On this day (September 5), in 1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington crashed his brand-new Ford Torino while intoxicated. While he was able to walk away from the accident, he was injured badly enough that the band had to postpone several dates of their One More from the Road tour. This infuriated frontman Ronnie Van Zant, and inspired him to co-write the Southern rock classic “That Smell.”

For many Americans, the three-day Labor Day weekend is full of booze and barbecues. The guys in Lynyrd Skynyrd were prone to partying on a normal day. This turned out to be a horrible combination for two members of the band in 1976. Both Rossington and Allen Collins were involved in separate car accidents over the weekend. The common denominator between those crashes was intoxication.

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Van Zant fined both Rossington and Collins $5,000 for their irresponsible actions’ impact on the band. He also discussed the incidents in an October 1976 interview. “It’s a terrible thing when you get behind the wheel and you’re so drunk that you can’t drive a car to begin with. Those boys will pay for it,” he said of his bandmates. “Allen hit a parked Volkswagen and knocked it across an empty parking lot. That was just a fender-bender compared to Gary’s,” he added.

“He passed out at the wheel of his brand new Ford Torino, with his foot on the gas. He knocked down a telephone pole, split an oak tree, and did $7,000 worth of damage to a house,” Van Zant said of Rossington’s wreck. “That’s just being plain stupid. I told him that on his hospital bed,” he added.

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The writing credits for “That Smell” help to illustrate which of the two Ronnie Van Zant was more upset with. He co-penned the song with Allen Collins. Lynyrd Skynyrd released it as the second single from Street Survivors in October 1977. It failed to chart at the time. However, it remains a favorite among fans.

The opening lines of the song point directly to Gary Rossington’s car wreck–Whiskey bottles, brand new car / Oak tree you’re in my way. Other lines in the song inspired a nickname for Rossington. After writing Now they call you Prince Charming / Can’t speak a word when you’re full of ‘ludes, Van Zant started calling the guitarist Prince Charming.

“That Smell” wasn’t just meant to chasten Rossington and Collins. It was a warning against reckless drinking and substance abuse. The band was familiar with both. However, after years of touring and growing up, Van Zant was ready to slow down. “You know, the biggest change in myself that I’ve noticed is that for the first time I’m really thinking about the future. I’m 27 now, and I’ve got a baby girl, and I plan to stick around and watch her grow up. I also plan to collect for the last 10 years of self-abuse.”

Tragically, that wouldn’t happen. On October 20, 1977, just three days after Street Survivors hit shelves, a plane crash killed Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines, along with the pilot, co-pilot, and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s assistant road manager.

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