Great line from a good movie:
>>>>["Sweet Home Alabama" plays in background]
Garland Greene: Define irony: a bunch of idiots dancing around on a plane to a song made famous by a band that died in a plane crash.<<<<
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I think this would dispute the legend:
>>>>The legendary singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and vocalist Cassie Gaines died in the infamous 1977 plane crash that ended the band's initial run. Guitarist Allen Collins survived the plane crash only to suffer paralysis and, eventually, death in a tragic car accident.<<<<
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Where the name came from:
>>>>However, it was the dress code at cross-town rival Robert E Lee High School that would go down in rock and roll history, largely because of a tough gym teacher named Leonard Skinner. In 1978, Skinner recalled, "I was a gym coach in high school for Ronnie VanZant and of the others in the band. Back in those days we had a dress code. The dress code involved sideburns not coming below the ears; hair not touching the back of the collar; belts had to be worn; shirt tails had to be in; and socks had to be worn at all times. It was among the duties of the coach to help enforce these rules and apparently one of the people, or one or more of the people, that I may have sent down were members of this band."
Trying to get around the dress code's ban on long hair, Gary and the others would use Vasoline before school to slick back their hair and keep it out of their eyes and off their shoulders. Gary remembered thinking they looked like rednecks, but all the teachers thought they had short hair. All except coach Skinner, that was.
Gary recalled, "All the teachers thought we had short hair, but then at gym you had to take a shower - it was mandatory." Remembering the results of those showers, Gary related, "Leonard Skinner would come through the showers while you were doing it, and if he caught you with your hair down touching your ears or something he'd kick you out or send you to the principal. After about 20 or 30 times of doing that to me, and kicking me out for two weeks of suspension, I just quit school. He kicked me out and I said,`____ you, I'm gone!'
"We played at the Forrest Inn a night or two later and as a joke, because Ronie was goofing on me leaving and what happened when Skinner kicked me out, he said `Hey, we're One Percent. We're gonna play for y'all tonight, but we're gonna change our name though. Everybody who wants to change it to Leonard Skinner applaud, Everybody who don't, don't.' Everybody knew Leonard Skinner because he was everybody else's coach too. So everybody roared and cheered and they thought it was a big joke and funny, but we kept it. And later we changed the Y's and stuff so we wouldn't get in trouble and it kind of caught on from that little joke."
After the Forrest Inn date, Bob Burns reinforced the name change by joking that Skinner would come for Gary. Whenever a phone would ring and no one would be on the line or they thought they heard a knock on the door, it was always "Leonard" out to get Gary.
Leonard Skinner grew into Lynard Skynard, and then finally, the band settled on Lynyrd Skynyrd<<<<