Skynyrd will always be my favorite band. I think this line up is rock solid. Sparky is a nice fit in the Strat slot but does he write any songs? Seems like the time between records is getting longer and longer and when they do make a new record they play 2 songs from it, max. Would people really be upset if they played SHA, Bird, GTS, Smell, and the rest JVZ era songs? If only for part of a tour?

=justafan233 said:Skynyrd will always be my favorite band. I think this line up is rock solid. Sparky is a nice fit in the Strat slot but does he write any songs? Seems like the time between records is getting longer and longer and when they do make a new record they play 2 songs from it, max. Would people really be upset if they played SHA, Bird, GTS, Smell, and the rest JVZ era songs? If only for part of a tour?

=jam56 said:

=justafan233 said:I've often wondered if the Allman Brothers Band got the same kind of lip for not folding up and disappearing when Duane died that Skynyrd has gotten for going on in spite of losses. Anyone remember?

Well, there was no internet then for one thing. If there had been, you can be sure a sh!tstorm would have erupted.

That being said, and not to take ANYTHING away from Duane, he was just one (albeit very important) member of the band. I DO remember when Ed King left Skynyrd, and although there was again, no internet, I remember people saying the band won't be the same. And, like it or not, in many peoples minds this opinion was reinforced with the release of Bullets, certainly considered by many to be their weakest studio album (although some of my favorite LS tunes are on it). If it had been Allen or Gary who left or died, it probably would have been worse (the criticism I mean).

Although so many people try to lump the ABB together with LS, those in the know understand how vastly different the two bands are and have always been. The music & the vibe of the ABB is such that it has easily stood the test of time and the numerous versions of the band that have existed. Their following is not unlike that of the Dead in many ways, IMHO.

I believe that Gary has every right to go on doing what he is doing. Just as any fan has the right to support it, or not to. Matter of personal choice. I will say that I think Gary & company being out there on the road does a lot to introduce new fans to the music of the original band, and that's a good thing. If you go to a Skynyrd show these days, many of the folks in the audience were clearly not even born the day the Freebird fell. If Gary wasn't keeping the music alive, would Skynyrd be as iconic today as they are? Open to debate certainly.

I just wondered because ABB is "Allman Brothers" and they lost an Allman brother. LS wasn't the actual name of anyone they lost. So it seemed to me they should get just as bent out of shape over ABB as over LS. Silly of me to think that matters but I have always wondered about it. I agree about the Internet making a difference in it and I also agree that they wouldn't have the new fans if Gary wasn't still out there. The one thing that has always bothered me about the "controversy", if you want to call it that, is what seems to me to be the sheer heartlessness of it. I mean, if there is anybody at all on the face of the earth who really, truly wishes with all their heart and soul that Ronnie could still be out there singing it would have to be the guy who is currently in that spot. What is wrong with people's heads? We just don't always get what we want. So we have to make the best of what we do have and enjoy it. Ok, enough preaching......

=justafan233 said:Sparky is a nice fit in the Strat slot but does he write any songs?

=justafan233 said:when they do make a new record they play 2 songs from it, max.

=justafan233 said:Would people really be upset if they played SHA, Bird, GTS, Smell, and the rest JVZ era songs? If only for part of a tour?

@ArtimusFan: Thank you...I wondered about that. I remember Ean saying in an interview that LS already had their writers so that is why he was doing a side project (or it was something like that) and I wondered why he couldn't write with them,too.

It was quite a while back, but McSkynyrd had some links to Sparky in two other bands, one with Brady Seals (Hot Apple Pie may have been the name-they were a country band) and another one that was Sparky and two other people (I forget the name). I don't know if he wrote anything with them or not, but if you really want to know, those are out there somewhere. McSkynyrd are you out there???

@jam56: The band is called Triple Shot.

=ArtimusFan said:

=justafan233 said:Sparky is a nice fit in the Strat slot but does he write any songs?

If he does they will not be released as Lynyrd Skynyrd songs. A lot of people do not realize that for a band like Skynyrd to let other people write the songs means those people get paid more if the songs sell, so the core band members like to keep writing and publishing royalties for themselves and usually do not let just anyone write songs for them. So if Sparky is to write any songs he would more than likely have to release them as a solo project.

=ArtimusFan said:

=justafan233 said:when they do make a new record they play 2 songs from it, max.

That is because most of the fans pay to hear the original Skynyrd's songs. Gary has learned from experience that when they try to play new songs that the fans do not accept those songs as well as the old songs and they have watched from the stage as fans lose interest and turn around and turn their backs on the band and go get a beer or use the bathroom so they can get back in their place to hear the end of the set with original band classics like SHA and FreeBird.

So from experience Gary's band has learned to carefully limit the new material so they don't lose the crowd.

Do any of you know the reason for the band touring under the names,

Lynyrd Skynyrd 1988
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1989
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1990
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1992?

Let's see who knows this answer.