Steve and Cassie Gaines were buried in Orange Park, Florida on October 23, while a service was held two days later at the Jacksonville Memorial Garden for Ronnie Van Zant, where the attendees included Dickey Betts, Charlie Daniels, Al Kooper, Tom Dowd and members of Grinderswitch, '38 Special and the Atlanta Rhythm Section. In the wake of the disaster, it was replaced by one that placed the band against a simple black backdrop. The cover originally featured the band surrounded by flames. charts, eventually becoming the band's second platinum album. In the wake of the crash, Street Survivors soared to number five in the U.S. The other band members, Billy Powell, plus guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington, bassist Leon Wilkeson, drummer Pyle, Hawkins and others survived, albeit with serious injuries - Powell suffering lacerations to his face and right leg. The pilot attempted to make it to a nearby airstrip, but the plane crashed in swampland a few miles north of Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, his backup singer sister Cassie Gaines, an assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot. He said, ‘Oh my God, strap in.’ We strapped in and minute later we crashed." Plane Crashed In Swampland The pilot said he was just transferring oil from one wing to another and everything was okay. Powell recalled, “The right engine started spluttering and I went up to the cockpit. The resulting album, titled Street Survivors, was released on October 17.Īs the aircraft neared its destination, it ran out of fuel. He also delivered a self-penned blues, Ain't No Good Life, one of few songs so far to feature a lead singer other than Van Zant. Gaines was much to fore at the sessions, sharing lead vocals on You Got That Right and guitar-boogie I Know A Little. However, the sessions failed to ignite, and in July they hit Studio One, Doraville, Georgia to re-record the whole album. At MCA's head office they celebrated the rise of Florida-style Southern Rock.Įarlier in year, during April, Ronnie Van Zant hauled the band down to Criteria Studios, in his home state, to record their 1977 album release with producer Tom Dowd. Also, two of their albums, Give Me Back My Bullets and the live One More For The Road, were huge sellers. “We auditioned a few guys to fill the gap that Ed left,” Van Zant claimed, “Leslie West jammed with us a few times and Wayne Perkins was considered, but the length of time it's taken to get Steve has been worth it.”ĭuring 1976 they'd notched two chart singles - one being a live version of their signature song Freebird, which had gone Top 20. Additionally, he continually expounded the virtues of newcomer Steve Gaines, who had replaced Ed King amid the band's three-man guitar frontline. Guitarist Gary Rossington was back to full fitness following his involvement in a car crash the previous year, while front man Ronnie Van Zant was said to be cleaning up his act after becoming a father.
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