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Saturday, October 20, 2012

The unluckiest band in history

It's hard to believe that it has been 35 years since one of rock's best-known tragedies occured. On October 20, 1977, a chartered plane carrying the band Lynyrd Skynyrd--in the midst of a headlining tour and fresh off the release of their sixth album--crashed in a Gillsburg, Mississippi swamp.
The toll was dire: Three band members perished; the others were all severely injured. The drummer--who was one of the few able to walk--staggered out for help, and was allegedly shot at by an alarmed farmer. The band's record label scrambled to replace the new album's cover, which eerily forecasted the accident by portraying the members engulfed in flames.
Although the crash remains now and forever the darkest centerpiece in the band's legend--as well as a breeding ground for gruesome urban legends surrounding the various members' demises--fans know quite well it's far from the first or last tragedy the definitive Southern Rockers endured. In fact, Lynyrd Skynyrd has managed to earn the dubious distinction of "unluckiest band in history" over the years. Here's a cheat sheet to their unfortunate past few decades.
It is undisputably the creepiest, but the flaming album cover wasn't the first prediction of deadly events for Skynyrd. Trouble began for the hard-partying band a year before the plane crash, when guitarist Gary Rossington plowed his brand-new car into a tree along a Jacksonville, Florida road. He survived the incident and admitted he was under the influence at the time, prompting bandmates Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins to write "That Smell"--an ominous tune warning "Say you'll be all right come tomorrow, but tomorrow may not be here for you." (Ironically, the 60-year-old Rossington is the sole member of the original lineup still performing in the band.)
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I saw Skynyrd in October of 1977 while they were on that tour in Columbus Georgia when I was 18 years old. Fucking show kicked ass, Ronnie Van Zant was burning up the stage in his bare feet. They were fronted by a band called the Winter Brothers (not Johnny and Edgar) that rocked the same style of music.
Yeah, that was one of my most memorable concerts.

5 comments:

  1. Actually have Van Zant "Taking up space" playing right now, listening to Get Right with the Man while cleaning house. I've seen them twice in concert, they are amazing. Highly interactive with the crowd, signing autographs for little kids while performing, etc. Lots of fun.

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  2. Biggest Stars and Bars i ever seen.Also saw a dude from school fall from the upper concourse to themiddle concourse.HE just shook it off !Gret concert 1976 B-more MD.

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  3. Not to pee in your Wheaties, and they had their moments, but they pissed me off with that punk-ass song "Saturday night special".

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  4. Saw em in Denver 6 months prior. Same with Elvis!

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  5. I would love to have seen Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977, especially since by then they had Steve Gaines in the band.

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