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Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Since We Asked Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Readers Choice 2006 Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Our Valley Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend August 11, 2006 Lynyrd Skynyrd Lynyrd Skynyrd The definitive Southern rock band is bringin' its best to the Lithia Motors Amphitheater Johnny Van Zant was in Silicon Valley in May to do a show at Shoreline Amphitheater when he suddenly got sick. He wound up having an emergency appendectomy. "That worked out great," the 47-year-old lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd says in a telephone interview from his hotel in Sturgis, S.D., where the venerable band is getting ready to play for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. "I'm a diehard. I was like, 'Doc, maybe I can do the show tomorrow.' He says, 'No-o.' " The band usually billed as the definitive Southern rock band will perform at the Lithia Motors Amphitheater at the Jackson County Expo Wednesday night. They've been touring heavily, as usual, and Van Zant says it's sounding good. "We just added a new guitarist (Mark Matejka, formerly of the Charlie Daniels Band), and the band's rocking, good and tight," he says. "I love it." Advertisement Lynyrd Skynyrd became famous in the 1970s for its distinctive three-guitar attack, for dynamic frontman Ronnie Van Zant, Johnny's older brother, and for some great stadium rock tunes including "Free Bird," "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Saturday Night Special." The band was formed in Jacksonville, Fla., when the original members were pals in the 1960s. It combined southern blues and country with British Invasion influences and a hard-rock swagger. They added pianist Billy Powell, toured the South incessantly and rose to national prominence of the strength of their first album, "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Sky-Nerd" in 1973. In October of 1977 a chartered plane carrying the band to a show in Baton Rouge, La., crashed near McComb, Miss., and Ronnie Van Zant was killed along with guitarist Steve Gaines, singer Cassie Gaines and others on the plane. Several other band members were injured, most of them very seriously. With that the band seemed to pass into legend. Until 1987, when surviving members enlisted Johnny Van Zant as Ronnie's replacement in what was to be a one-time tribute tour. But the fan reaction was so strong the guys kept playing, and now 19 years have passed, and they're still going strong after more time together than the original incarnation of the band. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November, along with Black Sabbath, Blondie, Miles Davis and the Sex Pistols. In addition to the tragedy, the band has gone through many personnel changes. Guitarist Gary Rossington is the only founding member still in the band, although pianist Billy Powell, a former roadie with a classical music background, was on board by 1973. "He never played honky-tonk until he got with Lynyrd Skynyrd," Van Zant says. "He's one of the best." Although several of the band's early albums were hits, along with several singles, what the group has always been about is its live shows. "It really is," Van Zant says. "Our fans love to come out, and for me, it's therapy." Not only does the current band differ somewhat from the original Skynyrd, it's even evolved since its 1987 incarnation. "It's the best-rockin'," Van Zant says. "In '87 it had more of a country feel. We have more of an edge now. But we still throw in "Curtis Lowe" (a country blues tune). He says band members are conscious of walking in their forbears' footsteps. "I felt insecure about it at first," he says. "Like, Lord, I hope this is the right thing. It took me about two years to get used to it. "We try to do the best we can every night, otherwise we're letting them down." The band plays most of the old hits in its concerts, and they also throw in new things. Somebody asked if they ever got tired of playing songs after years and years, and Van Zant laughed. "Do you know how many people would love to have something like that to sing each night?" he asked. Fans seem to agree, with youngsters joining gray hairs. Van Zant was at Disney World recently with his 4-year-old daughter and saw Lynyrd Skynyrd shirts on young teens. A couple of nights before Sturgis, at a show in Canada, the band was joined by Paul Rodgers, the vocalist for Free and Bad Company, who sat in for "Sweet Home Alabama." "He said, 'Dude, teach me some s--t,'" Van Zant says. "I'm like, Paul Rodgers is telling me that ... You teach me how to sing like you!" Van Zant can tell stories like that and sound like the little kid that still marvels at having the keys to the candy store. Among the rock lore around Skynyrd is all the stuff about "Sweet Home Alabama" being a racist song, which derives from its apparent put-down of Neil Young's "Southern Man." Van Zant says (and Young has said) the song was never racist, and that Young and Skynyrd were fans of each other. "It was a joke, man," Van Zant says. "Ronnie loved Neil Young. "Before this is all over we'd like to be up on-stage with him. So who knows. Maybe in the future." There were rumors for years that Ronnie Van Zant was buried in a Neil Young T-shirt, either as a curse or a joke, depending on the version. The band often plays the patriotic "Red, White and Blue" and plans a show in Atlanta, Ga., to benefit a new monument for Vietnam vets. It's been a long road from when old brother Ronnie and his pals started trying to play rock 'n' roll at the family home in Jacksonville, and The Beatles were hot, and a war was heating up in someplace called Vietnam. "It thought, 'What the hell's this?'" Van Zant says of the guys' early musical efforts. "Then girls started comin' over, and I thought it could be cool." Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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