![]() "Free Bird" earned Lynyrd Skynyrd their first national exposure and it became one of the staples of album rock radio, still receiving airplay decades after its release. The group became notorious for their triple-guitar attack, which was showcased on "Free Bird," a tribute to then-recently deceased Duane Allman. Kooper produced the group's 1973 debut, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, which was recorded after former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King joined the band. For the first few years, the group had little success, but producer Al Kooper signed the band to MCA after seeing them play at an Atlanta club called Funocchio's in 1972. With drummer Bob Burns, Lynyrd Skynyrd began playing throughout the South. Within a few months, the group added bassist Leon Wilkeson and keyboardist Billy Powell, and changed their name to Lynyrd Skynyrd, a mocking tribute to their gym teacher Leonard Skinner, who was notorious for punishing students with long hair. While in high school in Jacksonville, Florida, Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Allen Collins (guitar), and Gary Rossington (guitar) formed My Backyard. In 2018, after decades of performing and recording, the band embarked on a farewell tour, which was chronicled on the 2020 concert LP and film Last of the Street Survivors Tour Lyve! Skynyrd re-formed in 1987 with Ronnie's younger sibling Johnny Van Zant on vocals, and guitarist and co-founder Gary Rossington, who would serve as the group's sole constant member over the years. During the height of Skynyrd's popularity in the mid-'70s, they adopted a more muscular and gritty blues-rock sound that yielded the classic rock standards "Sweet Home Alabama," "Simple Man," "What's Your Name," "That Smell," "Gimme Three Steps," and "Free Bird." The group ceased operations after the tragic deaths of Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and backup singer Cassie Gaines, who were killed in an airplane crash on October 20, 1977. Throughout the band's early records, frontman Ronnie Van Zant demonstrated a knack for lyrical detail and a down-to-earth honesty that had more in common with country than rock & roll. They may have jammed endlessly on-stage, but their music remained firmly entrenched in blues, rock, and country. Instead, they were a hard-living, hard-driving rock & roll band. ![]() Skynyrd never relied on the jazzy improvisations of the Allman Brothers. Lynyrd Skynyrd is the definitive Southern rock band, fusing the overdriven power of blues-rock with a rebellious Southern image and a hard rock swagger.
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