In 1964, Ronnie Van Zant, Bob Burns, and Gary Rossington became acquainted while playing on rival baseball teams in Jacksonville Florida, and they decided to jam together one afternoon after Burns was injured by a ball hit by Van Zant. They set up their equipment in the carport of Burns' parent's house and played the Rolling Stones' then-current hit 'Time Is On My Side', and liking what they heard they immediately decided to form a band. They approached guitarist Allen Collins to join them, and after he agreed, they rounded out the line-up with bassist Larry Junstrom, naming themselves My Backyard, although this was later changed to The Noble Five, before becoming The One Percent by 1968. Van Zant sought a new name after growing tired of taunts from audiences that the band had "1% talent", and at Burns' suggestion the group settled on Leonard Skinnerd, which was in part a reference to a character named 'Leonard Skinner' in Allan Sherman's novelty song 'Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh' and in part a mocking tribute to P.E. teacher Leonard Skinner at Robert E. Lee High School. Skinner was notorious for strictly enforcing the school's policy against boys having long hair, causing Rossington to drop out after constantly being hassled about his hair, and they adopted the distinctive spelling of the name as early as 1970, by which time they had become a top band in Jacksonville, headlining at some local concerts, and opening for several national acts. The band continued to perform throughout the South in the early 70's, further developing their hard-driving blues rock sound and image, and experimenting with recording their sound in a studio, crafting a distinctively 'Southern' sound through a creative blend of country, blues, and a slight British rock influence. During this time, the band experienced some lineup changes for the first time, with Junstrom leaving and being briefly replaced by Greg T. Walker on bass, and Rickey Medlocke joined as a second drummer and occasional second vocalist to help fortify Burns' sound on the drums. In 1972, the band were spotted by musician, songwriter, and producer Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears, who had attended one of their shows at Funocchio's in Atlanta, and Kooper signed them to his Sounds of the South label, and produced their first album.
The band released '(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)' on 13 August 1973, with it selling over one million copies, and it contained the hit song 'Free Bird', which received national airplay, and eventually reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly throughout 1973, and their 1974 follow-up album 'Second Helping' cemented their breakthrough, and its single 'Sweet Home Alabama', a response to Neil Young's 'Southern Man', reached number 8 on the charts that August. By 1975, personal issues began to take their toll on the band, and in January drummer Burns left the band after suffering a mental breakdown during a European tour, and was replaced by Kentucky native and former US Marine Artimus Pyle. The band's third album 'Nuthin' Fancy' was recorded in 17 days, but Kooper was unhappy with the band's lack of preparation for the album's recording, and so they parted ways by mutual agreement after the tracking was completed. Though the album fared well, it ultimately had lower sales than its predecessors, and midway through the promotional tour, guitarist Ed King abruptly left the band after a falling out with Van Zant. Collins and Rossington both had serious car accidents over Labor Day weekend in 1976, which slowed the recording of the follow-up album and forced the band to cancel some concert dates, and Rossington's accident inspired the ominous Van Zant/Collins composition 'That Smell' – a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was clearly aimed towards him and at least one other band member. When the 'Street Survivors' album appeared in 1977 it turned out to be a showcase for guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band just a year earlier and was making his studio debut with them. Publicly and privately, Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would all be in his shadow one day, even allowing Gaines an unprecedented lead vocal on his own bluesy 'Ain't No Good Life' on the album.
Following a performance at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina, on October 20, 1977, the band boarded a chartered Convair CV-240 bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where they were scheduled to appear at LSU the following night. After running out of fuel the pilots attempted an emergency landing before crashing in a heavily forested area five miles northeast of Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines, along with backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact. Other band members Collins, Rossington, Wilkeson, Powell, Pyle, and Hawkins, tour manager Ron Eckerman, and several road crew members suffered serious injuries. The accident came just three days after the release of 'Street Survivors', and following the crash and the ensuing press, it became the band's second platinum album and reached No. 5 on the U.S. album chart. The original sleeve for 'Street Survivors' had featured a photograph of the band amid flames, with Steve Gaines nearly obscured by fire, and out of respect for the deceased, MCA Records withdrew the original cover and replaced it with the album's back photo, a similar image of the band against a simple black background, waiting nearly thirty years before restoring it for the deluxe CD version of the album. Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the tragedy, reuniting only on one occasion to perform an instrumental version of 'Free Bird' at Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam V in January 1979, with Collins, Rossington, Powell, and Pyle being joined by Daniels and members of his band. The surviving members did eventually reunite in 1987, but it's the first incarnation of the band that has provided these demos, out-takes, and a hard to find b-side, for a rarely heard overview of their formative years.
Track listing
01 Mr. Banker (demo 1973)
02 Down South Jukin' (demo 1973)
03 Tuesday's Gone (demo 1973)
04 Gimme Three Steps (demo 1973)
05 Was I Right Or Wrong (demo 1974)
06 Georgia Peaches (previously unreleased 1977)
07 Take Your Time (b-side of 'Sweet Home Alabama' 1974)
08 Sweet Little Missy (previously unreleased 1977)
09 Jacksonville Kid (previously unreleased 1977)
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