A moving Sounds piece by Pete Makowski on the "Sweet Home Alabama" band that changed Southern rock forever.--Barney Hoskyns, Editorial Director, Rock's Backpages
The day Lynyrd Skynyrd died I met the woman who eventually became my ex-wife. I had also just made what could be described as a horizontal departure from Sounds and entered the Dole-drums.
Having consumed my regular liquid lunch, a handful of this and a nose full o' dat, walking aimlessly down Ealing's monochrome High Street, head full of disillusion, I suddenly caught sight of the evening paper headlines: "Rock Stars Die In Plane Crash".
Picking up a copy, I didn't expect the shock that would confront me. I mean, Fleet Street's definition of a "rock star" is tenuous and stretches from the Batley's to the Bingley's. But Skynyrd, no way. Rock'n'rollers--a hundred percent, but "stars"?
What happens when you're faced with news of the death of people you know? Initial thoughts lead to the "why couldn't it happen to someone else"
Read More »from The Rock’s Backpages Flashback: The Day Lynyrd Skynyrd Died