Talkin' About The Big Boys

Southern rock had stood on the brink of becoming the pre-eminent sound of the 1970s, but with the shattering of the two best bands -- the Allman Brothers (through a series of deaths, drug abuse and sellouts) and Lynyrd Skynyrd (in a sudden, devastating plane crash in a Mississippi swamp) -- by 1980 the genre had deteriorated into little more than copycat bands, peddling chest-beating, regional jingles designed more to cash in on the fame of superior predecessors than to stoke a musical fire. A welcome reprieve burst on to the scene in 1980.

The October 20, 1977, plane crash that decimated Lynyrd Skynyrd shattered an American musical dream. Less than a week after the release Street Survivors,of one of the band's best albums, guitarist Steve Gaines was dead; vocalist Cassie Gaines was dead; lead singer, songwriter and founder of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie VanZant was dead. Also killed were the plane's flight crew and longtime friend and manager, Dean Kilpatrick. The rest of the band and crew lay in hospitals with life-altering injuries. Lynyrd Skynyrd was dead.

After two long years of physical healing, the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd also began salving the mental anguish of having their world fall from beneath their feet. Having stated repeatedly, "We're not quitters." the future for the survivors seemed apparent, if not simple. Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell, the least injured among the players, returned to music in 1978. Billy played on a .38 Special album, and both were involved in a recording by songwriter/pianist Leon LeBront in El Paso, Texas.

Next came a surprise tribute at Charlie Daniels' 1979 Voluteer Jam. Skynyrd members jammed at the show and played an instrumental 'Freebird' as Ronnie, Steve and Cassie's eulogy.

Soon the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were back together in a Florida recording studio working as session musicians for friends. In June of 1979, these friends formed Alias, a band made up of local Jacksonville players including guitarist Dorman Cogburn, lead singer Jimmy Dougherty, bassist Ricky Powell (Billy's brother) and vocalist JoJo Billingsley, a former Skynyrd Honkette. Others involved in the project were three members of a famous Jacksonville bar band, Runnin' Easy -- Derek Hess, Barry Harwood and Randall Hall. In July, Alias began recording the Contraband album in Orlando with session help from Billy, Artimus and Leon; also lending a hand were Allen and Gary.

Leon's injuries still affected him and he joined the project later than the rest and he recalled the circumstances when he arrived in Orlando, "By the time I was doing my session work, Gary and Allen decided to retreat from the session. I could sense a dispute going on between them and the director of the project. I think that was the catalyst that made Gary and Allen -- they're the deciders -- realize how ready the rest of us were. During the sessions someone said to me, 'What are we doing here? We ought to be making our own album.'"

The choice for lead vocals was a daunting one, and rumors abounded about who Gary and Allen considered -- Greg Allman and other "name singers" -- but the pair finally settled on Dale Krantz. Dale had a wide resume in the music business, but no expereince in either leading a band or songwriting. When Gary and Allen burst ito her house at three in the morning, Dale recalled she could only react in a rush, "I think the first thing I said was, 'Feel my heart, its coming right out of my chest.' I really thought I was going to lose control. It took me about three seconds to recover and I said, 'Yes! I'll do it!' And I felt right about it immediately too. My first thought realistically and objectively was, 'These guys are a lot more farsighted than I thought they were. They really have something on the ball to know that a woman could definately be the answer for them after what they've been through.' Still I never thought it would be me."

The fall of 1979 proved a busy one for all of the band members. Alias debuted in a nationally broadcast live radio show from Atlanta's Agorra Ballroom on November 29, 1979, but received little commercial success. At the same time, the first talk of the "reunion" of Lynyrd Skynyrd reached the national press. Rolling Stone published an account of the "Collins Rossington Band" quoting Gary saying, "We're not copying Lynyrd Skynyrd. We're not using the name and we're not falling back on it at all, but we did write the music and play it, so I guess it will sound like that. Its good as shit music."

The line-up originally called for Artimus Pyle to resume his duties on drums, but in South Carolina while working on his own project (Studebaker Hawke), he suffered a severely broken leg in a motorcycle accident. Rossington Collins originally planned on recording in late 1979, but these dates were pushed back to allow time for Artimus to heal. However, as things worked out, Artimus did not return to the project. Leon expained, "With Artimus in the condidtion he was in, having to play with his left leg to rehearse, it was kind of like we were all at the Indianapolis 500 squealing tires and just couldn't run the track. I guess Artimus could see that frustration -- that we were ready to go. And he had to feel the frustration, obviously, of having three tires to race with."

The band called on Derek Hess, who remembered, "It happened all of a sudden, like over a weekend. I was just doing another straight job, as a ship's chandler. I was extremely frustrated and about ready to hang it up. Billy Powell called me and said this is a good chance, and it kept me awake the rest of the night."

The band then entered about a month's worth a heavy rehearsals to bring Derek up to date on the material. By this time, Rossington Collins was set and rehearsals had been underway for sometime. The band gelled, and Rossington Collins (still keeping the identity of the new lead singer a secret) debuted the band's music at a series of concerts in Orlando, Gainesville and New Orleans. By all accounts the band entered these shows with a great deal of trepidation -- their first appearance as a group. After an introduction from Artimus, Rossington Collins took the stage in Orlando.

Rossington Collins played two short (35 minutes) sets and despite some serious problems with the sound system, the audiences not only accepted the new band, they "nearly tore the theater apart with their wild cheering, stomping and demands for more encores." Of course, there could be only one encore. According to Phil Kloer, who reviewed the show for the Florida Times Union, 'Freebird' was the "most intense, moving, musically brilliant quarter hours of rock I have ever heard."

Later Gary relished the band's success, "We're so lucky to have the people we've gathered in this band. The new members inspired us, gave us strength and pulled us out of slump. We pulled them out of a slump and we've been playing, writing, rehearsing and recording together as a team, a family. Suddenly we had a real band and could see daylight again.