# 32 years ago: The Free Bird fell from the sky **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494 "2009-10-20T16:28:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/1 "2009-10-20T16:28:05Z")
[Lynyrd Skynyrd wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynyrd_Skynyrd) October 20, 1977. On a flight between Greenvile SC and Baton Rouge, LA, their plane ran out of fuel and crashed in the woods in Southwestern Mississippi. Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, Dean Kilpatrick, Walter McCreary and William Gray were all killed on impact. The band eventually refromed, and continues recording and touring to this day, and younger brother Johnny Van Zant does a good job with the vocals, but it’s just not the same. So many classic tunes…_Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama, Simple Man, That Smell, Gimme Three Steps_, etc. Fly on, Ronnie and the rest. We still remember you. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/2 "2009-10-20T16:38:24Z")
Amen. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/3 "2009-10-20T17:13:07Z")
I only wish I could go back in time and make them crash five years earlier. ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/4 "2009-10-20T17:13:42Z")
Way to threadshit. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/5 "2009-10-20T17:39:22Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I only wish I could go back in time and make them crash five years earlier. This has got to be one of the most assholish posts i’ve ever read here. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/6 "2009-10-20T17:48:30Z")
**Vinyl Turnip** – if someone starts a memorial thread about an artist or group you don’t care for, it’s rude and obnoxious to come in and make remarks like that. Unfortunately, it’s not against the rules – so you’re getting a “knock it off” from me, but no actual warning. twickster, Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/7 "2009-10-20T18:23:54Z")
Sometimes a joke is worth the slap in the face. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/8 "2009-10-20T18:35:49Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **Vinyl Turnip** – if someone starts a memorial thread about an artist or group you don’t care for, it’s rude and obnoxious to come in and make remarks like that. Unfortunately, it’s not against the rules – so you’re getting a “knock it off” from me, but no actual warning. > > twickster, Cafe Society moderator How is being a jerk not against the rules, i thought it was THE rule. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/9 "2009-10-20T18:51:12Z")
[“Reflections” by the Charlie Daniels Band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTn4K2QC4rc) “It was October in St. Louis town, When we heard that the Free Bird had fell to the ground; And we all said a prayer before we went down, To play And Ronnie, my buddy, above all the rest, I miss you the most and I loved you the best, And now that you’re gone I thank God I was blessed Just to know you” R.I.P. Ronnie, Steve, Cassie, and the others. Lynryd Skynrd was a fantastic band. Johnny does an admirable job of carrying on the legacy, but there is a clear distinction between the original lineup and the post-crash Skynyrd. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/10 "2009-10-20T19:13:37Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > How is being a jerk not against the rules, i thought it was THE rule. There is no rule against posting negative remarks in a memorial/tribute thread. If you have more to say about this, start a thread in ATMB – but let’s end this particular hijack. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/11 "2009-10-20T19:55:31Z")
It interesting to speculate on how far Lynyrd Skynyrd would have gone had they not lost their creative forces in that crash. Arguably, they were right at their creative peak when the accident happened. The fact that they can still sell out stadiums today, basically on the strength of three or four albums made in the 1970’s, is amazing. Doubly amazing since there’s only the barest thread between the original Lynyrd Skynyrd and the current band. Ronnie Van Zandt was a huge talent. Steve Gaines was a phenomenal guitarist. Rock music lost a lot that day. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/12 "2009-10-20T20:30:41Z")
I still remember how huge Pronounced was when it came out. Couldn’t go to a party that didn’t have it rockin’. A 9th grader, I vividly recall buying the LP and my parents look of disdain upon seeing the cover. The crash was shortly after we graduated HS. They’d been such an integral part of our musical awakening. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2009, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/32-years-ago-the-free-bird-fell-from-the-sky/514494/13 "2009-10-21T13:35:37Z")
Skynyrd was an essential part of my rock education - kinda the link from truly over-produced, commercial rock through Skynyrd and others like Bad Company and Aerosmith and onto both harder, more blues based stuff like Zep and the Who and the blues themselves. Learning Gimme Three Steps, Whisky Rock n’ Roller, Workin’ for MCA, etc., were foundational to my playing - the little intro that Gaines does on Gimme a T for Texas on One More From the Road was a fun little riff to work through, just like the one on I Know a Little. And anybody who says they didn’t learn the Sweet Home lick within a few lessons or months into picking up the guitar is either lying or missing a great riff to practice arpeggio picking on;)… Some of their hits have been overplayed - I don’t need to hear them because they were played into my DNA - but I never turn away from a less-heard, deeper cut when I stumble across one…