Posted on 05/27/2003 1:53:27 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
It's hardly surprising that Lynyrd Skynyrd -- those ambassadors of Southern rock who soared up the charts in 1974 with their ode to "Sweet Home Alabama" -- would check in with a bow to patriotism in 2003. What's surprising is that they weren't the first ones with it after 9/11.
The fabled rock band's new single, "Red, White and Blue," follows flag-waving songs by country singers Toby Keith, Darryl Worley and Clint Black. "Red, White and Blue," which reached the top 20 on Billboard's mainstream rock chart last week, comes from Skynyrd's new album "Vicious Cycle."
Lynyrd Skynyrd performs today at the Wal-Mart in Concord. Johnny Van Zant joined Skynryd when the band re-formed in 1987, a decade after the plane crash that killed the group's original front man, Van Zant's eldest brother Ronnie. Johnny Van Zant talked about patriotism, the band's blue-collar fans and that deal with the Confederate flag.
Q. Why Wal-Mart? Our fans are just common, everyday people -- the people who make up this great country of ours. And we're no different from them because, hey, we shop at Wal-Mart, we go to PTA meetings. The only thing that Lynyrd Skynyrd does any different from anybody else is play music.
Q. Well, you may shop at the Wal-Mart, but you guys could afford to shop at Saks, couldn't you? (Laughs.) I don't know, man. I mean, we go out and we do our thing and we make some money and I guess we could probably afford to shop anywhere we wanted to, but that's not our cup of tea.
Q. Apparently, you're about patriotism. How did "Red, White and Blue" come about? Right after 9/11... we went out and, you know, people usually bring rebel flags to our shows. Well, on those two nights, there was nothing but American flags in the audience. I didn't see one rebel flag and that made me really realize that Lynyrd Skynyrd was not just a Southern rock band but an American rock band. So I thought, man, we gotta come up with a song that expresses what I think Lynyrd Skynyrd's all about and what I think our fans are all about.
Q. When "Alabama" first came out, some people felt Ronnie was defending things that had gone on in the South during the pre-civil rights years. Do you worry that lines in the new song -- such as "If they don't like it, they can just get the hell out!" -- will stir the coals for Lynyrd Skynyrd again? If it gets criticism, then I love it, because that's the way we feel. This is a great country we got, and when I hear people bitching and moaning about it, I just think, hell, things could be a lot worse. You need to go out into the world and explore it and get a real sense of just how good we have it here in America.
Q. Speaking of the rebel flag, why does Skynyrd still fly it at every show even though it's offensive to some people? I know that flag's been associated with a lot of KKK things and neo-Nazi things, but that's them, that's not us. To me, that flag means Southern heritage -- black Southern heritage as much as white Southern heritage. You asked me what I listened to when I was younger and I said the Beatles and Merle Haggard. But just as important as them, to me and to Lynryd Skynyrd, is Ray Charles and Marvin Gaye. So if you see us as prejudice because of the rebel flag, then you're not really looking at us.
Q. Speaking of racism, here's another hot-button issue in the South: the Confederate flag. Thoughts?
LUDACRIS: It's a no-no. They just need to get rid of it. Come with something new or just take that shit away. If they reissue it and put a big Malcolm up at the top of it, then we're good.
DALE: I feel the same way. Back in the Civil War, when they flew it, it was just a flag. Now people are using it for other reasons. I was in Richmond, onstage in front of about 340 people, and there was a Confederate flag. I was doing a Q&A session with these people in the crowd, and this guy's like, "Turn around. What do you think about that flag right there?" I turned around and I was like, "I don't think it means the same to me as it does to you." I just left it at that, but anybody who is trying to show that flag is probably too ignorant to know what the hell he's doing.
Another good find Shuckmaster
Just one more reason Junior will never be the man his father was
What is a fable is the idea that this band is anything more than a brand name being hustled by the last tattered remnant of a once great band.
Take away Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Artimus Pyle, Allen Collins and Leon Wilkeson, and what do you get?
I don't know, but no WAY do you get Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Ronnie, we still love ya.
That was probably The Who. Skynyrd's first big tour promoting their debut album was opening for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour.
You don't like any of their new music? I know you play Skynyrd.
Yeah I know it's a different band today but it just dawned on me as I was reading your post that the event I was talking about was 30 years ago. It just doesn't seem like it could have been that long and so it is unrealistic for me to expect this band to be anything like the old band. Nevertheless, I still kind of think that it is somewhat sacrilege to be using the Lynard Skinner name.
2 out of 6 original players are in this band now. Three if you count Ricke Medlocke, I think he played on one early album.
Still, the combination of Rossinton, Thomason, and Medlocke is pretty impressive.
On a side note, Artimus Pyle had a band called APB that did a bunch of Skynyrd stuff. I can't get the website to load, so don't know if they have broken up or not. APB band.
No it wasn't The Who as I know I have never seen them.
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