"[11] King referred to himself as a peaceful "Southern California hippie" and the band's predilection for drunken brawling never sat well with him; the incident which led to his departure was merely the final straw.[8]. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. He was hard to get along with, Rossington sighs ruefully. After a bitter legal battle, drummer Artimus Pyle was finally able to tell his version of Lynyrd Skynyrd 's tragic plane crash in the recent movie Street Survivors. Wed just started to do cocaine. His stint with the band was brief, however, and Powell rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd when the band reformed and remained a member until his death. Why Did Spotify Have an Official Hitler Radio Playlist? Weve no ego about all that stuff, Billy concludes. Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. Allen and Billy didnt wanna get up on it, but Ronnie was gung-ho and told em if it was his time [to die] then it was his time; we were going. Skynyrd and various crew members had been aboard their private 1947 Convair 240 turbo-prop plane when its 21 tons fell from the sky. When Gaines appeared on One More From The Road (recorded live at the Fox Theater in Atlanta in 77) he had played just three gigs with the band. Ed King Net Worth | Celebrity Net Worth I knew where to take it. He unleashed a torrent of verbal abuse on King, including such colorful pronouncements as you dont amount to a pimple on Allens ass. Kings guitar playing & songwriting skills were essential to Skynyrds first three albums. Not even 18 years old, he became a founding member of the Los Angeles band Strawberry Alarm Clock, remembered for their 1967 #1 single Incense and Peppermints.. Our thoughts and prayers are with Sharon and his family. Kings death was announced on August 23. Powell initially started out as a road technician for the band and later became the main keyboard player (via Al). He had a heart transplant in 2011. He co-wrote Sweet Home Alabama with Lynyrd Skynyrd and man can he can SHRED on guitar! [9] Other songs that King wrote or co-wrote for Lynyrd Skynyrd include "Poison Whiskey", "Saturday Night Special", "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" and "Workin' for MCA". Copyright 2023 Penske Business Media, LLC. A California native, King was a founding member of the psychedelic Sixties band Strawberry Alarm Clock, known for their hit Incense and Peppermints. He offered to join Skynyrd when, opening for the band at the Jacksonville, Florida, bar the Comic Book Club in 1968, he heard them rehearsing the song Need All My Friends. It wasnt until 1972, however, when King would sign on with Skynyrd, temporarily replacing bassist Leon Wilkeson and then becoming a full-fledged member as third guitarist. My reaction to that is: I don't give a damn what he thought it was. Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Ed King Dead at 68 - Rolling Stone Enough credit cannot be given to Cleopatra, for hanging in there against Judy Van Zantand her ill-gotten millions that she uses to try to destroy everybody in Lynyrd Skynyrd. Of the several surviving bandmates, one of them was Billy Powell. But when he was sober he was the neatest, coolest guy Ive ever met. They declined to fly a week earlier (via Vintage News). I've been dragged through the mud; I've been falsely accused. Dave Ling was a co-founder of Classic Rock magazine. Lynyrd Skynyrds undisputed leader he once claimed hed hand-picked all these boys to play for me was frontman Ronnie Van Zant, a violent, tyrannical boozer whose unpredictable rages had already driven guitarist Ed King from the band mid-tour. Then I would go out and get drunk. I don't know them. Skynyrd is bringing The Last of the Street Survivors" Farewell Tour to Jackson County Fair on August 11. The band often found itself in physical fights, reportedly fueled by Van Zant. Wilkeson passed away during the recording of Vicious Cycle, but he appears on two of its tracks, Lucky Man and The Way. He was marvelously talented that riff in Sweet Home Alabama? Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Then, I just put the song together. King played with the band all throughout the late 60s and into the early 70s, with the bands most popular hit being the single Incense and Peppermints. By 1972, Strawberry Alarm Clock has disbanded, and King moved on to another band, the up and coming Southern rock group, Lynyrd Skynyrd. But I tell you something, I've got eight incredible children and grandchildren. Facebook/Ed King In his About section, King writes, I was fortunate enough to write the greatest Stratocaster riff ever. The first time I knocked out all my teeth, which was pretty devastating for a 20-year-old. But it hadnt worked. Edward King was born on September 14, 1949 in Glendale, California, USA. How do you feel now that Street Survivors is finally out?It's an overwhelming process. I had good reason to leave.. Everything that was portrayed in the movie happened, and there's only a couple of little things that happened to a degree. Amid the kind of surreal circumstances that could only have occurred in the 70s, the 26-year-old was invited to audition for the band on stage in front of an audience in Kansas City. Still, Lynyrd Skynyrd has been involved in many controversies over the years, and several musicians have quit the band only to rejoin at a later date. I can only do one major project at a time, and this movie is a big deal. [16], According to a Nashville news station WTVF, King had been battling cancer in the months prior to his death. Ed King Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! 0:00. I've seen the movie 11 times, and I cry every time. Judy lied to a judge a year ago and got this consent order, and she said that I was violating it because I was trying to do a movie for profit. Once they realised what Id been doing, Allen and Billy would get in their usual share of licks at the hotel bar, [but] Gary and Leon, and even Allen and Billy, expressed their appreciation.. But I'm not about just money, I'm about the music, I'm about my children. We got off the ground and its like the engines cut off or something. He was with Skynyrd for less than a year and a half before dying in the plane crash, which happened a month after his 28th birthday, and he only recorded one live and one studio album with the band. Following Kings death, Rossington released a statement. that was great. There wasnt a fight, but there was a big disagreement. Its a shot at anybody that wants to be against the United States and our troops, Van Zant said. They didn't arriveuntil 10 minutes before we went on. The corpses of McCreary and Gray were found still strapped inside their cockpit, which in the crash had been separated from the rest of the aircraft. Swampland:Ed King 1999 Theres not many changes in it. He co-wrote the hits "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974) and "Saturday Night Special" (1975). 15 years of Work Gone. More than ever before, Skynyrd found themselves walking on eggshells when they were around Van Zant, whose wife Judy had given birth to their daughter, Melody. The 25 Greatest Lynyrd Skynyrd Songs of All Time When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The song came real quick. Ronnie once told Ed to watch out for Gary because he will stab you in the back. 2023: The Year Epiphone Became Unaffordable, Don't store picks in zip bags for too long, They Stole My Digital Recorder and SD cards. When the plane began experiencing problems which required the pilots to operate the planes starboard-side engine in the auto-rich position, the fuel they did have burned away at an excessive rate. I never asked my movie company for one single dollar. Lynyrd Skynyrd's story is one of desire, fate, extraordinary talent, and survival. Ed King, 1949-2018 | Bites | nashvillescene.com At the beginning I had my doubts about doing this, he admits. He released fuel which, if we had that little bit of fuel, we might have been able to get over those trees into a field where we would have bellied into a field, which I would have much rather done than going into trees. Whereas, Powell attended a parochial school, Bishop Kenny, several minutes away (via Boston). Sweet Home Alabama is a stonking song, but Skynyrd's singer Ronnie van Zant wanted it both ways: to be both a bourbon-chugging rock rebel and the Yankee-baiting bigot that Young was decrying . Its pretty bad to live through that and still not get the message. I wasn't able to be in on the total process of the editing and such. We were selling out everywhere we went. King is a highlight of If I Leave Here Tomorrow, offering keen firsthand insight into the Southern band as an outsider from California. I always tried to keep out of Ronnies way when he was drunk, or avoid pissing him off at the very least. Ed Kingguitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to '75 and 1987 to '96 and the co-writer of the band's iconic hit, "Sweet Home Alabama"has died at age 68. . Like most of the groups fans, Gary and Billy were happy to cite Street Survivors as Skynyrds best ever album, but the guitarist even compared it to Vicious Cycle. Ronnies younger brother Johnny Van Zant was happy to deputise at the microphone except during Free Bird, the epic track which at the start of the reunion the band ritually dedicated to Ronnie, Steve and Cassie Gaines and Dean Kilpatrick, performing it each night as an instrumental. He would undergo a transplant in 2011. The alcohol had become a tool that took us to that rowdy state, he says. Lynyrd Skynyrd | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame We had to quit doing that song for a while.. Eventually, King found himself. The current Lynyrd Skynyrd is just the official Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band that just happens to have one of the original members. Our band played the same bars as the Outlaws: The Depot, My Back Yard, Losers. I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock & Roll Heaven., Now Available: 134 Rock-n-Roll Legends Crossed the Rainbow in 2017 - A Tribute to their Lives Dismiss, Rock-n-Roll Music by The Beatles in Paris 1965, Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind, Anytime - Freddie Mercury, 134 Rock-n-Roll Legends Crossed the Rainbow in 2017, https://rockandrollparadise.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/21-Rock-n-Roll-Music-Live-Evening-Show.m4a, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C11MzbEcHlw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZnodJJ7l_I, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb3iPP-tHdA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZf41UudAbI, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWz9VN40nCA, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dC0DseCyYE, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV2kH2yPwUw. After Allen was left paralyzed following a car accident, he handpicked Randall as his replacement for Skynyrd's 1987 tribute tour. You cant blame the pilots; they obviously wouldnt have flown if they knew what was gonna happen., Among the main recipients of Van Zants bullying, Billy Powell makes an astonishing admission of the thoughts he was having as he lay dazed and wounded in that Florida swamp twilight: You want the truth? he asks. He'll stick his head in the sand and let other people do his dirty work for him. For Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1977 was both the best and worst of times. They still play the old hits, but none of their new material has gone gold or platinum. Sound engineer Kevin Elson was told: Just turn him off if hes bad., Cassie kept saying we should hear her brother, but nobody thought hed be good enough, Rossington recalls fondly. Wed write a song in the morning and record it in the afternoon, which wasnt ideal. another tidbit: Ed King and Steve Gaines both had the same Birthday - September 14, 1949. It's also the tale of the intersection of history and one man's vision: Vocalist and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant was the original man with a plan, and the long history of Lynyrd Skynyrd is largely the story of Van Zant, a man driven by inexplicable demons that demanded he not only change the landscape of . Leon [Wilkeson] and I even got to share a joint with Jack Nicholson in our trailer and you can quote me on that., As a live band it was definitely an incredible time, Rossington remembers. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Inductee 2006. It had been a bad night the night before. That is, until a show in Florida when, noticeably the worse for wear, Van Zant slugged bassist Leon Wilkeson, causing the band to have to leave the stage for 20 minutes. What is giving Ronnie Wood his tone in this song. Even of late, Rossington hadnt enjoyed the best of health in February 2003 hed undergone open heart surgery but he vowed that if anything happened to him hed want Skynyrd to continue. We want to hear it. Check out Lynyrd Skynyrd's music online: Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4MVyzYMgTwdP7Z49wAZHx0 iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lynyrd-skynyrd/id97262 Amazon: amazon.com/Lynyrd-Skynyrd/e/B000APSX8Q Website: lynyrdskynyrd.com/ Follow Marty On Social Media! King left Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1996 after he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Directed by Stephen Kijak, "If I Leave Here Tomorrow" premieres 8 p.m. central Aug. 18 on Showtime. Allen Collins wasnt present, but gave the venture his blessing. On the album cover for Pronounced, King is pictured far right, a bit detached from the group. [5] Guitarist Rossington noted years later that King was the most business-minded member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, relating a story of how King would stock up on food items during stops on tour and then re-sell the items to his bandmates at a 500% markup when they later got hungry on the bus. Ronnie said as long as they got to the next show he didnt care how they managed it. I just felt that I had a wealth of knowledge for this. I love Gary Rossington, with all my heart, as a brother. More sickening still, as a crowd of around 3,000 gathered on the edge of the swamp, criminals were busy stripping the impact area of jewellery, wallets, cash and even airplane seats. Ive just found out about Eds passing and Im shocked and saddened, he said. But certainly not better. You were with them at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. When we did win, the movie was almost near finished. Lynyrd Skynyrd said their 2003 album Vicious Cycle was of the same calibre as Street Survivors, and that Ronnie Van Zant would have wanted them to keep on rocking. Some of the add-ons on this site are powered by. During the latter half of 1976 Van Zant had begun to tell people he was quitting the booze or at least reducing his intake. About the decision to leave the band, King said "well, I was out of my mind for quitting. General Info. Ed King "Lynyrd Skynyrd" - TalkBass.com pic.twitter.com/wMrGC0GIS7, Jesse Knutson (@JesseKnutsonNC5) August 23, 2018, Remembering the one and only Mr. Sweet Home Alabama, Ed King. I never brought it up.. Skynyrd were finally getting their bullets back. It was four years later, while Powell was both grappling with the futility of trying to turn drunk people on to the Lord and in debt to the taxman that his thoughts turned to organising a Lynyrd Skynyrd reunion tour. [4] King died in his Nashville, Tennessee, home on August 22, 2018, at 68 years of age. Ronnie and my guitar roadie who changed my strings were thrown in jail in Ann Arbor. They had just performed in Connecticut in January, per Set List. King was so enamoured with the band that he told vocalist and leader Ronnie Van Zant that if they ever needed his services, he would be happy to join. They made the audience wait for three hours, and when they did play they were too Quaaluded [powerful downers] out. People would yell for Skynyrd songs, which embarrassed Mark Farner but felt real good to me, he smiles. Van Zants short fuse was something that Skynyrd always had to tolerate. But they screwed up, man. She started singing at age three; took dance lessons (tap and jazz) from the time she was three to about age 14. JoJo Billingsley was one third of the Lynyrd Skynyrd's Honkettes The band also recorded a tribute called Mad Hatter to their fallen brother, famous for his legendary eccentric headgear. He died in Nashville, Tennessee home. It was always me and Allen Collins that fought, Powell explains. Who Was Ed King? Famed Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Dies at 68 - Newsweek Bass on all tracks except "Mississippi Kid" and "Tuesday's Gone". And although only Gaines agreed at first, according to Gene Odom the original version was tossed in the trash before Skynyrd set off for an already scheduled summer US tour with Santana, Peter Frampton and The Outlaws. My sons, they wrote music for the movie. Besides, who is that band? Lynyrd Skynyrd was in a bit of a rut by the time of their fourth album, 1976's Gimme Back My Bullets. I would have liked to have been, but I didn't want to jeopardize Cleopatra's chances of winning the lawsuit. But then wed get through a few shows and me, Ronnie and Allen would sneak off and pull a drunk somewhere. This clip is pretty funny.. especially from 8:42 cool guy with a sense of humor and his solo (the first one on the original SHA track) is brilliantly constructed and totally killer (just ask Greg Koch,,,). After his passing, many important instruments from King's personal collection . Members of the second iteration of Lynyrd Skynyrd included survivors of the plane crash (Gary Rossington, Billy Powell, Leon Wilkeson and Artimus Pyle) along with Ed King and Ron Vannie Zant's younger brother Johnny Van Zant. Kenny doesn't know. Gary James' Interview With The Guitarist for Strawberry Alarm Clock and Lynyrd Skynyrd Ed King It's not often that you get to talk to someone whose been in not just one, but two legendary groups. King played on the bands first three albums: 1973s (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd), 1974s Second Helping and 1975s Nuthin Fancy. He died, presumably from cancer at his Nashville home on August 22, 2018. But it was the best thing I ever did. Co-founder, Gary Rossington, wrote on Lynyrd Skynyrds Facebook page, Ive just found out about Eds passing and Im shocked and saddened. The movie - there's some funny parts, there's some humor. Wilkeson had been in and out of the band since their first album, and as frequently to rehab in recent years. I said the only way I would do it is if I came out and played at least seven songs. Ed King, the Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist who give the band its three-guitar sound, has died at 68. Ed was a terrific player, but I think Steve had more potential. It's supposed to be the farewell tour. Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarist Ed King Dead at 68, Jason Isbell Releases Death Wish From New Album, The Cadillac Three and Elvie Shane Knock You on Your Ass With New Collab Hillbilly, See the Beths Deliver Refreshing 'Expert in a Dying Field' Mini-Set on 'CBS Mornings', The YSL Case Is Stretching Fulton County's Justice System to Its Breaking Point, The National Stay Up Late to Perform 'Tropic Morning News' on Fallon, David Lindley, Multi-Instrumentalist Who Shaped the Sound of Soft Rock, Dead at 78, How Deem Spencer Learned to be Vulnerable on His New Album adultSW!M, Netflixs Sex/Life Is Back to Satisfy Your Softcore Desires, Alex Murdaugh Juror Says Cellphone Video, 'Big Liar' Testimony Led to Guilty Verdict. He was a gentlemen till he started drinking. My father was killed in a plane crash; all of my friends have died in plane crashes. Thr group's third brilliant guitarist Ed King talks about joining Lynyrd Skynyrd after being asked by founding group frontman Ronnie Van Zant Just like when Jake Tapper interviewed Judy Van Zant and the rest of the band members, Billy Powell and Gary, he could tell that they were not telling the truth and that they were covering up. Nobody knew that. We thank his many friends and fans for their love and support of Ed during his life and career.. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Wikipedia Ed King, 1949-2018 The famed Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist, composer and foodie died in his home Aug. 22. I have the full gambit of emotions, everything: I'm happy, I'm sad, I'm relieved and I'm a little mad. As the story goes, the name of the band was inspired by Lee High gym teacher, Coach Skinner. Theyd give us Scotch and wed drink up a storm with them. You could get beat up for having long hair, our drummer was pushed around by a couple of Phillies in Clearwater who were there for spring training. Learn about his stunning Les Paul, and how it came into the possession of Jason Isbell. Wilkeson left and was replaced with Ed King, who would later be replaced, too, with Steve Gaines. I wanted them to come to the table and make a more broad spectrum of a movie. We threw him in the van. Per his obituary, an autopsy was not performed, but it is believed that he died of a heart attack. I really believe he was/is a time traveler. New Lynyrd Skynyrd Doc Shows Plane Crash Footage, Traces Band History, Limp Bizkits Wes Borland Rebuked Over Frivolous Legal Motion. But they chose to stab me in the back repeatedly, and it really hurt my feelings. When Ed King passed away in August 2018, the Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist left more than classic songs like "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Saturday Night Special" as his legacy. King said in 2005 that during his days on the road with. We were sued by a bunch of blood-sucking weasel attorneys the entire time that we were trying to do the movie. Ronnie was a mean, abusive drunk. [15], In 2011, King underwent a successful heart transplant. Fortunately, Johnny guffaws when I suggest that with Edge Of Forever Skynyrd had reached the point of shitting or getting off the pot. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS - Lynyrd Skynyrd History Say stuff about our president later or dont vote for him, but right now stick behind him., Among the bands new celebrity fans is Kid Rock, who guests on a re-vamped Gimme Back My Bullets. brought Pamela [Anderson] to one of our shows in Michigan, and we asked him if hed do it.. Before his time with Lynyrd Skynyrd, King was a co-founder of the famed psychedelic band Strawberry Alarm Clock, best known for their 1967 hit single, "Incense and Peppermints." . June 24, 2010 - JoJo Billingsley was born Deborah Jo Billingsley on May 28, 1952 in Memphis Tennessee and raised in Tennessean country communities. Of course, a man who attended a Catholic high school during his formative years would have some type of allegiance to faith. Following the incident, King said he returned to his hotel room, thinking what the hell am I doing here?, packed his belongings, and left without a word, leaving his bandmates to wake up the next morning to find out he was gone (and Rossington and Collins to scramble to rearrange the songs to make up for Kings absence). I spent long periods of time on the phone with them. Ed King Discussions Board. But we were constantly fighting each other on one occasion I even got my teeth knocked out by Ronnie. Ed King, former Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist, dies in Nashville at age 68 He also appeared as a customer in the Discovery Channel docudrama Moonshiners, purchasing $30,000 in premium gin in 2017. Since that reunion tour, the band . Billy Powell died at the age of 56 on January 28, 2009 (via CMT). The tour also featured Ed King, Leon Wilkeson, Artimus Pyle and guitarist Randall Hall. It truly was a blessing to have had the chance to spend time with him a little over a year ago. He left on the understanding that he would rejoin once he regained his health, but the band did not allow him to rejoin.King, along with all pre-crash members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, were inducted into the . They call themselves Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ive worked with Artimus on and off he basically says the same thing. Southern rock's passion and romance is marred by racism and bigotry Its archival material includes recently discovered radio interviews with Van Zant, guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Leon Mad Hatter Wilkeson. My number-one takeaway from the movie: After all that had gone wrong withthe plane to that point, why on Earth did you get onit?The pilots told us that they had fixed it and that we were going to go to Baton Rouge, and they were flying over a mechanic from Dallas, where we leased the airplane. In Greenville, S.C., where we left on our last flight, we took on 400 gallons of fuel which did not top off the tanks. Nicest guy that would give you the shirt off his back when sober. King told Louder Sound, I always knew something would happen to them after I left. In a separate interview, King said about the crash, I could see something coming, but I didnt know it was that. When Strawberry Alarm Clock disbanded, he became an official member of Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1972, replacing Leon Wilkeson on bass when Leon had left the band briefly. was frontman Ronnie Van Zant, a violent, tyrannical boozer whose unpredictable . In fact West had deputised for Rossington at a New York gig after the latter broke his hand in a fist fight. King later recalled that Van Zants drinking drove a wedge between the two of them, and that it eventually became an unpleasant situation., Ultimately, King quit Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1975. According to writer Jaan Uhelski, Lynyrd Skynyrd's beginnings date clear back to 1964 at a ball field in Florida, where Van Zant inadvertently smacked a ball right at Bob Burns and knocked him out. Ed King, ( Lynyrd Skynyrd/Strawberry Alarm Clock) September 14, 1949 August 22, 2018 was born in Glendale California and a guitar prodigy from early on in his life. A cause of death was not specified, though King had been battling lung cancer and had recently been hospitalized for the disease. They use him; he's their cash cow. Alligators would come up out of the creek and sit on the shore and listen to the music; it was real fun. She celebrated it, and she hit the lottery. You've gotta put a wooden stick down in your tank and visually check how much fuel you have. He had a slide in his pocket, and when he pulled that out he really impressed Allen and I. I would hope and pray that if anything happened to me, the guys would carry on playing [without me], so my wife and kids would be helped out., It was strange to think that Johnny Van Zant had been with Skynyrd for twice as long as his brother, fronting them for 16 of their 30 years thus far. Powell was one of them and his nose was almost severed from the accident, and he had a knee injury, per Ultimate Classic Rock. They toured so much that days off just didn't exist, and when they did, it was into the studio to record.. Gaines was killed in a plane crash along with his sister Cassie Gaines and Van Zant on October 20, 1977. Ed King, guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd - Rock and Roll Paradise I went back to my room, packed up my stuff and left. "When I think of Lynyryd Skynyrd, I just think of outrageously fun times," says one of the speakers over pictures of the guys hanging out, shirtless and drinking and feeding whiskey to a monkey.. Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1973. Recalls Gary Rossington, "She asked if he could jam and I said, 'Fuck, no!' Edward Calhoun King[1] (September 14, 1949 August 22, 2018)[2] was an American musician. He said, "Did you pull the trigger?" In a new interview, Pyle . He died on August 22, 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. We were starting to realise that our career was heading to a peak and that soon wed be up there alongside the Rolling Stones and The Who, he says, when the carpet was torn right out from underneath us.. I was injured so I couldn't yell too loud, but I told them, "You wait." The free birds were still flying, but considerably older and wiser. I don't care if it was a ricochet. So, at the end of that documentary, which is called Uncivil War, Jake totally sides [with me] and says, "Poor Artimus, you know the guy has saved lives and is a hard-working member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, yet they steal all of his money and don't allow him to be a part of the band.". King played on the band's first three albums: 1973's (Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd), 1974's Second Helping and 1975's Nuthin' Fancy. The solution was close at hand in the form of Steve Gaines, the kid brother of backup singer Cassie. For years, Powell suffered with mostly heart issues and complications. [5] While with the band he played both electric guitar and bass guitar.