TEAM RNS PRESENTS

ARTIST: Lynyrd Skynyrd

RIPPER: Team RNS

2hr 31min total-218.6mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-08-12
RIP DATE: 2003-07-28

01 Sweet Home Alabama             4:45
02 Need All My Friends            5:12
03 Blues Medley (Previously      10:15

04 Down South Jukin'              2:14
05 Was I Right Or Wrong?          5:24
06 I Ain't The One                3:54

08 Gimme Three Steps              4:30
09 Workin' for MCA                4:48
10 The Ballad Of Curtis Lowe      4:51
11 Call Me The Breeze             5:08
12 Saturday Night Special         5:09
13 All I Can Do Is Write About It 4:23

01 Whiskey Rock-A-Roller          4:12
02 Simple Man (live)              6:42
03 What's Your Name               3:32

06 You Got That Right             3:46
07 Comin' Home (live)             6:11
08 Swamp Music (live)             3:38
09 Gimme Back My Bullets          5:05
10 Smokestack Lightnin'           4:29
11 The Last Rebel                 6:46
12 Things Goin' On (acoustic)     3:00
13 Talked Myself Right Into It    3:26
14 We Ain't Much Different        3:42

Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in
1964, this US boogie/hard rock band took
their (slightly corrupted) name from
their Physical Education teacher,
Leonard Skinner. The line-up initially
comprised Ronnie Van Zant (b. 15
January 1948, Jacksonville, Florida,
USA, d. 20 October 1977; vocals), Gary
Rossington (b. 4 December 1951,
Jacksonville, Florida, USA; guitar),
Allen Collins (b. 19 July 1952,
Jacksonville, Florida, USA, d. 23 January
1990; guitar, ex-Mods), Larry Jungstrom
(bass) and Bob Burns (drums, ex-Me, You
& Him), the quintet meeting through
minor league baseball connections. They
played together under various names,
including Noble Five, Wildcats, Sons Of
Satan and My Backyard, releasing one
single, "Need All My Friends", in 1968,
before changing their name to Lynyrd
Skynyrd. After playing the southern states
during the late 60s they released a
second single, "I've Been Your Fool",
in 1971, after recording demos in
Sheffield, Alabama. The bands were
discovered in Atlanta by Al Kooper in
1972 while he was scouting for new talent
for his Sounds Of The South label.
Signed for $9000, their ranks were
swollen by the addition of Leon Wilkeson
(b. 2 April 1952, USA, d. 27 July 2001,
Florida, USA; bass), who replaced
Jungstrom (who went on to work with Van
Zant's brother, Donnie, in .38
Special). Kooper produced the band's
debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd
Skin-Nerd, which also featured former
Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist Ed King
(originally standing in on bass for
Wilkeson, who dropped out of the band
for six months) and Billy Powell (b. 3
June 1952, Corpus Christi, Texas, USA;

Their three-guitar line-up attracted a
great deal of attention, much of it
generated through support slots with the
Who, and the combination of blues, honky
tonk and boogie proved invigorating.
Their momentous anthem, "Free Bird" (a
tribute to Duane Allman), included a
superb guitar finale, while its gravity
and durability were indicated by
frequent reappearances in the charts
years later. In 1974 the band enjoyed
their biggest US hit with "Sweet Home
Alabama", an amusing and heartfelt
response to Neil Young who had
criticized the south in his
compositions "Southern Man" and
"Alabama". After the release of parent
album Second Helping, drummer Bob Burns
was replaced by Artimus Pyle (b. Thomas
Delmer Pyle, 15 July 1948, Kentucky,
USA). The band were by now renowned as
much for their hard living as their
music, and Ed King became the first
victim of excess when retiring from the
band in May 1975 (Van Zant's name was
also regularly to be found in the
newspapers, through reports of bar brawls
and confrontations with the law). Gimme
Back My Bullets arrived in March of the
following year, with production
expertise from Tom Dowd.

In September 1976 Rossington was injured
in a car crash, while Steve Gaines (b.
14 September 1949, Seneca, Missouri,
USA, d. 20 October 1977; guitar) became
King's replacement. With their tally of
gold discs increasing each year and a
series of sell-out tours, the band
suffered an irrevocable setback in
late 1977. On 20 October, Van Zant,
Gaines, his sister Cassie (one of three
backing singers) and personal manager
Dean Kilpatrick were killed in a plane
crash near McComb, Mississippi, en
route from Greenville, South Carolina,
to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rossington,
Collins, Powell and Wilkeson were
seriously injured, but all recovered.
That same month the band's new album,
Street Survivors, was withdrawn as the
sleeve featured an unintentionally
macabre design of the members surrounded
by flames. With their line-up
devastated, the band dispersed and the
remaining members went on to join the
Rossington Collins band (with the
exception of Pyle).

In 1987, the name Lynyrd Skynyrd was
revived for a "reunion" tour featuring
Rossington, Powell, Pyle, Wilkeson and
King, with Ronnie's brother Johnny Van
Zant (vocals) and Randell Hall (guitar).
One of their performances was later
issued as the live double set, Southern
By The Grace Of God. Collins had earlier
been paralyzed and his girlfriend killed
during an automobile accident in 1986.
When he died in 1990 from pneumonia,
this only helped to confirm Lynyrd
Skynyrd's status as a "tragic" band.
However, members continued to perform and
record after disentangling themselves
from legal complications over the use
of the name caused by objections from
Van Zant's widow. The most spectacular
aspect of this was a 20th anniversary
performance live on cable television in
February 1993, with Rossington,
Powell, Wilkeson, King and Johnny Van
Zant joined by guests including Peter
Frampton, Brett Michaels (Poison),
Charlie Daniels and Tom Kiefer
(Cinderella), the latter having also
written new songs with Rossington. The
Rossington led line-up, which also
features Rick Medlocke (guitar, vocals;
ex-Blackfoot), Hugh Thomasson (guitar,
vocals; ex-Outlaws), and Michael
Cartellone (drums; ex-Damn Yankees),
has continued to release worthy
recordings on the CMC International label
into the new millennium, and remains a
huge draw on the live circuit.