Ronnie Van Zant, Fallen Free Bird (Part Two)

Ronnie Van Zant, the eternal Free Bird Ed King, left. Heading into the recording studio, Skynyrd added two important elements to the band.  Ed King met Skynyrd when they were the warmup band for The Strawberry Alarm Clock.  King had written this group’s top ten one hit wonder “Incense and Peppermint,” and jumped at the chance to be the third guitar in Skynyrd’s unique three lead guitar makeup. Skynyrd, 1977, Steve Gaines is second from right, Artimus Pyle is right behind him in the second row. Ed King would eventually be replaced by the brother of backup singer Cassie Gaines.  Steve Gaines was struggling to make a living with obscure Midwestern bands when Ronnie finally agreed to let him play a few songs in a mid 1976 concert appearance.  Gaines was impressive and fit in neatly with the three guitar concept and formally joined Skynyrd in time for their live album, “One More From the road,” recorded live at Atlanta’s Fox theater in July of 1976.  Uncharacteristically, he was not a heavy drinker or drug abuser Artimus Pyle Bob Burns had been replaced by a 6’ 2”, 200 pound ex-marine named Artimus Pyle, who provided even more personality to the lineup.  Van Zant once commented, “We keep him in a cage and feed him raw meat and only let him out when it is time to play.” Ronnie Van Zant current grave marker. Unfortunately, even in death, Ronnie Van Zant has been subjected to chaos and turbulence.  On June 29th, 2000, at the Jacksonville Memory Gardens cemetery, vandals broke into the marble monuments containing the remains of Van Zant and Steve Gaines.  Although this act was initially described as a prank to confirm the urban legend that Van Zant was buried in a Neil Young t-shirt, it was actually a depraved and destructive endeavor that left Van Zant’s apparently unopended coffin completely outside of its resting place.  Additionally the plastic bag containing Steve Gaines’ cremated remains was punctured with about one per cent of its contents removed.  No arrests were ever made following the incident and Van Zant was reburied in what was initially a secret location.  This was eventually revealed to be next to his parents’ graves at the Riverside Memorial Park in Jacksonville, today denoted by a small marker.  However, this time, family and cemetery officials took extreme precautions, entombing Ronnie in a deep, concrete vault that would be immovable without an excavator that could lift several tons.  Besides a Neil Young t-shirt, it is also rumored that Ronnie Van Zant was buried with his favorite cane fishing pole and snakeskin hat, although it is ironic that this ultimate free bird will also spend eternity encased in cement.