12/19/2023 0 Comments Lynyrd skynyrd racist![]() He once described his career with a brevity and sincerity rarely seen in show business. The music he wrote really was the soundtrack of a generation or two."Įven publications that purport to focus on the South don't always recognize him - consider this supposed history of the song by Country Living magazine, in which King's name is entirely omitted. aback by Young’s early 70’s songs Southern Man and Alabama, which attacked the south for its backwards, racist past. Black music got blacker while white southern. as a guitarist I don't think he ever got the credit he was due. Ronnie Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynyrd. The racial cross-pollination of the southern soul era in Alabama hotspot Muscle Shoals (namechecked in Skynyrd's Sweet Home) came to a shuddering halt. "If that was all (King) was known for I think that would be worth remembering, but all of his work with Skynyrd was just amazing. "I don't know anyone who doesn't 'know' the intro lick to 'Sweet Home Alabama,' " guitarist Andrew Michael Sovine told the Tennessean. Perhaps it's because of his modesty, or perhaps its because he left the band for a stretch, but King's name is often lost to the annals of Skynyrd history. Was Lynyrd Skynyrd a racist rock band They used to hoist a flag at their concerts, which many people think represents racism. I'm not digging the violence part," King added. "I'm the hippie from Southern California. I had to play on old strings and I broke two strings during 'Free Bird.' After, Ronnie was riding me, and a light bulb went off and I said, 'That's it.' I went back to my room, packed up my stuff and left." The breaking point, King said in the documentary "If I Leave Here Tomorrow," came in 1975 when "Ronnie and my guitar roadie who changed my strings were thrown in jail in Ann Arbor. 'Through the years, people like the KKK and skinheads kinda kidnapped the Dixie or Southern flag from its tradition and the heritage of the soldiers, thats what it was about,' Gary Rossington, the bands guitarist, said. Eventually, King found himself on the receiving end of the singer's wrath, and he decided to walk away. In a previous interview with CNN, Lynyrd Skynyrd had said they were wary of the flags association with hate groups. The band often found itself in physical fights, reportedly fueled by Van Zant. And King eventually left the band precisely because he didn't feel like he fit in. The song's reception certainly doesn't square with King's California hippie ethos. Because no matter where you're from, sweet home Alabama or sweet home Florida or sweet home Arkansas, you can relate," Rossington added. "Ronnie painted a picture everyone liked. The song has become a rallying cry for the South, one often used in Republican political rallies - Donald Trump's included. ![]() ![]() It wasn't cutting him down, it was cutting the song he wrote about the South down." We loved Neil Young and all the music he's given the world. Neil Young had 'Southern Man,' and it was kind of cutting the South down. When we were out in the country driving all the time, we would listen to the radio. Still, as Rossington said in an interview, "Everyone thought it was about Neil Young, but it was more about Alabama.
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