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  Duane Allman and Berry Oakley were both only twenty-four years of age when they died. The drivers of the truck and bus were also only twenty-four years of age at the time of the accidents. The first Allman Brothers LP features a photo of the band taken at Rose Hill Cemetery. In one photo, Berry Oakley stands in what appears to be a chapel window dressed as some Christ figure, in robes with his arms held wide open; standing in front of him is Duane Allman. The irony of the photo relates to the burial services of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley. An interesting legend suggested by Scott Freeman in his Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers is that Duane Allman’s body was kept in cold storage for a year. At the time of Oakley’s death, it was determined by the families to bury both friends together side by side at Rose Hill Cemetery. Each member had a special grave marker. Freeman states in Midnight Riders that both tombstones were carved with mushrooms, the adopted symbol of the brotherhood that was tattooed upon each member’s right calf. On Duane’s headstone, “the dates of his birth and death are circled by the music to ‘Little Martha’; a winged scarab, an ancient symbol held sacred by the Egyptians (a symbol of the afterlife), is engraved above his name. Duane’s gravestone has a Les Paul guitar (Duane’s favorite instrument) carved in rich detail, and there is an inscription that comes from a quotation Duane had written in his diary: ‘I love being alive and I will be the best man I possibly can. I will take love wherever I find and offer it to everyone who will take it … seek knowledge from those wiser … and teach those who want to learn from me.’ At the base of his grave are two small angels (representing his daughters Galadriel and Brittany) kneeling in prayer.4

  “The inscription on Berry’s headstone reads: ‘Our brother B.O. … Raymond Berry Oakley III … And The Road Goes On Forever … Born In Chicago Apr. 4, 1948 … Set Free Nov. 11, 1972.’ Above the name is a ram’s head, symbolizing his astrological sign. A Fender bass is carved into the gravestone, along with an inscription that everyone thought best summed up Berry’s philosophy of life: ‘Help thy brother’s boat across and, lo! thine own has reached the shore.’”5

  The Allman Brothers Band has survived member changes, internal feuds, and the constant battles with their own excesses. Strangely enough, the coincidences of tragedy did not end with the deaths of Duane and Berry. Longtime friend and road manager Twiggs Lyndon continued on as a road manager for the Dixie Dregs. While the band was in New York, Lyndon went skydiving. He jumped from a plane and fell over 8,000 feet to his death. Some intimate friends hinted that Twiggs Lyndon had never made peace with the deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, and that his accidental death may have actually been a suicide. The evidence to this was found in Lyndon’s still unopened chute. His death occurred on November 16, 1979, in a small town called Duanesburg. The irony of Twiggs Lyndon’s death being in a small town that reminded him of Duane and taking place in the same month as Berry Oakley’s death is yet another disturbing coincidence.

  After Berry Oakley’s death the band chose Lamar Williams to be their new bassist. Williams later left the band with keyboardist Chuck Leavell to form Sea Level, an obvious pun upon C. Leavell. In the early eighties, Williams had fallen upon hard times following the eventual breakup of Sea Level. He was diagnosed with lung cancer, thought to be brought on by his exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. The date of his exploratory surgery was October 29, 1981, exactly ten years to the day from the date of Duane Allman’s death. Over one-third of his lung was removed but this proved to be of no avail. Lamar Williams died on January 21, 1983, at the age of thirty-six. In August 2000, bassist Allen Woody of the Allman Brothers and Government Mule passed away and became the latest fatality in a tragic road that seems to go on forever.

  The other surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band struggled with an assortment of personal demons, including substance abuse, divorce, the threat of prison terms, and in some cases living near poverty. The latest gathering of the band recalls the creative brilliance of the original. With Warren Haynes on guitar, the band invokes the fire that was captured in the early performances and recordings of Duane Allman. Strangely, their debut album Seven Turns has the band standing in a deserted country crossroads. It would appear that the band had returned full circle. The seven turns would allow the members to return to where they had once started. In this case, Robert Johnson would have certainly been very proud.

  While the Allman Brothers defined the genre of southern rock and roll, other bands followed the carefully constructed formula of blues lyrics backed by the melodic phrasing of twin guitars in perfect harmony. It didn’t take long for another bar band from Jacksonville, Florida, to burst from the endless drudgery of the club circuit to stake a claim to the throne of southern rock and roll. In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd released their debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, and the results would help redefine the future of rock and roll. The band traced its origins back to 1964 when the British invasion served as an early introduction of basic American rhythm and blues. By 1969, each member had dropped out of high school to follow the course of his musical dreams. In a parting shot at their former gym teacher, who had constantly harassed them about their long hair, the band jokingly referred to themselves as Leonard Skinner. With a phonetic re-spelling of their name, Lynyrd Skynyrd swept through the South with the urgency of a cyclone, laying down a revamped southern boogie that was beyond simple imitation. They had taken the roots of the Allman Brothers’ sound, twisted it from the earth, and replanted it complete with a triple guitar attack, and above all, a new anthem of rock and roll—“Free Bird”!

  Undoubtedly, it was a great compliment to be the anointed saviors of southern rock; however, Ronnie Van Zant and the other members turned down a recording contract with Capricorn Records only because they felt that they would be compared too closely with the Allman sound. It was obvious that the members believed in themselves, and they waited for the right moment to unleash their music to sold-out concert audiences. This was accomplished when Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for the Who on the English group’s 1973 American tour. Word quickly spread throughout the United States praising Skynyrd’s electrifying stage show. It was also at this time that American FM stations launched “Free Bird” to their radio audiences, and Lynyrd Skynyrd soared to the top of the rock charts. To this day “Free Bird” is second only to Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” as the most requested song in radio airplay.

  As with many bands at the pinnacle of their fame, there had to be replacement members for those tired road warriors who had had their fill of the self-proclaimed torture tour. Original drummer Bob Burns was replaced by Artimus Pyle, a hard-hitting session drummer, and original guitarist Ed King was later replaced by Steve Gaines. Gaines’s sister Cassie was a backup singer for the band as a new member of the Honkettes. This would later prove to be a double tragedy for Lynyrd Skynyrd’s many fans.

  With the addition of Steve Gaines, Skynyrd returned to its jolting three-guitar attack. It appeared that Gaines brought out the best in each member’s performance. This blistering onslaught of a southern rock guitar arsenal is demonstrated in the 1976 release of One More From the Road. Ronnie Van Zant liked to go on stage barefoot, because “he liked to feel the stage burn” under his feet. Lynyrd Skynyrd pumped out its greatest live hits to thunderous applause from Atlanta’s Fox Theater. The band also contributed a faithful version of Cream’s salute to Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads.” At this point the dramatic irony begins. The title “One More From the Road” suggested one last drink before going home from a hard day’s work. It also suggested a live recording that would finally do justice to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s incredible live show. What it didn’t suggest was the true meaning behind the invention of the phrase. In England it was customary for a condemned nobleman, on the day of his execution, to meet his friends outside the Tower of London, drink one final toast to their friendship, and then be escorted to Tower Hill where he would be put to death on the scaffold. In this case, one for the road signaled the catacly
smic beginning of the end.

  After the release of One More From the Road, band insiders noticed that the group had turned the corner and was now ready to go on to even greater fame. This became evident with the release of Street Survivors in October of 1977. Steve Gaines had contributed “I Know a Little” and “Ain’t No Good Life,” and had cowrittten “You Got That Right” and “I Never Dreamed” with Ronnie Van Zant. Gaines was maturing as a songwriting equal to both Van Zant and guitarist Allen Collins, and of course this could only make the band that much stronger. Within three days of the Street Survivors release, the rock world would yet again relive the terrible news of a plane crash and the death of three promising stars.

  The strange coincidences concerning the fateful crash were numerous. The band’s plane, a rented Convair 240, had been named Freebird in honor of Skynyrd’s hard-rocking anthem. The band had composed the song as a musical tribute to guitarist Duane Allman. This became evident due to the melodic slide guitar phrasings and the scorching guitar solos that pushed the track to its conclusion. It was ironic that the plane crash was on October 20, 1977, since strangely, Duane Allman’s death had also occurred in October (October 29, 1971). The macabre Robert Johnson link, which now seemed to form a shocking bond of fate between the bands, was due to the plane crashing in the Mississippi swamp. Killed in the crash were Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick. The remaining band members and crew were seriously injured; it would take several years for them to recover. In an Associated Press release the week of the accident it was reported that several of the group’s members had had terrible misgivings about taking the aging plane after performing what was to be their last concert in Greenville, South Carolina. The band’s stage manager, Clayton Johnson, remarked from his hospital bed, “There had been a lot of mistrust of that airplane since we chartered it.” Johnson said he and four friends met shortly before boarding the piston-type, twin-engine Convair on Thursday and discussed the possibility of refusing to fly it any longer. He said Cassie Gaines, the singer who died in the crash, also had talked with him about possibly riding from concert to concert in the equipment truck instead of in the plane. Ronnie Van Zant convinced Cassie to make the flight, saying that if your time was up it was up. Van Zant had made comments both to fellow band members and to family that he would not live to see thirty. He was right. Honkette backup singer Jo Billingsley made a phone call to guitarist Allen Collins describing a terrifying dream in which she saw the plane crash. She asked Collins to tell the other band members and not to get on the plane.6 The plane crashed while attempting an emergency landing about eight miles short of the McComb (Mississippi) airport. They were on their way to a Friday-night concert at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

  The morbid happenstance between the Street Survivors album art and the fate of Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines was so great that MCA pulled the albums from the stores and replaced the album art with the band standing in front of a somber black background. But the original David Alexander cover concept was much more interesting. The prototype cover showed the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd superimposed in front of a burning city prop. Menacing flames swirled around the members and engulfed guitarist Steve Gaines. Immediately to his right stood singer Ronnie Van Zant, who was to be yet another victim of the horrible disaster. Gaines’s eyes are tightly closed as he stands almost corpselike in the flames that now very well suggest a blazing funeral pyre.

  The fans were deeply shocked as they discovered irony after irony. This tour was to be called the Survivors tour. There was also an order form enclosed, advertising a Lynyrd Skynyrd survival kit consisting of a T-shirt, pendant, and booklet. Strangest of all, perhaps, was the song penned by Allen Collins and Ronnie Van Zant concerning the self-destructive lifestyle of band guitarist Gary Rossington. The song was titled “That Smell,” and its lyrics stated that “the smell of death’s around you.” Steve Gaines, Ronnie Van Zant, and Cassie Gaines of the Honkettes shared in the performance. It was the only song on that album in which all three had been involved in the production.

  “That Smell” was to become a prophecy. Each time song lyricist Van Zant sang “the smell of death’s around you,” listeners could feel the creeping tinges of dramatic irony as now his voice spoke from beyond the grave. Ronnie Van Zant was buried in Orange Park, Florida, wearing his trademark Texas Hatter’s black hat. His favorite fishing pole was also buried with him. The funeral music consisted of Merle Haggard’s “I Take a Lot of Pride in What I Am” and David Allen Coe’s “Another Pretty Country Song.” Charlie Daniels led the mourners in a moving version of “Amazing Grace” and composed a simple elegy for the fallen singer. The last line of the poem stated, “Fly on, proud bird, you’re free at last.”

  Tragedy seemed to follow individuals associated with the band as well. Shortly before the crash, the band fired both guitar tech Chuck Flowers and drum tech Raymond Watkins over what was said to be a dispute over a hotel bill. Chuck Flowers was decimated by the loss of his friends in the crash and took his own life with a rifle that Ronnie Van Zant had given him as a gift. A year later, Raymond Watkins was killed in a domestic dispute.7

  Like the mythical phoenix, the survivors of Lynyrd Skynyrd arose from the slow-burning ashes of “Free Bird” and formed a new band that would help maintain the legacy of southern rock and roll. The new lineup included former Skynyrd members Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Leon Wilkeson, and Billy Powell. Drummer Artimus Pyle had been injured in a motorcycle accident and was unable to take part in the project. This new alliance took the name Rossington-Collins Band in honor of its two-guitar attack. The glaring difference between the old Lynyrd Skynyrd and the new version was in the selection of the lead vocalist. The members chose Dale Krantz, the former female backup singer for .38 Special, to be their singer. Perhaps this choice was made to honor the memory of Ronnie Van Zant and stop any of the very likely comparisons that fans would cast upon a new male singer trying to take the place of a legend. The debut album of the Rossington-Collins Band was entitled Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere. The band chemistry was right, and at times volatile, but if the band had been resurrected so had the curse. Tragedy again stalked the members but seemed to pay special attention to guitarist Allen Collins. After the release of Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere, the group was preparing to hit the road and support their album, which had already sold in excess of one million copies. Before the tour was firmly in place, Collins’s wife, Kathy, died tragically from complications during a devastating miscarriage (very similar to the death of Robert Johnson’s wife). Kathy Collins had taken her two daughters to the theater when she suffered the miscarriage. Ironically, Judy Van Zant (wife of Ronnie Van Zant) was in the same theater at the time.8 Allen and Kathy were married in 1970 and had two daughters, Amie and Allison. A short while after the funeral, Gary Rossington broke his foot and the tour was set back another six months. There was a release of a second album, but further tensions gripped the band when Gary and vocalist Dale Krantz fell in love. The couple left the band, and married, and Allen Collins continued on alone with the Allen Collins Band.

  In 1986, ten years after the recording of “That Smell,” the final irony began. Allen Collins crashed his car in a terrible accident, killing his girlfriend and receiving injuries that would permanently paralyze him from the waist down. His upper body was also affected, making it impossible for him to continue with the music he so dearly loved. During his court case, Collins pleaded no contest to the DUI manslaughter charges that were filed against him in Jacksonville, Florida. The haunting first line of “That Smell” stated, “Whiskey bottles, and brand-new cars, oak tree you’re in my way.” Other references refer to “one more drink, fool, would drown you,” and “tomorrow might not be here for you.” It is true that in 1976, Gary Rossington smashed his new car into an oak tree while he was drinking. This, in turn, served as the inspiration for the lyrics to “That Smell.” However, ten years later the irony had come full ci
rcle; Ronnie Van Zant was dead and now Allen Collins had fulfilled the haunting prophecy of the song he had cowritten with Van Zant. In 1987, Lynyrd Skynyrd had reformed for their ten-year tribute. Allen Collins was brought along to serve as musical director. He was able to choose his replacement in the band, and as an integral part of his sentence lectured the crowd on the dangers of driving while drinking and other forms of substance abuse. In 1989, Allen Collins developed pneumonia as a result of his paralysis. He died on January 23, 1990.

  In another bizarre twist, the graves of Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines were disturbed on June 29, 2000. It seems that Ronnie Van Zant’s coffin had been removed from his tomb and was placed on the ground. Steve Gaines’s urn had been opened and was found lying on the ground as well. The Van Zant and Gaines families moved the bodies but have left the monuments for the fans to visit and pay their respect. Today, Ronnie Van Zant’s body lies beneath a slab of concrete to make sure that this terrible feat is never reenacted.

  The Skynyrd curse struck again on July 27, 2001, when bassist Leon Wilkeson’s body was discovered in his hotel room in Ponte Vedra, Florida. The cause of death was determined to be complications from emphysema. During the autopsy, the medications oxycodone and diazepam were found in his system as well as evidence of cirrhosis of the liver. The doctors suggested that the combination of these medications could have slowed Leon’s breathing to the point that he suffocated as he lay face down in his pillow.9 Another terrible debt had been paid at the crossroads.