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Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977, from left: Leon Wilkeson, Allen Collins, Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, Artimus Pyle (standing), Steve Gaines (front), Billy Powell. Publicity photo.<\/p>\n
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St. Pete Catalyst: A lot of water has gone under the bridge in 49 years.<\/p>\n
Artimus Pyle: There\u2019s a band out of Nashville that calls itself Lynyrd Skynyrd, but if Ronnie Van Zant is not your lead singer, it\u2019s not Lynyrd Skynyrd. That name should be retired, just like a jersey and a number from an NBA player.<\/p>\n
Anybody that uses the name Lynyrd Skynyrd must be required to add: A Tribute. That\u2019s what we are. I would never, ever call my band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Because without Ronnie and Steve and the guys, we are just paying tribute. And that\u2019s what they do, but they call it Lynyrd Skynyrd.<\/p>\n
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You said a long time ago that you think about the band, and the plane crash, every day. Is that still the case?<\/p>\n
What I mostly think about is the good stuff. Of course, there was a lot of bad stuff, but there was more good stuff. The fact that Ronnie and Steve had just come together, and there was going to be many more great duets like \u201cYou Got That Right.\u201d There was going to be a lot more incredible writing between Steve and Ronnie. Of course, that never happened. Ronnie was coming into a renaissance period, where he was writing better than ever, and Steve was fresh \u2026 they were so good together.<\/p>\n
In front of 100,000 people or more, Ronnie would walk offstage, maybe towel off, have a drink of water and maybe a smoke, and let Steve Gaines sing \u201cAin\u2019t No Good Life,\u201d by himself, with his (Ronnie\u2019s) band. That showed me the incredible confidence that Ronnie had in Steve. And also in himself.<\/p>\n
Name me one lead singer, in the greatest of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll bands, that would walk offstage in a stadium full of people and let somebody else front his band? I watched it every night.<\/p>\n
We were a group of friends, a family. A camaraderie, a work ethic. Ronnie had an amazing work ethic, and so did we all, because of the inspiration. So there\u2019s lots of good stuff to think about, above and beyond the bloodsucking weasel attorneys.<\/p>\n
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You\u2019ve had a number of sold out dates in Florida recently. Do you think people come to see you because you are a legitimate connection to the actual Lynyrd Skynyrd?<\/p>\n
I hope they do. I hope it\u2019s out of respect and everything. But my band, Jerry and Scott and I, have been doing it for 17 years, through thick and thin. It\u2019s hard for us to tour, and finding gigs that we can play. The band out of Nashville won\u2019t even get on a tour bus for less than $200,000. And we\u2019re not like that. We like to get paid, like anybody else, but we\u2019re not greedy. We get on a bus and travel 20 hours in one direction, play one show and then 20 hours on the bus back home. Nobody does what we do.<\/p>\n
But gigs are not easy to find, and I have issues \u2013 false charges that were brought against me that cause us problems \u2013 so we take \u2018em where we can get \u2018em. And we travel a long way to get \u2018em.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t do it for the amount of money that people think; we do it for a lot less. And I\u2019m proud of my band for doing that.<\/p>\n
Judy Van Zant (Ronnie\u2019s widow) came to our show in Jacksonville last week, and she was blown away by how genuine, sincere, energetic that the band is. I\u2019ve always wanted Judy to hear us. She was going to stay for one or two songs, and she stayed for the whole show. She came backstage and gave us all hugs.<\/p>\n
So at this point, man, it\u2019s all good.<\/p>\n
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Back to the water under the bridge. You haven\u2019t exactly been on the best of terms with the band from Nashville, the Van Zant family, the Rossington-Collins people, et cetera. When Judy did that, was that cool \u2013 did that mean something special to you?<\/p>\n
Absolutely! I stopped talking to all of them for a reason. And it\u2019s a good reason. At this point, I forgive everybody. And I don\u2019t want to be mad at anybody. Things happened in the past, a lot of it lawyers, managers that ripped us off. Cocaine dealers that ruined my band.<\/p>\n
You know, I saw a lot of them at Gary Rossington\u2019s funeral service, and they couldn\u2019t understand why I didn\u2019t come up and shake their hands. A lot of them asked for selfies and I said absolutely not, not at Gary\u2019s service.<\/p>\n
I felt like they worked Gary to death. He was 71 years old. He could have lived a lot longer. But they would always push him back out on the road after he had a heart attack. That pisses me off. Any surgeon would tell you, Gary should have had six months to a year to recover. And then go back out strong.<\/p>\n
All they\u2019re worried about, that crowd in Nashville, is money, money, money. And I have an issue with that. Because what we do is about the music. What Ronnie was about was the music. Sure, he liked his brand new car. He liked his house. He liked being successful.<\/p>\n
But he never went away from the impetus of his heart and his soul, which was the music. Those songs will be here a thousand years from now.<\/p>\n
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