Taken as a whole, these small items gave Pronounced an indie “otherness” to the entire package. Lynyrd Skynyrd could not yet be touted as the “Three Guitar Army” because original bass player Leon Wilkeson (pictured far left seated on the cover with sunglasses & trademark cap) had split before recording commenced because he didn’t trust New York producer and Sounds of the South label owner Al Kooper, which forced the only non-Jacksonville member, Ed King, to fill the bass slot. And the epic-length song “Free Bird”, which would one day define this album, this band, and (to many people) the sound of Southern Rock itself, was buried as the last song on side two and, at over nine minutes in length, doomed forever never to be a single for Top 40 consideration.

Over time the perception seems to have become that Lynyrd Skynyrd had a date with destiny, an almost Shakespearean drama of dreams, aspirations, triumph, and tragedy to which all of us were immediately and keenly aware from the moment of Pronounced‘s release forty Summer’s ago, which is no more true than imagining Will Shakespeare did not toil, struggle, and starve in relative obscurity in his time. Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Billy Powell, Bob Burns, and Ed King had a collective vision even then , but it would be several more years before millions would share it.- Redbeard

]]> http://www.inthestudio.net/previews/huey-lewis-news-sports-30th-anniversary-july-8/feed/ 0 http://www.inthestudio.net/redbeards-blog/ringo-starr-tour-grammy-museum-collection/ http://www.inthestudio.net/redbeards-blog/ringo-starr-tour-grammy-museum-collection/#comments Fri, 14 Jun 2013 17:59:41 +0000 admin http://www.inthestudio.net/?p=13026 The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles just opened a new installation featuring Ringo Starr, and the lovable little guy with the big beat gives you a personal tour, thanks to Rock Cellar online magazine.

(Left to right: Dusty Hill, Frank Beard, & Mr.Clean Billy Gibbons played the high school prom that year. Spelling apparently was phonetic for the year book staff.)

ZZ Top batted ten for twenty over those two decades, a hall of fame average in any league, all the while retaining the same personnel which continues to this day, a record unsurpassed by any working band. In this classic rock interview, Gibbons, Dusty Hill, and Frank Beard discuss why Dusty thinks that being a trio contributes to ZZ Top’s longevity; what Billy saw as the challenges of superstardom after Eliminator; and why Frank Beard is the only member without one.

(Sharp dressed men in their custom-tailored Nudie suits on the Tejas tour circa 1977)

As to their legacy, Billy Gibbons says,”There’s a lot of luck, to start with. Some of these things you would like to prophesy, to plan this going a certain way. And yet it it’s always unpredictable, always probably exactly opposite what you think you’re going to do. But the first few notes that you’re rippin’, the first few chops that you’re stabbin’ at, you just don’t really know where you’re going.”

Dusty Hill:” As much as music changed (over those twenty years), hopefully we changed with it. But we play only one way. I don’t know that we know how to play any other way!”

(July 2007 Dallas. If that’s me on the right, then where’s Frank?)

So saddle up for some serious “geetar squankin” ” In the Studio! -

Backstage Dallas/Ft Worth 11/1/2007 just before taking the stage for the dvd Live in Texas .That’s me front row center