7th March Gary re joins the band


On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-240 passenger aircraft took off Greenville, Carolina bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Still miles from their destination, the plane ran out of fuel and crashed in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. On board were the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd at the start of a US tour to coincide with the release of their 'Street Survivor' album, one which would have catapulted the band to super stardom. 

Attempting a crash laning in a field some 10 miles short of the nearest runway, the plane splintered into pieces upon striking a tree resulting in lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, new guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines (Steve's older sister), assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot John Gray being killed on impact.

For the band members that survived the crash life would never be the same and would continue to be filled with tragedy. Allen Collins, another of the bands three lead guitarists, lost his wife Kathy during childbirth, then managed to crash his car under the influence of drink killing his fiance Debra and leaving himself paralysed from the chest down unable to play the instrument he loved. Three years after the crash he contracted pneumonia and died aged just 37.

Today it was announced that the last surviving member of the original line up, guitarist Gary Rossington had died on 5th March as a result of heart complications. 

Back in 1976 Rossington having just bought a new Ford Torino hit an oak tree while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. The band was forced to postpone a tour scheduled to begin a few days later, and Rossington was fined US$5,000 for the delay his actions caused to the band's schedule. 

The song 'That Smell', probably by favvourite Lynyrd Skynyrd song, was written by Ronnie Van Zant and Allen Collins, based on that event. As one of the last songs the band ever recorded, with its fantastic triple guitar interplay it gives a glimpse of just what the band could have been.



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