50 years ago this month, five twentysomethings from Jacksonville and one transplant from California left the practice pit proving ground known as Hell House and trucked up I-75 to Studio One in north Georgia. Over the next five weeks, they laid down eight finished tracks -- 41 minutes of what would soon become Southern Rock Gospel for evermore.
The young, longhaired redneck image of the sextet belied their stalwart virtuosity and dedication to the craft. The diesel engine of the Three Guitar Army, with legendary driver Ronnie Van Zant behind the wheel, fired off number after number. Songs like "Tuesday's Gone," "Gimme Three Steps," and, of course, "Free Bird."
The Call: What song is it you wanna hear?
The Response: Free Bird!
The musicians:
- Ronnie Van Zant – lead vocals, lyrics
- Gary Rossington – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, slide guitar
- Allen Collins – lead guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
- Ed King – bass and guitar
- Billy Powell – keyboards
- Bob Burns – drums and percussion
Three months later, MCA released these tracks as the band's debut record. The album title is parenthetical and self-referential, a phonetic spelling of the band's name. Lynyrd Skynyrd, as they were called, was a play on their old gym teacher nemesis's name: Leonard Skinner. And the cover of the album showed a randomly captured lightning strike in the background over Ed -- surely a sign of the lightning in a bottle they had just captured.
For the math majors among you, yes, there's a seventh band member in the photo. Bassist Leon Wilkeson had left the band before the recording sessions, which led to them onboarding Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King to play bass, but as they were putting the finishing touches on the album, Ronnie convinced Leon to return and Ed to become the third general in the Three Guitar Army. Leon showed up in time to get in the cover pic.
We all know what happened four action-packed years later. "The rest, as they say is history."
Up until two days ago, Gary Rossington existed as the last remaining living member of this historic posse. Gary rejoined Ronnie and the rest of the gang in that fishin' hole in the sky this week.
This song almost got scrapped from (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd). Thank goodness Ronnie Van Zant knew a dandy when he wrote it. Gary Rossington co-wrote this gem and is featured prominently in its axe-wielding. Enjoy... some sunny day.
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