HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RONNIE VAN ZANT! Born Ronald Wayne Van Zant on January 15th 1948 in Jacksonville, Florida. He was lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of current lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant and of the founder and vocalist of 38 Special, Donnie Van Zant. Van Zant aspired to be many things before finding his love for music. Notably, Ronnie was interested in becoming a boxer (as Muhammad Ali was one of his idols) and in playing professional baseball. Ronnie also tossed around the idea of becoming a stock car racer. He would say that he was going to be the most famous person to come out of Jacksonville since stock car racer Lee Roy Yarbrough. The band went through several names before deciding on the name Lynyrd Skynyrd. Van Zant formed Skynyrd (then called My Backyard at the time, their earliest name) late in the summer of 1964 with friends and schoolmates Allen Collins (guitar), Gary Rossington (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass), and Bob Burns (drums). Lynyrd Skynyrds name is a mock tribute to a gym teacher that three of the members (Allen Collins had gone to a different high school) had in high school, Leonard Skinner, who disapproved of male students with long hair. The bands national exposure began in 1973 with the release of their debut album, (Pronounced Lĕh-nérd Skin-nérd), which has a string of hits and fan favorites including: I Aint the One, Tuesdays Gone, Gimme Three Steps, Simple Man, and their signature song, Free Bird. Lynyrd Skynyrds biggest hit single was Sweet Home Alabama from the album Second Helping. Sweet Home Alabama was an answer song to Neil Youngs Alabama and Southern Man. Youngs song Powderfinger on the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps was reportedly written for Skynyrd, and Van Zant is pictured on the cover of Street Survivors wearing a T-shirt of Youngs Tonights the Night. According to former bandmate Artimus Pyle and family members, Van Zant frequently discussed his mortality. Pyle recalls a moment when Lynyrd Skynyrd was in Japan: Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, Ronnie, dont talk like that, but the man knew his destiny. Van Zants father, Lacy, said, He said to me many times, Daddy, Ill never be 30 years old. I said, Why are you talking this junk? and he said, Daddy, thats my limit. Van Zant was 29 years old at the time of his death. On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-300 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about problems with one of the planes engines and told to brace for impact. Van Zant died on impact from head injuries suffered after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines, along with assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were also killed. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured. Here, from the last performance Ronnie had with Lynyrd Skynyrd, is a song title that is still yelled out at concerts, in reference to their live album One More From The Road. What song is it you want to hear? Free Bird..... Enjoy!
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 17:13:50 +0000