I'm Latino you know my cousins in Mexico grew up as well as I did on Lynyrd Skynyrd and we still play their music today and believe me we worn out a lot of LP'S, 8tracks as well as cassettes. Got the chance to see them in Detroit downtown Michigan back in the 70s they truly blew the place apart we were all in amazement young Motown detroiters. One good thing about growing up in Detroit everybody and anybody as well as the great blues players made damn sure they hit Detroit Michigan from all the history from the Motown and well as the great blues players of the past that played in Detroit and lived in Detroit before they moved on to Chicago and Chess records.
Good grief Ronnie was an absolute genius. People who think he was just some drunken buffoon are greatly mistaken. The man was bad to the bone and as real as it gets.
I heard he quit drinking in latter 1976 and wanted to concentrate on family. He was also thinking of leaving the group. He sounds like a very straight guy here, telling things like it was. On stage he is clearly enjoying himself. He gave the fans their money's worth.
I don't think I've ever met anybody that thought he was a drunken bufoon. I think everybody knew he was a genius, but also knew he ruled the band with an iron fist and could get pretty violent if he didn't like your attitude.
Ronnie is still my hero & always will be. Ronnie's singing voice was so real & uniquely phenomenal. I never get tired of listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd. And in any interview I've ever heard, his voice has always given me such a calming mesmerizing effect. He was extra ordinary with talent unmeasurable, such a gift we lost way too soon. Southern by the sweet grace of God. Us southern ladies love our southern men 'cause they're the best. Ronnie had that raw manly no nonsense attitude that blended well with his sweet southern charm and just like Elvis, go ahead and count all the other icons that have come from our beautiful South Land, so with that, I end with my best Rebel Yell. Lynyrd Skynyrd STILL & WILL FOREVER LYVE ON.
I was getting chill bumps listening to Ronnie speak. Skynyrd is my all time favorite rock and roll band. I was also blessed to catch Skynyrd in July of 1977 about three months before the plane crash. I still have my ticket stub.
Skynyrd hated being referred to as Southern Rock.they were just rockers for the common people, the real world. Lynard Skynyrd was about the real world, period.
I still miss Ronnie being here. He was nothing like the current band. He was a big brother to everyone and was kind of beyond the left/right divide, even back then. He was a product of the ghetto meets hippiedom meets Southern culture.
@@Mysterywhiteboy78 Four Walls of Raiford - deals with the plight of a Vietnam Vet, Curtis Lowe deals with race, Mr Saturday Night Special - is anti guns, much to the chagrin of the tribute/pretend version of the band. Ronnie was a hippie from a redneck/roughneck part of town: I used to live there my self 30 years ago. Peace
R.I.P. TO All, A Great Interview Here, I can hear the band in Rock & Roll Heaven, With Ronnie and the Guy's writing New Songs, Lord, They were in their Prime when the Plane Crashed, who can imagine what the next album would have sounded like, It would have been a tough job to do a Better album than Street Survivors, but with Steve Gains on Board, they could have topped it, They were just getting Better all the time, The older albums before Steve Joined, were all Great, Skynyrd Never did a Bad Song, I love them all, By Favorite Band of all Time, they just had a Magic to them, Cousin Figel
The longest and best interview I ever heard with Ronnie. Interesting the immense respect he showed toward Tom Dowd as a producer & how he got the very best out of the band.
Glad i stumbled on this. I've remarked elsewhere Cry For the Bad Man is underrated. As a band, the dimension Mr Billy Powell adds in several monumental songs, chiefly Mr Breeze, pulls newcomers to LS in with his play. Breeze is the most potent dose of happiness ever recorded.
❤❤Ronnie Van Zant was so far ahead of his time. Absolutely nobody has ever commanded a stage before him or since him, he owned it. I loved him the second I saw him on TV. I still love Ronnie!! Always wiil! !!❤❤
I love that Bob Burns comment - “For what a free bird is here, ain’t nothing going to compare to the free birds we’re all gonna be later on … all of us!”
Growing up in Jacksonville always gave me a strong connection to these guys and I was fortunate enough to have seen the original band, my first concert on my fourteenth birthday at their homecoming show in Jacksonville. One memory I treasure to this day.
Meanwhile I grew up in NY, got into them in 88 and they are one of my top 3 ever. I loved southern rock so much I went to college in the south, lived that way of life and loved it along with all the great people I met. Point is, you Jax folks are lucky to be there, but Skynyrd was so awesome it even made some Yankees almost Southern by the grace of God 👍🏻
Clearly Van Sant was so locked in.A true leader in so many ways. Greatness, getting greater, greater @ greater. The addition of Gaines,the dedication in studio, definitely improving,perfecting,.. on stage@ in studio. The skill getting better musically,@ his singing constantly getting better. Fantastic interview!! Also,they brought back the honketes on the road. Once on stage a true team, putting on aAplus show.
Being from Jacksonville I grew up on the Northside. This guys grew up on the Westside.I had a Uncle that was same age as RVZ and knew him[ from Plymouth Race track] he sounds just like him. He passed in 1987 and when I hear his voice it sounds like my Uncle
Ronnie made sure the band was always at its best. How?? Practice Practice Practice. They always played their music exactly the same way live as in the studio. Just a great group of musicians
Skynyrd as was The Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Dicky Betts, Barefoot Gerry, ect were the sound track of my highschool years and college. I can remember our high school football coach during spring drills coming out and telling us Governor Wallace had been shot during his presidential run. From that point on Sweet Home Alabama became a heartfelt song to me. It was as though Skynyrd had single-handedly stood up for the South. I saw Skynyrd at the Tennessee State Fair along with Blue oyster cult because n 74. 867 now I think I'm still trying to get over the hangover.😂 RIP Ronnie I hope you're catching big bass in that Big Lake in the sky.
Wow!! I can't believe how down to earth and humble this man is .I love what he said about building a holiday Inn near the swamp and turning Jacksonville into another concrete Miami. Way ahead of his time.
I was born and raised in WPB and sometimes I wish I didn’t have to live to see the extreme damage to our environment and wild life by this disgusting development. Thank your county and city commissioners for selling out to ruthless developers.
Love Skynyrd Interviews. Love to hear Ronnie’s the most. But love them all. I’m sure there’s more out there some with him. Maybe oneday they will upload them all
I think it was Billy Powell who said " we all had our little fist fights, busted lips and bloody noses, but nobody really wanted to tangle with Ronnie, sombody always ended up with a broken bone".
WLIR Garden City Long Island was an oasis for southern rock in the Northeast before they went New Wave. I remember Gregg Allman saying he was amazed at the amount of support the Allmans got on LI on the radio compared to other places is in the North. Sounds like Earle Bailey doing the interview but not sure. Always loved Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie was one of the great front men RIP.
IMO every song on Nuthin Fancy was great….in fact every song they ever recorded was great. I’ve never had a Skynyrd song come on and changed it to the next song in the queue.
Great interview. Ronnie was a very talented soft spoken person who talked from the heart. No fancy words just telling stories like they should be told.
I seen rainbow at the Fox in Atlanta , some girl had a backstage pass but she was too shy to go back so I said let me use your pass and I'll go get you a souvenir soon as I walked in the door Roger Glover was standing there I got his ,Jo Lyn Turner and Bobby Rondanellis autograph then I seen Ritchie Blackmore leaning against the wall and I walked past him and said excellent concert Ritchie and he nodded at me in thanks I walked right out on the stage and stood where Ronnie stood that was my goal the autographs and talking to Ritchie were a bonus I also got some pieces of a strat he destroyed for the girl ,she was happy and so was I. RIP Skynyrd brothers.
Fuckin legend Miss you Ronnie A true southern gentleman Still jamming to your Music in 2023 First heard y'all in 1974 When I was 10 years old. My daddy introduced me to y'all He is gone now Hopefully watching you nailing it in heaven
Would have loved to have seen the original crew live. One of a kind, completely unique sounding band that immediately reached out and grabbed me. Never heard a song I didn't like, and that will absolutely never change. Thank you Lynard Skynyrd for all the great music.
I saw them in 1977 in Chicago. I was17 and 3 carloads of us went. I think I paid 6 or 7 bucks for a ticket. We were all tripping on blotter and having a great time. Ted Nugent was the headliner. 38 Special, Journey and REO Speed Wagon too, if I remember correctly.
I saw them twice... 1977 and a month is so before the plane crash. They were awesome! Yet, I've seen them twice thereafter. Johnny and the others did give the glory not only to God but to the memory of L.S.
Well this interview was about the music..wondeful poet and musician. I was privileged to see them play in Duval I believe the year before the crash! One of the most memorable times of my teenage years!!
I have all skynyrd’s albums except recording’s from muscle shoals. I have to say I absolutely love the album nothin fancy. There are some great songs on that album, actually in my opinion, every song on that record is awesome. I love it❤. Ronnie you and Alan Steve Leon billy Gary and Cassie are so very loved and missed !!!! THANKS FOR THE GREAT JAMS, awesome work . Dean kilpatrick is very missed as well. 💯 🤘🏼💀🤘🏼 ♥️ 🤘🏼💀🤘🏼
I KNEW when i saw 'JaxFreebird' this was gonna be a good one- Thanks for uploading this one- 'Bullets' is my favorite Skynyrd album, IF i had to pick one, And it was Allens favorite too. Well at least thats what he told me.
I'm honored to have you here. Someone who knew Allen Collins. So cool. When you think of Skynyrd, the original band, the only one that matters, Allen was either a third or a fourth of the band, that is if you included Ed then Allen was a fourth of the band. Without Ed, Allen was creatively and music wise a third of the band. Without Ronnie, Allen and Ed you have the modern band. I respect Gary and he's a Legend but the band should have ended when Billy died. What's the point of calling it Skynyrd after that. Anyway, hoping this isn't an insult to you. It's just how I feel. Allen's solo album was quite good. I've never even owned an Rossington album. I didn't care for what they did when they opened for Skynyrd in 87 here in Jax. I'm pretty sure they opened. I guess I should check the paper. They opened later for the band though.
Ronnie Van Zant , 11 times lol he is the underground king of rock & roll would of knocked out Elvis cold his dad Lacey was a prize fighter 18 wheeler driver Ronnie loved fishing fighting and his friends that’s it…
Love LoveLove Ronnie! I wish I could get this pic of him! Gone too soon! By what he says in this interview he would not care for all this growth around here. Love you Ronnie! 💜
I have this photo. Just do full screen on your phone and do a screenshot. Then send it over to your local Walgreens and ta dah!! I agree gone way too soon! He was tuned in to something that very few can do!
I got to visit Ronnie's original grave in Orange Park Florida 40+ years ago. I was born in Jacksonville Florida. The band's Southern Rock was and still is part of our city. Ronnie's Mom said "Ronnie was the meanest of all (of them)". All the parts of a person make them who they are. He was a special person and Yes, a True Leader.
I had the pleasure of sitting and talking with one of their first road managers. At the time he split, the band was angry with him about their money (he was trying to help them manage their money- which is important for a group of country boys who exploded into fame). They wrote the song “Cry for the Bad Man” about him. Van Zant has said in interviews that he wished he wouldn’t have written that song. They wound up making amends and being good friends until their accident. It was humbling to sit and talk with Mr. Alan about him being instrumental in them rising to fame. Awesome stories about Ronnie and the band.
Wow. This guy had a real Jekyll and Hyde thing going on. Sounds so soft spoken and personable here, but damn, some of the things he did even to his own best friends. I'm glad I found this, it drives home the "simple man" inside the monster.
@@jaxflfreebird Oh my. Not a nice thing to say huh? An asshole comment huh? Lets clear up one thing right now, I have been a Skynyrd fan since they existed and I damn sure aint no idiot Liberal. I'm just being honest. And busting out Billy Powells front teeth or cutting up Garys hands with a broken bottle were not nice things to DO!! In fact, they were really asshole things to DO! I used to party and do stupid things too and I DID mention that Ronnie was just being human like a lot of us. So take it easy, we are not so different. I know a few people who do the Jekyll and Hyde thing after a few drinks. It sucks. Frankly I would prefer that they just stayed sober.
At the end of the interview Ronnie talks about next project is the live album they will be dueing at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, which all here know as One More From the Road. For me the single greatest rock album ever produced and this and that tour with the newly added Steve Gaines took them to new heights, really at the top of the heap so to speak. I still play the heck out of it when out cruising on my Victory Cross Country motorcycle.
Gosh, Ronnie you are missed. Freebird was one of the top three. I was seven when you died. My brother was 18, would fart, and sing "That Smell" 😂😢😂. Rest in peace, y'all ❤️.
Definitely glad I was around when Skynyrd was happening. The first 2 albums and Street Survivors were masterpieces!! They were by a million miles the best Southern rock band EVER!!
I distinctly remember Ed King on a Facebook posted video saying he wrote Sweet Home Alabama when he woke up in the middle of the night with the chord riff in his head, grabbed his guitar and wrote the tune. He then said that the song had kept him in mansions ever since. Was he bullshitting us?
I saw Ed say in an interview that he wrote it while Allen was warming up on a D-C-G riff of his. Ed came in with the classic riff we now know and Ronnie told them to keep on playing… he wrote all the lyrics while they were jamming
