Skynyrd Rocks, Cleveland Balks

Washington Times ^ | 3/18/04 | Robert McCain

[GOPcapitalist]

Ronnie Van Zant wouldn't begrudge ZZ Top's addition this week to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The "little ol' band from Texas" and Mr. Van Zant's Lynyrd Skynyrd were comrades in the army of Southern rock bands that conquered America in the 1970s.

After the phenomenal success of the Allman Brothers, record companies suddenly discovered Dixie, a land overflowing with blues and boogie. Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, Wet Willie, the Charlie Daniels Band, Elvin Bishop, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Black Oak Arkansas, Mother's Finest, .38 Special, the Outlaws, Molly Hatchet for a few years in the 1970s, Southern rockers were a major force in the music industry, crowding the album charts and playing sold-out tours.

If one date could be singled out as marking the end of the Southern boogie boom, it was Oct. 20, 1977, the night a charter plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in Mississippi. The crash killed three members of the band: guitarist Steve Gaines; backup singer Cassie Gaines; and Mr. Van Zant, the inimitable lead singer whose determination, work ethic and songwriting made Skynyrd the South's hottest rockers.

The crash changed everything. Skynyrd had just released its best album in years and was beginning a national tour when the band's Convair 240 plunged into the woods of Amite County, Miss. Some survivors of the crash later managed to regroup, but it was never the same for Skynyrd or its peers. The musical spotlight shifted away from the South; most of the other Dixie rock acts broke up or faded into obscurity.

ZZ Top carried on, updated its sound and used visual imagery Penthouse models and a custom '33 Ford to become an icon of the dawning MTV age, reaching a generation too young to remember the Texas trio's gritty blues ("Jesus Just Left Chicago") or lightning boogie ("Tush").

Ronnie Van Zant would have been proud of ZZ Top's success, but Lynyrd Skynyrd, eligible for the hall of fame since 1998, should have been inducted years ago.

This is more than the partisan opinion of a Georgia-born Skynyrd fan. Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal critic Malcolm X. Abrams recently wrote that ZZ Top's induction "might be a signal that Rock Hall voters may be ready to welcome other Southern rockers, paving the way for Lynyrd Skynyrd to be honored, but it should have been the other way around." Amen.

Some Skynyrd fans have blamed regional bias for the band's exclusion from the Cleveland shrine. The quintessential Dixie rockers alumni of Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla. used a huge Confederate battle flag as stage backdrop. It also has been widely speculated that hall voters can't forgive Mr. Van Zant for defiantly defending George C. Wallace ("in Birmingham, they love the governor") in "Sweet Home Alabama," Skynyrd's celebratory reply to Neil Young's "Southern Man."

That suspicion may be misplaced, however. Gene Odom, who was Mr. Van Zant's personal bodyguard and survived the 1977 crash, says that when he traveled to Cleveland, he heard a different explanation for hall of fame voters' Skynyrd snub. According to Mr. Odom, a hall official said music industry leaders disdain Skynyrd as "the world's luckiest bar band."

[GOPcapitalist]

Dixie ping!

[Thane_Banquo]

Freebird is the greatest rock song of all time.

[BikePacker]

I can't believe Lynyrd Skynyrd isn't in the RR-HOF already.

What a RIP!

Trivia: Who was Leonard Skinnard? (he was a real guy)

[NYCVirago]

Lynyrd Skynyrd not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is an outrage. If the Hall has room for the likes of Bonnie Raitt and Brenda Lee, they can put Skynryd in.

[randog]

I love Skynard to death, but I swear, if I hear 'Gimme 3 Steps' one more time I'm gonna shoot my radio.

[Bogey78O]

Their High school PE teacher.

[NYCVirago]

Trivia: Who was Leonard Skinnard? (he was a real guy)

Their high school gym teacher.

[Arkinsaw]

Who cares about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It should be in Memphis instead of where it is.

[randog]

Trivia: Who was Leonard Skinnard? (he was a real guy)

The band's gym teacher. Where's my prize?

[Bogey78O]

Well up to now the outrage was over the exclusion of ZZ Top.

Just keep the pressure up.

[Keltik]

>>>
According to Mr. Odom, a hall official said music industry leaders disdain Skynyrd as "the world's luckiest bar band."
<<<

Couldn't agree more.

Duane Allman was a brilliant guitarist (check out his work on Boz Scaggs' "Loan Me A Dime"), but most of the other "Southern boogie" was utter garbage, just a bombastic, screeching variation on heavy metal. And I say this as a Mississippian who was forced to listen to it at the time. What a relief for New Wave & Punk to come in, bringing talents like Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, etc...

And the R&RHOF is a joke anyway. I mean, Billy Joel is in it. JAMES TAYLOR is in it, for Pete's sake...

[billbears]

Ronnie Van Zant would have been proud of ZZ Top's success, but Lynyrd Skynyrd, eligible for the hall of fame since 1998, should have been inducted years ago.

Understatement of the year. I can't believe Skynyrd wasn't already in the Hall of Fame. They let ZZ Top in before Skynyrd? The band whose songs all sound the same is in the Hall of Fame but Van Zant and the boys aren't? And I thought giving Jethro Tull the Grammy for Hard Rock over Metallica was an injustice....

[BikePacker]

Looks like Bogey wins the prize...

Enjoy....

[NYCVirago]

I demand a recount! ;)

[BikePacker]

Slightly offbase, I got the chance to see Molly Hatchet in a little bar (300 people) in Clarksville TN while stationed at Campbell back in '87 (they had already "peaked" as far as pop-culture was concerned) but they flippin' turned that scene into the wildest, hard drivin' show you could ever imagine... finished with a long version of "Flirtin' with disaster" with 2 or 3 rough languaged (but right on target)stanzas that brought the house down.

[squidly]

I'm a living oxymoron, an Alabama native who can't stand Skynyrd. They don't deserve the HoF either. Popularity does not equal innovation and creativity. They had the former but not the latter two. The Hall only inducts those who have all three.

btw I love the Allman Brothers

[BikePacker]

I demand a recount! ;)

It's all legal-like... you were slow on the draw.

[cryptical]

They let ZZ Top in before Skynyrd? The band whose songs all sound the same is in the Hall of Fame but Van Zant and the boys aren't?

I saw ZZ Top about 4 or 5 times in the late 70's - early 80's. I think 38 Special opened for them every time, and I liked the 38 Special show better each time.

I also saw the Rossington-Collins Band in '80. Never saw Skynyrd live, though. My loss.

[jscd3]

According to Mr. Odom, a hall official said music industry leaders disdain Skynyrd as "the world's luckiest bar band."

What a moron - everybody knows that Commander Cody and The Lost Planet Airmen is the world's luckiest bar band...