Van Zant.
2743
02:14:43,651 --> 02:14:46,009
Cassie was like a broadway singer.
2744
02:14:46,009 --> 02:14:47,793
She had a broadway voice.
2745
02:14:47,793 --> 02:14:49,811
Ooo, you know, really strong.
2746
02:14:49,811 --> 02:14:52,463
Leslie Hawkins was our soprano.
2747
02:14:52,463 --> 02:14:54,179
She was our song bird.
2748
02:14:55,290 --> 02:14:58,446
Jo Jo was the honkey-tonk queen.
2749
02:14:58,446 --> 02:15:01,614
She had that rough, baby, baby
2750
02:15:01,614 --> 02:15:03,327
and Ronnie liked that.
2751
02:15:03,327 --> 02:15:05,604
He liked the fact that the
girls were all different.
2752
02:15:05,604 --> 02:15:08,009
Their blend was perfect.
2753
02:15:08,009 --> 02:15:08,998
He hand-picked them.
2754
02:15:12,984 --> 02:15:17,102
♪ Let's cry for the bad man ♪
2755
02:15:17,102 --> 02:15:20,950
♪ ooo, ooo, ooo, hoo ♪
2756
02:15:20,950 --> 02:15:23,240
♪ I wrote a song for the bad man ♪
2757
02:15:23,240 --> 02:15:24,836
♪ Bad man ♪
2758
02:15:24,836 --> 02:15:28,355
♪ ooo, ooo, ooo, hoo ♪
2759
02:15:28,355 --> 02:15:31,680
♪ Let's cry for the bad man ♪
2760
02:15:33,921 --> 02:15:35,208
- Everybody thinks we're a Southern band
2761
02:15:35,208 --> 02:15:37,812
well, we are and the crowds in the South
2762
02:15:37,812 --> 02:15:40,886
are crazy, but man, when
we play in New York City
2763
02:15:40,886 --> 02:15:43,256
and up North they love the music.
2764
02:15:43,256 --> 02:15:46,119
They were just as big of fans
as the people in the South
2765
02:15:46,119 --> 02:15:49,264
as well as in UK, just as big of fans
2766
02:15:49,264 --> 02:15:52,983
When we went to Japan they treated us like
2767
02:15:52,983 --> 02:15:54,919
we were the Beatles, man.
2768
02:15:54,919 --> 02:15:59,424
Anywhere we played the
reception was always the same,
2769
02:15:59,424 --> 02:16:01,337
very exuberant.
2770
02:16:01,337 --> 02:16:03,226
- [Voiceover] Lynyrd Skynyrd
was strengthened even further
2771
02:16:03,226 --> 02:16:07,121
by the introduction of a
new guitarist in May1976.
2772
02:16:07,121 --> 02:16:09,163
A position that Van Zant
had beer considering filling
2773
02:16:09,163 --> 02:16:11,556
ever since Ed King's departure.
2774
02:16:11,556 --> 02:16:14,947
Upon her arrival in the band,
backing vocalist Cassie Gains
2775
02:16:14,947 --> 02:16:17,751
had been recommending her
younger brother, Steve.
2776
02:16:17,751 --> 02:16:20,473
Yet, this suggestion was
initially dismissed by the band
2777
02:16:20,473 --> 02:16:22,566
because they were looking
for a higher profile player.
2778
02:16:23,442 --> 02:16:26,504
In May, however, at a show
in Kansas City, Van Zant
2779
02:16:26,504 --> 02:16:28,992
invited Steve Gains to
audition with Skynyrd
2780
02:16:28,992 --> 02:16:32,206
at a live concert and following
further jams with the band
2781
02:16:32,206 --> 02:16:34,447
he proved that he was more
than qualified to take
2782
02:16:34,447 --> 02:16:36,735
on the roll as third guitarist.
2783
02:16:36,735 --> 02:16:38,390
- He got out and played with us in front
2784
02:16:38,390 --> 02:16:40,177
of about 80,000 people.
2785
02:16:40,177 --> 02:16:42,144
Ronnie asked him that day,
you know, to be a part
2786
02:16:42,144 --> 02:16:43,646
of the band.
2787
02:16:43,646 --> 02:16:47,741
At the time Ed left the
band there was everybody
2788
02:16:47,741 --> 02:16:52,708
in the band had tremendous
drug and alcohol problems
2789
02:16:53,866 --> 02:16:56,576
and so I'm not blaming anybody.
2790
02:16:56,576 --> 02:16:57,550
It wasn't Ed's fault.
2791
02:16:57,550 --> 02:16:58,805
It wasn't Ronnie's fault.
2792
02:16:58,805 --> 02:16:59,935
It was just the times.
2793
02:17:01,422 --> 02:17:04,261
Steve came at a great time.
2794
02:17:04,261 --> 02:17:07,945
Steve's very mellow, laid
back intellect came in.
2795
02:17:07,945 --> 02:17:12,392
That in itself helped us right the ship.
2796
02:17:12,392 --> 02:17:14,973
We were a happy family.
2797
02:17:14,973 --> 02:17:18,305
Everybody wanted to be cool for Steve
2798
02:17:18,305 --> 02:17:20,488
because he was such a nice guy.
2799
02:17:20,488 --> 02:17:22,224
The band didn't want Steve to know
2800
02:17:22,224 --> 02:17:25,126
that they were out of
their mind drunken maniacs.
2801
02:17:26,037 --> 02:17:27,352
That was later.
2802
02:17:27,352 --> 02:17:27,918
That came later.
2803
02:17:29,182 --> 02:17:30,872
- [Voiceover] Reinvigorated
by the introduction
2804
02:17:30,872 --> 02:17:33,852
of this young virtuoso
in July the band recorded
2805
02:17:33,852 --> 02:17:36,954
a live album across three
dates at Atlanta's Fox Theater.
2806
02:17:37,912 --> 02:17:40,857
After the rushed Nuthin'
Fancy and the commercial
2807
02:17:40,857 --> 02:17:42,840
disappointment of Gimme Back My Bullets
2808
02:17:42,840 --> 02:17:45,568
Skynyrd needed to reestablish
their energy on record.
2809
02:17:45,568 --> 02:17:49,206
With One More From the
Road release September 1976
2810
02:17:49,206 --> 02:17:51,200
they succeeded.
2811
02:17:51,200 --> 02:17:53,840
Peaking in the Top-10 in
the US and going platinum
2812
02:17:53,840 --> 02:17:56,730
before the year was out it
restored their reputation.
2813
02:17:57,806 --> 02:17:59,355
- I remember when it came out.
2814
02:17:59,355 --> 02:18:00,610
It sounded phenomenal.
2815
02:18:00,610 --> 02:18:02,112
Skynyrd was a live band.
2816
02:18:02,112 --> 02:18:03,520
They lived to play live,
2817
02:18:03,520 --> 02:18:06,078
and you could tell, that's their thing.
2818
02:18:06,078 --> 02:18:07,134
They're musicians.
2819
02:18:07,134 --> 02:18:09,046
They're going to thrive on an audience
2820
02:18:09,046 --> 02:18:12,452
and ratcheting things up to another level.
2821
02:18:14,192 --> 02:18:17,360
Free Bird live is just phenomenal.
2822
02:18:17,360 --> 02:18:19,182
It's just everything it should be.
2823
02:18:20,152 --> 02:18:22,534
- Lynyrd Skynyrd recorded
One More From The Road
2824
02:18:22,534 --> 02:18:25,303
in July 1976.
2825
02:18:25,303 --> 02:18:27,250
Steve Gains had only
been a member of the band
2826
02:18:27,250 --> 02:18:28,377
for two months.
2827
02:18:28,377 --> 02:18:29,961
As strong as the album is,
2828
02:18:29,961 --> 02:18:31,862
as much as it was a great live album
2829
02:18:31,862 --> 02:18:33,528
that really reestablished them
2830
02:18:33,528 --> 02:18:35,205
and stands the test of time
2831
02:18:35,205 --> 02:18:37,153
I believe if it had been
recorded two or three
2832
02:18:37,153 --> 02:18:41,131
months later it would have
been quite a bit better.
2833
02:18:41,131 --> 02:18:43,348
Steve Gains was a fantastic guitar player
2834
02:18:43,348 --> 02:18:46,692
who had unique ideas,
jump started the band
2835
02:18:46,692 --> 02:18:49,191
and surely gave a kick in the behind
2836
02:18:49,191 --> 02:18:51,178
to Gary Rossington and Allen Collins.
2837
02:18:52,530 --> 02:18:55,017
As a musician if you add another person
2838
02:18:55,017 --> 02:18:58,174
of that caliber into the
mix it has to do that.
2839
02:18:58,174 --> 02:18:59,194
It just has to.
2840
02:18:59,194 --> 02:19:02,022
It has to change the dynamics
and I think what you hear
2841
02:19:02,022 --> 02:19:05,217
on this live album is the very
beginnings of that happening.
2842
02:19:06,539 --> 02:19:08,405
- [Voiceover] This confirmation
of the band's status
2843
02:19:08,405 --> 02:19:10,270
as one of the greatest
live acts in the world
2844
02:19:10,270 --> 02:19:13,673
continued in 1976 with a show
in front of their biggest
2845
02:19:13,673 --> 02:19:14,615
crowd to date.
2846
02:19:15,538 --> 02:19:19,316
August 21st almost two months
after The Fox Theater concerts
2847
02:19:19,316 --> 02:19:22,168
were recorded, Skynyrd
travelled to the UK to perform
2848
02:19:22,168 --> 02:19:23,916
at the Knebworth festival.
2849
02:19:23,916 --> 02:19:26,638
On a bill headlined by a band
who had initially inspired
2850
02:19:26,638 --> 02:19:29,419
Ronnie Van Zant to persue
music in the first place,
2851
02:19:29,419 --> 02:19:31,366
The Rolling Stones.
2852
02:19:31,366 --> 02:19:34,264
Not only did Skynyrd deliver
a momentous set they were
2853
02:19:34,264 --> 02:19:36,611
considered the high-lite of the event.
2854
02:19:36,611 --> 02:19:39,861
- Everybody that was
there said the same thing,
2855
02:19:39,861 --> 02:19:41,515
"The Stones were horrible.
2856
02:19:41,515 --> 02:19:43,064
"They were barely coherent.
2857
02:19:43,064 --> 02:19:44,378
"They could barely stand up."
2858
02:19:44,378 --> 02:19:47,323
Skynyrd's set is what
turned on the entire crowd
2859
02:19:47,323 --> 02:19:49,071
probably 1/2 a million people or whatever,
2860
02:19:49,071 --> 02:19:50,714
200,000, 300,000.
2861
02:19:50,714 --> 02:19:53,201
- It was 100% cool.
2862
02:19:53,201 --> 02:19:57,179
The Mirror said that we
possessed the energy of the day
2863
02:19:57,179 --> 02:20:00,089
because of the energy of our set.
2864
02:20:00,089 --> 02:20:03,280
The Stone came out two
hours late and drunk.
2865
02:20:03,280 --> 02:20:05,662
I actually made a statement that we blew
2866
02:20:05,662 --> 02:20:07,340
The Stones off the stage.
2867
02:20:07,340 --> 02:20:10,320
Nobody blows The Stones
off the stage, of course.
2868
02:20:10,320 --> 02:20:13,519
I felt like we gave it a nice try
2869
02:20:13,519 --> 02:20:16,292
as far as going out
2870
02:20:16,292 --> 02:20:19,292
and doing our show and
our set and just standing
2871
02:20:19,292 --> 02:20:20,923
on the music alone.
2872
02:20:20,923 --> 02:20:23,390
I think standing on the
music alone, we held our own.
2873
02:20:33,325 --> 02:20:36,011
- We're on stage in front
of 1/2 a million people
2874
02:20:36,011 --> 02:20:38,409
and Steve Gains is taking a solo
2875
02:20:39,860 --> 02:20:41,843
and you can see Ronnie back up to him
2876
02:20:41,843 --> 02:20:45,621
on this humongous stage
and you can see his smile.
2877
02:20:45,621 --> 02:20:48,378
You can see that he's thinking to himself,
2878
02:20:48,378 --> 02:20:53,306
"Man, am I a smart guy, man
for bringing this Steve Gains
2879
02:20:53,306 --> 02:20:55,559
"dude into the band."
2880
02:20:55,559 --> 02:20:59,935
Because Steve's just
shredding on this solo
2881
02:20:59,935 --> 02:21:02,626
and Ronnie's got this
beautiful smile on his face.
2882
02:21:03,525 --> 02:21:04,632
(guitar music solo)
2883
02:21:32,154 --> 02:21:34,289
And Ronnie, you can just see that moment
2884
02:21:34,289 --> 02:21:36,800
that he just looks at Steve and to me
2885
02:21:36,800 --> 02:21:38,490
that just says it all.
2886
02:21:38,490 --> 02:21:41,145
Steve Gains made a huge
difference in the band.
2887
02:21:42,233 --> 02:21:44,016
- [Voiceover] Although they
were apparently riding high
2888
02:21:44,016 --> 02:21:47,055
again reenergized by Gains
and back in the charts
2889
02:21:47,055 --> 02:21:49,472
with One More From The
Road the band members
2890
02:21:49,472 --> 02:21:51,877
drink and drug problems
were too far advanced
2891
02:21:51,877 --> 02:21:54,083
for each of them to properly control.
2892
02:21:54,083 --> 02:21:57,521
In September '76 both Allen
Collins and Gary Rossington
2893
02:21:57,521 --> 02:22:00,184
were involved in road accidents
caused by their substance
2894
02:22:00,184 --> 02:22:01,627
abuse issues.
2895
02:22:01,627 --> 02:22:04,326
Rossington's injuries in
particular causing six concerts
2896
02:22:04,326 --> 02:22:05,968
to be cancelled.
2897
02:22:05,968 --> 02:22:08,397
At this point Van Zant
acknowledged that they needed
2898
02:22:08,397 --> 02:22:09,817
to change their ways.
2899
02:22:09,817 --> 02:22:12,287
Pening the song That
Smell and turning to his
2900
02:22:12,287 --> 02:22:14,670
old friend Gene Odom to
step in and curb their
2901
02:22:14,670 --> 02:22:16,160
excesses.
2902
02:22:16,160 --> 02:22:18,331
- He says, "I want you to stay
with me and be my bodyguard.
2903
02:22:18,331 --> 02:22:19,351
"Take care of us.
2904
02:22:19,351 --> 02:22:21,768
"Get us off of the booze
and alcohol, do that first
2905
02:22:21,768 --> 02:22:23,575
"and then the drugs will be next."
2906
02:22:23,575 --> 02:22:25,863
He said, "I want you to
straighten this band up.
2907
02:22:25,863 --> 02:22:27,670
"I want you to get us
off of all this crap.
2908
02:22:27,670 --> 02:22:30,146
"And you're the only person
that can do it because
2909
02:22:30,146 --> 02:22:32,082
"you're the only person
that'll never do drugs
2910
02:22:32,082 --> 02:22:34,100
"or never smoke, or never drink."
2911
02:22:34,100 --> 02:22:36,564
And he was determined
to get them off of it.
2912
02:22:36,564 --> 02:22:39,700
And you can do a sociable drink
or you can be an alcoholic.
2913
02:22:40,682 --> 02:22:42,700
He said, "We want to get away from this.
2914
02:22:42,700 --> 02:22:44,753
"And you're the only person
that can do that for us.
2915
02:22:44,753 --> 02:22:46,317
"Management can't, nobody can do this,
2916
02:22:46,317 --> 02:22:48,593
"but somebody like you that's never going
2917
02:22:48,593 --> 02:22:50,509
"to hand us something and say, hey."
2918
02:22:51,527 --> 02:22:53,275
I would have got them off of it.
2919
02:22:53,275 --> 02:22:54,613
I would have got them
off of it to the point
2920
02:22:54,613 --> 02:22:56,877
that they didn't have to live with it.
2921
02:22:56,877 --> 02:22:59,083
They might do it for a sociable thing,
2922
02:22:59,083 --> 02:23:02,251
but they didn't have to
bury their head in it.
2923
02:23:02,251 --> 02:23:03,828
And he wanted that.
2924
02:23:05,338 --> 02:23:07,649
- [Voiceover] 1977 started well.
2925
02:23:07,649 --> 02:23:10,360
Skynyrd heading off the
successful tours first in Japan
2926
02:23:10,360 --> 02:23:12,941
and then in the UK before
returning to Jacksonville
2927
02:23:12,941 --> 02:23:15,639
in February to work up fresh material.
2928
02:23:15,639 --> 02:23:18,045
Having recorded demos of
these new compositions
2929
02:23:18,045 --> 02:23:20,755
at a local studio, in
April the band transferred
2930
02:23:20,755 --> 02:23:23,759
to Criteria Studios in
Miami to work once again
2931
02:23:23,759 --> 02:23:25,334
with producer Tom Dowd.
2932
02:23:26,399 --> 02:23:28,722
Yet, after cutting the
majority of the album there
2933
02:23:28,722 --> 02:23:30,763
they were alerted by
their live sound engineer
2934
02:23:30,763 --> 02:23:33,937
Kevin Elson to the poor
quality of the recording.
2935
02:23:33,937 --> 02:23:36,757
Skynyrd abandoned both
Tom Dowd and the studio.
2936
02:23:37,798 --> 02:23:39,511
- The stuff was sounding like crap.
2937
02:23:39,511 --> 02:23:41,095
It was thin and weak.
2938
02:23:41,095 --> 02:23:43,347
We needed to go home back to Studio One
2939
02:23:43,347 --> 02:23:45,236
where Sweet Home Alabama was recorded,
2940
02:23:45,236 --> 02:23:46,234
Saturday Night Special.
2941
02:23:46,234 --> 02:23:48,678
Go back where we could
get that good sound,
2942
02:23:49,883 --> 02:23:54,189
so we trashed about
$70,000 worth of material
2943
02:23:54,189 --> 02:23:57,568
that we had recorded
at Criteria in Florida.
2944
02:23:57,568 --> 02:23:59,026
We just threw it in the garbage can.
2945
02:23:59,996 --> 02:24:02,718
- [Voiceover] Skynyrd would
have to wait until July 1977
2946
02:24:02,718 --> 02:24:04,279
to re-record the album.
2947
02:24:04,279 --> 02:24:06,485
Their schedule once again
demanding that they return
2948
02:24:06,485 --> 02:24:08,518
to the road for two months of US shows.
2949
02:24:09,559 --> 02:24:12,633
When they finally did
reconvene first at Studio One
2950
02:24:12,633 --> 02:24:16,035
in Doraville and later at
Muscle Shoals working once again
2951
02:24:16,035 --> 02:24:17,702
with Jimmy Johnson.
2952
02:24:17,702 --> 02:24:20,580
Ronnie Van Zant himself
oversaw the album's completion.
2953
02:24:21,761 --> 02:24:24,331
The band's radical decision
to abandon the original
2954
02:24:24,331 --> 02:24:27,276
recordings and start again
from scratch paid dividends
2955
02:24:27,276 --> 02:24:28,119
however.
2956
02:24:28,119 --> 02:24:32,190
Released in October 1977
Street Survivor sproved
2957
02:24:32,190 --> 02:24:34,085
a phenomenal return to form.
2958
02:24:34,085 --> 02:24:36,215
Steve Gains not only
injecting the proceedings
2959
02:24:36,215 --> 02:24:38,397
with new vitality but also contributing
2960
02:24:38,397 --> 02:24:42,093
as both a songwriter and
lead singer on one track.
2961
02:24:42,093 --> 02:24:44,745
It would however sadly
be the only studio album
2962
02:24:44,745 --> 02:24:46,896
of Skynyrd's to which he
was able to contribute.
2963
02:24:47,784 --> 02:24:50,582
- Street Survivors is an
extremely strong album.
2964
02:24:50,582 --> 02:24:54,071
I think it's clearly their best
album since Second Helping.
2965
02:24:54,947 --> 02:24:57,610
The band sounds completely revitalized
2966
02:24:57,610 --> 02:25:00,313
by Steve Gains whose playing
is all over the album,
2967
02:25:01,600 --> 02:25:04,885
but in addition, Ronnie
Van Zant has written his
2968
02:25:04,885 --> 02:25:08,229
best batch of songs since the beginning
2969
02:25:08,229 --> 02:25:10,286
perhaps inspired by Steve's presence.
2970
02:25:11,549 --> 02:25:14,271
The fact that there was
a torture history to the
2971
02:25:14,271 --> 02:25:16,090
recording of the album,
that it was recorded once
2972
02:25:16,090 --> 02:25:20,267
and put aside is a fascinating foot note
2973
02:25:20,267 --> 02:25:22,390
because it doesn't sound
anything like that.
2974
02:25:22,390 --> 02:25:25,770
It sounds easy and
natural and hard driving
2975
02:25:25,770 --> 02:25:27,142
and heart swinging.
2976
02:25:27,142 --> 02:25:28,961
They had those songs under their thumbs.
2977
02:25:28,961 --> 02:25:30,486
They don't sound like new songs.
2978
02:25:30,486 --> 02:25:32,833
They don't sound tentative in the least
2979
02:25:32,833 --> 02:25:35,543
and it's an extremely strong album.
2980
02:25:35,543 --> 02:25:38,324
It's probably the Lynyrd
Skynyrd album that I listen
2981
02:25:38,324 --> 02:25:39,368
to the most.
2982
02:25:39,368 --> 02:25:44,120
♪ Whiskey bottles and brand new cars ♪
2983
02:25:44,120 --> 02:25:47,663
♪ Oak tree you're in my way ♪
2984
02:25:47,663 --> 02:25:49,764
♪ There's too much coke ♪
2985
02:25:49,764 --> 02:25:51,887
♪ And too much smoke ♪
2986
02:25:51,887 --> 02:25:55,994
♪ Look what's going on inside you ♪
2987
02:25:55,994 --> 02:26:00,136
♪ Ooo ooo that smell ♪
2988
02:26:00,136 --> 02:26:03,843
♪ Can't you smell that smell ♪
2989
02:26:03,843 --> 02:26:08,843
♪ Ooo ooo that smell ♪
2990
02:26:08,877 --> 02:26:11,403
♪ The smell of death surrounds you ♪
2991
02:26:14,536 --> 02:26:18,674
- That smell is an eery song listened to
2992
02:26:18,674 --> 02:26:20,648
with the knowledge of
what was soon to come.
2993
02:26:21,607 --> 02:26:26,607
And it shows that Ronnie Van
Zant, similar to Am I losing
2994
02:26:27,581 --> 02:26:32,581
was aware of the dangerous
terrain that the band was
2995
02:26:32,814 --> 02:26:36,275
walking on and he understood
that they were surrounded
2996
02:26:36,275 --> 02:26:39,666
by a certain amount of doom
and gloom and foreboding
2997
02:26:39,666 --> 02:26:43,655
and that things had to change
or they wouldn't last long.
2998
02:26:43,655 --> 02:26:47,269
♪ Now they call you prince charming ♪
2999
02:26:47,269 --> 02:26:51,564
♪ Can't speak a work when
you're full of ludes ♪
3000
02:26:51,564 --> 02:26:55,377
♪ Say, you'll be all right come tomorrow ♪
3001
02:26:55,377 --> 02:27:00,377
♪ But tomorrow might not be here for you ♪
3002
02:27:01,109 --> 02:27:03,069
♪ Yeah, you ♪
3003
02:27:03,069 --> 02:27:05,497
- He has a statement to
make about Rossington
3004
02:27:05,497 --> 02:27:07,879
because you know, he
had to go see Rossington
3005
02:27:07,879 --> 02:27:09,311
in the hospital a few times.
3006
02:27:09,311 --> 02:27:11,845
Rossington almost died
from a car accident,
3007
02:27:11,845 --> 02:27:14,438
one of his 8 million car accidents.
3008
02:27:14,438 --> 02:27:17,457
He was afraid it was
going to ruin the band.
3009
02:27:18,732 --> 02:27:22,334
This was Ronnie's
statement that this is not
3010
02:27:22,334 --> 02:27:23,285
going to continue.
3011
02:27:23,285 --> 02:27:25,209
I know I'm a hypocrite for saying this.
3012
02:27:25,209 --> 02:27:28,776
I'm including myself here in these lyrics.
3013
02:27:28,776 --> 02:27:31,216
I'm singing to myself in a way here
3014
02:27:31,216 --> 02:27:34,361
but I'm telling you prince charming
3015
02:27:34,361 --> 02:27:36,179
that you are not going
to be able to continue
3016
02:27:36,179 --> 02:27:37,646
to do this.
3017
02:27:37,646 --> 02:27:42,646
♪ It's 8 o'clock in Boise, Idaho ♪
3018
02:27:43,662 --> 02:27:45,624
♪ I find my limo driver ♪
3019
02:27:45,624 --> 02:27:50,624
♪ Mister take me to the show ♪
3020
02:27:50,861 --> 02:27:55,861
♪ I done made plans for later on tonight ♪
3021
02:27:57,805 --> 02:28:00,104
♪ I found a little queenie ♪
3022
02:28:00,104 --> 02:28:04,423
♪ I know I can treat her right ♪
3023
02:28:04,423 --> 02:28:07,959
♪ What's your name little girl ♪
3024
02:28:07,959 --> 02:28:11,767
♪ What's your name ♪
3025
02:28:11,767 --> 02:28:14,689
♪ Shouldn't stay little girl ♪
3026
02:28:14,689 --> 02:28:16,592
♪ Cause there ain't no shame ♪
3027
02:28:18,123 --> 02:28:19,777
- I was really proud of that album.
3028
02:28:19,777 --> 02:28:21,409
From Nuthin' Fancy,
3029
02:28:21,409 --> 02:28:23,062
it was yeah, I don't like it.
3030
02:28:23,062 --> 02:28:25,142
Gimme Back My Bullets, you know,
3031
02:28:25,142 --> 02:28:29,632
Street Survivors, to me was an indication
3032
02:28:29,632 --> 02:28:32,213
of what we were going to do.
3033
02:28:32,213 --> 02:28:34,741
Street Survivors with Steve and Ronnie
3034
02:28:34,741 --> 02:28:37,312
and the band with the new spirit
3035
02:28:37,312 --> 02:28:41,365
and Steve is just a great
guitar player, incredible.
3036
02:28:41,365 --> 02:28:44,222
Ronnie got our feet back on the ground
3037
02:28:44,222 --> 02:28:47,401
with Street Survivors and
the success of the live
3038
02:28:47,401 --> 02:28:49,257
album and everything.
3039
02:28:49,257 --> 02:28:52,787
We had two winners and
I think the next album
3040
02:28:52,787 --> 02:28:54,664
would have been amazing and I think that
3041
02:28:54,664 --> 02:28:57,747
Ed King would have been asked to come back
3042
02:28:57,747 --> 02:29:00,541
and write a song or play
with us, perform with us.
3043
02:29:00,541 --> 02:29:02,039
And Bob, on double drums.
3044
02:29:04,210 --> 02:29:06,023
That's the vision that I had.
3045
02:29:06,023 --> 02:29:10,194
That I thought things would
just would come around.
3046
02:29:10,194 --> 02:29:12,146
And then we had the plane crash
3047
02:29:12,146 --> 02:29:17,146
and Ronnie was killed and
that's pretty definitive,
3048
02:29:17,404 --> 02:29:18,119
you know?
3049
02:29:18,119 --> 02:29:18,945
That's it.
3050
02:29:24,262 --> 02:29:26,641
- [Voiceover] Days before the
release of Street Survivors
3051
02:29:26,641 --> 02:29:29,190
Skynyrd had embarked on
a major headline tour
3052
02:29:29,190 --> 02:29:31,899
and for this ambitious run
of shows, manager Peter Rutch
3053
02:29:31,899 --> 02:29:35,590
leased a private plane to
transport the band and their crew.
3054
02:29:35,590 --> 02:29:38,683
Eager to save on costs,
however, the model he picked out
3055
02:29:38,683 --> 02:29:40,923
for the crew had seen better days.
3056
02:29:40,923 --> 02:29:43,131
And although it had safely
delivered them to their first
3057
02:29:43,131 --> 02:29:46,437
four dates the journey to
the bands final ever show
3058
02:29:46,437 --> 02:29:49,498
together in Greenville,
South Carolina, had revealed
3059
02:29:49,498 --> 02:29:52,116
just how unsafe their
method of transport was.
3060
02:29:52,997 --> 02:29:56,047
Yet, just before 4 a.m. on
the morning after the show
3061
02:29:56,047 --> 02:29:58,895
they reluctantly boarded
the plane one final time
3062
02:29:58,895 --> 02:30:00,254
heading to Baton Rouge.
3063
02:30:01,263 --> 02:30:03,492
They would never make that destination.
3064
02:30:03,492 --> 02:30:05,998
- We'd shot a flame out
of one of the engines
3065
02:30:05,998 --> 02:30:08,462
coming in to Greenville
and that's why we called
3066
02:30:08,462 --> 02:30:10,926
our mechanic out of Dallas,
Texas, and they were
3067
02:30:10,926 --> 02:30:14,205
gonna meet us in Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, and fix the plane.
3068
02:30:15,854 --> 02:30:17,422
But we shouldn't have tried to make it
3069
02:30:17,422 --> 02:30:18,830
from Greenville to Baton Rouge.
3070
02:30:18,830 --> 02:30:20,195
That was the mistake.
3071
02:30:20,195 --> 02:30:22,264
The plane had problems, obviously
3072
02:30:22,264 --> 02:30:24,477
and we took off.
3073
02:30:25,571 --> 02:30:27,437
And the rest is history.
3074
02:30:27,437 --> 02:30:29,714
We flew into the history books.
3075
02:30:42,097 --> 02:30:44,273
(chokes up) Excuse me.
3076
02:30:46,348 --> 02:30:47,814
(grinding metal)
3077
02:30:58,966 --> 02:31:02,353
- After we got on the
plane and we got airborne
3078
02:31:02,353 --> 02:31:04,646
Ronnie gets up down to me because
3079
02:31:04,646 --> 02:31:05,707
they were hollering for me to come back
3080
02:31:05,707 --> 02:31:08,842
and play poker and I had
run up to the cockpit
3081
02:31:08,842 --> 02:31:11,338
and I was hearing that
in the engine and I was
3082
02:31:11,338 --> 02:31:13,945
communicating with the pilot
about that damn engine.
3083
02:31:16,917 --> 02:31:19,263
Ronnie gets up and says, "Man,
I took two sleeping pills
3084
02:31:19,263 --> 02:31:20,906
"because I was up all night long Gene."
3085
02:31:20,906 --> 02:31:22,495
And I said, "Yeah, I heard."
3086
02:31:22,495 --> 02:31:24,281
And he says, "I gotta get some sleep."
3087
02:31:30,526 --> 02:31:31,998
- We started running out of fuel.
3088
02:31:31,998 --> 02:31:33,193
I went to the cockpit.
3089
02:31:33,193 --> 02:31:34,750
I played stewardess.
3090
02:31:34,750 --> 02:31:36,248
I told everybody to put
out their cigarettes.
3091
02:31:37,427 --> 02:31:41,374
Conserve power, turn
off lights, everything
3092
02:31:41,374 --> 02:31:45,011
and get pillows and prepare for impact.
3093
02:31:45,011 --> 02:31:48,866
I'm a pilot, so I played stewardess
3094
02:31:49,875 --> 02:31:52,189
and I went back to the cockpit
3095
02:31:52,189 --> 02:31:55,244
and the pilot and co-pilot,
Walter McCreary and John Gray
3096
02:31:55,244 --> 02:31:58,204
they said, "You better go
back and strap yourself in."
3097
02:31:58,204 --> 02:32:00,273
And they looked at me and
I could see they had fear
3098
02:32:00,273 --> 02:32:01,287
in their eyes.
3099
02:32:01,287 --> 02:32:04,476
- Artimus went back to his
seat and I grabbed Ronnie
3100
02:32:04,476 --> 02:32:06,135
up off of the floor.
3101
02:32:06,135 --> 02:32:08,577
I snatched him up and shoved
him between Allen and Gary,
3102
02:32:08,577 --> 02:32:09,910
but I said, "Man, the plane's crashing."
3103
02:32:09,910 --> 02:32:11,894
He said, "Don't be messing, Gene, I got
3104
02:32:11,894 --> 02:32:12,950
"to get some sleep, man.
3105
02:32:12,950 --> 02:32:14,838
"Don't be messing with me,
man I gotta get some sleep."
3106
02:32:14,838 --> 02:32:15,990
I said, "The plane's crashing."
3107
02:32:15,990 --> 02:32:16,918
And I strapped him in.
3108
02:32:16,918 --> 02:32:18,230
He said, "Man, don't be messing with me."
3109
02:32:18,230 --> 02:32:19,909
I think he might have unsnapped it before,
3110
02:32:20,971 --> 02:32:22,298
I know he did, actually.
3111
02:32:23,957 --> 02:32:25,205
And I said, "Man, the plane's crashing.
3112
02:32:25,205 --> 02:32:25,589
"I'm not messing with you.
3113
02:32:25,589 --> 02:32:26,548
"Put your head down."
3114
02:32:26,548 --> 02:32:27,594
And I actually slapped him.
3115
02:32:27,594 --> 02:32:29,727
I said, "Man, put your head down.
3116
02:32:29,727 --> 02:32:30,986
"It's mostly trees."
3117
02:32:30,986 --> 02:32:34,014
- Suddenly we came out of
the clouds the low ceiling.
3118
02:32:34,014 --> 02:32:35,405
We were right on the tree tops
3119
02:32:36,787 --> 02:32:39,325
and I heard one guy go, "Trees."
3120
02:32:39,325 --> 02:32:42,333
Clayton Johnson, he worked for Bill Graham
3121
02:32:42,333 --> 02:32:43,916
and he goes, "Trees."
3122
02:32:45,138 --> 02:32:47,602
And then I could feel
the trees brush against
3123
02:32:47,602 --> 02:32:49,303
the belly of the plane, the fuselage.
3124
02:32:50,279 --> 02:32:52,476
And the pilot and
co-pilot the last mistake
3125
02:32:52,476 --> 02:32:54,898
they made was to put
the landing gear down.
3126
02:32:54,898 --> 02:32:57,052
And we almost cleared the trees.
3127
02:32:57,052 --> 02:32:58,812
There was a field in front of us.
3128
02:32:58,812 --> 02:33:00,817
We'd almost cleared those trees,
3129
02:33:00,817 --> 02:33:02,684
but they put their landing gear down.
3130
02:33:02,684 --> 02:33:04,358
Landing gear caught the tops of the trees,
3131
02:33:04,358 --> 02:33:06,171
tripped us into a 45 degree angle.
3132
02:33:06,171 --> 02:33:08,475
We cut through the woods.
3133
02:33:08,475 --> 02:33:10,357
I watched the right wing come off.
3134
02:33:11,398 --> 02:33:16,398
Just unbelievable
crunch, impact, collision
3135
02:33:17,019 --> 02:33:18,693
with the earth.
3136
02:33:18,693 --> 02:33:21,823
And then it stopped and it was quiet.
3137
02:33:30,213 --> 02:33:32,346
- I was in Los Angeles.
3138
02:33:32,346 --> 02:33:35,428
I saw it on the TV and
I stayed up all night
3139
02:33:35,428 --> 02:33:36,698
watching it.
3140
02:33:36,698 --> 02:33:41,225
They didn't say who perrished
3141
02:33:42,553 --> 02:33:43,742
until the morning,
3142
02:33:44,878 --> 02:33:46,014
until the sun was up
3143
02:33:46,894 --> 02:33:48,531
and that's why I kept watching.
3144
02:33:49,422 --> 02:33:50,515
I wanted to know.
3145
02:33:51,587 --> 02:33:53,081
I wanted to know that
3146
02:33:53,081 --> 02:33:54,856
like as soon as possible.
3147
02:33:55,907 --> 02:33:58,243
- There sitting against a tree is a piece
3148
02:33:58,243 --> 02:34:00,003
of an airplane wing torn away
3149
02:34:00,003 --> 02:34:01,763
from the rest of the airplane.
3150
02:34:01,763 --> 02:34:04,461
Lying down there at the base of the tree
3151
02:34:04,461 --> 02:34:07,170
is the engine and that back there,
3152
02:34:07,170 --> 02:34:08,909
that twisted metal back there
3153
02:34:08,909 --> 02:34:11,095
is the fuselage of the plane.
3154
02:34:11,095 --> 02:34:13,250
- I was at my Mother's and Father's house
3155
02:34:13,250 --> 02:34:16,887
They almost knocked the door down.
3156
02:34:16,887 --> 02:34:17,964
People crying.
3157
02:34:17,964 --> 02:34:21,761
They told me what happened and I lost it.
3158
02:34:21,761 --> 02:34:23,483
I said "Oh, God who have we lost?"
3159
02:34:24,716 --> 02:34:25,644
It killed me, man.
3160
02:34:25,644 --> 02:34:27,098
It killed me.
3161
02:34:28,138 --> 02:34:28,815
Killed me.
3162
02:34:32,650 --> 02:34:34,378
- [Voiceover] As the
surviving band members
3163
02:34:34,378 --> 02:34:36,618
and their crew were taken
to various hospitals
3164
02:34:36,618 --> 02:34:39,487
in the vicinity it soon
emerged that Skynyrd's latest
3165
02:34:39,487 --> 02:34:43,177
recruit, Steve Gains, his
sister Cassie and the band's
3166
02:34:43,177 --> 02:34:45,833
assistant Dean Kilpatrick
who had been working
3167
02:34:45,833 --> 02:34:49,294
with them since 1969 had
all been killed on impact.
3168
02:34:50,793 --> 02:34:52,909
So too had Ronnie Van Zant.
3169
02:34:54,003 --> 02:34:55,550
Although the public would become aware
3170
02:34:55,550 --> 02:34:57,907
of these details within days of the crash
3171
02:34:57,907 --> 02:34:59,987
for the survivors it took longer for them
3172
02:34:59,987 --> 02:35:02,018
to discover the tragic
fate of their comrades.
3173
02:35:02,952 --> 02:35:05,128
- We went to five different hospitals,
3174
02:35:05,128 --> 02:35:07,283
so the doctor came in to my room
3175
02:35:07,283 --> 02:35:10,739
and he said, "Artimus, I
hear you've been asking
3176
02:35:10,739 --> 02:35:11,831
"who made it."
3177
02:35:12,978 --> 02:35:14,071
And I said, "Yeah."
3178
02:35:15,645 --> 02:35:16,780
And he said, "Are you ready?"
3179
02:35:21,906 --> 02:35:22,614
I said, "Yeah."
3180
02:35:23,740 --> 02:35:27,175
And he said, "Ronnie,
Ronnie Van Zant was killed."
3181
02:35:27,175 --> 02:35:31,041
And I said, "I know, I knew that."
3182
02:35:32,796 --> 02:35:36,971
And then when he said Steve and Cassie
3183
02:35:38,534 --> 02:35:41,333
you know, that really hit me.
3184
02:35:44,571 --> 02:35:45,578
That hit hard.
3185
02:35:46,640 --> 02:35:49,019
- I didn't hear anything until
I got out of the hospital
3186
02:35:49,019 --> 02:35:50,309
a month later.
3187
02:35:50,309 --> 02:35:51,760
They didn't tell me
Ronnie died or anything.
3188
02:35:51,760 --> 02:35:53,616
I was going, when I got
out, I said, ""Kept me,
3189
02:35:53,616 --> 02:35:56,048
"let's go see Ronnie, go
visit Ronnie, come on."
3190
02:35:56,048 --> 02:35:58,324
So he started driving me to Orange Park
3191
02:35:59,173 --> 02:36:01,903
and he pulled into the
cemetery and I said,
3192
02:36:01,903 --> 02:36:02,900
"What the hell are y'all doing?"
3193
02:36:03,866 --> 02:36:05,594
And they said, "Taking
you to visit Ronnie,
3194
02:36:05,594 --> 02:36:07,172
"he didn't make it."
3195
02:36:07,172 --> 02:36:09,193
And that was horrible.
3196
02:36:10,511 --> 02:36:12,292
That's when I realized he didn't make it
3197
02:36:12,292 --> 02:36:13,636
because they didn't tell me.
3198
02:36:13,636 --> 02:36:14,884
I guess they didn't want me to know
3199
02:36:14,884 --> 02:36:16,185
because my health was so banged up,
3200
02:36:16,185 --> 02:36:17,422
you know.
3201
02:36:17,422 --> 02:36:19,524
But it was a month later
that I knew that he had died.
3202
02:36:19,524 --> 02:36:21,806
And whoever else, I didn't know.
3203
02:36:21,806 --> 02:36:23,571
I though everybody was fine.
3204
02:36:25,694 --> 02:36:27,561
- [Voiceover] The surviving
members of Lynyrd Skynyrd
3205
02:36:27,561 --> 02:36:29,673
jointly decided to dissolve
the band in the wake
3206
02:36:29,673 --> 02:36:30,867
of the tragedy.
3207
02:36:30,867 --> 02:36:33,203
And for a decade pursued
various musical projects,
3208
02:36:33,203 --> 02:36:35,187
together and apart.
3209
02:36:35,187 --> 02:36:38,013
In 1987 however, they reunited to perform
3210
02:36:38,013 --> 02:36:40,712
a one off tribute tour 10
years after the fateful
3211
02:36:40,712 --> 02:36:42,941
accident bringing together former members
3212
02:36:42,941 --> 02:36:46,045
Gary Rossington, Billy
Powell, Leon Wilkeson,
3213
02:36:46,045 --> 02:36:49,511
Artimus Pyle and Ed King
alongside Ronnie VanZant's
3214
02:36:49,511 --> 02:36:52,082
younger brother Johnny
on vocals and musical
3215
02:36:52,082 --> 02:36:54,610
director Allen Collins
who was unable to play
3216
02:36:54,610 --> 02:36:56,402
with the band on stage having been left
3217
02:36:56,402 --> 02:36:58,631
permanently paralyzed by a car accident
3218
02:36:58,631 --> 02:36:59,745
the previous year.
3219
02:37:00,753 --> 02:37:03,601
So successful was this
tour that the reconstituted
3220
02:37:03,601 --> 02:37:05,628
Skynyrd decided to remain together.
3221
02:37:05,628 --> 02:37:07,804
Although this has proven controversial
3222
02:37:07,804 --> 02:37:10,299
they have endured to the present day.
3223
02:37:10,299 --> 02:37:12,315
Albeit not with only one original member
3224
02:37:12,315 --> 02:37:13,899
guitarist Gary Rossington.
3225
02:37:15,014 --> 02:37:16,816
Yet despite releasing new material
3226
02:37:16,816 --> 02:37:18,896
and drawing large crowds to their shows
3227
02:37:18,896 --> 02:37:21,051
they have been dismissed by many as simply
3228
02:37:21,051 --> 02:37:22,384
a tribute band.
3229
02:37:22,384 --> 02:37:24,357
Ronnie Van Zant proving irreplaceable
3230
02:37:24,357 --> 02:37:26,586
even by his own brother.
3231
02:37:26,586 --> 02:37:27,472
- They suck.
3232
02:37:27,472 --> 02:37:28,351
Ithink they're awful.
3233
02:37:29,242 --> 02:37:31,743
I take a great interest
in how bad they are.
3234
02:37:31,743 --> 02:37:34,261
I take a great interest in
their Yahoo, right wing,
3235
02:37:34,261 --> 02:37:36,175
Fox News bullshit.
3236
02:37:37,066 --> 02:37:40,628
Lynyrd Skynyrd died with
Ronnie Van Zant period
3237
02:37:40,628 --> 02:37:43,081
Is it possible for a
reunion band with somebody
3238
02:37:43,081 --> 02:37:46,473
doing a Ronnie Van Zant
imitation singing his songs
3239
02:37:46,473 --> 02:37:48,276
do a decent concert?
3240
02:37:48,276 --> 02:37:49,112
I suppose.
3241
02:37:50,153 --> 02:37:53,342
I'd rather listen to the records.
3242
02:37:53,342 --> 02:37:58,342
- They could never regroup
that success without him.
3243
02:37:59,176 --> 02:38:03,091
He was the key factor to that band.
3244
02:38:03,091 --> 02:38:05,021
He wrote all the songs.
3245
02:38:05,021 --> 02:38:06,765
It'd take the authorship away
3246
02:38:07,667 --> 02:38:10,376
and it's something else entirely.
3247
02:38:10,376 --> 02:38:13,132
But you can make a lot of money.
3248
02:38:15,346 --> 02:38:17,415
And that's what they do.
3249
02:38:17,415 --> 02:38:22,415
♪ I like a little bit of homegrown ♪
3250
02:38:22,492 --> 02:38:26,513
♪ She gets me stoned ♪
3251
02:38:26,513 --> 02:38:29,936
♪ Oh in her short dress
- yeah I'm a mess ♪
3252
02:38:29,936 --> 02:38:34,288
♪ I like to get her all alone ♪
3253
02:38:34,288 --> 02:38:38,299
♪ She really turns me on ♪
3254
02:38:38,299 --> 02:38:43,173
♪ Yeah in her barefeet
- sippin' sweet tea ♪
3255
02:38:43,173 --> 02:38:48,015
♪ A little Homegrown ♪
3256
02:38:48,015 --> 02:38:49,967
♪ A little Homegrown ♪
3257
02:38:49,967 --> 02:38:52,751
- They are acutely aware of what kind
3258
02:38:52,751 --> 02:38:54,618
of dedicated fans they have.
3259
02:38:54,618 --> 02:38:56,623
They're very thankful for it
3260
02:38:56,623 --> 02:38:58,532
and don't from what I can see
3261
02:38:58,532 --> 02:39:00,307
they don't take it for granted one bit.
3262
02:39:01,156 --> 02:39:03,283
And when I've seen them in recent times
3263
02:39:04,132 --> 02:39:07,897
they go out there and want to give people
3264
02:39:07,897 --> 02:39:10,275
the best possible show.
3265
02:39:10,275 --> 02:39:12,440
We are gonna come out
here and we are gonna rock
3266
02:39:12,440 --> 02:39:14,088
the crap out of this place.
3267
02:39:14,926 --> 02:39:16,643
And they do.
3268
02:39:16,643 --> 02:39:17,827
They do the whole thing.
3269
02:39:17,827 --> 02:39:18,957
They do the steps,
3270
02:39:18,957 --> 02:39:21,315
They all get together and
they do the guitar moves
3271
02:39:21,315 --> 02:39:25,730
and they do the whole show
and they are more than happy
3272
02:39:25,730 --> 02:39:28,962
to deliver that to the fans.
3273
02:39:28,962 --> 02:39:31,949
They want to put on a
great show every night.
3274
02:39:31,949 --> 02:39:33,372
It's really important to them.
3275
02:39:34,796 --> 02:39:37,367
- [Voiceover] Despite the
polarized opinion regarding
3276
02:39:37,367 --> 02:39:39,068
the second incarnation of
the band and the various
3277
02:39:39,068 --> 02:39:41,521
private and public disputes
that have since occured
3278
02:39:41,521 --> 02:39:43,751
among the survivors of the '77 crash.
3279
02:39:43,751 --> 02:39:47,153
The legacy of the first era
of Lynyrd Skynyrd has remained
3280
02:39:47,153 --> 02:39:50,470
untarnished and although
a wholly accurate account
3281
02:39:50,470 --> 02:39:53,681
of their years together for the
mid '60s until the late '70s
3282
02:39:53,681 --> 02:39:56,923
will now never emerge due to
the conflicting testimonies
3283
02:39:56,923 --> 02:39:58,672
of those who lived through it.
3284
02:39:58,672 --> 02:40:01,766
The music the band produced
continues to find new listeners
3285
02:40:01,766 --> 02:40:05,360
and inspire a new generation
of musicians and their departed
3286
02:40:05,360 --> 02:40:09,434
driving force, Ronnie Van Zant
remains a remarkably singular
3287
02:40:09,434 --> 02:40:11,546
talent in the history of rock music.
3288
02:40:11,546 --> 02:40:14,906
His rugged no nonsense appeal
still influential nearly
3289
02:40:14,906 --> 02:40:17,257
40 years after his tragic death.
3290
02:40:19,695 --> 02:40:22,863
- Ronnie Van Zant was a
very unique front man.
3291
02:40:22,863 --> 02:40:27,257
He was incredibly dynamic
without doing too much.
3292
02:40:27,257 --> 02:40:30,084
He basically walked around
usually without shoes on.
3293
02:40:30,084 --> 02:40:32,921
Held his microphone in the air.
3294
02:40:32,921 --> 02:40:35,971
He was a commanding presence.
3295
02:40:35,971 --> 02:40:39,662
That element of being a
lead singer and front man
3296
02:40:39,662 --> 02:40:42,947
is hard for anyone to copy and emulate
3297
02:40:42,947 --> 02:40:45,869
because it had to come from within.
3298
02:40:45,869 --> 02:40:48,835
I think as a singer
Ronnie Van Zant has been
3299
02:40:48,835 --> 02:40:52,173
very influential especially
on country artists
3300
02:40:52,173 --> 02:40:55,405
Country music has become
more and more rocked up
3301
02:40:55,405 --> 02:40:58,455
and what we would have
thought of in the mid '70s
3302
02:40:58,455 --> 02:41:01,452
as country-tinged rock
has become rock-tinged
3303
02:41:01,452 --> 02:41:04,460
country and I think Ronnie
Van Zant's influence
3304
02:41:04,460 --> 02:41:08,833
on Eric Church, Jason Alldeen
and a whole generation
3305
02:41:08,833 --> 02:41:13,526
really of country singers
is profound both vocally,
3306
02:41:13,526 --> 02:41:16,634
musically and in terms of
stage presence and swagger.
3307
02:41:17,974 --> 02:41:20,672
- When music is new and it's
fresh and you capture that
3308
02:41:20,672 --> 02:41:24,213
on record it's always
gonna sound new and fresh.
3309
02:41:24,213 --> 02:41:27,877
Forever it will and it will
probably be like the cliche
3310
02:41:27,877 --> 02:41:30,608
about fine wine, it gets better over time.
3311
02:41:30,608 --> 02:41:32,762
If it wasn't great music we
wouldn't be talking about it.
3312
02:41:32,762 --> 02:41:37,762
They found a way to be a distinctive band
3313
02:41:38,127 --> 02:41:41,722
that has great music that
people are gonna remember
3314
02:41:41,722 --> 02:41:43,908
those great songs forever.
3315
02:41:43,908 --> 02:41:45,327
- I don't think they'll ever be another
3316
02:41:45,327 --> 02:41:47,609
like Ronnie Van Zant in my opinion.
3317
02:41:47,609 --> 02:41:50,355
Man, everything that comes out
of his mouth is meaningful.
3318
02:41:51,321 --> 02:41:53,465
You could tell he was
telling about his life.
3319
02:41:53,465 --> 02:41:56,734
Everybody asks me what was
Ronnie, what was he like?
3320
02:41:56,734 --> 02:41:59,752
I say, "You just take any six
songs that Ronnie's written
3321
02:41:59,752 --> 02:42:02,743
"any six, you pick them,
any six, that's him.
3322
02:42:03,602 --> 02:42:04,674
"That's his story."
3323
02:42:16,015 --> 02:42:17,908
(slow guitar music)266550
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