52-521: Thomas Delmer " Artimus " Pyle (born July 15, 1948) is an American musician who played drums with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1974 to 1977 and from 1987 to 1991. He and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Pyle was born in Louisville, Kentucky , the son of homemaker Mildred "Midge" Pyle (née Williams; 1925–2008) and Clarence "Del" Pyle (1921–1971),
104-577: A 2017 injunction attempting to stop production. Pyle learned his craft by listening to the radio and copying drummers such as Ringo Starr , Buddy Rich , Gene Krupa , and Joe Morello of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He received his first set of drums when he was approximately the age of 12, a red sparkle Slingerland kit consisting of one bass drum, one rack tom, one floor tom, and a snare drum. He has described his style as "technical." During his tenure with Lynyrd Skynyrd, he initially played
156-456: A New World . South rock musicians like Little Big Town , Billy Currington and Ryan Adams combine the Southern rock sound with country, bluegrass and blues. This has been propelled by record labels like Capitol Records Nashville , Mercury Nashville and Lost Highway Records . Southern metal is a fusion genre combining southern rock with heavy metal music. It appeared in the 1990s and
208-554: A band called Remez with fellow student Rabbi Karmi Ingber. When he departed, he donated his drum kit to the yeshiva. Pyle reflected on these years in the song "I Live in Jerusalem" on a 2007 solo album. In an interview with the Lucas H. Gordon Show posted online in 2013, Pyle is asked why he went to Israel for three years, to which he replied, "I was trying to become a better human being." Pyle and several other bandmates also worked with
260-415: A band. Naming themselves The Noble Five, with the additions of guitarist Allen Collins and bassist Larry Junstrom , they later changed the name of the band to The One Percent before eventually settling on the name Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1969. Rossington grew up in a single-parent household and said that early in their relationship, Van Zant became something of a father figure to him. He credited Van Zant, who
312-487: A chrome-plated Jazz Rock Slingerland kit that he had purchased with his Marines discharge check. It featured two rack toms (14 and 15 inches); two floor toms (16 and 18 inches); two bass drums (24 inches); and a Rogers Dynasonic snare drum (14 x 6.5 inches). Later, the Slingerland Drum Company built him a set of blonde-maple drums with red mahogany rims. This kit consisted of four tom-toms up, two toms on
364-645: A construction superintendent who was awarded a Purple Heart after being shot in the leg while serving with the U.S. Marines in the South Pacific during World War II . He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1968. He was named platoon and series honorman and promoted to private first class following completion of boot camp in San Diego. Eyeing a career in civil aviation, Pyle worked as an avionics mechanic at various military bases, including Millington, Tennessee, and Beaufort, South Carolina, ultimately rising to
416-434: A creek and a field to a farmhouse to get help. The appearance of Pyle alarmed the 21-year-old farmer Johnny Mote, who mistook him for an escaped convict and fired a warning shot over Pyle's head. Pyle would later joke he was hit in the shoulder, but his other accounts differ. Mote also refutes the claim of Pyle being shot, when interviewed at the crash scene for VH1's 2002 documentary Lynyrd Skynyrd's Uncivil War . Mote realized
468-696: A group which fused rock, country, blues, and jazz. Erlewine described the band's sound as "a distinctly Southern blend" which emphasized improvisation in their instrumentation. After the success of " The Devil Went Down to Georgia ", a single which Erlewine described as a "roaring country- disco fusion", Daniels shifted his sound from rock to country music and "helped shape the sound of country-rock ". The Marshall Tucker Band , from Spartanburg, South Carolina, opened many of The Allman Brothers Band concerts using elements of blues , country rock and blues rock in their music. They also collaborated with Charlie Daniels. Their self-titled album, released in 1973, included
520-467: A hybrid Lynyrd Skynyrd group with 4 original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd including, Ed King, JoJo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins. The band was put together by Ed King's friend and guitarist Mark Basile that also featured several other musician from New York. The band played several shows, raising awareness to UNOS, an Organ Donor Charitable Organization. In 2007, Pyle released the album Artimus Venomus on Storm Dog Records Group/ Cleopatra Records . Several of
572-581: A jury trial. He was sentenced to probation and required to register as a sex offender . In 2007, Pyle was charged with failure to register as a sex offender in St. Johns County, Florida . He rejected a plea bargain offer and was acquitted by a jury in 2009. Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana . It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll , country music , and blues and
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#1732787537090624-491: A mother," according to Stephen Thomas Erlewine . Erlewine described Daniels as "a redneck rebel, not fitting into either the country or the rock & roll [...] but, in retrospect, he sounds like a visionary, pointing the way to the future when southern rockers saw no dividing lines between rock, country, and blues , and only saw it all as sons of the south." Daniels later formed the Charlie Daniels Band,
676-434: A new Ford Torino and hit an oak tree while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. The band was forced to postpone a tour scheduled to begin a few days later, and Rossington was fined US$ 5,000 for the delay his actions caused to the band's schedule. The song " That Smell ", written by Van Zant and Collins, was based on the wreck and Rossington's state of influence from drugs and alcohol that caused it. Rossington
728-657: A performance of the Allmans' " Whipping Post " and later performing Skynyrd's " Free Bird " and, with Skynyrd on stage with him, "Sweet Home Alabama". Southern rock currently plays on the radio in the United States, but mostly on oldies stations and classic rock stations. Although this class of music gets minor radio play, there is still a following for older bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers play in venues with sizable crowds. A number of books in
780-544: A short-lived trio called Alias on their album Contraband . The group consisted of Dorman Cogburn, a childhood friend of Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington ; vocalist Jimmy Dougherty, who went on to sing on the Allen Collins Band 's solo album, and former Skynyrd backing vocalist JoJo Billingsley . These collaborations set in motion the formation of the Rossington Collins Band , with all
832-587: Is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculates the term "Southern rock" may have been coined in 1972 by Mo Slotin, writing for Atlanta's underground paper, The Great Speckled Bird , in a review of an Allman Brothers Band concert. Rock music's origins lie mostly in the music of the American South , and many stars from the first wave of 1950s rock and roll such as Bo Diddley , Elvis Presley , Little Richard , Buddy Holly , Fats Domino , and Jerry Lee Lewis hailed from
884-447: Is performed by bands such as Texas Hippie Coalition , Norma Jean , and He Is Legend . Gary Rossington Gary Robert Rossington (December 4, 1951 – March 5, 2023) was an American musician best known as a founding guitarist of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd , with whom he performed until his death. Rossington was also a founding member of the Rossington Collins Band , along with former bandmate Allen Collins . Rossington
936-540: The Atlanta Rhythm Section , ZZ Top , Black Oak Arkansas , Potliquor , Barefoot Jerry , Grinderswitch, Wet Willie , Blackfoot , Johnny Winter , Edgar Winter Group, and Sea Level. Charlie Daniels ' self-titled debut album , released in 1970, was a pivotal recording in the development of the Southern rock genre, "because it points the way to how the genre could and would sound, and how country music could retain its hillbilly spirit and rock like
988-539: The Deep South . However, the British Invasion and the rise of folk rock and psychedelic rock in the middle 1960s shifted the focus of new rock music away from the rural south and to large cities like Liverpool , London , Los Angeles , New York City , and San Francisco . In the 1960s, rock musician Lonnie Mack blended black and white roots-music genres within the framework of rock, beginning with
1040-567: The Rossington Collins Band . By the beginning of the 1980s, the Allman Brothers Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd had disbanded, and Capricorn Records had gone bankrupt. Leading acts of the genre (in particular, 38 Special ) had become enmeshed in arena rock . With the rise of MTV , new wave , funk , urban contemporary, and heavy metal , most surviving Southern rock groups were relegated to secondary or regional venues. Rock musicians such as Molly Hatchet, Outlaws , Georgia Satellites ,
1092-714: The Skynyrd Tribute tour and joined the reformed Lynyrd Skynyrd in recording Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 before departing the band during a show in Toronto on August 2, 1991. In a radio interview with Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax on The FOX in Denver , Colorado, on the 20th anniversary of the crash, Pyle said, "I left the band in 1991 basically because there was a problem with drugs and alcohol and I felt as though we should have put all that stuff behind us years and years ago." Both Pyle and his predecessor, Bob Burns, performed with
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#17327875370901144-730: The Tedeschi Trucks Band ( the Derek Trucks Band ), Warren Haynes, Gov't Mule , Chris Duarte Group, Dixie Witch , Whiskey Myers , Widespread Panic , the Black Crowes , Blackberry Smoke , Kid Rock , and the Allman Betts Band are continuing the Southern rock art form. In 2005, singer Bo Bice took an explicitly Southern rock sensibility and appearance to a runner-up finish on the normally pop-oriented American Idol television program, with
1196-495: The 2000s have chronicled Southern rock's history, including Randy Poe's Skydog: The Duane Allman Story and Rolling Stone writer Mark Kemp 's Dixie Lullaby: A Story of Music, Race & New Beginnings in a New South . Turn It Up was released by Ron Eckerman, Lynyrd Skynyrd's former manager and plane crash survivor. Sociologist Jason T. Eastman analyzes contemporary Southern rock to illustrate changes in today's southern identity in his book The Southern Rock Revival: The Old South in
1248-551: The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Jimmie Vaughan, Point Blank, Tom Petty , Bruce Hornsby, Steve Earle, Widespread Panic , and Kentucky Headhunters , emerged as popular Southern bands across the southeastern United States during the 1980s and 1990s. During the 1990s, the Allman Brothers reunited and became a strong touring and recording presence again, and the jam band scene revived interest in extended improvised music. Georgia 's alternative rock band R.E.M. released
1300-463: The Les Paul, he used various other Gibson Guitars including Gibson SGs . Gibson also released a Gary Rossington SG/Les Paul in their Custom Shop. For most of his career, he played through Marshall and Peavey amplifiers. In 1976, Rossington and fellow Skynyrd guitarist Allen Collins were both involved in separate car accidents in their hometown of Jacksonville. Rossington had just bought
1352-702: The album Fables of the Reconstruction which explicitly invokes the Reconstruction Era in the title and is considered a Southern Gothic album. The 1990s also saw the Black Crowes rise to mainstream popularity with the releases of Shake Your Money Maker (3× platinum), the Southern Harmony and Musical Companion (debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 and certified 2× platinum), and Amorica (certified Gold). New musicians such as
1404-569: The albums Gimme Back My Bullets , One More from the Road , Street Survivors , Legend , Southern by the Grace of God and Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 . He survived the 1977 plane crash that killed lead vocalist and songwriter Ronnie Van Zant , guitarist Steve Gaines , backing vocalist Cassie Gaines , assistant Road Manager Dean Kilpatrick, and the two pilots. Pyle suffered torn chest cartilage but managed to stumble several hundred yards through
1456-535: The charges, claiming the girls had been abused by people connected to babysitters in a Jacksonville mobile home park who held a grudge against him. Moreover, he claimed the allegations were an attempt to extort money from the Lynyrd Skynyrd organization. Weeks before the trial was due to start in January 1994, Pyle pleaded no contest rather than risk a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment if found guilty in
1508-551: The crash, he battled serious drug addiction for several years, largely the result of his heavy dependence on pain medication taken during his recovery from the plane crash. Rossington co-founded the Rossington Collins Band with Collins in 1980. The band released two albums, but disbanded in 1982 after the death of Collins' wife, Kathy. Along with his wife, Dale Krantz-Rossington, he then formed The Rossington Band , which released two albums in 1986 and 1988. Until his death in 2023, Rossington still played with Lynyrd Skynyrd. With
1560-494: The current version of Lynyrd Skynyrd following the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. Pyle declined to join a 2018 Lynyrd Skynyrd Farewell Tour but is still a working musician and continues to tour with The Artimus Pyle Band He also wrote the film Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash which premiered in 2020, after a legal dispute which included
1612-650: The death of bassist Larry Junstrom in 2019, he became the last surviving original member of the band. He also became the only member of the US rock band to appear on all of its albums. Rossington and Dale Krantz-Rossington were married in 1982 and had two daughters. Rossington suffered a heart attack on October 8, 2015, after which two Lynyrd Skynyrd concerts had to be canceled. In July 2021, he underwent emergency heart surgery. Rossington died at his home in Milton, Georgia , on March 5, 2023, at age 71. The cause of his death
Artimus Pyle - Misplaced Pages Continue
1664-444: The ear of Rick Hall , owner of FAME. In November 1968, Hall hired Allman to play on an album with Wilson Pickett . Allman's work on that album, Hey Jude (1968), got him hired as a full-time session musician at Muscle Shoals and brought him to the attention of a number of other musicians, such as Eric Clapton, who later related how he heard Pickett's version of "Hey Jude" on his car radio and called Atlantic Records to find out who
1716-532: The floor, with a double bass drum. He specified no resonant heads on the bottom for better microphone placement, although it made drum-tuning more of a challenge. His cowbell was an actual cowbell. Pyle plays in several bands in the Asheville, North Carolina , area. He also tours the United States with a new incarnation of the Artimus Pyle Band that plays Lynyrd Skynyrd tunes note-for-note faithful to
1768-443: The guitarist was: "To this day," Clapton said, "I've never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record. It's the best." Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971. Their blues rock sound incorporated long jams informed by jazz and also drew from native elements of country and folk . They were also contemporary in their electric guitar and keyboard delivery. Gregg Allman commented that "Southern rock"
1820-546: The hit " Can't You See ". Perhaps known best for the single " Fire on the Mountain ," the Marshall Tucker Band hit "Heard it in a Love Song" charted in 1977. Lynyrd Skynyrd played British hard rock influenced music until the deaths of lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and two other members of the group in a 1977 airplane crash . After this tragic plane crash, members Allen Collins and Gary Rossington started
1872-508: The hit song "Memphis" in 1963. Music historian Dick Shurman considers Mack's recordings from that era "a prototype of what later could be called Southern rock". The Allman Brothers Band , from Jacksonville, Florida , made their national debut in 1969 and soon gained a loyal following. Duane Allman 's playing on the two Hour Glass albums and an Hour Glass session in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama had caught
1924-489: The lawsuit kept the book from being published indefinitely. Pyle lives in Morganton, North Carolina. He has three sons, two daughters, two grandchildren and has been married twice. His interests include cars, motorbikes, horses and watching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show and Gomer Pyle . He is also a vegetarian. In 1993, Pyle was charged with attempted capital sexual battery and lewd assault on two girls. He denied
1976-568: The rank of sergeant. He was honorably discharged in 1971. After playing with Thickwood Lick in Spartanburg, South Carolina , Pyle joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1975. He initially played alongside, and then replaced, original drummer Bob Burns . He made his recording debut in August of that year on "Saturday Night Special" , which became the first single from the band's third album, Nuthin' Fancy . In addition to Nuthin' Fancy, Pyle also played on
2028-592: The recorded versions. Former Lynyrd Skynyrd member Ed King has instructed Pyle's bandmates on the original chords and tunings. In 2004, Pyle recorded four studio tracks on Southern Rock band Rambler's album First Things First with vocalist Pat Terranova, guitarist Mitch Farber, bassist Willy Lussier and acoustic guitarist and vocalist Rikki Cuccia. In 2007, he toured with the band Deep South, whose lineup also included Wet Willie vocalist Jimmy Hall and former Atlanta Rhythm Section members Robert Nix and Dean Daughtry. In 2005, Pyle joined The Saturday Night Special Band,
2080-458: The representatives and heirs of Allen Collins and Steve Gaines. They claimed his involvement in a low-budget feature film about the band's plane crash infringed upon a consent decree the band agreed to in 1988. In October 2017, Pyle was going to publish his memoir, Street Survivor: Keeping the Beat in Lynyrd Skynyrd , co-written with journalist Dean Goodman, through Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard. However,
2132-622: The situation when Pyle shouted that there had been a plane crash, helped Pyle inside his house and was part of the initial rescue party. About the same time local rescuers, who had just completed a Civil Defense drill, converged on the scene and Pyle directed them to the crash site where the dead and the injured were located. On January 13, 1979, the surviving members of Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited for Charlie Daniels ' fifth annual Volunteer Jam concert in Nashville. They played an instrumental version of "Free Bird". Bassist Leon Wilkeson watched from
Artimus Pyle - Misplaced Pages Continue
2184-499: The survivors plus Dale Krantz on lead vocals and Barry Lee Harwood on guitar. Pyle was forced to drop out after breaking his leg in 21 places following a collision with a drunk driver. Pyle was replaced by Derek Hess. In 1982, Pyle began recording and touring with the Artimus Pyle Band (A.P.B.), including Darryl Otis Smith, John Boerstler, Steve Brewington, and Steve Lockhart. A.P.B.'s albums include A.P.B. (1981), Nightcaller (1983) and Live from Planet Earth (2000). Pyle took part in
2236-469: The tunes referenced his personal tribulations, including "Blood Sucking Weasel Attorneys" and "Dead Rock Stars, Widows, Gigolos, Pocket Money." Guests included Ed King and former Lynyrd Skynyrd backing singers Jo Jo Billingsley and Leslie Hawkins. In 2014, Pyle was a guest performer on Eli Cook 's album, Primitive Son . In June 2017, Pyle was sued by Ronnie Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant, Gary Rossington, current Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Johnny Van Zant , and
2288-651: The wings because he was still unable to play. Following the crash, Pyle spent three years living in Jerusalem , studying at the Diaspora Yeshiva . The yeshiva was known for attracting spiritual seekers from the hippie and counterculture movements, whether they were Jewish or not. Many of the students were professional or semi-professional musicians. Pyle played with the house band, the Diaspora Yeshiva Band , during informal gatherings, and formed
2340-525: Was Rossington's love of baseball that indirectly led to the formation of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the summer of 1964. He became acquainted with Ronnie Van Zant and Bob Burns while playing on rival Jacksonville baseball teams and the trio decided to jam together one afternoon after Burns was injured by a ball hit by Van Zant. They set up their equipment in the carport of Burns' parents' house and played The Rolling Stones' then-current hit " Time Is on My Side ". Liking what they heard, they immediately decided to form
2392-414: Was a 1959 Gibson Les Paul which he had purchased from a woman whose boyfriend had left her and left behind his guitar. He named it "Berniece" in honor of his mother, whom he was extremely close to after the death of his father. Rossington played lead guitar on " Tuesday's Gone " and the slide guitar for " Free Bird ". Along with Collins, Rossington also provided the guitar work for "Simple Man". Besides
2444-430: Was a redundant term, like "rock rock." Early 1970s, popular musicians in the southern area included Creedence Clearwater Revival (from California ), Dale Hawkins , Delaney & Bonnie , Janis Joplin , Leon Russell , and Tony Joe White . Lynyrd Skynyrd of Jacksonville, Florida, is known for " Free Bird ", " Sweet Home Alabama ", "Saturday Night Special", and "What's Your Name". 70s southern rock bands include
2496-412: Was knocked unconscious; he awoke some time later on the ground with the plane's door on top of him. Days later, Rossington was informed in the hospital by his mother that Van Zant and the others had been killed. Rossington recovered from his injuries and played on stage again, with steel rods in his right arm and right leg. Though in time Rossington fully recovered from the severe injuries sustained in
2548-490: Was one of 20 passengers who survived the October 20, 1977, plane crash near McComb , Mississippi , that claimed the lives of Lynyrd Skynyrd members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines , Cassie Gaines , and three others. As the passengers braced for impact, Rossington recalls hearing what sounded like hundreds of baseball bats hitting the plane's fuselage as it began striking trees. The sound got louder and louder until Rossington
2600-614: Was suspended for having long hair. Lacy Van Zant explained to the assistant principal that Rossington's father, who died shortly after Rossington was born, had died in the Army and that Rossington's mother needed the money Rossington made playing in his band. Lacy Van Zant further explained that, like his own sons, they were working men and long hair was part of the job. It is not known if the elder Van Zant's efforts were successful, but Rossington later dropped out of high school to focus on Lynyrd Skynyrd full-time. Rossington's instrument of choice
2652-706: Was the last surviving founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the only original member left in the band at the time of his death. Rossington was born in Jacksonville, Florida . His mother recalled that he had a strong childhood interest in baseball and aspired as a child to one day play for the New York Yankees . Rossington recalled that he was a "good ball player" but upon hearing the Rolling Stones in his early teens he became interested in music and ultimately gave up on his baseball aspirations. It
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#17327875370902704-461: Was three years his senior, with teaching him and his bandmates how to drive a car, as well as introducing them to "all that stuff you learn when you're 14, 15, 16". According to a New York Times article, Lacy Van Zant, patriarch of the Van Zant family, once went to West Jacksonville's Robert E. Lee High School to plead Rossington's case to school administrators after the fatherless Rossington
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