A to Z Blogging Challenge: L is for Lynyrd Skynyrd

A to Z Blogging Challenge:

L is for Lynyrd Skynyrd

by

Lily Strange

Lynyrd Skynyrd is one of the best-known Southern rock bands of all time. I'm not going to go into arguments about whether Skynyrd is still really Skynyrd. I never got to see the original Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert. I've seen more current incarnations, and they do put on a good show.

Ronnie Van Zant, Allen Collins, and Gary Rossington began the band as "The Noble Five" in 1964. Bob Burns and Larry Junstrom joined in 1965. They changed their name to "My Backyard." In 1970, they became "The One Percent." 

Later that year they changed the band name to "Leonard Skinner" in honor of their high school gym teacher, who had a habit of sending them home for violating school policy against boys having long hair. They altered the spelling when they released their first album. 

Skinner actually had a sense of humor about the band using his name. He allowed them to use his photograph and a photograph of a sign from his business, Leonard Skinner realty. The band members developed a friendship with Skinner.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is a band plagued by incidences of tragedy. On October 20, 1970, their plane crashed in a wood near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were killed on impact. The other band members and road crew sustained serious injuries.

Following the death of his wife Kathy in 1980 due to a massive hemorrhage (likely caused by a placental abruption) during her pregnancy with the couple's third child, guitarist Allen Collins' life spiraled out of control. Collins was involved in a serious auto accident in 1986, which killed his girlfriend and left him paralyzed from the waist down. Allen died January 23, 1990 from pneumonia.

In 1987, the band reformed with Johnny Van Zant as frontman. The band included several of the original members. Most of them have died or left the band since then. 

Artimus Pyle left the band in 1991. Michael Cortellone is the current drummer.

Leon Wilkeson died from emphysema and chronic liver disease on July 27, 2001. He was replaced by Ean Evans. Ean died from cancer on May 6, 2009. Lynyrd Skynyrd's current bassist is Johnny Colt.

Keyboardist Billy Powell died from heart failure on January 28, 2009. Skynyrd's current keyboardist is, fittingly, Peter Keys.

Guitarist Ed King left the band in 1996 for what he assumed would be a temporary hiatus. In the meantime, he was replaced by Hughie Thomasson of the Outlaws. Hughie ended up becoming a permanent replacement, until he died from heart problems on September 9, 2007. 

Skynyrd's current guitarists are Gary Rossington, Rickey Medlocke, and Mark Matejka.

Gary Rossington is the only remaining original band member.

Enjoy the short movie about the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd, if you care to.

~Lily~

Songs to Edit (and Dream) by

Here are some songs that I'm listening to while giving Rose's manuscript a going-over. You may find that they also go nicely with some of the forthcoming posts on the Undead in the Netherworld blog. Yeah, I cheated and read ahead! That's a dirty little admin privilege. ;-)

You will find that the admins of the KHEL 666 and Undead in the Netherworld blogs are an eclectic lot. We're like Colorado weather. If you don't like one post, just wait a few minutes, and one you like will surely come along!

I have Rose, Cie, and Lily's permission to speak about this issue, so I am not breaking a confidence. I am also keeping things fairly superficial while expressing my feelings on the matter.

Rose is a fine writer. Lily is also a fine writer. Neither of them are very conventional in their approach.

Lily stopped writing because of personal attacks after she released her book, Eternal Death, Lost Beneath the Surface.

Rose revised the manuscript, but she found the process of writing a book for publication absolutely onerous. She also came under attack by some of the same individuals. She has said that she will not write another book.

I think it is a very sad and discouraging thing that this world often causes people to give up large parts of what makes them who they are. People believe that if they don't conform to a certain standard of beauty--both physically and personality-wise--that they should hide away. They come to believe this because if they do not conform to such standards, they tend to undergo bullying.

Counter to what many think, bullying does not end with school. It continues every day in magazines which tell girls and women that if they aren't less than a size 6, they are fat and ugly. To a lesser degree, young men get the idea that if they don't have washboard abs, no one will ever want them. As a counselor, I often work with people dealing with the backlash from these unhealthy messages. Eating disorders are a very common problem.

Fat and ugly are not the same thing, by the way. Yes, there are larger people who are attractive. I've never thought of myself as particularly attractive, but my fiance, a fellow who stands five foot nine and weighs 145 pounds, finds my six foot two, 325 pound red-haired self attractive, love handles and all. Who am I to argue with him?

On the personality end, people are told that if they don't conform to the 2.5 kids, white picket fence, heterosexual family unit where Mom and Dad work nine to five at an office, there is something wrong with them. And woe betide anyone who may be living with a mental illness. Anyone with a mental illness is made to feel so fatally flawed as to believe that they are not allowed to find happiness.

Sensitive people in this society are targeted for bullying. This is what happened to both Rose and Lily, both of whom are highly sensitive women with a history of mental illness. When they tried to break out and express themselves, they were shot down.

Cie Cheesemeister is much the same. She edits the posts that others create and she creates some of the graphics. Once a very prolific blogger, she rarely interacts any more.

Admissibly, I'm only a sometime participant in this little venture, but I hope that in some small way my support will help my more talented friends realize that their voices are worth sharing.

Just had to get that off my chest.

Never take away a person's hope. It may be all they have to live for.

Peace,

Adam

 

Have some Respect for the Dead

This image was shared by the Australian Paranormal Society

As Suicide said when Trash was grinding against his leg in the cemetery across the way from the crematorium:

"C'mon, willya? Have some fuckin' respect for the Dead!"

My writing sis Lily Strange certainly encountered one whole fuckton of no respect for the Dead when she published her ill-fated novel, Eternal Death: Lost Beneath the Surface, which is currently being revised by my other writing sis, Rose LeMort.

I'm sure that the Dead are not interested in other people's pervy sex fantasies.

Having sex with corpses is straight up nasty.

Attempting to have sex with ghosts is a really bad idea. You could end up with a demon in your bed instead.

I'm extremely interested in what goes on in the Afterlife. I think it's best to be polite to the people I might meet when I get there!

 

Hi from Tempest

Thank you for inviting me, Lily, Dahling! Hopefully I will have better luck connecting via Ping than Morella did. Don't worry about it, Morella, Dahling, Ping gives us all fits! Loved your choice of The Wall for a share, though. One of my favorites to be sure!

Dahlings, if all goes well, I will be sharing some post-modern stuff tonight. I do sometimes like to check into what's new, after all!

Love,

Tempest