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(Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n
Sat 20 September 2025 19:45, UK <\/p>\n
As is the perennial theme of 1970s classic rock, the creeping presence of drugs and alcohol began to derail Lynyrd Skynyrd<\/a> just as fortunes were looking certain.<\/p>\n Lynyrd Skynyrd had been slogging it for the best part of ten years under various band names before settling on their namesake lampoon of their stuffy PE teacher from high school. Before long, their distinctive blend of country, blues, and hard rock would thrust the Jacksonville band to the definitive act of the southern rock explosion, finding near universal acclaim with 1973\u2019s (Pronounced \u2018L\u0115h-\u2018n\u00e9rd \u2018Skin-\u2018n\u00e9rd) and its immortal \u2018Freebird\u2019.<\/p>\n Further albums would follow around their defining \u2018Sweet Home Alabama\u2019, but internal fractures would test Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s resolve. The original drummer, Bob Burns, had called it quits, producer Al Kooper had distanced himself after dissatisfaction with the Nuthin\u2019 Fancy sessions, and guitarist Ed King walked away halfway through its associated tour. Plenty of drink, cocaine, and heroin had entered Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s lives too, frontman Ronnie Van Zant<\/a> claiming the indulgences were to ease the pressure of performing to large crowds.<\/p>\n The abuse of drink and drugs began to trigger reckless behaviour. While recording Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s fifth album, guitarist Gary Rossington crashed his Ford Torino with new additional guitarist Allen Collins into an oak tree along Jacksonville\u2019s Mandarin Road while whacked on Quaaludes. Significantly delaying the album sessions, Van Zant found the time to absorb the accident\u2019s bad vibes that had only compounded the dark clouds hovering over the band during the tail-end of 1976. <\/p>\n \u201cI had a creepy feeling things were going against us, so I thought I\u2019d write a morbid song,\u201d Van Zant stated.<\/p>\n Appearing on 1977\u2019s Street Survivors, \u2018That Smell\u2019 sought to capture the pervading fog of destruction that held its grip on Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Zant articulating death\u2019s malevolent stench ever inching closer as the partying turns stale and ever less fun. Highlighting the crash specifically, Rossington had found himself gifted with a new moniker: \u201cNow they call you Prince Charming \/ Can\u2019t speak a word when you\u2019re full of \u2018ludes \/ Say you\u2019ll be alright come tomorrow \/ But tomorrow might not be here for you\u201d.<\/p>\n