" THE BEST OF THE REST "
LYNYRD SKYNYRD,The best Southern Rock Band in musical history."Of course that's just my opinion." In the 1970's,The Rolling Stones were supposed to play their last concert at The Knebworth Fair at The Knebworth Estates in Hertfordshire,England.The date was August 21,1976.A saturday afternoon,in which over a quarter million people showed up to watch The Rolling Stones and other popular bands of that time.Included in these groups of great musicians was The band known as Lynyrd Skynyrd. It was here that Skynyrd was to make their first major impact on the music community.Peter Rudge the manager of Lynyrd Skynyrd at the time was also the manager for The Stones.Hoping that The Stones concert would bring a little more popularity to the Jacksonville,Fla. based band would gain in strength.Skynyrds first big time gig was opening for The Who's "Quadrophenia" tour in 1973.It was a big surprise when Skynyrd's popularity was more than Rudge had hoped for. While back stage the band members were nervous as there were such greats as Jack Nicholson,"Papa" John Phillips and Paul & Linda McCartney.By the time the band had finished with the 1 1/2hr set the crowd was screaming for more (a feeling I've had the pleasure of knowing!) Steve Gaines had joined Skynyrd just two months prior to the Knebworth Jam,Adding new depth to the already great sound of the band.Ronnie VanZant stated that Steve had scared them into playing the best they had in years.With the addition of Gaines,The three guitar attack was unbeatable.Steve was there when the bands album "One More From The Road" hit the million seller mark (their first.) The album "Street Survivors" was their first album to be shipped gold.This because of pre-release advanced sales. Then came one of the saddest days in musical history.On October 20th,1977 the plane that carried the Lynyrd Skynyrd Band ran out of fuel and crashed.Bringing to the end the careers of some of the best musicians to ever walk the earth.They were Ronnie VanZant,Steve Gaines,Cassie Gaines,Dean Kilpatrick,The Pilot & Co-Pilot. The music of Lynyrd Skynyrd did not die though,the music has lived on in MANY people such as all of you and myself.The greatest pleasure I have ever felt and the highest high I have ever felt was playing the songs of LYNYRD SKYNYRD.And that music lives on today in the spirit of Ronnie's younger brother Johnny VanZant and a few of the surviving band members.
This Picture Was Drawn By My Son When He was about 15 yrs old, It Would Be Appreciated If No One Took This Picture.
