Guest Book

I was seeing Skynyrd back in the beginning...at Richards nightclub and other places in ATL. A friend of mine was one of their "nature" providers...many, many years ago! They were a smokin' band - original, aggressive and southern. They played hard and they paid hard... Saw 'em for free at a number of places like Ga. Tech & nightclubs in the area. Saw them open for the Who in the Omni, burn the stage up at Ga. Jam and record at the Fox for two or three nights in July of 73? It was heady times...and rough times. They helped fill the gap for me when the Allmans were struggling... I distinctly knew the difference between the two bands, knew which one I liked more, but back then it wasn't like you had to step on one band to say something good about another. It was like a big 'ol southern family of musicians. Our world was rich with live performances – everybody from the ABB, MTB, Cowboy, Gregg Allman Tour, Dickey Betts, Eric Quincy Tate, Col. Bruce, Sea Level, Grinderswitch, Hank Jr., ARS, Charlie Daniels and on and on. Those were real "coming of age" days for me - losing Duane in 1971, my best friend in 1972 and then Ronnie - it was really tough on this kid - took the wind out of my sails for a long time. Thankfully those sails are pretty full these days - to quote the late Ray Pavlovic “I never thought I’d live long enough or be lucky enough to see Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes all in the same lifetime!” I haven't kept up with the current version of the band...but I wish them well and fondly remember those days way back when we were young – when we all still thought we were invincible… JNB