Are there any good books out there on Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie, the crash etc.??
Are there any good books out there on Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie, the crash etc.??
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock by Gene Odom and Frank Dorman
Lynyrd Skynyrd-I'll Never Forget You by Gene OdomThe second one is best but lists for $100 on amazon, I got my copy when they first did the reunion tour.
Also this is an interesting site for info and pics from the crash site..
http://www.tennesseeconcerts.com/freebirdplane.html
Thanks for that information, they've been on my mind lately with the 30th aniversary coming up.
I think the most vile and disgusting thing I heard was the fact how some low-life mo-fo's went and desecrated their graves.
Someone tipped over one of the urns and one of the crypts was opened as if someone trying to open up the casket.
Some think someone was trying to see if the rumor was true if Van Zandt was buried wearing a Neil Young t-shirt. Apprently the family dispelled that rumor.
But anyway, the idiots were never found who did such a thing and now the family has moved the bodies and fenced them off so you can't visit.
That is true..It was Steve Gaines ashes that were spilled and Ronnie's crypt..if I remember right he was buried in a flannel shirt, but I could be wrong it's been a long time since I read about that.
There's a bench near Ronnie's crypt that has a beautiful poem by Charlie Daniels
Thanks y'all so much for the info. I also think that it is awful what happened to their graves!
Back when she was helping with the website and running The Freebird Foundation, I exchanged several emails with Judy Van Zant Jenness (sp?) and, if I remember correctly, she told me that Ronnie was buried in jeans and a shirt?? But, I am getting old and this was 6 or 7 years ago. She also told me that as best she can remember, Ronnie had a bruise on his head or temple but his face wasn't all messed up. She also said those days after the crash, during the funeral, etc. are such a blur (I can imagine!)
His casket was closed because he wanted it that way - had always told her he didn't want "people gawking at me" after he was dead.
I didn't want to get too death haggy on her. I was just thrilled that we had a back and forth going because I am a original Skynryd fan. I had an older cousin that was a fan back in the late 60s early 70s before anyone even knew who they were - he played their music even then and got me hooked.
Last edited by Darrianne; 10-19-2007 at 08:09 PM.
One night I was at the Atlanta airport watching a high jacking in progress. It had been a stand off with the police for hours. I was standing with a group of others, near the news van, when over their radio they were told that the Skynyrd plane had gone down, It was a very sad night.
Ronnie was the singer and writer/co-writer of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was killed along with Steve and Cassie Gaines (siblings) in the plane crash in 1977....survivors of the crash say he didn't have a mark on him even though everyone was pretty banged up. In 2000 vandals tried to break into his crypt and did manage to break in Steve Gaines and spill his ashes. After this, Ronnie's grave was moved and his casket was buried in an underground vault that would take a crane to lift. In the attached pics you can see his original crypt, his rather small stone at the burial site of his parents Lacy, who was often seen at later reunited Skynyrd shows , ( with brother Johnnie taking over vocals ), dressed in a confederate uniform and Marion who was known to all as "Sister". There is a bench at the gravesite inscribed with a poem written by Charlie Daniels after learning of Ronnie's death.
I love Ronnie! His wife (widow) is the nicest woman - so is his daughter, Melody.
And then let's listen to "Simple Man", "Gimme Back My Bullets" and "T For Texas". Oh, and "I Need You".
Oh, and I meant to tell you. Judy Van Zant Jenness, his widow, told me in an email in 2001 that she remembers Ronnie having a small bruised place on his temple - that was the only injuries to him that she remembers seeing.
Do you know her personally??? That is sad!!
Did she mention he didn't think he would live past 30 at all? I found an article about that and posted it with the pic!!!
I do believe some people kind of know if they have a short fuse!!
Kind of sad about how most of the members of original band are gone!!!
I met Judy when she was running the Freebird Foundation. We exchanged emails for about a year before she left the Foundation and moved on with her life.
I had a cousin who knew the guys before they ever became famous and used to follow them around to local bars and events they would play at. I was introduced to their music when I was like 8.
She did say that Ronnie never though he would live to be an old man......no specific mention of 30.
I got to see LS 3 times when I was living down south.Great band.I still have the Street Survivors albumn before the post crash editing,flames and all.
"Call me the Breeze"
Ballad of Curtis Loew, listen to it all the time!
Great Band
Didn't his grave get broken into a couple of years ago and they had to move it?
Ha, sorry didn't read the entire post above, yes it was broken into. Kind of hung over this morning!
Do you ever sleep? Oh wait thats right, there is an entire thread dedicated to your sleeping habits!
We have never really talked before, but you do still own me that $5, but thanks for all the great info you provide, you really know your stuff!
I saw Skynard in concert just a few weeks before the crash. It was an awesome show. A cashier in the grocery store(maybe 25 years old)mentioned a while back that she grew up on their music. I told her that I saw them once in concert. She said, "I've seen them eight times!", I said no, I mean before the crash. She was awed.
I once received an envelope full of chest hairs, but there was no $5 in it.
Strange!
Ronnie Van Zant sure rocked those Levi Surperbells
Tuesday's Gone is one of my favorites. One of the first songs I learned on guitar.
That Smell has as dramatic guitar parts as any in rock.
I know that the band's pianist lied in an interview about the manner of death for Ronnie Van Zant and Cassie Gaines, and that the surviving members disagreed and so posted the autopsy reports on the band's website in response (this was in 1998, from what I've read). Does anyone know if those reports are still available online? Thanks!
Don't know if the autopsy reports are available, but I remember Billy Powell (the piano player) saying in an interview that Ronnie had a massive head trauma, but that he appeared otherwise uninjured. Then their was another report that Ronnie had only a very small bruise at the temple area of his head. Otherwise, I think it is generally agreed that Ronnie and Cassie's brother died instantly, whereas Cassie did not. It was stated that she slowly died from loss of blood.
I checked their official site, and a few others with great coverage of the crash, but can't find any signs of the autopsy still being online. The links I found do confirem that Van Zants widow did indeed post the autopsy report online in the eighties
http://www.gbbern.chw.tmz.com/2007/1...bird/#comments
I didn't know he was a sexual preditor? I never heard that story about him until now.
"I'm on the Hunt" is another good one.
Great band with shed loads of great songs. Only the good die young.
That Smell is a great, great song. I cant for the life of me, figure out why people break, or attempt to, into graves. What are they after, the bodies ? or money, what ?
My favorite band of all time. Hard to find a song that I don't like. Crashed on my 15th birthday.
Is there any pics of Ronnie Van Zant's funeral out there on the net anywhere??
"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's Heaven on Earth" - Mark Twain
Hi & welcome Tony!
You know what? I don't know. But I'd be interested in seeing them too if anyone has a link or some pics they'd like to share.
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To be honest, the only pics (and I hate to reply to my own thread) I've ever seen of Ronnie's funeral (at least, I think it was Ronnie's) was during a VH1 "Behind The Music" special they did on Lynyrd Skynyrd....I do know that it was a closed-casket funeral because Judy (Ronnie's widow) said that he never wanted anyone looking at him after he died...which started rumors that Ronnie had been horribly mangled in the plane crash that took his life...but this simply wasn't true (at least from what she has always mentioned). According to Judy, Ronnie only had a bruise the size of a quarter on his right temple...
"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's Heaven on Earth" - Mark Twain
Can`t find any funeral pics, but the trivia I found was pretty interesting....the day that plane crashed, was a total nightmare for me.....I loved Skynard....maybe someone else will have better luck....
Trivia
Had 2 daughters: Tammy and Melody
His grand-daughter is named after him.
On June 29 2000, his grave was vandalized, this prompted his family to move his remains to an unknown location.
The song "Freebird" is now played as a musical tribute in Ronnie's memory.
2 brothers: Johnny Van Zant and Donnie Van Zant.
Was buried next to Steve and Cassie Gaines at Jacksonville Memorial Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida
Ronnie was buried with his fishing pole and his trademark black hat.
The song "I Take A lot Of Pride In What I Am" was played as Ronnie was laid to rest.
Had a closed casket funeral. Many thought this to be because he was horribly disfigured or even decapitated during the 1977 plane crash. That is not true. Ronnie had a bruise about the size of a quarter on his temple (which was the cause of death - blunt head trauma). His wife, Judy, remembered that Ronnie once said he did not wish to have people "gawking" at his body, so she made it a closed casket funeral.
One of his biggest sources of support was his father Lacy Van Zant. The elder Van Zant died on August 3, 2004 in Jacksonville, Florida of pulmonary problems. He was 89 years old.
His body has been moved to Riverside Memorial Park, however his original Memorial Mausoleum is still located at Jacksonville Memory Gardens.
The first pressing of Lynyrd Skynyrd's final album "Street Survivors" showed a photo of the band members engulfed in flames on the cover. It had been on the market for only 3 days at the time of the band's plane crash, so it was recalled and replaced with a photo that originally appeared on the back cover. In both of the photos, Van Zant is wearing a Neil Young "Tonight's the Night" t-shirt (an album which thematically explores premature rock star death). "Street Survivors" was released on Monday October 17 1977, Ronnie died on Thursday October 20 1977, about 18.52 Central Daylight Time, according to the N.T.S.B. crash report.
Brother Donnie was a founding member of rock band .38 Special. After Ronnie's death, his brother Johnny was hired to replace him in Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The song "Free Bird" was written as a simple love song, but later came to be dedicated in concert to guitarist Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band, who died in a motorcycle crash October 1971.
A character in the supernatural thriller called The Coffin (2008) was named after him, in his honor. One of the writers is a big Lynyrd Skynyrd fan.
Planned to produce the debut album for fellow southern rockers Molly Hatchet, but was tragically killed in the plane crash before he could do so.
Was the subject of the 2001 Southern Rock Opera album by The Drive-by Truckers.
Nice thread and pictures, I meet his parents once and they were nice people
I was at a concert, and someone asked me to go accompany a couple to some VIP seats, I thought it was strange that security didn't assist them, but now I see that they didn't want unwanted attention, very sweet people.