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Subtitles by explosiveskull
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There's a whole new
generation of people
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that they don't know
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what the breadth and width
of Skynyrd is,
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and I say, "Have you heard
Lynyrd Skynyrd?"
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and they said,
"Yeah, yeah, 'Free Bird,'
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'Sweet Home Alabama.'"
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And I said,
"No, I mean anything else?"
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"No."
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And I'd sit them down,
and I'd play them stuff,
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and they'd go, "Wow,
that's great,"
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like that.
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One, two, three.
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♪ Well, I'll tell you
plainly baby ♪
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♪ What I plan to do ♪
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♪ Because I may be crazy
woman ♪
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♪ But I ain't no fool ♪
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♪ Your daddy's rich, mama ♪
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♪ You're overdue ♪
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♪ Now I ain't the one, baby ♪
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♪ Been messing with you ♪
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♪ Got bells in your mind,
lady ♪
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♪ Ain't it easy to see? ♪
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♪ I think it's time for me
to move along ♪
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♪ I do believe ♪
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♪ I must be in the middle of
some kind of conspiracy ♪
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♪ Oh, no ♪
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♪ Ooh ♪
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Three members of
the Lynyrd Skynyrd band
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were among the six persons
who died in the crash
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of that twin-engine plane near
McComb last night.
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The plane apparently
was running low on fuel
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and tried to make
an emergency landing,
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clipped some treetops
and crashed into a swamp.
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I just want to straighten out
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that there's not a person
by the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd,
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for those who are not
so informed,
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and therefore
that person cannot die.
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Ronnie Van Zant
was the leader
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and the vocals you usually
heard from Lynyrd Skynyrd,
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and he was one of
the six killed in the wreck,
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and that's about the latest
we have on it right now.
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Ronnie, he called himself
the Mississippi Kid.
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I never understood that
'cause I'm from Mississippi,
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and I asked him
about that one time.
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I said, "Ronnie,
you know, wh..."
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and he said, "I don't know,"
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but he died in Mississippi.
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See? His songs
were really prophetic.
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Everything he ever wrote
was true.
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It was a true story,
or it came true later.
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Ronnie Van Zant,
he's a prophet.
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Man, a lot of this
I haven't been to.
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Well, it's all changed
in this area.
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- You ever miss living here?
- I miss the moss.
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There's no moss
in Jackson or Atlanta.
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I never see it, anyway.
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I love moss.
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It's crazy, man,
how long it's been.
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I know.
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The stories from the original
band was 52 years ago.
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Most people can't remember
that far back,
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let alone rock-and-rollers.
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So we came down to a baseball
game here to watch Ronnie.
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He was on a baseball team
called the Green Pigs.
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Ronnie got up and went bam
and hit a line drive
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right to Bob Burns' temple.
Boom, it hit him.
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Looked like a aspirin
coming straight to me,
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and I wheeled around to...
to turn, try to miss it,
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and it caught me right behind
the shoulder blades
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and took every breath
I ever had in my whole life,
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and I think Gary said
it hit me in the head,
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but I... maybe it should have.
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So everybody running over.
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"Oh, you killed this guy.
It's go..."
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you know,
we thought he was dead.
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And Ronnie walked up
and looks down there.
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He got this Mona Lisa
type grin, you know?
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Like, a, "Well, I'm trying
to act serious,
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but actually,
I think it's funny as hell,"
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kind of look, you know?
And he went, "Sorry, kid."
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It came up that I had
a guitar,
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and Bob played drums,
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and we said,
"Ronnie, we know you sing.
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Why don't you come
sing a song with us?"
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and he went, "Yeah, let's go,"
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and we went down to Bob Burns'
carport and played, I think,
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"Time Is On My Side"
that day after the ballgame.
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We went, "Wow, this is great.
Let's start a band," you know?
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♪ Like to tell you all a
story ♪
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♪ About a friend of mine ♪
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And I was just still
learning the chords and stuff.
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We said, "Let's get somebody
that's got a guitar."
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It didn't matter who, just
that they owned the equipment,
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and Allen Collins
was in a band called the Mods.
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He had a amp and guitar,
so we went looking for him,
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and he was riding his bike,
and he saw Ronnie in the car
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and went riding his bike
through the woods
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and climbed a tree way up tall
so we couldn't get him.
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He thought we were gonna
beat him up, or Ronnie was,
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and Bob had a little bit
of a reputation too, you know?
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And we said, "No, no, Allen.
Come down.
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We want you to play
in a band," you know?
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Ronnie kind of raised
Gary and Allen.
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Their fathers was gone.
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So we kind of were a family,
and I mean,
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Ronnie kind of taught me
and Allen how to drive.
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He was three years older,
so he taught us all that stuff
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you learn when you're
14, 15, 16,
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driving and girls.
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He took care of the band
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just like a father would
a family, you know?
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And I wasn't real athletic,
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and I ended up playing
in the school band, clarinet
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and then later saxophone,
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and I got tired of marching
around all football fields,
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and one Friday night I decided
I'd rather play teen dances,
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and that's when I got
with Ronnie and the boys.
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Besides Bob Burns, Allen was
the next-craziest person
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on the face of the earth.
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We all wanted
Allen's bellbottoms.
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His sister made them.
He was so tall and skinny,
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they looked good on him.
If we would have tried them,
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they'd have been way too big
and looked goofy on us.
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Allen was really loud,
and when he came in the room,
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you knew it.
He'd knock stuff over.
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He used to sniff glue
when we first met him.
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We could put a model airplane
together with his breath.
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Everybody took speed back
then, little uppers.
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It was hard keeping a
girlfriend or going to school
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or anything, learning stuff,
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'cause we just wanted
to play guitar all night.
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Allen and I used to talk.
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We wished we could get thrown
in jail with a guitar
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so that's all we could do,
is play.
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Seventh, eighth grade,
and we were just playing
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to teen dens and garages
for people at school.
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They'd throw weekend parties,
you know?
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And I quit sports,
and we quit baseball,
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and just music, music,
guitar, guitar, guitar,
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that's all we thought,
you know?
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We used to be called The 1%.
Here's our first band card.
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It says the 1%.
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That's... was made in '64 or '65.
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That was our home
phone number.
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Most everybody went
to the high school here.
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- I just went to tenth grade.
- Tenth grade?
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Then Leonard Skinner
kicked me out.
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After gym every day
you'd be getting dressed,
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and he'd walk through
the dressing room
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checking your hair.
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If it touched your eyebrow
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or touched the top of
your ear, it was too long.
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That was the rules,
and he'd see that,
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and he'd kick you out
to go get a haircut,
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and finally one day
I just said,
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"I ain't coming back."
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There was a song called
"Camp Grenada."
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♪ Hello muddah,
hello faddah ♪
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♪ Here I am at Camp Granada ♪
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♪ Camp Granada ♪
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♪ You remember
Leonard Skinnerd ♪
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♪ He got ptomaine poisoning
last night after dinner ♪
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That's where I heard
the name from; it's in there.
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I laughed my ass off.
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A door would blow open.
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Nobody's there.
"What the hell is..."
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"That's Leonard Skinnerd."
They'd start laughing.
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They picked up
on it a little bit,
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and they'd use it.
Somebody's on the phone.
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Nobody's talking, see?
Leonard Skinnerd.
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A noise over there, and there
ain't nothing over there,
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it's Leonard Skinnerd.
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The dangedest thing happened.
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A year and a half later
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Gary got Leonard Skinner
as a gym coach,
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and he was making them
cut their hair,
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and here we were trying
to be rock legends, see?
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Ronnie decided it was time
to change the name
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'cause some of the people
were saying 1% talent,
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and it pissed him off, so when
we were thinking of names,
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I said, "Leonard Skinnerd."
They said, "Where?"
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I said,
"No, Leonard Skinnerd."
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They said, "Well, where, Bob?"
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"Name of the band!"
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and they... everybody
just busted out laughing,
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and Ronnie said,
"By God, that's it.
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You know, that is it."
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I was in this band,
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the Strawberry Alarm Clock,
west coast band.
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We had a number-one record
in the fall of '67.
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I had been to the South before
with the Beach Boys,
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but you don't really see much
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when you're just going
from hotel to gig,
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and I really liked
what was going on down there.
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It was a lot more real
than L. A. was.
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It just seemed, like,
really down to earth,
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and I figured if there was any
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real good rock music
happening,
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it probably had
to be down there.
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When I saw Skynyrd play
the first time,
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and I really liked them,
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particularly the lead singer,
Ronnie.
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He was just so charismatic,
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and music just seemed
to flow out of him,
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and I said, "Well, you guys
got to keep on writing,"
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you know, and a couple weeks
later
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he called me at my hotel room,
and he said,
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"I want you
to come down to this club
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"called the Comic Book.
We're rehearsing down there.
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We wrote a new song,
want you to hear it."
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00:11:19,196 --> 00:11:21,323
So I went right down,
and they played me this song
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called "Need All My Friends,"
and a chill went down my back.
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It just... I was seeing it,
you know?
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00:11:28,413 --> 00:11:32,334
♪ It's been so long
since I've been gone ♪
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♪ Lord, I'm tired,
and I want to go home ♪
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00:11:35,629 --> 00:11:39,424
♪ My throat is raw
from singing the blues ♪
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♪ Need all my friends
to talk to ♪
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♪ Now, yes, I do ♪
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♪ Need all my friends
to talk to ♪
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I said,
"I know you got a full lineup,
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"but if you ever need another
guitar player or bass player,
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please give me a call 'cause
I'd love to play with you."
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This pictures,
this is my mother
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and my father
and my sister and Ronnie
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00:12:08,578 --> 00:12:11,623
in my mother's house
up in Georgia.
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After I graduated
from high school, I left home
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00:12:13,834 --> 00:12:15,377
and ended up down here,
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and I was ready to get out of
Waycross, Georgia,
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and I met Ronnie,
and we were together,
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like, nine years.
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00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:27,389
When I met Ronnie,
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00:12:27,472 --> 00:12:30,392
he was working at Morris
Auto Supplies as his day job.
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00:12:30,475 --> 00:12:31,518
As you can see in the picture,
he has on a wig
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'cause you couldn't go to work
with long hair.
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00:12:35,355 --> 00:12:37,899
Dean Kilpatrick
was my roommate,
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00:12:37,983 --> 00:12:40,402
and I went over to the
Comic Book Club with Dean.
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00:12:40,485 --> 00:12:45,073
I met Gary first and then
hung out with Gary and Dean,
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00:12:45,156 --> 00:12:47,576
and then I met Ronnie,
and, you know,
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00:12:47,659 --> 00:12:49,077
after that was it, you know?
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♪ Woman of mine ♪
242
00:12:52,497 --> 00:12:55,750
♪ Can't let her go ♪
243
00:12:55,834 --> 00:12:56,751
I know they were good,
244
00:12:56,835 --> 00:12:59,212
and I knew
that they were passionate,
245
00:12:59,296 --> 00:13:00,839
and, you know, that's kind of
246
00:13:00,922 --> 00:13:02,674
why I told Ronnie
to quit his job,
247
00:13:02,757 --> 00:13:05,176
and I worked, and he got to do
what he needed to do.
248
00:13:05,260 --> 00:13:07,804
Musicians are a rare breed.
249
00:13:07,888 --> 00:13:10,724
It's, like, you know,
it gets in their blood.
250
00:13:10,807 --> 00:13:13,602
They have to just go after it.
251
00:13:13,685 --> 00:13:16,938
That's Dean in drag.
252
00:13:17,022 --> 00:13:18,273
Dean was a character.
253
00:13:18,356 --> 00:13:20,233
I guess so.
254
00:13:20,317 --> 00:13:22,444
Dean actually dressed better
in... like, in the band,
255
00:13:22,527 --> 00:13:25,113
and he looked like
the rock star.
256
00:13:25,196 --> 00:13:27,782
He took... personally
took care of everybody.
257
00:13:27,866 --> 00:13:29,910
Dean was
the personal assistant.
258
00:13:29,993 --> 00:13:32,370
I guess that's
a good title for him.
259
00:13:32,454 --> 00:13:34,706
He was from New York City
and kind of wild
260
00:13:34,789 --> 00:13:36,625
and knew all the ins and outs
of city life
261
00:13:36,708 --> 00:13:38,752
that we didn't know.
262
00:13:38,835 --> 00:13:41,296
He was, like,
a bartender roadie
263
00:13:41,379 --> 00:13:43,965
where he took care of us
really good, you know?
264
00:13:44,049 --> 00:13:46,343
Anybody who was sick or needed
a little more attention,
265
00:13:46,426 --> 00:13:48,637
you know,
he was just there for you.
266
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:53,058
He was like the big brother
and sister and your mama
267
00:13:53,141 --> 00:13:54,893
and everything.
268
00:13:54,976 --> 00:13:58,146
I got a picture of him
I keep out over there.
269
00:13:58,229 --> 00:13:59,981
I put it away recently
270
00:14:00,065 --> 00:14:02,734
'cause some... certain times
I start missing people,
271
00:14:02,817 --> 00:14:06,029
and it's hard to see them
every day without crying,
272
00:14:06,112 --> 00:14:09,532
and he was just
a real great guy.
273
00:14:11,618 --> 00:14:13,203
As far as Ronnie,
I go back
274
00:14:13,286 --> 00:14:17,040
before Gary and Allen and Bob
and... you know?
275
00:14:17,123 --> 00:14:18,833
We used to play
a lot of sandlot
276
00:14:18,917 --> 00:14:19,876
and hang out at the racetrack.
277
00:14:19,959 --> 00:14:22,504
I mean, what's better
for 12-year-old kids
278
00:14:22,587 --> 00:14:25,173
than having a racetrack
in your neighborhood, you know?
279
00:14:25,256 --> 00:14:27,175
And we were what
you called west side.
280
00:14:27,258 --> 00:14:28,301
We called it shantytown.
281
00:14:28,385 --> 00:14:30,178
It was woods and swamps.
282
00:14:30,261 --> 00:14:32,931
People were blue collar,
283
00:14:33,014 --> 00:14:34,557
and a lot of people
didn't get out of high school.
284
00:14:34,641 --> 00:14:36,434
There was a lot of people
we grew up with
285
00:14:36,518 --> 00:14:38,353
didn't probably get out
of junior high school.
286
00:14:38,436 --> 00:14:42,982
♪ Have you ever lived down
in the ghetto? ♪
287
00:14:43,066 --> 00:14:47,278
♪ Have you felt
the cold wind blow? ♪
288
00:14:48,988 --> 00:14:50,532
♪ If you don't know
what I mean ♪
289
00:14:50,615 --> 00:14:54,536
♪ Won't you stand up
and scream ♪
290
00:14:54,619 --> 00:14:58,123
♪ 'Cause there's things
going on that you don't know ♪
291
00:14:58,206 --> 00:14:59,624
Look down here.
The damn buzzards
292
00:14:59,708 --> 00:15:00,583
are in the road.
293
00:15:00,667 --> 00:15:02,210
Look there. Look at them.
294
00:15:02,293 --> 00:15:04,379
This is Johnny's
295
00:15:04,462 --> 00:15:05,547
- and Ronnie's old house.
- Yeah.
296
00:15:05,630 --> 00:15:07,799
Y'all need to lock
your cars out here.
297
00:15:07,882 --> 00:15:10,552
- Ha ha!
- Wow, it freaks me out, Gary.
298
00:15:10,635 --> 00:15:13,179
- I know. It's weird, ain't it?
- I know.
299
00:15:13,263 --> 00:15:14,848
I ain't been over here
in I don't know when.
300
00:15:14,931 --> 00:15:17,767
- It just don't seem the same.
- Yeah, I know.
301
00:15:17,851 --> 00:15:19,936
This is the old trophy room
where daddy had
302
00:15:20,019 --> 00:15:21,688
all the gold records,
and everything was in here.
303
00:15:28,153 --> 00:15:29,904
Daddy loved the music stuff,
304
00:15:29,988 --> 00:15:32,574
but my mom didn't care two
bits about it. She was like,
305
00:15:32,657 --> 00:15:36,119
"Oh, them damn boys.
When you gonna get a real job?"
306
00:15:36,202 --> 00:15:39,497
"They'll just play that music
for a while. They'll grow up."
307
00:15:40,665 --> 00:15:44,002
Growing up in the west side,
it was a bad area of town.
308
00:15:44,085 --> 00:15:45,920
There was a lot of rednecks,
and, you know,
309
00:15:46,004 --> 00:15:47,964
being in a band
and having long hair,
310
00:15:48,047 --> 00:15:51,426
people didn't like us,
and they would come to fight
311
00:15:51,509 --> 00:15:53,595
and see who could
beat each other.
312
00:15:53,678 --> 00:15:56,473
Ronnie was quite the choice
before he got into music.
313
00:15:56,556 --> 00:15:58,683
Basically,
Ronnie was into kicking ass.
314
00:15:58,767 --> 00:16:01,770
He wasn't scared
of situations, you know?
315
00:16:01,853 --> 00:16:04,439
If there was ten guys
coming at you with clubs,
316
00:16:04,522 --> 00:16:07,442
he just walked right to them.
317
00:16:07,525 --> 00:16:11,654
Jacksonville's got, like, five
or six different navy bases,
318
00:16:11,738 --> 00:16:14,157
so we'd play a lot for
sailors.
319
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:18,077
Now, what does a sailor want
to do besides be with a chick?
320
00:16:18,161 --> 00:16:21,956
Fight. So we had to fight
our way out every night,
321
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,084
and Ronnie would always win.
Yeah, he was a great boxer.
322
00:16:25,168 --> 00:16:27,837
You know, it's not manly.
When you went to school,
323
00:16:27,921 --> 00:16:32,425
you know, the athlete guys
and stuff didn't do poetry,
324
00:16:32,509 --> 00:16:35,637
but Ronnie started
making up poems about sports.
325
00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,473
He used to put them
in a three-ring binder.
326
00:16:38,556 --> 00:16:40,058
He used to have that
under his bed.
327
00:16:40,141 --> 00:16:41,476
I remember spending
the night under there,
328
00:16:41,559 --> 00:16:44,145
and he'd have
his poetry in there.
329
00:16:44,229 --> 00:16:46,648
I can't say I knew another guy
that was writing poetry
330
00:16:46,731 --> 00:16:48,775
when I was in high school,
you know? I mean.
331
00:16:48,858 --> 00:16:51,569
We tried to write
common songs,
332
00:16:51,653 --> 00:16:53,988
well, com... for common people,
for the street people,
333
00:16:54,072 --> 00:16:54,989
and all the guys
in Lynyrd Skynyrd are nothing
334
00:16:55,073 --> 00:16:56,991
but street people,
stay off the streets,
335
00:16:57,075 --> 00:17:00,036
Skid Row,
the whole works,
336
00:17:00,119 --> 00:17:02,372
and it's very easy for us,
337
00:17:02,455 --> 00:17:04,249
you know,
to relate to that, you know?
338
00:17:04,332 --> 00:17:05,708
We relate to that much more
than anything else.
339
00:17:05,792 --> 00:17:08,837
Lynyrd Skynyrd's home,
of course, was not Alabama.
340
00:17:08,920 --> 00:17:10,505
It was Jacksonville,
341
00:17:10,588 --> 00:17:12,966
and the group did not become
a success overnight.
342
00:17:13,049 --> 00:17:15,552
In the beginning,
back in the early 1960s,
343
00:17:15,635 --> 00:17:19,097
there were no fancy recording
studios or gold albums.
344
00:17:19,180 --> 00:17:21,349
The group did a lot
of their rehearsing right here
345
00:17:21,432 --> 00:17:24,602
in this field
in Green Cove Springs.
346
00:17:24,686 --> 00:17:26,354
You ever come out
to the Hell House much?
347
00:17:26,437 --> 00:17:28,106
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
348
00:17:28,189 --> 00:17:29,524
I remember it was
a piece of crap.
349
00:17:29,607 --> 00:17:33,570
Yeah, it was horrible.
350
00:17:33,653 --> 00:17:35,363
Well, see,
I don't see the slab.
351
00:17:35,446 --> 00:17:37,365
It should have been
right arou... about here.
352
00:17:37,448 --> 00:17:38,158
- Right here.
- Yeah.
353
00:17:38,241 --> 00:17:39,534
Right in here.
354
00:17:39,617 --> 00:17:43,163
Our road manager,
Dean Kilpatrick,
355
00:17:43,246 --> 00:17:46,749
he knew of a cabin on the creek
that was for rent,
356
00:17:46,833 --> 00:17:47,667
and he said
we could rehearse there.
357
00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:51,004
We asked permission
to rehearse,
358
00:17:51,087 --> 00:17:54,674
so that started
the whole thing right here.
359
00:17:54,757 --> 00:17:57,510
Hey, we wrote "Free Bird'
here, you know,
360
00:17:57,594 --> 00:18:00,555
and all the so-called hits.
361
00:18:00,638 --> 00:18:04,184
People used to come up in
boats
362
00:18:04,267 --> 00:18:06,102
and come in and steal mikes
363
00:18:06,186 --> 00:18:08,938
or... not big things
but little things.
364
00:18:09,022 --> 00:18:11,566
And then one day we came in,
and a window was knocked out,
365
00:18:11,649 --> 00:18:14,152
and there was a whole
amp gone,
366
00:18:14,235 --> 00:18:17,947
so we started staying out here
with guns
367
00:18:18,031 --> 00:18:19,782
to protect our equipment
every night,
368
00:18:19,866 --> 00:18:22,619
and whoever had to stay,
you know, it was, like,
369
00:18:22,702 --> 00:18:25,288
their day in the barrel
or something.
370
00:18:25,371 --> 00:18:27,373
It was terrible
'cause the mosquitoes
371
00:18:27,457 --> 00:18:28,583
would bite you
all night.
372
00:18:28,666 --> 00:18:32,587
Roaches were everywhere,
and gators,
373
00:18:32,670 --> 00:18:35,215
and there was rattlesnakes,
water moccasins,
374
00:18:35,298 --> 00:18:37,550
anything you could find,
you know?
375
00:18:37,634 --> 00:18:39,594
We didn't have any money
or food or drinks or nothing,
376
00:18:39,677 --> 00:18:41,804
so it was hell,
377
00:18:41,888 --> 00:18:43,181
and we called it
the Hell House.
378
00:18:45,892 --> 00:18:48,019
I bet you still catch fish
down here easy.
379
00:18:48,102 --> 00:18:49,687
Oh, hell, yeah, you can.
You can have a little...
380
00:18:49,771 --> 00:18:52,357
Well, something
just turned right there.
381
00:18:57,862 --> 00:19:01,783
Barry walks in and plays me
this tape,
382
00:19:01,866 --> 00:19:06,329
and I listened to it... you know,
just a little bit of it,
383
00:19:06,412 --> 00:19:07,872
and I just immediately,
384
00:19:07,956 --> 00:19:08,665
the second I got
the opportunity, I said,
385
00:19:08,748 --> 00:19:10,208
"I want to work
with this band."
386
00:19:19,300 --> 00:19:21,219
This band was so
extraordinary.
387
00:19:21,302 --> 00:19:23,304
We taught them how to count
off the song, you know,
388
00:19:23,388 --> 00:19:27,225
so they..."Count off the song."
They said, "What?"
389
00:19:27,308 --> 00:19:28,851
They didn't know... have a clue
on how to do that,
390
00:19:28,935 --> 00:19:31,938
but they were so good
and so disciplined
391
00:19:32,021 --> 00:19:33,982
and so rehearsed
392
00:19:34,065 --> 00:19:38,111
that I've never seen
the likes of them since.
393
00:19:38,194 --> 00:19:39,737
We'd go back and forth
all year,
394
00:19:39,821 --> 00:19:41,656
record, like, two songs
and leave
395
00:19:41,739 --> 00:19:44,450
and come back
a few months later.
396
00:19:44,534 --> 00:19:46,869
We'd have to go tour
to get the money up, you know?
397
00:19:46,953 --> 00:19:49,122
'Cause we were paying for it.
Everything was new to us.
398
00:19:49,205 --> 00:19:52,333
I mean, we'd never been out
of Jacksonville ever,
399
00:19:52,417 --> 00:19:54,836
you know, never.
400
00:19:54,919 --> 00:19:56,462
Maybe to go camping out
in the woods somewhere,
401
00:19:56,546 --> 00:19:58,631
but that wasn't out of town.
402
00:19:58,715 --> 00:20:01,342
We took our tapes, and we
shopped it every way we could,
403
00:20:01,426 --> 00:20:02,844
ev... to every record company.
404
00:20:02,927 --> 00:20:04,804
Believe it or not,
Lynyrd Skynyrd was turned down,
405
00:20:04,887 --> 00:20:07,724
and this is after hearing
"Free Bird,"
406
00:20:07,807 --> 00:20:11,519
now, turned down by nine
major record companies, flat.
407
00:20:11,602 --> 00:20:13,771
They were like, "No.
408
00:20:13,855 --> 00:20:15,898
We don't want them, period."
409
00:20:15,982 --> 00:20:19,193
So we were traveling around,
riding on amps,
410
00:20:19,277 --> 00:20:21,112
having no money,
having empty bellies,
411
00:20:21,195 --> 00:20:25,533
just trying to make it, man.
It was just hard times.
412
00:20:25,616 --> 00:20:28,703
Everybody was young
and stupid back then.
413
00:20:28,786 --> 00:20:30,705
I was struggling.
I didn't have a job.
414
00:20:30,788 --> 00:20:34,375
I was hurting,
so I packed up and left.
415
00:20:37,170 --> 00:20:40,423
Leon was in a band called
the King James Version.
416
00:20:40,506 --> 00:20:42,925
It was a Christian band,
417
00:20:43,009 --> 00:20:45,511
but they weren't
really doing Christian songs.
418
00:20:45,595 --> 00:20:48,973
The first time I saw them,
they were just real,
419
00:20:49,057 --> 00:20:52,226
you know, sort of a born
losers type image,
420
00:20:52,310 --> 00:20:54,687
you know, the underdogs.
421
00:20:57,982 --> 00:21:00,068
Well, Leon could just play
any bass part;
422
00:21:00,151 --> 00:21:03,029
you'd never have
to show him anything.
423
00:21:03,112 --> 00:21:05,865
Any song you could start
playing he'd play,
424
00:21:05,948 --> 00:21:07,492
and he was funny and goofy,
425
00:21:07,575 --> 00:21:09,118
and he was just
a great addition.
426
00:21:11,871 --> 00:21:14,082
Noted musician and producer
Al Kooper remembers
427
00:21:14,165 --> 00:21:15,041
the night he first discovered
428
00:21:15,124 --> 00:21:18,086
Lynyrd Skynyrd playing
in a sweaty bar,
429
00:21:18,169 --> 00:21:20,380
what else, in Atlanta.
430
00:21:20,463 --> 00:21:23,007
The thing that caught me
first was Ronnie.
431
00:21:23,091 --> 00:21:27,470
I hated him, and I liked him
at the same time.
432
00:21:27,553 --> 00:21:30,056
I said, "This guy is weird,
you know?"
433
00:21:30,139 --> 00:21:31,766
He got me into it first
before anything else.
434
00:21:31,849 --> 00:21:34,268
I just couldn't take
my eyes off him.
435
00:21:34,352 --> 00:21:36,104
He was a very weird front man.
436
00:21:36,187 --> 00:21:38,856
We loved Al Kooper's music,
and he had just played
437
00:21:38,940 --> 00:21:41,567
with Hendrix
on "Electric Ladyland."
438
00:21:41,651 --> 00:21:43,861
He did all the organ,
you know, and would sit
439
00:21:43,945 --> 00:21:47,073
and tell us all the stories
about how they recorded
440
00:21:47,156 --> 00:21:47,949
and what Jimi Hendrix did,
441
00:21:48,032 --> 00:21:50,159
and he had
one of his black Strats.
442
00:21:50,243 --> 00:21:53,287
We'd just sit there
and hold it, me and Allen,
443
00:21:53,371 --> 00:21:57,208
and just say, "Wow."
It was mind-blowing, you know?
444
00:21:57,291 --> 00:21:59,627
I made a deal
with MCA records,
445
00:21:59,710 --> 00:22:01,045
a label deal,
and I called my label
446
00:22:01,129 --> 00:22:04,632
Sounds of the South,
and I signed Skynyrd,
447
00:22:04,715 --> 00:22:07,635
and we set to work.
448
00:22:14,642 --> 00:22:16,394
That right there is
an example
449
00:22:16,477 --> 00:22:17,854
of the people... you know,
The Beatles.
450
00:22:17,937 --> 00:22:19,814
They're... they are
the first people
451
00:22:19,897 --> 00:22:22,984
that really changed
my style of music
452
00:22:23,067 --> 00:22:26,320
from a technical knowhow
to a little bit of feel
453
00:22:26,404 --> 00:22:27,238
and a little bit
of boogie-woogie.
454
00:22:27,321 --> 00:22:29,532
Billy Powell,
our piano player,
455
00:22:29,615 --> 00:22:31,033
he used to be our roadie,
456
00:22:31,117 --> 00:22:33,828
and we didn't know
he play... he'd said,
457
00:22:33,911 --> 00:22:35,830
"Oh, I play piano,"
but we didn't care, you know?
458
00:22:35,913 --> 00:22:37,665
We were guitars.
459
00:22:37,748 --> 00:22:39,584
He liked Yes and Emerson,
Lake, and Palmer,
460
00:22:39,667 --> 00:22:42,879
and we didn't at the time,
but one night Billy said,
461
00:22:42,962 --> 00:22:46,507
"If I ever played 'Free Bird,'
this is how I'd play it,"
462
00:22:46,591 --> 00:22:48,050
and we weren't even
paying attention,
463
00:22:48,134 --> 00:22:51,262
and he started out
with his... everybody
464
00:22:51,345 --> 00:22:54,140
in the room kind of went,
and he played it all,
465
00:22:54,223 --> 00:22:57,143
and we were just going,
"Oh, my God, Billy.
466
00:22:57,226 --> 00:22:58,352
We didn't know
you were that good,"
467
00:22:58,436 --> 00:23:04,484
so we fired him as roadie
and hired him as keyboard.
468
00:23:04,567 --> 00:23:06,861
I was playing a nightclub
in Greenville,
469
00:23:06,944 --> 00:23:09,530
North Carolina,
with just a bar band.
470
00:23:09,614 --> 00:23:11,199
We didn't do any originals,
but we really did
471
00:23:11,282 --> 00:23:12,575
some great cover tunes.
472
00:23:12,658 --> 00:23:13,910
Well, one night
out of the blue
473
00:23:13,993 --> 00:23:15,995
I got a call from Ronnie
at the bar.
474
00:23:16,078 --> 00:23:18,164
He said, "Look, you said
you wanted to join up.
475
00:23:18,247 --> 00:23:19,540
You know, can you come down?"
476
00:23:19,624 --> 00:23:21,292
I said,
"No, I don't have a car.
477
00:23:21,375 --> 00:23:23,961
Can you come up and get me?"
He said, "I'll be right up."
478
00:23:24,045 --> 00:23:26,380
So yeah, they came up
and picked me up,
479
00:23:26,464 --> 00:23:29,842
and I think we started
rehearsal the next day.
480
00:23:29,926 --> 00:23:31,511
It was a real pleasant setting
481
00:23:31,594 --> 00:23:33,137
out in the middle
of a pasture,
482
00:23:33,221 --> 00:23:36,224
but my either induction or
punishment
483
00:23:36,307 --> 00:23:37,517
for joining the band
484
00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,229
was to spend a whole week
out there at night by myself.
485
00:23:41,312 --> 00:23:43,898
I mean, for me
growing up in L. A.
486
00:23:43,981 --> 00:23:45,483
and you say touring
with the Beach Boys
487
00:23:45,566 --> 00:23:47,568
and some of the people
I had access to
488
00:23:47,652 --> 00:23:50,738
is a completely
different environment.
489
00:23:50,821 --> 00:23:52,865
I wasn't sure if I was
gonna... going
490
00:23:52,949 --> 00:23:55,243
to survive in this
environment,
491
00:23:55,326 --> 00:23:56,244
but I was willing
to give it a shot,
492
00:23:56,327 --> 00:23:58,746
and everything was
real strange to me.
493
00:23:58,829 --> 00:24:00,122
What can I say?
I just felt so out of place.
494
00:24:00,206 --> 00:24:03,584
I think I felt out of place
the whole time,
495
00:24:03,668 --> 00:24:05,378
but that first day
I really felt out of place.
496
00:24:12,885 --> 00:24:15,680
You know, there was all
those cows at the Hell House,
497
00:24:15,763 --> 00:24:18,432
so every morning
we would go out
498
00:24:18,516 --> 00:24:19,433
and get
psilocybin mushrooms
499
00:24:19,517 --> 00:24:23,187
from all the cow patties
and make tea,
500
00:24:23,271 --> 00:24:27,483
so we had a big pot of tea
on the stove all day,
501
00:24:27,567 --> 00:24:30,987
mushroom tea,
and if you'd take a few sips,
502
00:24:31,070 --> 00:24:33,864
and you'd be tripping,
you know?
503
00:24:33,948 --> 00:24:35,575
The keyboard
would be floating,
504
00:24:35,658 --> 00:24:39,620
or I watched the notes
coming out of my amp.
505
00:24:39,704 --> 00:24:43,457
We would just talk and feel
each other's stuff come out,
506
00:24:43,541 --> 00:24:44,667
you know?
507
00:24:47,587 --> 00:24:49,922
Well, when I joined the
band, the music is the thing
508
00:24:50,006 --> 00:24:51,966
that really threw me
more than the people.
509
00:24:52,049 --> 00:24:54,176
They had really come up
with such original tunes.
510
00:24:54,260 --> 00:24:57,513
I didn't expect them
to have progressed that much.
511
00:25:02,226 --> 00:25:05,479
♪ I was cutting the rug down
at a place called the Jug ♪
512
00:25:05,563 --> 00:25:08,566
♪ With a girl named
Linda Lou ♪
513
00:25:09,650 --> 00:25:12,236
♪ Well, in walked a man
with a gun in his hand ♪
514
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:14,488
♪ And he was looking
for you know who ♪
515
00:25:14,572 --> 00:25:17,658
The day rehearsal would be
pretty much like this.
516
00:25:17,742 --> 00:25:19,368
Everybody shows up,
puts on a guitar,
517
00:25:19,452 --> 00:25:21,454
and Ronnie'd go,
"Well, you have any ideas?
518
00:25:21,537 --> 00:25:23,122
Anything come to you
last night?"
519
00:25:23,205 --> 00:25:23,831
The chances were real good
that one of us
520
00:25:23,914 --> 00:25:25,875
had something on any day.
521
00:25:25,958 --> 00:25:27,293
That was the one advantage
522
00:25:27,376 --> 00:25:28,586
to having three
guitar players.
523
00:25:28,669 --> 00:25:30,171
We'd just keep playing till
we found something he liked.
524
00:25:30,254 --> 00:25:32,214
Once he'd write a lyric,
well, there you go.
525
00:25:32,298 --> 00:25:34,050
Our work's cut out
for us for the day.
526
00:25:34,133 --> 00:25:37,178
Each line of each song
we knew,
527
00:25:37,261 --> 00:25:39,263
and we'd break them down
at the Hell House,
528
00:25:39,347 --> 00:25:41,223
and me and Leon would just
play it, then me and Bob,
529
00:25:41,307 --> 00:25:44,018
then Leon and Bob,
then me and Allen.
530
00:25:44,101 --> 00:25:47,355
We'd play all day
the same song
531
00:25:47,438 --> 00:25:48,439
over and over
and over and over.
532
00:25:48,522 --> 00:25:51,108
I mean, what musicians
do you know would get up
533
00:25:51,192 --> 00:25:53,027
at 7:30 in the morning
and be out there by 8:30?
534
00:25:53,110 --> 00:25:56,280
Nobody, but we would, you
know, and that was the thing
535
00:25:56,364 --> 00:25:58,074
that Ronnie was able
to pull together,
536
00:25:58,157 --> 00:25:59,867
was guys that just really
wanted to work.
537
00:25:59,950 --> 00:26:01,702
It was really productive.
538
00:26:01,786 --> 00:26:04,288
It was the most fun part
about being in that band,
539
00:26:04,372 --> 00:26:06,207
was going out there
in the heat in Hell House
540
00:26:06,290 --> 00:26:08,793
and writing these tunes,
'cause you never knew
541
00:26:08,876 --> 00:26:10,336
what you were gonna write.
542
00:26:10,419 --> 00:26:12,046
I mean, for the musician
that just loves to play
543
00:26:12,129 --> 00:26:13,297
it was a dream job,
even with the heat
544
00:26:13,381 --> 00:26:16,050
and everything,
sweating all over your guitar.
545
00:26:16,133 --> 00:26:17,760
It was perfect.
546
00:26:17,843 --> 00:26:21,514
Hell House
was the reward, really, yeah.
547
00:26:21,597 --> 00:26:25,726
Patrol's at the crash site
now trying to determine
548
00:26:25,810 --> 00:26:28,479
why a plane carrying
the Lynyrd Skynyrd entourage
549
00:26:28,562 --> 00:26:29,230
crashed near McComb
last night.
550
00:26:29,313 --> 00:26:34,068
At 7:47 Eastern Daylight Time,
551
00:26:34,151 --> 00:26:37,738
the aircraft disappeared
from the radar scope,
552
00:26:37,822 --> 00:26:39,532
and they lost radio contact.
553
00:26:39,615 --> 00:26:41,992
The FAA's Jack Barker
says the thick woods
554
00:26:42,076 --> 00:26:46,706
made the crash site difficult
to both find and get to.
555
00:26:46,789 --> 00:26:49,792
If you dig around right here
right now in this general area,
556
00:26:49,875 --> 00:26:54,255
you're gonna find something,
I promise you,
557
00:26:54,338 --> 00:26:55,506
just scrap pieces that have
been here, and it's aluminum.
558
00:26:55,589 --> 00:26:59,343
It won't rust, so it's lasted
forever, you know?
559
00:26:59,427 --> 00:27:03,013
Holy smokes, look at there.
Look what I found, boys.
560
00:27:04,515 --> 00:27:09,353
Mm, here we go.
Now... good lord.
561
00:27:09,437 --> 00:27:14,900
That's a piece of the plane.
Look at that. That's it.
562
00:27:14,984 --> 00:27:17,903
- Yeah, that's it.
- It's got the rivet hole.
563
00:27:17,987 --> 00:27:21,449
It's gotten a little corroded.
Man, look at that.
564
00:27:26,412 --> 00:27:29,123
Somebody, we don't know who,
put a marker here for... just
565
00:27:29,206 --> 00:27:32,960
last... on the 20th,
I understand.
566
00:27:33,043 --> 00:27:34,712
It just happens to be that
is the spot
567
00:27:34,795 --> 00:27:38,340
where the plane... the nose
of the plane hit right there.
568
00:27:38,424 --> 00:27:40,968
Most people don't know
where the plane crashed.
569
00:27:41,051 --> 00:27:43,929
- Right.
- Very few can tell you.
570
00:27:44,013 --> 00:27:46,056
They just come this way
and start asking.
571
00:27:46,140 --> 00:27:48,976
We're 40 years past it now,
572
00:27:49,059 --> 00:27:51,312
and I was 11 years old
and three hours north of here,
573
00:27:51,395 --> 00:27:53,606
but I knew what had happened,
you know?
574
00:27:53,689 --> 00:27:56,192
Well, I just always wanted
to find the story, the plane,
575
00:27:56,275 --> 00:27:58,819
the site, the whatever,
and the next thing I know
576
00:27:58,903 --> 00:28:01,113
I've talked to 20, 30 people
and gotten all their stories
577
00:28:01,197 --> 00:28:03,115
that were here that night.
578
00:28:03,199 --> 00:28:04,658
You just don't forget it.
579
00:28:04,742 --> 00:28:06,827
I mean, it's something,
you know,
580
00:28:06,911 --> 00:28:10,789
tragic that's gonna be
in your mind always.
581
00:28:10,873 --> 00:28:13,250
See, by the time they got
to the... right in here,
582
00:28:13,334 --> 00:28:15,377
this point, they didn't have
any wings anymore.
583
00:28:15,461 --> 00:28:16,879
They broke them
off back there.
584
00:28:16,962 --> 00:28:19,089
It was just fuselage,
and that was it.
585
00:28:19,173 --> 00:28:23,344
Big split came down like a...
and went across this way,
586
00:28:23,427 --> 00:28:25,387
and when I pulled it up
like that,
587
00:28:25,471 --> 00:28:28,557
you know, just a big space,
and then somebody on the ground
588
00:28:28,641 --> 00:28:31,936
gave me a big,
long stick to prop it up.
589
00:28:32,019 --> 00:28:33,604
I shined my flashlight
up in there,
590
00:28:33,687 --> 00:28:36,023
and my first thought's,
you know,
591
00:28:36,106 --> 00:28:37,191
"What's a bunch of hippies
doing on an airplane?"
592
00:28:37,274 --> 00:28:40,444
'cause back in those
days hippies
593
00:28:40,528 --> 00:28:41,862
usually didn't have any money.
594
00:28:41,946 --> 00:28:43,531
You know, they were broke.
595
00:28:43,614 --> 00:28:44,490
But the playing cards
596
00:28:44,573 --> 00:28:48,577
was just... covered everything,
you know?
597
00:28:48,661 --> 00:28:52,122
And people were moaning,
you know, "Get me out of here,"
598
00:28:52,206 --> 00:28:55,584
and, you know,
we was just farm boys.
599
00:28:55,668 --> 00:28:56,794
We didn't know
what we were doing, really,
600
00:28:56,877 --> 00:28:58,462
but we just got them out.
I mean, it's just that simple.
601
00:28:58,546 --> 00:29:01,507
Dwayne's sister,
one thing she told me,
602
00:29:01,590 --> 00:29:03,717
that all up in the trees...
she said,
603
00:29:03,801 --> 00:29:05,302
"From their suitcases
busting open
604
00:29:05,386 --> 00:29:07,721
and all that stuff,
there were socks."
605
00:29:07,805 --> 00:29:10,224
She said, "Just socks went
everywhere," you know?
606
00:29:10,307 --> 00:29:12,226
It was like Christmas,
like tinsel.
607
00:29:12,309 --> 00:29:13,894
The boys walked up to me and
told me,
608
00:29:13,978 --> 00:29:16,355
they said, you know,
"You know who this is?"
609
00:29:16,438 --> 00:29:17,773
I said, "No, hmm-mm."
610
00:29:17,856 --> 00:29:19,441
He said,
"It's the Lynyrd Skynyrd band."
611
00:29:19,525 --> 00:29:20,359
I thought he was lying.
612
00:29:20,442 --> 00:29:22,945
They did a pretty
dang good job.
613
00:29:23,028 --> 00:29:25,239
It's the best thing
you can ever say
614
00:29:25,322 --> 00:29:27,283
for just a group
of come-together farmers
615
00:29:27,366 --> 00:29:29,201
and loggers and ranchers
and stuff like that
616
00:29:29,285 --> 00:29:30,119
and then a little volunteer
fire department.
617
00:29:30,202 --> 00:29:32,454
They saved 20 lives.
618
00:29:32,538 --> 00:29:33,747
Let's give them
full credit for that.
619
00:29:33,831 --> 00:29:36,417
You know, the band wouldn't
have still be going on today
620
00:29:36,500 --> 00:29:37,501
had they not done
what they did.
621
00:29:39,670 --> 00:29:41,755
It's just an old memory now,
you know?
622
00:29:44,717 --> 00:29:48,596
♪ Train roll on ♪
623
00:29:48,679 --> 00:29:52,558
♪ On down the line ♪
624
00:29:52,641 --> 00:29:58,772
♪ Won't you please
take me far away? ♪
625
00:30:04,111 --> 00:30:08,282
♪ Now, I feel the wind blow ♪
626
00:30:08,365 --> 00:30:13,287
♪ Outside my door ♪
627
00:30:13,370 --> 00:30:20,961
♪ I'm leaving my woman
at home ♪
628
00:30:21,045 --> 00:30:24,214
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
629
00:30:24,298 --> 00:30:28,135
♪ Tuesday's gone
with the wind ♪
630
00:30:28,218 --> 00:30:29,595
Do people literally knock
on your door?
631
00:30:29,678 --> 00:30:31,305
- Oh, yes.
- "Hey, I heard Skynyrd
632
00:30:31,388 --> 00:30:33,474
- recorded here?"
- Yup, they do.
633
00:30:33,557 --> 00:30:36,560
A couple times a year they'll
come in, and we'll show them
634
00:30:36,644 --> 00:30:40,022
and just walk them over
to the warehouse and,
635
00:30:40,105 --> 00:30:40,689
like,
"This is where it was."
636
00:30:43,942 --> 00:30:46,153
Can't do that now, but you
kind of came through here
637
00:30:46,236 --> 00:30:50,908
and just opened up the door
to the control room,
638
00:30:50,991 --> 00:30:54,662
and you walked up these steps,
and you were there in the room.
639
00:30:54,745 --> 00:30:57,998
Besides Al Kooper, I was
kind of the main engineer
640
00:30:58,082 --> 00:30:59,917
for that first album.
641
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:01,377
We really got lucky on sound
'cause when we started
642
00:31:01,460 --> 00:31:04,546
utilizing
the acoustics of the room,
643
00:31:04,630 --> 00:31:08,592
it was really a great space
to record guitars
644
00:31:08,676 --> 00:31:12,763
because where it was the sound
like a live room.
645
00:31:12,846 --> 00:31:16,016
Any studio, to us,
was cool as hell
646
00:31:16,100 --> 00:31:18,519
because it was
a recording studio.
647
00:31:18,602 --> 00:31:20,479
We were really loose in there.
648
00:31:20,562 --> 00:31:22,940
It was real laid back,
and we'd all sit in
649
00:31:23,023 --> 00:31:27,027
and listen to every part
of every song of every mix
650
00:31:27,111 --> 00:31:28,487
'cause where was
the cooler place to be,
651
00:31:28,570 --> 00:31:34,034
the hotel sitting
or at the studio?
652
00:31:34,118 --> 00:31:35,703
♪ Daddy was a Cajun, baby ♪
653
00:31:35,786 --> 00:31:39,039
♪ Raised on Southern land ♪
654
00:31:39,123 --> 00:31:41,875
♪ And so my kinfolks tell me ♪
655
00:31:41,959 --> 00:31:45,212
♪ Was a street fighting man ♪
656
00:31:45,295 --> 00:31:46,338
Over the course
of the album,
657
00:31:46,422 --> 00:31:50,592
I learned how they worked.
658
00:31:50,676 --> 00:31:54,888
They had
an amazing methodology.
659
00:31:54,972 --> 00:31:58,809
They had that rehearsal place
out in the swamp,
660
00:31:58,892 --> 00:32:01,311
and there was
no improvisation whatsoever
661
00:32:01,395 --> 00:32:04,440
once they left the swamp.
662
00:32:04,523 --> 00:32:08,026
Now, as a producer,
that's a godsend.
663
00:32:08,110 --> 00:32:11,488
All the guitar solos
and keyboard solos
664
00:32:11,572 --> 00:32:14,742
were always played
exactly the same.
665
00:32:14,825 --> 00:32:18,996
I never heard of such a thing,
and they were great solos.
666
00:32:21,999 --> 00:32:24,001
I remember back
to doing solos
667
00:32:24,084 --> 00:32:25,335
with Allen Collins,
and when he got through
668
00:32:25,419 --> 00:32:28,922
I cried,
it just was so emotional.
669
00:32:29,006 --> 00:32:30,132
I mean, the way he performed,
670
00:32:30,215 --> 00:32:33,552
you know, his whole body
was into it and everything.
671
00:32:33,635 --> 00:32:35,971
We all kind of helped Billy.
672
00:32:36,054 --> 00:32:38,223
He wasn't no rock and roll
piano player.
673
00:32:38,307 --> 00:32:40,225
He was trained classical,
so we had to say,
674
00:32:40,309 --> 00:32:42,519
"Don't play all that there.
675
00:32:42,603 --> 00:32:44,438
Just go
dink-dink-dink-dink-dink."
676
00:32:44,521 --> 00:32:48,192
He'd go, "What? I can't just do
that the whole song,"
677
00:32:48,275 --> 00:32:50,444
but that would be great,
really fit.
678
00:32:50,527 --> 00:32:53,530
Really,
it was a piano record
679
00:32:53,614 --> 00:32:56,158
much as it is
a three-guitar army record.
680
00:32:56,241 --> 00:32:57,868
That's what made them Skynyrd,
681
00:32:57,951 --> 00:33:00,621
was them having different
styles in the band.
682
00:33:00,704 --> 00:33:03,123
The first album cover
shows me standing there
683
00:33:03,207 --> 00:33:05,250
all by myself
on the far right-hand side,
684
00:33:05,334 --> 00:33:08,086
and that was the last shot
of a all-day photo shoot,
685
00:33:08,170 --> 00:33:10,214
and there's a lightning bolt
going right through my head.
686
00:33:10,297 --> 00:33:13,300
♪ Drank ole poison whiskey ♪
687
00:33:13,383 --> 00:33:14,968
And right after that,
688
00:33:15,052 --> 00:33:15,761
Gary got up
and threw up on the curb.
689
00:33:15,844 --> 00:33:20,265
♪ Don't you drink it, boy ♪
690
00:33:20,349 --> 00:33:23,977
♪ Play guitar ♪
691
00:33:24,061 --> 00:33:26,063
We are about to take
an interview
692
00:33:26,146 --> 00:33:28,982
of Ronnie Van Zant,
singer, songwriter,
693
00:33:29,066 --> 00:33:31,360
and lead redneck of the pride
694
00:33:31,443 --> 00:33:32,945
of Jacksonville,
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
695
00:33:33,028 --> 00:33:36,031
We play exactly what we like
to play, and personally,
696
00:33:36,114 --> 00:33:40,619
we did like to play country
and blues, stuff like that,
697
00:33:40,702 --> 00:33:42,329
but Lynyrd Skynyrd's a rock
698
00:33:42,412 --> 00:33:44,248
and roll band
and boogie-woogie.
699
00:33:44,331 --> 00:33:48,085
That's what we get paid to do,
and this... we like that too.
700
00:33:48,168 --> 00:33:49,503
Ronnie, his writing
has seeped
701
00:33:49,586 --> 00:33:54,508
into my sad blues guy
kind of voice.
702
00:33:59,012 --> 00:34:01,557
When I first picked up guitar
when I was 14,
703
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,393
I would go up
into my dad's music room.
704
00:34:04,476 --> 00:34:05,727
I'd play guitar to a bunch
of Allman Brothers records,
705
00:34:05,811 --> 00:34:09,356
and that's kind of
how I fell into that, like,
706
00:34:09,439 --> 00:34:12,025
'70s Southern rock world.
707
00:34:12,109 --> 00:34:15,696
♪ Mama told me ♪
708
00:34:15,779 --> 00:34:20,367
♪ When I was young ♪
709
00:34:20,450 --> 00:34:24,872
♪ "Come sit beside me ♪
710
00:34:24,955 --> 00:34:28,125
♪ My only son" ♪
711
00:34:28,208 --> 00:34:29,418
I was hanging out
with a buddy of mine,
712
00:34:29,501 --> 00:34:31,795
and he was like, "Yo, man,
713
00:34:31,879 --> 00:34:33,589
"if you like
the Allman Brothers,
714
00:34:33,672 --> 00:34:35,507
you've got to listen
to Lynyrd Skynyrd."
715
00:34:35,591 --> 00:34:40,470
He showed me a video of Gary
just ripping a slide solo
716
00:34:40,554 --> 00:34:43,015
as he had, like,
a cigarette in his hand.
717
00:34:43,098 --> 00:34:46,101
I'm just like, "What is
this dude? What is this?"
718
00:34:46,184 --> 00:34:49,938
♪ And be a simple ♪
719
00:34:50,022 --> 00:34:54,401
♪ Kind of man ♪
720
00:34:54,484 --> 00:35:00,449
♪ Oh, be something you love
and understand ♪
721
00:35:00,532 --> 00:35:05,913
♪ Baby, be a simple ♪
722
00:35:05,996 --> 00:35:09,041
♪ Kind of man ♪
723
00:35:09,124 --> 00:35:15,797
♪ Oh, won't you do this for
me, son, if you can ♪
724
00:35:15,881 --> 00:35:18,091
♪ Oh, yes, I will ♪
725
00:35:31,730 --> 00:35:34,775
We played "Simple Man"
and Al Kooper,
726
00:35:34,858 --> 00:35:35,984
he didn't like the song.
727
00:35:36,068 --> 00:35:37,444
He said, "That's boring, man.
728
00:35:37,527 --> 00:35:39,279
It doesn't mean nothing,"
729
00:35:39,363 --> 00:35:41,782
but Kooper, we'd call him
a Yankee slicker.
730
00:35:41,865 --> 00:35:43,867
He was totally different
than us.
731
00:35:43,951 --> 00:35:46,787
We were all from simple
Southern home-cooking
732
00:35:46,870 --> 00:35:48,497
mamas, you know?
733
00:35:48,580 --> 00:35:50,666
And so we thought
it was a great song.
734
00:35:50,749 --> 00:35:53,669
And so Ronnie takes Al
out to the car,
735
00:35:53,752 --> 00:35:55,754
and he opened up the door
to the... Al's Bentley
736
00:35:55,837 --> 00:35:58,131
and put him in the car
and shut the door,
737
00:35:58,215 --> 00:36:01,176
and Ronnie stuck his head
into the window, and he says,
738
00:36:01,260 --> 00:36:03,428
"When we're done cutting it,
we'll call you,"
739
00:36:03,512 --> 00:36:04,304
and that's the way it was.
740
00:36:04,388 --> 00:36:07,474
He was the boss.
741
00:36:07,557 --> 00:36:10,310
I feared him.
742
00:36:10,394 --> 00:36:12,187
I've tended to write
about places
743
00:36:12,271 --> 00:36:14,648
I've seen and things
that I've done, normal things,
744
00:36:14,731 --> 00:36:16,525
things that
you've done, really.
745
00:36:16,608 --> 00:36:19,278
I think if you write it
really simple,
746
00:36:19,361 --> 00:36:21,363
then you can reach
more people that way
747
00:36:21,446 --> 00:36:23,031
because more people's
gonna understand
748
00:36:23,115 --> 00:36:24,992
what you're talking about
and what I mean.
749
00:36:28,245 --> 00:36:30,664
I guess I showed up
to rehearsal a little bit
750
00:36:30,747 --> 00:36:33,834
after everybody else,
'cause when I got there
751
00:36:33,917 --> 00:36:36,003
Gary was playing
a riff sort of like this.
752
00:36:36,086 --> 00:36:37,546
It went...
753
00:36:49,349 --> 00:36:50,851
You know?
754
00:36:50,934 --> 00:36:52,352
And I walked in
and picked up my Strat
755
00:36:52,436 --> 00:36:54,438
and just bounced that...
mine off of his.
756
00:37:01,445 --> 00:37:03,864
And Ronnie's sitting over
in his... on the couch
757
00:37:03,947 --> 00:37:06,283
where he always sat,
and he kept going like this.
758
00:37:06,366 --> 00:37:08,452
That means don't stop.
Just keep running it,
759
00:37:08,535 --> 00:37:10,454
running it, running it,
you know?
760
00:37:10,537 --> 00:37:13,957
So within about 15 minutes
he started writing the chorus,
761
00:37:14,041 --> 00:37:15,542
so we had a verse
and a chorus.
762
00:37:15,625 --> 00:37:16,626
Then he says,
"Well, I'll see you later.
763
00:37:16,710 --> 00:37:18,128
I'm going down to go fishing."
764
00:37:18,211 --> 00:37:18,879
"Okay."
So we stayed up there,
765
00:37:18,962 --> 00:37:21,590
and we're working on the music.
766
00:37:21,673 --> 00:37:23,508
He's listening down there
'cause the music traveled down
767
00:37:23,592 --> 00:37:26,219
the creek really well,
and he comes back, I guess,
768
00:37:26,303 --> 00:37:28,638
in about an hour
and a half and grabs a mike,
769
00:37:28,722 --> 00:37:30,766
and he sings all the verses.
770
00:37:30,849 --> 00:37:32,893
He always wrote in his head,
he never wrote anything down,
771
00:37:32,976 --> 00:37:34,686
so we were able
to kind of arrange it.
772
00:37:34,770 --> 00:37:38,440
The week that first album
773
00:37:38,523 --> 00:37:40,108
was being pressed
774
00:37:40,192 --> 00:37:41,902
Ronnie called me up,
775
00:37:41,985 --> 00:37:44,488
and he said,
"We have a new song.
776
00:37:44,571 --> 00:37:46,531
"I love it
the way it is right now.
777
00:37:46,615 --> 00:37:48,367
"I'm scared it's gonna change
778
00:37:48,450 --> 00:37:50,452
by the time
we do the second album."
779
00:37:50,535 --> 00:37:53,205
They hadn't even toured
the first album.
780
00:37:53,288 --> 00:37:55,457
It wasn't even on
the street yet.
781
00:37:55,540 --> 00:37:57,834
He said, "I want to come up
and record it now,"
782
00:37:57,918 --> 00:38:01,630
and they drove
up and played me
783
00:38:01,713 --> 00:38:04,591
"Sweet Home Alabama."
784
00:38:04,674 --> 00:38:08,428
I said, "I'll see you
in the studio tomorrow.
785
00:38:08,512 --> 00:38:09,554
This is a hit record."
786
00:38:29,032 --> 00:38:32,953
♪ Big wheels keep on
turning ♪
787
00:38:33,036 --> 00:38:35,038
♪ Carry me home to see
my kin ♪
788
00:38:38,208 --> 00:38:40,043
♪ Singing songs
about the Southland ♪
789
00:38:43,046 --> 00:38:46,800
♪ I miss ol' 'bamy once again,
and I think it's a sin ♪
790
00:38:46,883 --> 00:38:49,136
We used to do clubs
and teen dens
791
00:38:49,219 --> 00:38:50,011
and stuff all around Alabama,
792
00:38:50,095 --> 00:38:52,389
and driving
through the country,
793
00:38:52,472 --> 00:38:54,307
it was beautiful
and great people,
794
00:38:54,391 --> 00:38:57,394
and if you had trouble,
they'd come out to help you.
795
00:38:57,477 --> 00:39:02,190
♪ Well, I heard Mr. Young
sing about her ♪
796
00:39:02,274 --> 00:39:07,028
♪ Well, I heard ol' Neil
put her down ♪
797
00:39:07,112 --> 00:39:10,198
♪ Well, I hope Neil Young
will remember ♪
798
00:39:10,282 --> 00:39:15,370
♪ A Southern man
don't need him around anyhow ♪
799
00:39:15,454 --> 00:39:18,874
We just love the South
attitude and the people.
800
00:39:18,957 --> 00:39:20,834
That was our first experience,
801
00:39:20,917 --> 00:39:22,085
is playing
all the Southern states
802
00:39:22,169 --> 00:39:24,838
'cause we weren't known
anywhere else.
803
00:39:24,921 --> 00:39:26,131
We couldn't afford
to drive it,
804
00:39:26,214 --> 00:39:29,468
and we really weren't booked
anywhere else,
805
00:39:29,551 --> 00:39:33,138
and then Neil Young had wrote
"Southern Man" and "Alabama."
806
00:39:33,221 --> 00:39:38,185
♪ Southern man better
keep your head ♪
807
00:39:38,268 --> 00:39:44,733
♪ Don't forget what
your good book said ♪
808
00:39:44,816 --> 00:39:45,859
♪ Southern man ♪
809
00:39:45,942 --> 00:39:48,570
We didn't like him
cutting down
810
00:39:48,653 --> 00:39:49,863
Southern guys, you know?
811
00:39:52,073 --> 00:39:54,367
♪ In Birmingham they love
the governor ♪
812
00:39:54,451 --> 00:39:56,369
♪ Boo, boo, boo ♪
813
00:39:56,453 --> 00:39:59,247
♪ Now, we all did
what we could do ♪
814
00:40:01,625 --> 00:40:06,838
♪ Now, Watergate
does not bother me ♪
815
00:40:06,922 --> 00:40:10,759
♪ Does your conscience
bother you? Tell the truth ♪
816
00:40:10,842 --> 00:40:13,220
It was right at the time
that the Wallaces were out,
817
00:40:13,303 --> 00:40:16,806
and there was all this race
riots and stuff,
818
00:40:16,890 --> 00:40:19,935
and a lot of people believed
in segregation and all that.
819
00:40:20,018 --> 00:40:22,103
We didn't,
so we put the "boo, boo, boo"
820
00:40:22,187 --> 00:40:25,815
there so it was saying
we don't like Wallace,
821
00:40:25,899 --> 00:40:27,567
but I don't know.
822
00:40:27,651 --> 00:40:30,237
There's a lot of
different interpretations.
823
00:40:30,320 --> 00:40:32,280
I'm sure if you ask
the other guys
824
00:40:32,364 --> 00:40:36,201
who are not with us anymore
up in rock and roll heaven,
825
00:40:36,284 --> 00:40:38,662
they have their story
of how it came about.
826
00:40:39,371 --> 00:40:39,663
♪ Alabama ♪
827
00:40:45,669 --> 00:40:46,753
"Sweet Home Alabama,"
828
00:40:46,836 --> 00:40:48,713
probably one of the strongest
829
00:40:48,797 --> 00:40:50,257
and most controversial
musical statements
830
00:40:50,340 --> 00:40:53,760
ever about the South,
was really the first
831
00:40:53,843 --> 00:40:55,929
sweet taste of success
for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
832
00:40:56,012 --> 00:40:58,139
We knew that by doing
that song
833
00:40:58,223 --> 00:40:59,933
and writing those lyrics,
we knew in the beginning
834
00:41:00,016 --> 00:41:01,726
that we'd get a lot of heat
from it, you know?
835
00:41:01,810 --> 00:41:04,771
And, you know, I did attack
Neil Young in that song.
836
00:41:04,854 --> 00:41:06,690
He says, "What are you
talking about, you know?
837
00:41:06,773 --> 00:41:10,193
From what I'm told, you was
born in Canada," you know?
838
00:41:10,277 --> 00:41:12,612
Before the first album
came out,
839
00:41:12,696 --> 00:41:14,614
I bumped into Pete Townsend.
840
00:41:14,698 --> 00:41:16,741
I knew him quite well.
841
00:41:16,825 --> 00:41:18,827
I'd played on some Who things.
842
00:41:18,910 --> 00:41:20,912
I said, "What are you doing?"
843
00:41:20,996 --> 00:41:23,623
and he said, "Well, we're
going out on a big tour."
844
00:41:23,707 --> 00:41:25,458
He said,
"Do you know a great act
845
00:41:25,542 --> 00:41:27,210
we could use for an opener?"
846
00:41:27,294 --> 00:41:30,338
I said, "You know,
it's funny you say that."
847
00:41:31,047 --> 00:41:33,633
Let's pick it up!
848
00:41:33,717 --> 00:41:35,802
The first night
we played with the Who,
849
00:41:35,885 --> 00:41:38,972
we were used to playing
clubs and dances
850
00:41:39,055 --> 00:41:41,850
at maybe 100, 200 people
at the most,
851
00:41:41,933 --> 00:41:42,976
so we were opening
at the Cow Palace
852
00:41:43,059 --> 00:41:48,023
the first night
for 18,000 people,
853
00:41:48,106 --> 00:41:50,317
and we looked out
and we were freaked out.
854
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,319
We had to have a drink before
we could go out and play.
855
00:41:52,402 --> 00:41:53,612
We was so nervous.
856
00:41:53,695 --> 00:41:58,908
They only gave us some nights
20 minutes and others 30.
857
00:41:58,992 --> 00:42:01,494
So we'd do "I Ain't the One,"
"Poison Whiskey,"
858
00:42:01,578 --> 00:42:03,872
and another song
and then "Free Bird."
859
00:42:03,955 --> 00:42:07,500
That was it, you know?
860
00:42:07,584 --> 00:42:14,507
♪ Oh, help me,
I can't change ♪
861
00:42:14,591 --> 00:42:18,845
♪ Lord, I can't change ♪
862
00:42:18,928 --> 00:42:20,764
"Free Bird," it's just
a simple little love song
863
00:42:20,847 --> 00:42:23,600
about leaving a girl.
864
00:42:23,683 --> 00:42:26,353
Allen came up with that riff
in high school.
865
00:42:26,436 --> 00:42:28,521
We wrote it as a slow song,
866
00:42:28,605 --> 00:42:31,608
and we didn't have the end
lead early in our career,
867
00:42:31,691 --> 00:42:35,028
but we were playing clubs.
We'd play "Free Bird,"
868
00:42:35,111 --> 00:42:37,322
and we would jam on it
so Ronnie,
869
00:42:37,405 --> 00:42:40,200
we could rest his voice,
so the first time was,
870
00:42:40,283 --> 00:42:44,079
like, a minute,
and then it'd be four minutes.
871
00:42:44,162 --> 00:42:46,289
Then it would be
six minutes or eight.
872
00:42:46,373 --> 00:42:48,541
Then it got to be 20 minutes
at the end.
873
00:42:51,086 --> 00:42:53,880
I mean, Allen did that solo
at the end of "Free Bird,"
874
00:42:53,963 --> 00:42:57,550
when he was 17, 18.
875
00:42:57,634 --> 00:43:00,136
People just weren't playing
like that then, you know?
876
00:43:00,220 --> 00:43:01,221
Clapton was maybe.
877
00:43:03,723 --> 00:43:06,184
We played an audience,
and they'd flip out,
878
00:43:06,267 --> 00:43:08,019
go wild, you know?
879
00:43:08,103 --> 00:43:11,356
Just gives you chills
all over, you know?
880
00:43:11,439 --> 00:43:13,066
Something magical
about that song
881
00:43:13,149 --> 00:43:16,236
'cause when it gets
to the peak,
882
00:43:16,319 --> 00:43:18,321
it's sort of almost becomes
like a force of nature.
883
00:43:18,405 --> 00:43:22,075
Even playing it, you
can feel the force in that.
884
00:43:31,960 --> 00:43:34,921
One night we got better
reviews than The Who.
885
00:43:35,004 --> 00:43:36,673
We didn't like that.
886
00:43:36,756 --> 00:43:39,050
We thought
they were the guys, not us.
887
00:43:39,134 --> 00:43:40,885
We hit it every night.
We had a job to do,
888
00:43:40,969 --> 00:43:42,887
and we knew it.
We weren't gonna lay back.
889
00:43:42,971 --> 00:43:46,266
Our job was really to blow off
stage the band following us.
890
00:43:46,349 --> 00:43:48,143
Ronnie made that clear.
891
00:43:48,226 --> 00:43:50,353
It's a competition, and
whoever we're playing with,
892
00:43:50,437 --> 00:43:52,105
we're gonna
blow that band away.
893
00:43:56,776 --> 00:44:00,113
The Who tour did a lot,
and "Free Bird,"
894
00:44:00,196 --> 00:44:03,116
although
it was not a hit single,
895
00:44:03,199 --> 00:44:05,034
it was better
896
00:44:05,118 --> 00:44:07,454
'cause it sold albums,
not singles.
897
00:44:13,168 --> 00:44:15,253
To me there's nothing freer
than a... than a bird, you know?
898
00:44:15,336 --> 00:44:18,423
Just flying wherever
it wants to go,
899
00:44:18,506 --> 00:44:21,134
and I don't know,
that's what this country's
900
00:44:21,217 --> 00:44:23,511
all about, you know?
Being free,
901
00:44:23,595 --> 00:44:26,473
and I think everybody
wants to be a free bird.
902
00:44:34,314 --> 00:44:36,191
We did The Who tour,
903
00:44:36,274 --> 00:44:37,609
played in front of tens
of thousands of people, man.
904
00:44:37,692 --> 00:44:42,447
Then we still went back
to clubs and 100 people here
905
00:44:42,530 --> 00:44:45,408
and 50 people there,
and oh, my God.
906
00:44:45,492 --> 00:44:46,785
Well, we'd stay at Days Inn
and get two rooms.
907
00:44:46,868 --> 00:44:50,830
I mean, just we had basically
four people in a double bed,
908
00:44:50,914 --> 00:44:52,332
and trying and sleep with
Ed King
909
00:44:52,415 --> 00:44:54,042
with four people
in a double bed, 'kay?
910
00:45:04,427 --> 00:45:07,722
♪ Oh, seven years
of hard luck ♪
911
00:45:07,806 --> 00:45:10,642
♪ Coming down on me ♪
912
00:45:10,725 --> 00:45:12,227
♪ From the Florida border ♪
913
00:45:12,310 --> 00:45:15,855
♪ Yes, up in Nashville,
Tennessee ♪
914
00:45:15,939 --> 00:45:18,483
♪ I worked in every joint
you can name ♪
915
00:45:18,566 --> 00:45:22,070
♪ And for every honky-tonk ♪
916
00:45:22,153 --> 00:45:24,531
♪ Along comes a Yankee
slicker saying ♪
917
00:45:24,614 --> 00:45:26,908
♪ Maybe you're what I want ♪
918
00:45:26,991 --> 00:45:29,160
♪ Want you to sign
your contract ♪
919
00:45:29,244 --> 00:45:32,872
♪ Want you to sign today ♪
920
00:45:32,956 --> 00:45:36,626
♪ Gonna give you lots of money
working for MCA ♪
921
00:45:40,338 --> 00:45:42,882
When we did the second
album, I wanted to do it
922
00:45:42,966 --> 00:45:44,467
in Los Angeles.
923
00:45:44,551 --> 00:45:46,511
They were not happy
about that.
924
00:45:46,594 --> 00:45:49,264
♪ They're gonna take me out
to California ♪
925
00:45:49,347 --> 00:45:52,767
♪ Gonna make me a superstar ♪
926
00:45:52,851 --> 00:45:58,064
♪ Just pay me all my money so
maybe you won't get a scar ♪
927
00:45:58,147 --> 00:45:59,691
We didn't have much money.
928
00:45:59,774 --> 00:46:01,734
Everything we got
we had to spend,
929
00:46:01,818 --> 00:46:04,863
so we were playing
the Whisky a Go Go at night,
930
00:46:04,946 --> 00:46:06,781
and then
we'd go record all day
931
00:46:06,865 --> 00:46:10,702
and then sleep where we could
here and there, you know?
932
00:46:10,785 --> 00:46:12,912
We were all in hotels,
and it was a new thing.
933
00:46:12,996 --> 00:46:15,665
The surroundings
were even more evil
934
00:46:15,748 --> 00:46:16,749
'cause it was Hollywood,
you know?
935
00:46:16,833 --> 00:46:18,793
There's just too much
going on here, you know?
936
00:46:18,877 --> 00:46:22,797
It took them out of their
comfort zone, and, you know,
937
00:46:22,881 --> 00:46:24,382
they wanted to just go
into a room and just record.
938
00:46:24,465 --> 00:46:26,843
You know,
it was a record plant.
939
00:46:26,926 --> 00:46:28,469
You walk out the door,
and, you know,
940
00:46:28,553 --> 00:46:29,429
there's Joe Walsh
and Jackson Brown
941
00:46:29,512 --> 00:46:31,222
playing pinball,
you know, a big room
942
00:46:31,306 --> 00:46:33,558
that Stevie Wonder was in,
943
00:46:33,641 --> 00:46:35,268
and then one day
we're sitting there,
944
00:46:35,351 --> 00:46:37,103
and John Lennon
and May Pang walk in.
945
00:46:37,186 --> 00:46:38,021
We couldn't play
the rest of the day.
946
00:46:38,104 --> 00:46:40,064
It was work.
947
00:46:40,148 --> 00:46:42,901
It was really work
pulling that record together.
948
00:46:42,984 --> 00:46:45,612
One night we went into
the studio to record,
949
00:46:45,695 --> 00:46:47,447
and they had power trouble,
950
00:46:47,530 --> 00:46:50,283
and we went down
and saw "The Exorcist."
951
00:46:50,366 --> 00:46:52,660
Bob Burns just had, like,
a mental breakdown.
952
00:46:52,744 --> 00:46:53,745
It freaked him out, man.
953
00:46:53,828 --> 00:46:58,291
Really, it... he thought
his wife was the devil,
954
00:46:58,374 --> 00:47:00,627
and he thought this cat
was the devil.
955
00:47:00,710 --> 00:47:02,962
There were a lot of things
going on.
956
00:47:03,046 --> 00:47:06,132
A wife would get pregnant,
or somebody'd break up,
957
00:47:06,215 --> 00:47:08,092
or there was, you know,
958
00:47:08,176 --> 00:47:10,970
all those complications
and being away from home,
959
00:47:11,054 --> 00:47:13,848
and we were still
in your early 20s.
960
00:47:13,932 --> 00:47:15,683
You don't know
what's happening, really.
961
00:47:15,767 --> 00:47:19,479
Didn't really take time off
much at all, you know?
962
00:47:19,562 --> 00:47:22,565
♪ Well, it's true
I love the money ♪
963
00:47:22,649 --> 00:47:27,862
♪ And I love
my brand-new car ♪
964
00:47:27,946 --> 00:47:30,823
♪ I like drinking
the best of whiskey ♪
965
00:47:30,907 --> 00:47:34,577
♪ And playing
in a honky-tonk bar ♪
966
00:47:34,661 --> 00:47:38,122
♪ But when I come off
the road ♪
967
00:47:38,206 --> 00:47:41,876
♪ well, I just got
to have my time ♪
968
00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:46,005
♪ 'Cause I got to find a break
in this action ♪
969
00:47:46,089 --> 00:47:47,465
♪ Else I'm gonna lose
my mind ♪
970
00:47:47,548 --> 00:47:52,679
♪ So don't ask me no
questions ♪
971
00:47:52,762 --> 00:47:56,474
♪ And I won't tell you no
lies, that's right ♪
972
00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:04,023
When I joined the band
that first time,
973
00:48:04,107 --> 00:48:05,066
I was the drummer.
974
00:48:05,149 --> 00:48:07,360
We spent a lot of time
975
00:48:07,443 --> 00:48:09,487
in Muscle Shoals
going back and forth,
976
00:48:09,570 --> 00:48:13,366
but I said, "The drums are just
really not for me," you know?
977
00:48:13,449 --> 00:48:19,038
I missed playing guitar,
and I left the guys.
978
00:48:19,122 --> 00:48:22,375
Less than a year later,
in '73, "Pronounced"
979
00:48:22,458 --> 00:48:26,212
came out, and they were off
and running.
980
00:48:26,295 --> 00:48:27,380
It really wasn't meant for me
to be there then.
981
00:48:27,463 --> 00:48:30,091
It was meant for me
to be here now.
982
00:48:31,634 --> 00:48:34,220
I was raised by a great
musician, my grandfather,
983
00:48:34,303 --> 00:48:36,139
Shorty Medlocke.
984
00:48:36,222 --> 00:48:40,143
He pretty well much was
a delta blues bluegrass player
985
00:48:40,226 --> 00:48:43,730
and a solid foundation in music
around this town anyway.
986
00:48:43,813 --> 00:48:45,481
Ronnie would come over here
and sit on the porch
987
00:48:45,565 --> 00:48:48,568
watching my old man
play his Dobro.
988
00:48:48,651 --> 00:48:50,570
My old man would sometimes
be out here at 2:00 a. m.
989
00:48:50,653 --> 00:48:52,405
in the morning playing.
990
00:48:52,488 --> 00:48:54,490
Me and him both would
stay out here for hours.
991
00:48:54,574 --> 00:48:57,076
Ronnie had taken the influence
of my old man
992
00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,370
doing that coupled
with the fact that he loved
993
00:48:59,454 --> 00:49:02,248
Son House, the blues guy,
994
00:49:02,331 --> 00:49:04,208
and out of it was born
"Curtis Loew."
995
00:49:04,292 --> 00:49:09,172
♪ Play me a song, Curtis
Loew, hey, Curtis Loew ♪
996
00:49:09,255 --> 00:49:16,137
♪ I wish that you was here
so everyone would know ♪
997
00:49:16,220 --> 00:49:17,513
♪ People said you were
useless ♪
998
00:49:17,597 --> 00:49:23,478
♪ But then people all
were fools ♪
999
00:49:23,561 --> 00:49:26,773
♪ 'Cause Curtis,
you're the finest picker ♪
1000
00:49:26,856 --> 00:49:30,610
♪ To ever play the blues ♪
1001
00:49:33,404 --> 00:49:34,739
We heard about this band
1002
00:49:34,822 --> 00:49:36,532
called
the Lynyrd Skynyrd band.
1003
00:49:36,616 --> 00:49:37,575
They were kicking it up
and tearing it down,
1004
00:49:37,658 --> 00:49:39,410
and we were booked together
1005
00:49:39,494 --> 00:49:40,995
on a string of dates,
and I played with them.
1006
00:49:41,079 --> 00:49:42,121
That's the first time
I remember meeting them.
1007
00:49:42,205 --> 00:49:45,041
With this guys, it was like
working with family,
1008
00:49:45,124 --> 00:49:47,085
which it was not always
like working with family
1009
00:49:47,168 --> 00:49:47,794
with a lot of other people.
1010
00:49:47,877 --> 00:49:49,295
Southern boys played blues.
1011
00:49:49,378 --> 00:49:51,756
There's no two ways about it,
1012
00:49:51,839 --> 00:49:52,924
but Ronnie Van Zant,
1013
00:49:53,007 --> 00:49:58,638
he was a master at doing
redneck, working men's lyrics.
1014
00:50:04,185 --> 00:50:07,313
I figured you'd have some
moonshine laying around, Coop.
1015
00:50:07,396 --> 00:50:09,273
What is that,
1016
00:50:09,357 --> 00:50:12,151
some of no... northeast Georgia
mountain water, is all that is.
1017
00:50:14,403 --> 00:50:17,198
I've listened to Skynyrd
ever since
1018
00:50:17,281 --> 00:50:19,700
they actually started,
pretty much.
1019
00:50:19,784 --> 00:50:22,995
This is where I really got
broke in on Skynyrd, I'd say.
1020
00:50:23,079 --> 00:50:25,164
He had a old tape
that he used to put in there.
1021
00:50:25,248 --> 00:50:27,333
An old cassette tape
was one.
1022
00:50:27,416 --> 00:50:30,169
And it stayed on,
I mean, nonstop.
1023
00:50:30,253 --> 00:50:31,671
I gave that... that cassette
to Brantley.
1024
00:50:31,754 --> 00:50:33,506
I said, "Here, you need
to learn these songs,"
1025
00:50:33,589 --> 00:50:34,507
and it wasn't two days
he was back over here.
1026
00:50:34,590 --> 00:50:36,592
He had, like, two
or three of them nailed.
1027
00:50:36,676 --> 00:50:39,303
Like, "Damn, I hear ya,
brother."
1028
00:50:39,387 --> 00:50:41,055
I have a line in one
of my songs that says,
1029
00:50:41,139 --> 00:50:42,223
"There's always some drunk guy
in the back
1030
00:50:42,306 --> 00:50:44,058
screaming out 'Free Bird!'"
1031
00:50:44,142 --> 00:50:46,018
Every show you play, somebody
wants you to play "Free Bird,"
1032
00:50:46,102 --> 00:50:49,939
but I always felt like that was
a song you ought not touch.
1033
00:50:50,022 --> 00:50:51,983
- Yeah.
- You know, I fell in love
1034
00:50:52,066 --> 00:50:53,192
with guitars,
with big sound,
1035
00:50:53,276 --> 00:50:55,820
and you know what the songs
were about, you know?
1036
00:50:55,903 --> 00:50:57,488
It's about the South.
I could relate to it.
1037
00:50:57,572 --> 00:50:59,866
Who was Ronnie speaking to?
1038
00:50:59,949 --> 00:51:01,284
Me.
1039
00:51:01,367 --> 00:51:04,036
Me and all my friends.
1040
00:51:04,120 --> 00:51:05,204
You know, that was our music.
1041
00:51:05,288 --> 00:51:07,874
- It puts you out here, you know?
- Yeah, kind of like
1042
00:51:07,957 --> 00:51:09,041
- a hometown band to us.
- Yeah.
1043
00:51:09,125 --> 00:51:10,459
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
1044
00:51:10,543 --> 00:51:11,669
- Georgia peach.
- I think it's good.
1045
00:51:11,752 --> 00:51:14,213
- You want to try it?
- I did.
1046
00:51:14,297 --> 00:51:16,257
- Anybody else?
- Welcome to drink.
1047
00:51:16,340 --> 00:51:17,800
- Sir?
- All right.
1048
00:51:17,884 --> 00:51:20,678
Put the camera down!
1049
00:51:20,761 --> 00:51:21,888
He said, "Fuck it."
1050
00:51:21,971 --> 00:51:24,849
One, two, one, two, three.
1051
00:51:24,932 --> 00:51:27,268
"Saturday Night Special"
is a song that deals
1052
00:51:27,351 --> 00:51:31,230
with a very real and dangerous
subject in today's America.
1053
00:51:31,314 --> 00:51:34,692
Our interview of Lynyrd
Skynyrd focuses on this now.
1054
00:51:34,775 --> 00:51:35,985
♪ Oh, yeah ♪
1055
00:51:36,068 --> 00:51:38,571
"Saturday Night Special,"
we'd just known some friends
1056
00:51:38,654 --> 00:51:41,949
that a friend shot
another fiend
1057
00:51:42,033 --> 00:51:43,743
'cause they were
drunk playing poker.
1058
00:51:43,826 --> 00:51:47,580
♪ Handguns are made
for killing ♪
1059
00:51:47,663 --> 00:51:49,790
♪ They ain't no good
for nothing else ♪
1060
00:51:49,874 --> 00:51:55,421
♪ So why don't we don't
we dump them, people ♪
1061
00:51:55,504 --> 00:51:59,258
♪ To the bottom of a sea ♪
1062
00:51:59,342 --> 00:52:03,429
♪ Before some old fools
come around here ♪
1063
00:52:03,512 --> 00:52:06,599
♪ Want to shoot either
you or me? ♪
1064
00:52:10,186 --> 00:52:11,312
Really.
1065
00:52:13,940 --> 00:52:16,943
I have a old gun,
a 1874 Springfield,
1066
00:52:17,026 --> 00:52:18,653
but it's old flintlock gun.
It hangs over the fireplace.
1067
00:52:18,736 --> 00:52:21,530
- Oh.
- I've been shot myself,
1068
00:52:21,614 --> 00:52:22,907
and I don't want
to get into that,
1069
00:52:22,990 --> 00:52:25,076
but that happens,
you know, every day.
1070
00:52:25,159 --> 00:52:29,330
I mean, if you watch, where I
come from, the 6:00 news
1071
00:52:29,413 --> 00:52:30,539
every night,
just look at homicides
1072
00:52:30,623 --> 00:52:33,626
every night because of that.
1073
00:52:33,709 --> 00:52:35,378
I don't... I really
don't like them.
1074
00:52:42,343 --> 00:52:43,427
I love people.
I love talking to all people.
1075
00:52:43,511 --> 00:52:46,138
I love black people.
1076
00:52:46,222 --> 00:52:48,641
I love Chinese people,
Japanese people, German people.
1077
00:52:48,724 --> 00:52:52,311
I love gay people.
Do I live in fear?
1078
00:52:52,395 --> 00:52:53,729
No. Do I have a gun?
1079
00:52:53,813 --> 00:52:56,232
There's not a gun
in this house.
1080
00:52:56,315 --> 00:52:59,527
I hate guns.
I'm trained marine.
1081
00:52:59,610 --> 00:53:01,821
You know,
they call us trained killers.
1082
00:53:01,904 --> 00:53:04,991
I've never had to kill
anybody. I never want to.
1083
00:53:05,074 --> 00:53:06,534
I am a left-wing
liberal hippie.
1084
00:53:06,617 --> 00:53:08,869
I always will be.
1085
00:53:08,953 --> 00:53:13,124
I love this picture of Ronnie.
He's got his Shoco shirt on,
1086
00:53:13,207 --> 00:53:16,002
and there he is kind of
looking down from heaven,
1087
00:53:16,085 --> 00:53:19,338
saying,
"Keep it real, Artimus,"
1088
00:53:19,422 --> 00:53:23,592
and... and just this little space
here is,
1089
00:53:23,676 --> 00:53:26,304
if nothing else, it's real.
1090
00:53:26,387 --> 00:53:29,932
I was living in Spartanburg,
South Carolina.
1091
00:53:30,016 --> 00:53:30,891
We called it Sparkle City,
1092
00:53:30,975 --> 00:53:35,521
and Bob was having
some medical problems.
1093
00:53:35,604 --> 00:53:36,814
So Ronnie calls me up,
and he goes,
1094
00:53:36,897 --> 00:53:38,607
"I just want to know
if you can play.
1095
00:53:38,691 --> 00:53:40,609
Everybody says you can."
1096
00:53:40,693 --> 00:53:43,362
Artimus was badass.
1097
00:53:43,446 --> 00:53:45,740
He was a tough ex-marine,
you know?
1098
00:53:45,823 --> 00:53:48,367
He was the only one that
could actually throw Ronnie
1099
00:53:48,451 --> 00:53:49,910
around a little bit,
1100
00:53:49,994 --> 00:53:51,787
but he was different
than us too.
1101
00:53:51,871 --> 00:53:54,999
He was from the Carolinas.
He was a vegetarian.
1102
00:53:55,082 --> 00:53:56,167
That was way different than us.
1103
00:53:56,250 --> 00:54:00,129
We were barbecue boys,
you know? He liked vegetables.
1104
00:54:00,212 --> 00:54:02,923
What I do for Lynyrd Skynyrd
is purely physical,
1105
00:54:03,007 --> 00:54:07,136
so having my health
is very important.
1106
00:54:07,219 --> 00:54:10,014
Usually on the road
I live on yogurt and nuts,
1107
00:54:10,097 --> 00:54:11,724
and the people that come up
to me
1108
00:54:11,807 --> 00:54:14,060
and say, "How do you do it?"
1109
00:54:14,143 --> 00:54:16,062
It's just something
that I do every day,
1110
00:54:16,145 --> 00:54:18,356
and if you do something
every day,
1111
00:54:18,439 --> 00:54:20,566
you're bound to get good at it.
1112
00:54:20,649 --> 00:54:22,485
Artimus could play
on the stuff he wrote
1113
00:54:22,568 --> 00:54:24,236
with the band very well.
It's one of those things,
1114
00:54:24,320 --> 00:54:26,989
but he had trouble
picking up Bob's feel,
1115
00:54:27,073 --> 00:54:29,450
so that's when you had
to go to Europe,
1116
00:54:29,533 --> 00:54:32,036
and we had to take Bob
to Europe,
1117
00:54:32,119 --> 00:54:32,912
and things didn't go well.
1118
00:54:32,995 --> 00:54:35,498
Every damn country
we went to,
1119
00:54:35,581 --> 00:54:38,417
about the size of Georgia.
Nobody spoke English.
1120
00:54:38,501 --> 00:54:39,251
I was in France,
ordered a ham sandwich.
1121
00:54:39,335 --> 00:54:41,712
They brought me
back a Marlboros.
1122
00:54:41,796 --> 00:54:44,590
Bob had a nervous breakdown
about two weeks into the tour.
1123
00:54:44,673 --> 00:54:48,094
And we were at a hotel, he
went nuts, so they all said,
1124
00:54:48,177 --> 00:54:49,678
"Hey, go in there
and talk to Bob."
1125
00:54:49,762 --> 00:54:51,430
They were scared to go in.
1126
00:54:51,514 --> 00:54:55,142
Even Ronnie was, you know,
behind the curtain going,
1127
00:54:55,226 --> 00:54:56,769
"You go in there,"
and I went in.
1128
00:54:56,852 --> 00:54:58,729
He had... all the stuff
was rearranged
1129
00:54:58,813 --> 00:55:00,773
and changed and weird,
1130
00:55:00,856 --> 00:55:03,109
and he was talking
in this weird voice.
1131
00:55:03,192 --> 00:55:07,905
He was really kind of going
through a devil possession
1132
00:55:07,988 --> 00:55:10,366
type trip, and it was not fun.
1133
00:55:10,449 --> 00:55:13,369
I don't remember ever being
fired from Lynyrd Skynyrd,
1134
00:55:13,452 --> 00:55:15,412
and I never quit.
1135
00:55:15,496 --> 00:55:18,958
I just got taken over
with some illnesses that I had.
1136
00:55:19,041 --> 00:55:21,669
They just kind of
broke reality for me,
1137
00:55:21,752 --> 00:55:23,045
but, you know, when I think
of Lynyrd Skynyrd,
1138
00:55:23,129 --> 00:55:27,341
I just think about
some outrageously fun times,
1139
00:55:27,424 --> 00:55:28,384
you know?
1140
00:55:36,100 --> 00:55:38,060
by 1975 the world
1141
00:55:38,144 --> 00:55:39,854
was paying lots of attention
to Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1142
00:55:39,937 --> 00:55:42,064
Their powerful
three-guitar attack,
1143
00:55:42,148 --> 00:55:45,943
Ronnie Van Zant's
blatantly honest lyrics,
1144
00:55:46,026 --> 00:55:50,531
and the band's reputation for
increasingly nasty behavior
1145
00:55:50,614 --> 00:55:52,616
had endeared them to millions.
1146
00:55:56,370 --> 00:56:00,374
When I came to town
to record the third album,
1147
00:56:00,457 --> 00:56:02,001
they weren't ready at all.
1148
00:56:02,084 --> 00:56:03,377
We only had a few songs
written,
1149
00:56:03,460 --> 00:56:06,964
and then some of them we had
to write right in the studio.
1150
00:56:07,047 --> 00:56:09,341
We'd wake up and go,
"What are we gonna do?
1151
00:56:09,425 --> 00:56:12,428
Somebody come up with an idea,
and we'll work on it."
1152
00:56:12,511 --> 00:56:17,183
♪ I dropped off a boxcar
down around Tennessee ♪
1153
00:56:19,101 --> 00:56:22,271
There was girls
and just problems
1154
00:56:22,354 --> 00:56:25,399
coming around,
and my teeth were all hurting,
1155
00:56:25,482 --> 00:56:28,903
and I had four wisdom teeth
taken out.
1156
00:56:28,986 --> 00:56:31,697
There's a lot about that
record I don't even remember
1157
00:56:31,780 --> 00:56:36,285
'cause of the pain pills
and the drinking we did.
1158
00:56:36,368 --> 00:56:38,245
They didn't all know
the songs,
1159
00:56:38,329 --> 00:56:40,372
so I was very upset.
1160
00:56:40,456 --> 00:56:44,877
The key ingredient was missing
from that album,
1161
00:56:44,960 --> 00:56:48,005
which was the rehearsing
at the swamp.
1162
00:56:48,088 --> 00:56:49,965
We had to do
a rush job on that.
1163
00:56:50,049 --> 00:56:53,010
Why couldn't you buy them
more time?
1164
00:56:53,093 --> 00:56:54,553
Because there was none.
1165
00:56:54,637 --> 00:56:56,430
They were going back
on the road again.
1166
00:57:11,654 --> 00:57:12,780
♪ I'm headed down
a highway ♪
1167
00:57:12,863 --> 00:57:18,494
♪ Got my suitcase by my side ♪
1168
00:57:18,577 --> 00:57:21,622
♪ A blue sky's
hanging over my head ♪
1169
00:57:21,705 --> 00:57:25,084
♪ I got 500 miles to ride ♪
1170
00:57:25,167 --> 00:57:29,129
♪ I'm going down to Memphis
town ♪
1171
00:57:29,213 --> 00:57:32,883
♪ To play a late-night show ♪
1172
00:57:32,967 --> 00:57:35,469
♪ I hope the people
are ready there ♪
1173
00:57:35,552 --> 00:57:40,599
♪ 'Cause the boys
are all ready to go ♪
1174
00:57:40,683 --> 00:57:44,436
♪ Well, I'm a whiskey
rock-a-roller ♪
1175
00:57:44,520 --> 00:57:46,772
♪ That's what I am ♪
1176
00:57:46,855 --> 00:57:49,733
♪ Women, whiskey and miles
of traveling ♪
1177
00:57:49,817 --> 00:57:53,320
♪ Is all I understand ♪
1178
00:57:55,197 --> 00:57:59,201
All you did was rehearse,
write new stuff,
1179
00:57:59,285 --> 00:58:00,995
and then go tour.
We were always working,
1180
00:58:01,078 --> 00:58:04,540
but that's all we knew
and wanted.
1181
00:58:04,623 --> 00:58:05,791
We finally made it,
and people were coming,
1182
00:58:05,874 --> 00:58:08,168
so we wanted to play.
1183
00:58:08,252 --> 00:58:10,379
We just never quit.
It was torture.
1184
00:58:12,339 --> 00:58:14,675
You've just completed
a European tour.
1185
00:58:14,758 --> 00:58:18,595
You're about to set out again
to conquer the United States,
1186
00:58:18,679 --> 00:58:20,055
and you're really
a touring band.
1187
00:58:20,139 --> 00:58:22,016
Does it get to you
after a while?
1188
00:58:22,099 --> 00:58:24,977
We get a lot of publicity
about busting up a place
1189
00:58:25,060 --> 00:58:26,645
and being really mean
or something like that,
1190
00:58:26,729 --> 00:58:29,356
but you just get really tired.
1191
00:58:29,440 --> 00:58:32,985
You're about to just flip out
and go over the deep end
1192
00:58:33,068 --> 00:58:35,362
and just say,
"To hell with it. I quit."
1193
00:58:35,446 --> 00:58:37,614
Well, instead of doing that,
we just liable to knock
1194
00:58:37,698 --> 00:58:39,158
a hole in the wall
or anything... any way
1195
00:58:39,241 --> 00:58:42,745
to let... to let energy off,
you know?
1196
00:58:42,828 --> 00:58:43,412
It's also a tax write-off.
1197
00:58:46,123 --> 00:58:49,501
Nobody, no band or no human
thing lived on this earth
1198
00:58:49,585 --> 00:58:51,503
partied like Lynyrd Skynyrd
partied, okay?
1199
00:58:51,587 --> 00:58:52,629
Nobody did.
1200
00:58:52,713 --> 00:58:55,966
Let's just admit it.
I mean, it was the '70s,
1201
00:58:56,050 --> 00:59:01,555
and there was lots of cocaine,
pills, alcohol.
1202
00:59:01,638 --> 00:59:04,308
Promoters would always
backstage provide
1203
00:59:04,391 --> 00:59:08,645
cases of scotch and whiskey
and beer and cartons
1204
00:59:08,729 --> 00:59:12,566
of Winstons and Marlboros and,
you know, a big food spread.
1205
00:59:12,649 --> 00:59:17,654
But my boys, I think they felt
they were supposed to smoke
1206
00:59:17,738 --> 00:59:20,491
every cigarette and drink
everything provided and eat
1207
00:59:20,574 --> 00:59:23,410
what they wanted and throw
the rest against the wall.
1208
00:59:23,494 --> 00:59:26,705
♪ Women, whiskey
and miles of traveling ♪
1209
00:59:26,789 --> 00:59:28,832
♪ Is all I understand ♪
1210
00:59:28,916 --> 00:59:30,042
Whoo!
1211
00:59:33,462 --> 00:59:34,546
That was our
road manager's duty,
1212
00:59:34,630 --> 00:59:38,217
to carry a briefcase
with probably $250,000 cash
1213
00:59:38,300 --> 00:59:41,345
to buy the band members
out of jail,
1214
00:59:41,428 --> 00:59:44,973
to pay off really mad
hotel owners
1215
00:59:45,057 --> 00:59:47,351
that were upset
over destruction.
1216
00:59:47,434 --> 00:59:49,144
But the road with Skynyrd
was always
1217
00:59:49,228 --> 00:59:52,189
just a absolute clusterfuck.
1218
00:59:52,272 --> 00:59:54,817
Billy and Leon used
to put cigarette butts
1219
00:59:54,900 --> 00:59:56,402
into each other's hair and...
1220
00:59:56,485 --> 00:59:58,070
Billy had very curly hair,
1221
00:59:58,153 --> 00:59:59,405
and Leon would call it
his briar patch,
1222
00:59:59,488 --> 01:00:02,408
so Leon would take these
huge drags off a cigarette
1223
01:00:02,491 --> 01:00:05,244
and then waft it into
Billy's briar patch,
1224
01:00:05,327 --> 01:00:08,372
so it looked like
Billy's head was on fire.
1225
01:00:08,455 --> 01:00:11,208
They'd put lipstick on each
other while they were asleep,
1226
01:00:11,291 --> 01:00:12,793
and if you do that
on a commercial flight,
1227
01:00:12,876 --> 01:00:15,462
they wouldn't like that.
1228
01:00:15,546 --> 01:00:17,506
In Europe you leave
your shoes in the hallway.
1229
01:00:17,589 --> 01:00:22,094
Leon thought that it would be
a really good idea
1230
01:00:22,177 --> 01:00:26,473
to take a number two
in some guy's shoes
1231
01:00:26,557 --> 01:00:27,599
that were outside of his door.
1232
01:00:27,683 --> 01:00:30,352
I don't even know want to know
how he did it.
1233
01:00:30,436 --> 01:00:33,939
Anyway, this man starts
to slip on his shoes.
1234
01:00:34,022 --> 01:00:35,274
He's goose-stepping up
and down the doggone hallway
1235
01:00:35,357 --> 01:00:37,901
screaming
at the top of his lungs,
1236
01:00:37,985 --> 01:00:39,611
and now, of course,
everybody in the hallway
1237
01:00:39,695 --> 01:00:41,572
is looking out their doors,
1238
01:00:41,655 --> 01:00:44,283
and so it's not obvious
to this man
1239
01:00:44,366 --> 01:00:48,537
which long-haired
hippie nutcase did it.
1240
01:00:48,620 --> 01:00:49,955
Of course, later, you know,
Leon,
1241
01:00:50,038 --> 01:00:52,458
"Heh-heh-heh. I did it."
1242
01:00:52,541 --> 01:00:54,710
I think the whole
demolishing of the hotel room
1243
01:00:54,793 --> 01:00:56,420
is so childish.
1244
01:00:56,503 --> 01:00:59,089
If life was bad enough
on the road where you
1245
01:00:59,173 --> 01:01:00,674
couldn't get any sleep,
at least like to have
1246
01:01:00,757 --> 01:01:02,426
a nice bed to sleep in
once in a while.
1247
01:01:04,761 --> 01:01:07,097
Ed King has a total
different mindset
1248
01:01:07,181 --> 01:01:10,476
than Southern country dropouts
1249
01:01:10,559 --> 01:01:13,520
who weren't very literate,
and he was college educated.
1250
01:01:13,604 --> 01:01:19,193
He didn't really fit in
as your brother on the road.
1251
01:01:19,276 --> 01:01:23,989
He would stop and buy $100
worth of Slim Jims,
1252
01:01:24,072 --> 01:01:27,576
you know, and have them
in his briefcase,
1253
01:01:27,659 --> 01:01:30,829
and then you're driving
for an hour or two and hungry,
1254
01:01:30,913 --> 01:01:32,164
so he'd sell them to us,
1255
01:01:32,247 --> 01:01:34,917
but he'd double
or triple the price.
1256
01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:38,587
"I'll give you this Slim Jim
for $1.50 instead of 25¢."
1257
01:01:38,670 --> 01:01:43,008
You know? A lot of times
he was stingy with his drugs.
1258
01:01:43,091 --> 01:01:45,093
We were in New York City,
1259
01:01:45,177 --> 01:01:47,429
and I was doing LSD.
1260
01:01:47,513 --> 01:01:49,348
I was tripping.
1261
01:01:49,431 --> 01:01:51,183
I didn't trip a lot,
but every once in a while
1262
01:01:51,266 --> 01:01:53,644
I'd get my hands
on some windowpane,
1263
01:01:53,727 --> 01:01:57,189
some owsleys, you know,
lysergic diethylamide,
1264
01:01:57,272 --> 01:02:00,734
and we were having
a photo session.
1265
01:02:00,817 --> 01:02:04,071
This monkey roller-skates
in across the dance floor.
1266
01:02:04,154 --> 01:02:06,198
He jumps up on the table.
1267
01:02:06,281 --> 01:02:09,618
Allen hands the monkey
the bottle of Jack Daniels,
1268
01:02:09,701 --> 01:02:13,539
and the monkey just turns it up
and starts drinking,
1269
01:02:13,622 --> 01:02:17,125
and Allen's looking at me
with this big smile like,
1270
01:02:17,209 --> 01:02:19,169
you know, and I'm going,
1271
01:02:19,253 --> 01:02:22,214
"There's a monkey
drinking jack Daniels
1272
01:02:22,297 --> 01:02:24,716
"that just roller-skated
into the room.
1273
01:02:24,800 --> 01:02:26,510
Okay, okay, I'm good."
1274
01:02:29,346 --> 01:02:32,307
There was one place
in Waterbury, Connecticut,
1275
01:02:32,391 --> 01:02:34,893
I'll never forget it,
and we had our first bus.
1276
01:02:34,977 --> 01:02:36,353
Somebody had
left the brake off,
1277
01:02:36,436 --> 01:02:38,564
and the bus had careened
through the parking lot,
1278
01:02:38,647 --> 01:02:40,941
over a sports car,
through the gas station,
1279
01:02:41,024 --> 01:02:43,110
and lodged into the bank,
1280
01:02:43,193 --> 01:02:44,653
and I thought
that was hilarious,
1281
01:02:44,736 --> 01:02:46,113
and that was,
I'm sure, on purpose.
1282
01:02:46,196 --> 01:02:48,740
Okay, so I'm a hypocrite.
1283
01:02:48,824 --> 01:02:50,909
So I thought some of
the destruction was funny.
1284
01:02:56,039 --> 01:02:58,292
We went to England.
1285
01:02:58,375 --> 01:02:59,626
They acted like
we were the Beatles...
1286
01:02:59,710 --> 01:03:00,877
Thank you!
1287
01:03:00,961 --> 01:03:02,087
And we couldn't believe it.
1288
01:03:02,170 --> 01:03:03,672
We were looking at each other
1289
01:03:03,755 --> 01:03:05,549
like,
"God, can you believe this?"
1290
01:03:05,632 --> 01:03:07,759
They'd never heard
of a Southern music
1291
01:03:07,843 --> 01:03:08,844
or Southern bands.
1292
01:03:08,927 --> 01:03:12,264
Over there, anybody
from America's a Yankee.
1293
01:03:12,347 --> 01:03:14,308
They call you Yankees,
1294
01:03:14,391 --> 01:03:16,643
but we said, "No,
we're from Southern America."
1295
01:03:16,727 --> 01:03:17,227
"Yeah, you're a Yankee."
1296
01:03:17,311 --> 01:03:19,896
We didn't like it
1297
01:03:19,980 --> 01:03:23,066
'cause it was like California
was a different scene,
1298
01:03:23,150 --> 01:03:26,528
and New York was a different
scene, and the South,
1299
01:03:26,612 --> 01:03:29,323
and that's where
the flag came from.
1300
01:03:29,406 --> 01:03:31,617
♪ Sweet home Alabama ♪
1301
01:03:31,700 --> 01:03:32,993
It was a gimmick for us
at first, you know?
1302
01:03:33,076 --> 01:03:36,913
A Southern band, and MCA made
that a gimmick, a hype thing,
1303
01:03:36,997 --> 01:03:40,626
and then Southern band,
you know, and hard rock
1304
01:03:40,709 --> 01:03:44,421
and rebels and drunken
fighters and all this stuff,
1305
01:03:44,504 --> 01:03:46,506
and then they put out
that publicity and hype.
1306
01:03:46,590 --> 01:03:48,300
That's what it is,
nothing but hype.
1307
01:03:48,383 --> 01:03:49,968
Yes, it was
the record company
1308
01:03:50,052 --> 01:03:51,803
pushing a Southern band.
1309
01:03:51,887 --> 01:03:54,348
No, it didn't bother me to
play in front of a rebel flag
1310
01:03:54,431 --> 01:03:55,599
because I know how I feel.
1311
01:03:55,682 --> 01:03:59,436
I didn't think about it
that deeply then.
1312
01:03:59,519 --> 01:04:01,146
I have since,
and look what they've done.
1313
01:04:01,229 --> 01:04:03,607
They've taken the flag
down on a lot of things
1314
01:04:03,690 --> 01:04:05,984
because it does
represent hatred.
1315
01:04:06,068 --> 01:04:09,488
It's like the flag
got kidnapped by the KKK.
1316
01:04:09,571 --> 01:04:12,824
They carried it,
and all these evil people
1317
01:04:12,908 --> 01:04:15,786
use the Confederate flag
as a hate thing.
1318
01:04:15,869 --> 01:04:18,830
It's them against
the world kind of.
1319
01:04:18,914 --> 01:04:23,502
We never, ever one time meant
the Confederate flag
1320
01:04:23,585 --> 01:04:25,545
to offend anyone,
1321
01:04:25,629 --> 01:04:28,173
but I know it's naive
to say that, too,
1322
01:04:28,256 --> 01:04:29,508
'cause it does hurt people,
1323
01:04:29,591 --> 01:04:33,595
and it does remind them
of the war and slavery
1324
01:04:33,679 --> 01:04:35,180
and all that,
1325
01:04:35,263 --> 01:04:37,099
but we weren't into it
for that.
1326
01:04:37,182 --> 01:04:39,810
We were just showing where
we were from, Southern music.
1327
01:05:00,205 --> 01:05:06,628
♪ Sweet home Alabama ♪
1328
01:05:06,712 --> 01:05:11,883
♪ Where the skies
are so blue ♪
1329
01:05:11,967 --> 01:05:16,596
♪ Sweet home Alabama ♪
1330
01:05:16,680 --> 01:05:19,391
♪ Lord,
I'm coming home to you ♪
1331
01:05:23,812 --> 01:05:27,065
The Southern culture,
it means community.
1332
01:05:27,149 --> 01:05:30,402
Yeah, it means unity,
but it's also ever-growing,
1333
01:05:30,485 --> 01:05:31,069
and it's always changing.
1334
01:05:36,992 --> 01:05:40,078
Cheers, Ronnie, cheers.
1335
01:05:40,162 --> 01:05:41,496
Well, good evening,
everybody.
1336
01:05:41,580 --> 01:05:43,457
I'm Jim Ladden.
Tonight "Interview"
1337
01:05:43,540 --> 01:05:45,625
goes to Dixie for
a shot of that good ol' boy
1338
01:05:45,709 --> 01:05:47,419
brand of rock and roll,
1339
01:05:47,502 --> 01:05:49,421
so I hope you're in the mood
to get drunk,
1340
01:05:49,504 --> 01:05:52,549
get loud, get dirty,
and get into Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1341
01:05:56,595 --> 01:05:59,556
Everybody thinks we're a bunch
of
1342
01:06:04,853 --> 01:06:07,898
Ronnie was short in stature,
1343
01:06:07,981 --> 01:06:09,691
and you would think
he'd wear stacked heels
1344
01:06:09,775 --> 01:06:12,360
or cowboy boots on stage,
but he wore nothing.
1345
01:06:12,444 --> 01:06:15,530
He was barefoot.
I loved the fact
1346
01:06:15,614 --> 01:06:17,949
that he doesn't
hoochie-coo around on stage.
1347
01:06:18,033 --> 01:06:22,204
He stood there and held
that mike and planted himself
1348
01:06:22,287 --> 01:06:23,955
out on the front
of that stage.
1349
01:06:24,039 --> 01:06:25,290
What you saw was what you got.
1350
01:06:25,373 --> 01:06:27,209
You know? Here I am.
1351
01:06:27,292 --> 01:06:29,294
People always ask me what
was Ronnie really like,
1352
01:06:29,377 --> 01:06:31,129
and I always tell them,
1353
01:06:31,213 --> 01:06:33,089
"Just go listen to any six
songs he ever wrote.
1354
01:06:33,173 --> 01:06:36,134
And that'll tell you.
Doesn't matter which six."
1355
01:06:45,727 --> 01:06:47,562
♪ 11 times
I've been busted ♪
1356
01:06:47,646 --> 01:06:50,982
♪ 11 times
I've been to jail ♪
1357
01:06:51,066 --> 01:06:53,485
♪ Some of the times
I been there ♪
1358
01:06:53,568 --> 01:06:55,487
♪ Nobody could go my bail ♪
1359
01:06:55,570 --> 01:06:57,739
♪ Well, it seems to me, lord ♪
1360
01:06:57,823 --> 01:07:03,495
♪ That this old boy
just don't fit ♪
1361
01:07:03,578 --> 01:07:06,206
♪ Well, I can jump in
a rosebush ♪
1362
01:07:06,289 --> 01:07:09,626
♪ And come out
smelling like sh... ♪
1363
01:07:09,709 --> 01:07:14,005
When he would get a certain
level of drunk, he'd get mean.
1364
01:07:14,089 --> 01:07:16,007
It was like a Jekyll and Hyde.
1365
01:07:16,091 --> 01:07:19,803
He was a badass, and he would
attack you with all he had
1366
01:07:19,886 --> 01:07:22,389
and try to hurt you
if he could.
1367
01:07:22,472 --> 01:07:24,391
I'd see him do interviews
1368
01:07:24,474 --> 01:07:26,685
where he'd start out
real nice,
1369
01:07:26,768 --> 01:07:28,687
but we'd be drinking,
1370
01:07:28,770 --> 01:07:31,189
and by the end of the
interview he'd slam and go,
1371
01:07:31,273 --> 01:07:33,275
"Let me ask you a question.
1372
01:07:33,358 --> 01:07:35,819
How the fuck you think you're
gonna get out that door?"
1373
01:07:39,114 --> 01:07:41,366
♪ Double trouble ♪
1374
01:07:41,449 --> 01:07:43,702
♪ That's what my friends
all call me ♪
1375
01:07:43,785 --> 01:07:47,372
♪ Double trouble,
double trouble ♪
1376
01:07:47,455 --> 01:07:51,835
♪ I said
double trouble ♪
1377
01:07:51,918 --> 01:07:54,212
♪ T-R-O-U-B-L-E ♪
1378
01:07:54,296 --> 01:07:57,757
♪ Double trouble ♪
1379
01:07:57,841 --> 01:07:59,217
Wow!
1380
01:07:59,301 --> 01:08:00,886
Ronnie's hands were not big,
1381
01:08:00,969 --> 01:08:03,054
but when they made a fist,
1382
01:08:03,138 --> 01:08:05,974
it was, like, a big fist,
and it was flat.
1383
01:08:06,057 --> 01:08:07,767
He hit me a lot of times,
Ronnie.
1384
01:08:07,851 --> 01:08:09,185
We would fight.
He was terrible.
1385
01:08:09,269 --> 01:08:13,398
We were in Hamburg, Germany.
He got real drunk on schnapps.
1386
01:08:13,481 --> 01:08:15,233
We'd never heard of schnapps.
1387
01:08:15,317 --> 01:08:17,611
Ronnie got in
one of his bad moods
1388
01:08:17,694 --> 01:08:18,904
and hit one guy in the head
with a bottle.
1389
01:08:18,987 --> 01:08:22,741
Of course, it broke.
Then he came over to me,
1390
01:08:22,824 --> 01:08:24,409
and he took that bottle,
and he went,
1391
01:08:24,492 --> 01:08:25,493
"You're never gonna
play guitar again,"
1392
01:08:25,577 --> 01:08:28,455
and he cut my hands here
and there,
1393
01:08:28,538 --> 01:08:31,416
so the next day we played,
1394
01:08:31,499 --> 01:08:34,252
and I had these Band-Aids
all on my hands,
1395
01:08:34,336 --> 01:08:37,297
and they would bleed,
and the headline said,
1396
01:08:37,380 --> 01:08:39,049
"Bloodbath in Hamburg."
1397
01:08:39,132 --> 01:08:40,967
Ronnie throws me up
against the wall,
1398
01:08:41,051 --> 01:08:42,928
gets the lamp from the corner
table and breaks it,
1399
01:08:43,011 --> 01:08:44,804
and holds it up against
my throat with all this
1400
01:08:44,888 --> 01:08:47,933
jagged glass coming out.
After he's done with me,
1401
01:08:48,016 --> 01:08:50,143
he picked Allen up by the hair
and threw him across the room.
1402
01:08:50,226 --> 01:08:53,605
When Ronnie was drunk,
he was a strong one, man.
1403
01:08:53,688 --> 01:08:56,066
♪ T-R-O-U-B-L-E ♪
1404
01:08:59,527 --> 01:09:01,279
I'm the hippie from
Southern California, man.
1405
01:09:01,363 --> 01:09:06,242
I'm... you know, I'm not
digging the violence part.
1406
01:09:06,326 --> 01:09:08,411
There was one night
in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
1407
01:09:08,495 --> 01:09:10,997
Ronnie was thrown in jail
along with my guitar roadie,
1408
01:09:11,081 --> 01:09:13,166
changed my strings.
1409
01:09:13,249 --> 01:09:15,043
I don't know what they did
to these cops,
1410
01:09:15,126 --> 01:09:16,461
but the cops
threw them in jail.
1411
01:09:16,544 --> 01:09:17,629
Anyway, my roadie and Ronnie
1412
01:09:17,712 --> 01:09:19,923
didn't arrive
to the Pittsburgh show
1413
01:09:20,006 --> 01:09:20,674
until, like, ten minutes
before we went on.
1414
01:09:20,757 --> 01:09:23,009
I had to play on old strings.
1415
01:09:23,093 --> 01:09:25,762
That night I broke two strings
during "Free Bird,"
1416
01:09:25,845 --> 01:09:29,724
which I never do,
and after the show Ronnie
1417
01:09:29,808 --> 01:09:32,268
was just on my ass
all the way, you know?
1418
01:09:32,352 --> 01:09:34,437
"You don't amount to a pimple
on Allen's ass."
1419
01:09:34,521 --> 01:09:37,023
Well, I said,
"You might be right there."
1420
01:09:37,107 --> 01:09:40,652
He was just riding me,
and I just said to myself...
1421
01:09:40,735 --> 01:09:42,278
like,
a light went off in my head,
1422
01:09:42,362 --> 01:09:43,780
and I said, "That's it,"
you know?
1423
01:09:43,863 --> 01:09:46,533
So I went back to my room
that night,
1424
01:09:46,616 --> 01:09:47,367
and I packed up all my stuff,
1425
01:09:47,450 --> 01:09:51,329
and I left,
1426
01:09:51,413 --> 01:09:53,456
and I didn't look back.
1427
01:09:53,540 --> 01:09:54,916
We were right in the middle
of a tour,
1428
01:09:55,000 --> 01:09:59,004
and all of a sudden we woke
up, and he was gone,
1429
01:09:59,087 --> 01:10:01,298
and we had to play that night,
1430
01:10:01,381 --> 01:10:03,216
so me and Allen
had to get together
1431
01:10:03,300 --> 01:10:06,011
and work out his parts
and who started what,
1432
01:10:06,094 --> 01:10:10,515
and we were pretty mad.
All of a sudden he walks out,
1433
01:10:10,598 --> 01:10:11,725
"Fuck you. I'm just leaving."
1434
01:10:11,808 --> 01:10:14,644
We'd been up in the circuit
1435
01:10:14,728 --> 01:10:17,063
playing with all the big boys
for a year or two.
1436
01:10:17,147 --> 01:10:20,650
It's hard to get to the top,
but it's harder to stay.
1437
01:10:20,734 --> 01:10:26,197
♪ Life is so strange when
it's changing, yes, indeed ♪
1438
01:10:26,281 --> 01:10:28,033
♪ Well, I've seen the hard
times ♪
1439
01:10:28,116 --> 01:10:30,785
♪ And the pressure's
been on me ♪
1440
01:10:30,869 --> 01:10:36,708
♪ But I keep on working like
a working man do ♪
1441
01:10:36,791 --> 01:10:39,669
♪ And I've got my act
together ♪
1442
01:10:39,753 --> 01:10:41,379
♪ Gonna walk all over you ♪
1443
01:10:41,463 --> 01:10:44,174
♪ Gimme back,
gimme back my bullets ♪
1444
01:10:48,470 --> 01:10:52,724
That's Lynyrd Skynyrd from
their cuckoo current album,
1445
01:10:52,807 --> 01:10:56,269
and all the giggling
is Gary and Ronnie,
1446
01:10:56,353 --> 01:10:59,147
and they've just grown
in popularity.
1447
01:10:59,230 --> 01:11:00,899
Do you still live
in the South now?
1448
01:11:00,982 --> 01:11:02,650
- Yes, yes, we do.
- And your lifestyle's
1449
01:11:02,734 --> 01:11:04,569
the same?
Nothing's changed?
1450
01:11:04,652 --> 01:11:06,071
Well, our houses are
a little bit better.
1451
01:11:06,154 --> 01:11:07,280
- You live a little better?
- Yes.
1452
01:11:07,364 --> 01:11:10,575
We got a better boat,
fishing boat. That's about it.
1453
01:11:10,658 --> 01:11:14,371
The lure of the big city
doesn't turn you on?
1454
01:11:14,454 --> 01:11:16,039
We're just country boys.
1455
01:11:21,461 --> 01:11:23,421
Never forget the first time
I met Ronnie Van Zant.
1456
01:11:23,505 --> 01:11:26,716
He had his feet propped up
on the table.
1457
01:11:26,800 --> 01:11:27,634
Yeah, I walked through
the door, and he said,
1458
01:11:27,717 --> 01:11:29,594
"She'll do just fine."
1459
01:11:29,677 --> 01:11:32,055
He hired me on the spot.
I never had to sing for him.
1460
01:11:32,138 --> 01:11:33,014
He treated us like gold.
He really did.
1461
01:11:33,098 --> 01:11:37,644
He was awesome.
He was such a gentleman.
1462
01:11:37,727 --> 01:11:39,104
Ronnie wanted
background vocalists.
1463
01:11:39,187 --> 01:11:42,774
To have girls on stage
was kind of cool, you know?
1464
01:11:42,857 --> 01:11:44,317
There wasn't too many bands
that had that yet.
1465
01:11:48,446 --> 01:11:50,532
Ronnie, he called us
Honkettes,
1466
01:11:50,615 --> 01:11:52,492
'cause he'd always call me
Honky for some reason.
1467
01:11:52,575 --> 01:11:54,577
I never understood that.
1468
01:11:54,661 --> 01:11:57,455
JoJo was the whiskey voice,
you know,
1469
01:11:57,539 --> 01:11:59,624
"Hey, baby," you know?
1470
01:11:59,707 --> 01:12:02,710
Leslie Hawkins
was Ronnie's songbird.
1471
01:12:02,794 --> 01:12:04,629
He had his soprano
with Leslie,
1472
01:12:04,712 --> 01:12:07,799
and Cassie, she had that
Broadway voice.
1473
01:12:07,882 --> 01:12:10,718
She looked like
a German milkmaid,
1474
01:12:10,802 --> 01:12:12,720
the way she did her hair.
1475
01:12:14,681 --> 01:12:18,560
Cassie Gaines was real
spiritual and cosmic
1476
01:12:18,643 --> 01:12:22,981
and listening to new Zen music
and far-out stuff.
1477
01:12:23,064 --> 01:12:25,692
We get to our hotel,
and, you know,
1478
01:12:25,775 --> 01:12:27,068
we'd always go down
to Cassie's
1479
01:12:27,152 --> 01:12:28,027
and smoke a big, fat doobie.
1480
01:12:28,111 --> 01:12:31,990
With a few scarves
and maybe a shawl,
1481
01:12:32,073 --> 01:12:34,200
she'd make the room
into her own, you know?
1482
01:12:34,284 --> 01:12:36,870
It was like being home.
1483
01:12:36,953 --> 01:12:40,415
Cassie was involved
in I-Ching and meditation
1484
01:12:40,498 --> 01:12:41,916
and things like that,
and see, I'd never seen
1485
01:12:42,000 --> 01:12:43,835
anything like that
before in my life,
1486
01:12:43,918 --> 01:12:45,128
and over here I'd be grabbing
the Gideon bible,
1487
01:12:45,211 --> 01:12:48,047
you know, shooting shotgun
prayers up there,
1488
01:12:48,131 --> 01:12:49,716
you know,
hoping something would stick.
1489
01:12:49,799 --> 01:12:52,177
Cass and I were close.
1490
01:12:52,260 --> 01:12:54,387
Jo was a little younger,
1491
01:12:54,471 --> 01:12:56,973
you know, a little wilder
than Cass and I were.
1492
01:12:57,056 --> 01:13:02,270
Jo had a hard time, I think,
dealing with the fame.
1493
01:13:02,353 --> 01:13:04,147
Actually, toward the end
Jo got
1494
01:13:04,230 --> 01:13:06,524
a little too far out of hand
1495
01:13:06,608 --> 01:13:11,196
and left the band in August
before the crash,
1496
01:13:11,279 --> 01:13:13,114
which was lucky for her,
you know?
1497
01:13:13,198 --> 01:13:14,073
I mean, it was great
to be in the band,
1498
01:13:14,157 --> 01:13:17,160
but, you know,
if you had a crystal ball,
1499
01:13:17,243 --> 01:13:18,077
you'd be happy
that it happened.
1500
01:13:22,957 --> 01:13:25,710
Me and Allen,
for a year or two
1501
01:13:25,793 --> 01:13:28,922
we would just play alone
with no third guitar.
1502
01:13:29,005 --> 01:13:30,882
Cassie kept talking about
her little brother.
1503
01:13:30,965 --> 01:13:33,551
"Oh, he's a great
guitar player,"
1504
01:13:33,635 --> 01:13:35,595
but everybody used to tell us,
"Oh, man,
1505
01:13:35,678 --> 01:13:38,473
you should hear this guy," or,
"My cousin, you'd love him.
1506
01:13:38,556 --> 01:13:40,642
He's great,"
and we'd go, "Yeah, yeah."
1507
01:13:43,019 --> 01:13:45,939
So finally we were
playing in a town
1508
01:13:46,022 --> 01:13:48,733
where he had a band
called Crawdaddy,
1509
01:13:48,816 --> 01:13:50,860
so he came to
our show that night,
1510
01:13:50,944 --> 01:13:54,697
and he brought his guitar
'cause he was going to a gig.
1511
01:13:54,781 --> 01:13:57,367
We said, "Why don't you come
play on 'Mr. Breeze' with us?"
1512
01:13:57,450 --> 01:13:58,868
♪ Change in the weather ♪
1513
01:13:58,952 --> 01:14:01,037
And he was great.
1514
01:14:01,120 --> 01:14:02,872
He played the shit out of it.
1515
01:14:04,541 --> 01:14:07,085
He was so tremendous that
I just told Ronnie and Gary
1516
01:14:07,168 --> 01:14:11,589
that night, you know,
"Hey, he's the one."
1517
01:14:11,673 --> 01:14:14,759
Steve Gaines
was gonna fit back there.
1518
01:14:14,842 --> 01:14:17,637
The first week or two,
all's we'd do all day
1519
01:14:17,720 --> 01:14:19,180
and night was show him stuff,
1520
01:14:19,264 --> 01:14:20,390
and we worked him
into all the songs
1521
01:14:20,473 --> 01:14:24,769
so he could go play the live
album in a couple weeks.
1522
01:14:24,852 --> 01:14:30,275
Live from the Fox Theater,
Lynyrd Skynyrd!
1523
01:14:30,358 --> 01:14:33,403
Uhh, let me tell you
about this gentleman
1524
01:14:33,486 --> 01:14:35,113
that's playing with us
tonight.
1525
01:14:35,196 --> 01:14:36,656
It's a new member
of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1526
01:14:36,739 --> 01:14:38,533
His name's Steve Gaines
over here,
1527
01:14:38,616 --> 01:14:39,450
and he's from Oklahoma,
and he's a Okie.
1528
01:14:39,534 --> 01:14:41,286
Watch out.
I'm gonna sic a Okie on you.
1529
01:14:45,957 --> 01:14:47,792
Well, this might
sound egotistical,
1530
01:14:47,875 --> 01:14:49,794
but I think right now
1531
01:14:49,877 --> 01:14:52,297
I have a guitar player
with me named Steve Gaines.
1532
01:14:52,380 --> 01:14:54,549
- This man.
- Who is probably
1533
01:14:54,632 --> 01:14:57,260
the most underestimated
guitar player
1534
01:14:57,343 --> 01:15:00,680
on the south side
of the Mason-Dixon line.
1535
01:15:00,763 --> 01:15:03,057
Steve had all these songs
that he'd already written
1536
01:15:03,141 --> 01:15:04,601
and he brought in,
1537
01:15:04,684 --> 01:15:06,394
and then we would
Skynyrd-ize it
1538
01:15:06,477 --> 01:15:09,480
and make
one of his songs ours.
1539
01:15:09,564 --> 01:15:10,648
Me and Allen weren't offering
1540
01:15:10,732 --> 01:15:13,610
probably as much as
we could have at the time.
1541
01:15:13,693 --> 01:15:17,947
We were so burnt,
we kind of got uninspired.
1542
01:15:18,031 --> 01:15:19,824
We knew something was missing,
and Steve was it.
1543
01:15:19,907 --> 01:15:22,452
It was like he found us,
1544
01:15:22,535 --> 01:15:24,662
brought a spark back
to everything.
1545
01:15:24,746 --> 01:15:26,706
He made us get serious again,
1546
01:15:26,789 --> 01:15:30,043
and we would rehearse more
and work up guitar parts more.
1547
01:15:30,126 --> 01:15:33,921
Steve could grow excellent,
like, tomatoes.
1548
01:15:34,005 --> 01:15:35,965
I wouldn't call him
a farm boy,
1549
01:15:36,049 --> 01:15:38,509
but he could grow some bud.
1550
01:15:38,593 --> 01:15:42,347
When I get on the stage
and a Skynyrd crowd are there,
1551
01:15:42,430 --> 01:15:44,432
it just means everything
to me.
1552
01:15:44,515 --> 01:15:46,684
It's all I've wanted
to do up till now.
1553
01:15:46,768 --> 01:15:48,061
Now I'm trying to figure out
1554
01:15:48,144 --> 01:15:49,937
what I can do from here,
you know?
1555
01:15:53,107 --> 01:15:54,359
Well, we were doing great
in Europe.
1556
01:15:54,442 --> 01:15:57,070
Skynyrd was as big there
as America,
1557
01:15:57,153 --> 01:15:58,696
but we couldn't believe
1558
01:15:58,780 --> 01:15:59,864
we were gonna open for
the Stones.
1559
01:15:59,947 --> 01:16:02,617
Nothing could be bigger.
1560
01:16:02,700 --> 01:16:04,577
It was the biggest show
we ever did, you know?
1561
01:16:04,661 --> 01:16:05,536
Just people everywhere.
1562
01:16:05,620 --> 01:16:08,206
And we were way early
to make sure
1563
01:16:08,289 --> 01:16:10,667
you could get to the stage
through all the people,
1564
01:16:10,750 --> 01:16:12,835
so we started drinking
a little,
1565
01:16:12,919 --> 01:16:15,380
and Cassie had a little pot,
I think, but we looked up,
1566
01:16:15,463 --> 01:16:19,217
and walking through the door
is Jack Nicholson.
1567
01:16:19,300 --> 01:16:20,468
"I smell something in here.
Can... may I join you?"
1568
01:16:20,551 --> 01:16:24,889
So it got crazy, and we were
getting feisty and drunk,
1569
01:16:24,972 --> 01:16:28,226
and we went out
and had a great set.
1570
01:16:28,309 --> 01:16:30,687
I don't know, when you're
young and adrenaline hits you,
1571
01:16:30,770 --> 01:16:32,605
you kind of shake off stuff.
1572
01:16:40,113 --> 01:16:41,739
We started "Free Bird,"
1573
01:16:41,823 --> 01:16:43,116
and the whole crowd
was really rocking.
1574
01:16:43,199 --> 01:16:45,535
You could see
they were all into it.
1575
01:16:48,955 --> 01:16:51,582
When we started the end,
Ronnie directed Allen
1576
01:16:51,666 --> 01:16:55,002
to go out front,
and Allen was kind of hesitant
1577
01:16:55,086 --> 01:16:57,380
'cause there was a rule
not to go out on the tongue
1578
01:16:57,463 --> 01:17:00,258
'cause the tongue was
the Stones... you know,
1579
01:17:00,341 --> 01:17:02,760
that was gonna be
their whole look,
1580
01:17:02,844 --> 01:17:04,429
so Ronnie walked us all
the way down
1581
01:17:04,512 --> 01:17:07,682
just to defy that order.
1582
01:17:07,765 --> 01:17:11,102
Allen went out all the way
till his cord stopped,
1583
01:17:11,185 --> 01:17:14,856
and Leon, he went till his
cord jerked him back around,
1584
01:17:14,939 --> 01:17:17,650
and Mick Jagger was mad.
1585
01:17:17,734 --> 01:17:21,821
It took their breath away
to see how well we went over
1586
01:17:21,904 --> 01:17:24,615
and how we broke
their only rule,
1587
01:17:24,699 --> 01:17:25,450
don't go out on the tongue.
1588
01:17:31,372 --> 01:17:34,417
I tell you what,
it's a dream.
1589
01:17:34,500 --> 01:17:35,585
Everybody's still
living the dream.
1590
01:17:35,668 --> 01:17:38,045
It's still amazing to see
how the people out there
1591
01:17:38,129 --> 01:17:39,380
just go crazy, you know?
1592
01:17:49,474 --> 01:17:51,392
Nine years of hard work,
1593
01:17:51,476 --> 01:17:53,728
rehearsing, recording,
touring.
1594
01:17:53,811 --> 01:17:56,355
That's what it took
to become Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1595
01:17:56,439 --> 01:17:58,357
Now their finest achievement,
"Street Survivors."
1596
01:17:58,441 --> 01:18:02,862
♪ What's your name,
little girl ♪
1597
01:18:02,945 --> 01:18:05,156
♪ What's your name? ♪
1598
01:18:05,239 --> 01:18:06,157
♪ Oh ♪
1599
01:18:06,240 --> 01:18:09,160
This is, like,
the sixth album.
1600
01:18:09,243 --> 01:18:11,871
I don't know what the "Rolling
Stone" will say about it.
1601
01:18:11,954 --> 01:18:13,831
I don't know what "Creem"
will say about it.
1602
01:18:13,915 --> 01:18:16,834
I know for a fact it's the
best album we've ever done.
1603
01:18:16,918 --> 01:18:19,212
I'll slap leather with anyone.
1604
01:18:19,295 --> 01:18:21,172
Where do you see Lynyrd
Skynyrd going from here?
1605
01:18:21,255 --> 01:18:22,548
Well, we'll go to hell if
we don't change our ways.
1606
01:18:28,554 --> 01:18:31,349
There was a saying back
in the day,
1607
01:18:31,432 --> 01:18:32,558
"There's the smell
of death around him."
1608
01:18:32,642 --> 01:18:36,354
It was like a smell around
whatever was gonna die.
1609
01:18:39,357 --> 01:18:43,528
♪ Whiskey bottles
and brand-new cars ♪
1610
01:18:43,611 --> 01:18:47,198
♪ Oak tree,
you're in my way ♪
1611
01:18:47,281 --> 01:18:51,410
♪ There's too much coke
and too much smoke ♪
1612
01:18:51,494 --> 01:18:55,706
♪ Look what's going on
inside you ♪
1613
01:18:55,790 --> 01:18:58,835
♪ Ooh, that smell ♪
1614
01:18:58,918 --> 01:19:01,879
♪ Can't you smell
that smell? ♪
1615
01:19:03,047 --> 01:19:06,133
I'm just going to a club
somewhere with a girl.
1616
01:19:06,217 --> 01:19:08,886
I think her name was Sandy.
1617
01:19:08,970 --> 01:19:10,888
I think we ate a Quaalude
or something,
1618
01:19:10,972 --> 01:19:14,433
so I was out of it,
and we were going back home,
1619
01:19:14,517 --> 01:19:17,937
and I kind of sped around
a curve and lost control
1620
01:19:18,020 --> 01:19:20,189
and hit a oak tree.
1621
01:19:20,273 --> 01:19:22,859
I busted all my teeth out.
1622
01:19:22,942 --> 01:19:26,362
I just came up with those
lyrics about me stupid,
1623
01:19:26,445 --> 01:19:27,572
drunk, and crazy.
1624
01:19:27,655 --> 01:19:29,282
I made a bad mistake,
1625
01:19:29,365 --> 01:19:31,242
but we got
a good song out of it.
1626
01:19:31,325 --> 01:19:34,871
♪ Now, they call you
Prince Charming ♪
1627
01:19:34,954 --> 01:19:39,250
♪ Can't speak a word
when you're full of 'Ludes ♪
1628
01:19:39,333 --> 01:19:43,087
♪ Say, you'll be all right
come tomorrow ♪
1629
01:19:43,170 --> 01:19:46,591
♪ But tomorrow might
not be here for you ♪
1630
01:19:47,967 --> 01:19:50,553
♪ Yeah, you ♪
1631
01:19:50,636 --> 01:19:52,263
Everybody was trying
to clean up
1632
01:19:52,346 --> 01:19:54,140
their act some, you know?
It just got too wild,
1633
01:19:54,223 --> 01:19:55,766
and Ronnie had decided
he was gonna clean up his act
1634
01:19:55,850 --> 01:19:58,978
because he and Judy
had just had Melody,
1635
01:19:59,061 --> 01:20:02,440
and, you know, he realized
that he wasn't gonna live long
1636
01:20:02,523 --> 01:20:04,066
if they didn't
straighten it out.
1637
01:20:05,401 --> 01:20:06,944
♪ Seems so long ♪
1638
01:20:07,028 --> 01:20:08,863
♪ I been out on my own ♪
1639
01:20:08,946 --> 01:20:12,533
♪ Travel light ♪
and I'm always alone ♪
1640
01:20:12,617 --> 01:20:17,163
♪ Guess I was born
with a traveling bone ♪
1641
01:20:18,831 --> 01:20:21,626
♪ When my time's up,
I'll hold my own ♪
1642
01:20:21,709 --> 01:20:25,338
♪ You won't find me
in a old folks home ♪
1643
01:20:25,421 --> 01:20:27,256
♪ You got that right ♪
1644
01:20:29,050 --> 01:20:31,385
After all those years,
12 years Gary and I
1645
01:20:31,469 --> 01:20:33,429
and Allen have been together,
1646
01:20:33,512 --> 01:20:35,640
it finally paid off in just
1647
01:20:35,723 --> 01:20:36,557
something that
you believed in,
1648
01:20:36,641 --> 01:20:38,935
that you could do it,
you know?
1649
01:20:39,018 --> 01:20:41,020
That fact that we proved it,
you know,
1650
01:20:41,103 --> 01:20:42,688
that really makes me happy,
and you know, just everything
1651
01:20:42,772 --> 01:20:44,690
seems to be going
pretty good for me right now.
1652
01:20:44,774 --> 01:20:48,027
I'm probably happier
than I ever have been before.
1653
01:20:48,110 --> 01:20:49,695
I mean, it could end tomorrow,
you know?
1654
01:20:49,779 --> 01:20:51,739
I mean, Lynyrd Skynyrd
could be gone tomorrow.
1655
01:20:54,283 --> 01:20:55,743
The one thing that I want
1656
01:20:55,826 --> 01:20:56,702
the world to know about
my band
1657
01:20:56,786 --> 01:21:02,208
is how bravely my band
met their death.
1658
01:21:02,291 --> 01:21:04,919
We spiraled in
from 9,000 feet.
1659
01:21:05,002 --> 01:21:08,673
Everyone knew
it was gonna end badly.
1660
01:21:08,756 --> 01:21:11,676
There was no panic, no chaos.
1661
01:21:11,759 --> 01:21:16,639
Everybody was in prayer,
in deep thought,
1662
01:21:16,722 --> 01:21:19,642
and I admired that about them,
1663
01:21:19,725 --> 01:21:25,606
that they met their death
that way, and they did.
1664
01:21:35,616 --> 01:21:39,245
Things were going wrong
with the plane a little bit,
1665
01:21:39,328 --> 01:21:41,622
nothing serious
but enough to notice
1666
01:21:41,706 --> 01:21:45,167
it wasn't flying
top-notch, you know?
1667
01:21:46,293 --> 01:21:48,421
We were about
to get maintenance on it
1668
01:21:48,504 --> 01:21:50,047
and put it in the shop
1669
01:21:50,131 --> 01:21:52,174
because a engine
was sputtering.
1670
01:21:52,258 --> 01:21:53,426
It needed a tune-up, I guess.
1671
01:21:53,509 --> 01:21:57,304
I wasn't really worried
about it myself,
1672
01:21:57,388 --> 01:21:59,432
but I'll only speak for me.
1673
01:21:59,515 --> 01:22:01,308
I know before we took off
and stuff,
1674
01:22:01,392 --> 01:22:04,562
some of the girls and Allen
1675
01:22:04,645 --> 01:22:07,481
and some of the guys
didn't want to fly,
1676
01:22:07,565 --> 01:22:09,734
and Ronnie was the one
who said,
1677
01:22:09,817 --> 01:22:11,402
"When it's our time to go,
1678
01:22:11,485 --> 01:22:12,403
you can kiss my ass good-bye,"
you know?
1679
01:22:12,486 --> 01:22:15,740
But he didn't know,
and he said,
1680
01:22:15,823 --> 01:22:19,452
"We got a plane here
to take us to our hotel
1681
01:22:19,535 --> 01:22:21,454
"and to do a show tonight.
1682
01:22:21,537 --> 01:22:24,248
Get on, or get
your own way there."
1683
01:22:24,331 --> 01:22:26,167
I was with Ronnie saying,
"Let's just do it,
1684
01:22:26,250 --> 01:22:29,253
get it fixed tomorrow,"
1685
01:22:29,336 --> 01:22:30,588
but it never happened.
1686
01:22:37,511 --> 01:22:39,764
Everybody was playing poker.
1687
01:22:39,847 --> 01:22:43,309
I remember Ronnie did have
a little hangover,
1688
01:22:43,392 --> 01:22:46,103
so he just threw a pillow down
and was laying on the floor,
1689
01:22:46,187 --> 01:22:48,606
and all of a sudden you could
really feel
1690
01:22:48,689 --> 01:22:51,233
a little sputtering
and spitting.
1691
01:22:51,317 --> 01:22:55,071
I was in the cockpit
in the navigator jump seat
1692
01:22:55,154 --> 01:22:57,073
in between the pilot
and the copilot.
1693
01:22:57,156 --> 01:22:58,616
I looked at Walter McCreary,
and I said,
1694
01:22:58,699 --> 01:23:00,743
"We can fly
on one engine, right?"
1695
01:23:00,826 --> 01:23:04,705
He looked at me with fear
in his eyes, and I saw it.
1696
01:23:04,789 --> 01:23:06,624
His eyes were bugging out.
1697
01:23:06,707 --> 01:23:07,666
He said, "Artimus, you better
go back
1698
01:23:07,750 --> 01:23:09,919
and strap yourself in."
1699
01:23:10,002 --> 01:23:11,545
The pilot sent the copilot
back to say,
1700
01:23:11,629 --> 01:23:14,298
"Hey, we're gonna make
a landing
1701
01:23:14,381 --> 01:23:15,466
"and try to see
what's happening here,
1702
01:23:15,549 --> 01:23:18,010
"so it might be a little
rough,
1703
01:23:18,094 --> 01:23:21,472
so put your heads
between your legs,"
1704
01:23:21,555 --> 01:23:25,518
like back in the Cold War
when the schools said,
1705
01:23:25,601 --> 01:23:28,062
"There's a nuclear bomb coming.
Just get under your desk.
1706
01:23:28,145 --> 01:23:30,272
You'll be fine."
1707
01:23:30,356 --> 01:23:31,774
Ronnie walked to the rear
of the plane,
1708
01:23:31,857 --> 01:23:33,984
and I thought to myself,
"Good idea,"
1709
01:23:34,068 --> 01:23:37,947
and then he came up the aisle
and stopped right by me.
1710
01:23:38,030 --> 01:23:40,741
We shook
the old hippie handshake.
1711
01:23:40,825 --> 01:23:43,786
He smiled,
and then Ronnie walked back
1712
01:23:43,869 --> 01:23:45,663
to the front of the plane.
1713
01:23:45,746 --> 01:23:48,374
I'll never forget the smile
that he gave me,
1714
01:23:48,457 --> 01:23:52,169
that beautiful
Ronnie Van Zant smile.
1715
01:23:52,253 --> 01:23:55,131
We started hitting
the treetops real...
1716
01:23:55,214 --> 01:23:58,884
you could hear them,
and it got louder and louder
1717
01:23:58,968 --> 01:24:00,469
and...
1718
01:24:00,553 --> 01:24:04,473
until it just got
so overwhelming, loud,
1719
01:24:04,557 --> 01:24:09,311
and bumping that that's when I,
I guess, got knocked out.
1720
01:24:09,395 --> 01:24:11,564
It felt like a thousand
baseball bats
1721
01:24:11,647 --> 01:24:12,690
being beaten on the fuselage.
1722
01:24:12,773 --> 01:24:16,318
So the plane started
coming apart,
1723
01:24:16,402 --> 01:24:16,944
and I'm looking
out the window.
1724
01:24:17,027 --> 01:24:17,820
The left wing comes off.
1725
01:24:20,406 --> 01:24:21,991
I woke up on the ground.
1726
01:24:22,074 --> 01:24:24,410
I thought a plane door
was on me
1727
01:24:24,493 --> 01:24:25,953
'cause I couldn't move
and get up.
1728
01:24:26,036 --> 01:24:30,791
In reality, I was so broken,
all my bones and legs
1729
01:24:30,875 --> 01:24:35,880
and everything,
I just couldn't get up.
1730
01:24:35,963 --> 01:24:37,673
And I said,
"Dean, get this door off me.
1731
01:24:37,756 --> 01:24:38,507
Dean, come here,"
1732
01:24:38,591 --> 01:24:40,718
and I swear to God, to me,
1733
01:24:40,801 --> 01:24:44,722
he came over
and pushed the door off me.
1734
01:24:44,805 --> 01:24:47,808
Later on, one of the doctors
said that he couldn't have
1735
01:24:47,892 --> 01:24:51,020
done that,
the way they brought him in.
1736
01:24:51,103 --> 01:24:52,897
He was too far gone, you know?
1737
01:24:52,980 --> 01:24:55,774
But I saw him do it.
1738
01:24:55,858 --> 01:24:57,067
My friends were bleeding
to death.
1739
01:24:57,151 --> 01:25:00,404
I knew that the only thing
that was gonna help my friends
1740
01:25:00,487 --> 01:25:02,239
was to get to a farmhouse
1741
01:25:02,323 --> 01:25:03,908
and bring help back
to that crash site,
1742
01:25:03,991 --> 01:25:09,246
but we stopped so fast,
my boots had come off,
1743
01:25:09,330 --> 01:25:12,166
and I couldn't bend over
because of my chest injuries,
1744
01:25:12,249 --> 01:25:15,419
so I'm walking through
the briars and the brambles,
1745
01:25:15,502 --> 01:25:17,504
and it was getting
darker and darker.
1746
01:25:17,588 --> 01:25:21,300
I remember waking up to the
helicopters that were hovering,
1747
01:25:21,383 --> 01:25:23,761
you know, and they were shining
lights down into the swamp.
1748
01:25:23,844 --> 01:25:26,305
It was like Vietnam
in my head.
1749
01:25:26,388 --> 01:25:29,767
I only seen it on TV,
1750
01:25:29,850 --> 01:25:32,269
but the helicopters
and your buddies screaming
1751
01:25:32,353 --> 01:25:35,064
and yelling in pain
and dying around you.
1752
01:25:35,147 --> 01:25:36,732
Last night in woods
near McComb, Mississippi,
1753
01:25:36,815 --> 01:25:39,151
a chartered
airplane crashed,
1754
01:25:39,235 --> 01:25:42,363
and with it went the rising
hopes of a popular rock band,
1755
01:25:42,446 --> 01:25:44,657
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1756
01:25:44,740 --> 01:25:46,951
Survivors said the plane
was so rundown,
1757
01:25:47,034 --> 01:25:49,203
they'd been considering
not flying in it again.
1758
01:25:49,286 --> 01:25:54,166
The next thing I remember
was waking up in the hospital,
1759
01:25:54,250 --> 01:25:57,920
and both arms were broken
and both legs,
1760
01:25:58,003 --> 01:26:01,465
and this leg got cut off except
for a little bit of skin,
1761
01:26:01,548 --> 01:26:04,551
and they put it back on,
and I had some ribs broken,
1762
01:26:04,635 --> 01:26:07,221
my pelvic
and all... everything, man.
1763
01:26:07,304 --> 01:26:10,849
The band was traveling from
a concert in South Carolina
1764
01:26:10,933 --> 01:26:12,685
to another one
in Louisiana,
1765
01:26:12,768 --> 01:26:15,980
part of a four-month tour
that just started.
1766
01:26:16,063 --> 01:26:19,149
As victims and survivors
were brought to hospitals,
1767
01:26:19,233 --> 01:26:20,109
no one could say for sure
1768
01:26:20,192 --> 01:26:23,654
how many people
were aboard the plane,
1769
01:26:23,737 --> 01:26:25,823
but by dawn six passengers
were known dead.
1770
01:26:25,906 --> 01:26:28,492
20 others,
many of them technicians
1771
01:26:28,575 --> 01:26:30,035
and friend of the band,
1772
01:26:30,119 --> 01:26:32,663
were listed as injured,
many critically.
1773
01:26:32,746 --> 01:26:34,748
It was... had to be
the next day
1774
01:26:34,832 --> 01:26:39,545
'cause my mother had
gotten there, and I asked her,
1775
01:26:39,628 --> 01:26:42,172
"Did anyone die?"
and she wouldn't tell me
1776
01:26:42,256 --> 01:26:46,593
for... it seemed to me
for a long time.
1777
01:26:46,677 --> 01:26:47,970
I said, "Please tell me,"
1778
01:26:48,053 --> 01:26:52,266
and she started right off
with Ronnie,
1779
01:26:52,349 --> 01:26:54,852
and that really freaked me out
'cause he was the tough guy.
1780
01:26:54,935 --> 01:26:58,022
I thought if he died,
everybody else did.
1781
01:26:58,105 --> 01:26:59,773
Those dead
are Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer
1782
01:26:59,857 --> 01:27:00,607
Ronnie Van Zant,
1783
01:27:00,691 --> 01:27:03,110
guitarist Steve Gaines,
1784
01:27:03,193 --> 01:27:04,069
and his sister Cassie,
a backup vocalist,
1785
01:27:04,153 --> 01:27:06,822
assistant road manager
Dean Kilpatrick,
1786
01:27:06,905 --> 01:27:09,616
the plane's pilot
Walter McCreary,
1787
01:27:09,700 --> 01:27:10,951
and copilot William Gray.
1788
01:27:11,035 --> 01:27:13,871
There was two benches
in the front of the plane.
1789
01:27:13,954 --> 01:27:18,542
Ronnie was here,
and I was between him and Dean,
1790
01:27:18,625 --> 01:27:19,710
and Allen was right across
1791
01:27:19,793 --> 01:27:23,047
on that little bench
in front of me,
1792
01:27:23,130 --> 01:27:25,799
and he was between
Cassie and Steve,
1793
01:27:25,883 --> 01:27:29,261
so all those people died,
and Allen and me didn't,
1794
01:27:29,345 --> 01:27:31,347
and after it
we freaked out a bit.
1795
01:27:31,430 --> 01:27:33,515
Why did we live
and didn't die?
1796
01:27:35,851 --> 01:27:39,688
♪ Just the other day ♪
1797
01:27:39,772 --> 01:27:42,941
♪ I heard my friend say ♪
1798
01:27:43,025 --> 01:27:46,779
♪ Life was oh so bad ♪
1799
01:27:46,862 --> 01:27:50,741
♪ And love was all they had ♪
1800
01:27:50,824 --> 01:27:54,411
♪ You know, all day long ♪
1801
01:27:54,495 --> 01:27:58,248
♪ I sing sad songs ♪
1802
01:27:58,332 --> 01:28:01,502
♪ Got the blues feel ♪
1803
01:28:01,585 --> 01:28:04,671
♪ Things no doctor can heal ♪
1804
01:28:04,755 --> 01:28:08,509
♪ You know, that's okay ♪
1805
01:28:08,592 --> 01:28:12,596
♪ I'll never change my ways ♪
1806
01:28:12,679 --> 01:28:16,058
♪ And maybe I am wrong ♪
1807
01:28:16,141 --> 01:28:18,936
♪ But I'll soon be gone ♪
1808
01:28:19,019 --> 01:28:21,397
Guitarist Gary Rossington
is in stable condition
1809
01:28:21,480 --> 01:28:23,399
after surgery this morning
at Baptist Hospital.
1810
01:28:23,482 --> 01:28:27,069
Pianist Billy Powell is in
stable condition at Baptist.
1811
01:28:27,152 --> 01:28:29,238
Guitarist Allen Collins
is undergoing surgery
1812
01:28:29,321 --> 01:28:30,406
at the University
Medical Center now.
1813
01:28:30,489 --> 01:28:32,866
Bass player Leon Wilkeson
is in critical condition
1814
01:28:32,950 --> 01:28:36,286
in Southwest Medical Center
in McComb,
1815
01:28:36,370 --> 01:28:37,413
and drummer Artimus Pyle
1816
01:28:37,496 --> 01:28:39,873
is in good condition
at a hospital in Magnolia.
1817
01:28:39,957 --> 01:28:42,793
This is Randy Bell,
ZZQ News.
1818
01:28:42,876 --> 01:28:45,295
A lot of flowers came in,
1819
01:28:45,379 --> 01:28:47,798
and they set them
all around the room.
1820
01:28:47,881 --> 01:28:51,468
For days I remember
the faces of Ronnie
1821
01:28:51,552 --> 01:28:53,345
and everybody who died.
1822
01:28:54,847 --> 01:28:59,685
I could see their faces
like a shadow in those plants.
1823
01:28:59,768 --> 01:29:01,311
I could look up at them.
1824
01:29:01,395 --> 01:29:04,523
I even said, "Don't you
see them up there, mama?
1825
01:29:04,606 --> 01:29:07,943
Don't..."
and it was just me, I guess.
1826
01:29:08,986 --> 01:29:12,114
I think they were
there helping, you know,
1827
01:29:12,197 --> 01:29:13,949
in those flowers
for about a week.
1828
01:29:14,032 --> 01:29:15,993
Then they went away.
The spirits went away.
1829
01:29:25,919 --> 01:29:27,171
Mama was the first one
buried here,
1830
01:29:27,254 --> 01:29:28,172
and then whenever they tried
to break
1831
01:29:28,255 --> 01:29:30,883
into Ronnie's grave
and Steve, moved out...
1832
01:29:30,966 --> 01:29:32,593
- Just all out of here.
- We brought him out here.
1833
01:29:32,676 --> 01:29:34,678
This is where Daddy
wanted him at in the beginning.
1834
01:29:34,761 --> 01:29:37,055
Yeah, I know.
I must be over here.
1835
01:29:37,139 --> 01:29:37,931
You're gonna be right there.
1836
01:29:38,015 --> 01:29:40,893
I'll be spitting
range from you.
1837
01:29:43,353 --> 01:29:46,732
My wife and I just bought
that right over there.
1838
01:29:46,815 --> 01:29:48,650
- It's all marked out too.
- Yeah, I know.
1839
01:29:48,734 --> 01:29:50,569
It's all marked out.
Let's walk over there,
1840
01:29:50,652 --> 01:29:52,905
- or do you want...
- I don't really want to.
1841
01:29:52,988 --> 01:29:57,117
I don't want to yet.
1842
01:29:57,201 --> 01:29:59,870
Too sacred ground.
1843
01:29:59,953 --> 01:30:01,955
Hey, look, there's money
on it,
1844
01:30:02,039 --> 01:30:03,749
on top of his tombstone there.
1845
01:30:03,832 --> 01:30:05,792
You know, people put things
out here.
1846
01:30:05,876 --> 01:30:07,336
They come and have a drink,
1847
01:30:07,419 --> 01:30:09,213
a lot of beer cans and.
1848
01:30:09,296 --> 01:30:10,839
- Yeah.
- It's an honor, really.
1849
01:30:10,923 --> 01:30:12,049
Yeah, it is. It is.
They loved the music, and,
1850
01:30:12,132 --> 01:30:15,135
"Hey, I'm gonna have a beer,
what the hell?"
1851
01:30:15,219 --> 01:30:16,512
I'm sure Ronnie don't mind.
1852
01:30:16,595 --> 01:30:18,222
- No.
- You know, he don't mind.
1853
01:30:18,305 --> 01:30:19,473
You go,
"Why did it have to happen?"
1854
01:30:19,556 --> 01:30:23,769
But I always say I kept a lot
of questions I have to ask,
1855
01:30:23,852 --> 01:30:25,562
you know, when I go on.
1856
01:30:25,646 --> 01:30:29,149
When I go on, so I hope
I can get some answers.
1857
01:30:29,233 --> 01:30:30,484
I think if we're
gonna get them, that's when.
1858
01:30:30,567 --> 01:30:32,819
Yeah, exactly.
1859
01:30:50,754 --> 01:30:55,092
♪ If I leave here tomorrow ♪
1860
01:30:58,136 --> 01:31:02,516
♪ Would you still
remember me ♪
1861
01:31:07,521 --> 01:31:12,985
♪ For I must be
traveling on now ♪
1862
01:31:16,321 --> 01:31:20,492
♪ 'Cause there's too many
places I've got to see ♪
1863
01:31:25,414 --> 01:31:30,669
♪ And if I stayed here
with you, girl ♪
1864
01:31:33,630 --> 01:31:37,968
♪ Well, things
just couldn't be the same ♪
1865
01:31:42,055 --> 01:31:48,228
♪ 'Cause I'm as free
as a bird now ♪
1866
01:31:48,312 --> 01:31:51,440
♪ I swear I am ♪
1867
01:31:51,523 --> 01:31:57,195
♪ And the bird
you'll never change ♪
1868
01:31:57,279 --> 01:32:00,907
♪ Oh ♪
1869
01:32:00,991 --> 01:32:04,870
♪ The bird you cannot change ♪
1870
01:32:04,953 --> 01:32:08,290
In '87
we did a tribute tour,
1871
01:32:08,373 --> 01:32:10,417
and then after that tour
everybody,
1872
01:32:10,500 --> 01:32:13,879
they wanted us
to come to their town too,
1873
01:32:13,962 --> 01:32:16,298
and so we said,
"Yeah, let's do it again,"
1874
01:32:16,381 --> 01:32:20,218
and we kept catching on,
and we kept touring.
1875
01:32:20,302 --> 01:32:22,429
Being in a band,
that's all we know.
1876
01:32:22,512 --> 01:32:25,015
I can't do anything
but play guitar and fish,
1877
01:32:25,098 --> 01:32:28,435
and I couldn't
do anything else.
1878
01:32:28,518 --> 01:32:32,522
Now we got Ricky Medlocke
playing his guitar.
1879
01:32:32,606 --> 01:32:35,192
Johnny didn't think he could
fill his brother's shoes.
1880
01:32:35,275 --> 01:32:37,194
Of course,
Ronnie never wore shoes.
1881
01:32:37,277 --> 01:32:38,695
You ain't got to
fill his shoes.
1882
01:32:38,779 --> 01:32:40,614
You're not gonna.
1883
01:32:40,697 --> 01:32:43,116
I used to say he was spanked
by the same daddy
1884
01:32:43,200 --> 01:32:45,369
and ate the same food
just like Ronnie.
1885
01:32:47,621 --> 01:32:48,538
It's 30 years later,
1886
01:32:48,622 --> 01:32:51,667
and it's still going,
and people come,
1887
01:32:51,750 --> 01:32:53,710
and the younger
generation learns.
1888
01:32:53,794 --> 01:32:55,337
It's not about us.
1889
01:32:55,420 --> 01:32:57,964
It's about the feelings
of that music
1890
01:32:58,048 --> 01:33:00,092
and the stories they tell.
1891
01:33:00,175 --> 01:33:02,719
That's what I feel
I'm here to do now,
1892
01:33:02,803 --> 01:33:06,598
is speak for the band
Lynyrd Skynyrd
1893
01:33:06,682 --> 01:33:10,394
from the beginning
till the very end, you know?
1894
01:33:10,477 --> 01:33:13,105
It's the music that lives on.
1895
01:33:13,188 --> 01:33:19,611
♪ Lord help me,
I can't change ♪
1896
01:33:21,488 --> 01:33:25,909
♪ No, I can't change ♪
1897
01:33:25,992 --> 01:33:29,162
♪ Won't you fly, fly ♪
1898
01:33:29,246 --> 01:33:31,540
♪ A free bird ♪
1899
01:33:31,623 --> 01:33:32,124
♪ Yeah ♪
1900
01:36:49,821 --> 01:36:51,782
One of the great ones,
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
1901
01:36:51,866 --> 01:36:52,783
Let's hear it for them.
1902
01:37:00,147 --> 01:37:05,147
Subtitles by explosiveskull