Flying High

Alex Smith was jacked up on Opening Night and catapulted the Freebirds to the top of the BDFL in Week 1

The newly re-named Freebirds soar in Week 1

DOLOMITE, AL - According to Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington, fellow guitarist Allen Collins had written the initial chords to Freebird a couple of years before lead vocalist Ronnie Van Zant took much notice to the tune. Van Zant had always insisted there were way too many chords to the music for him to create a melody in the belief that the melody needed to change alongside the chords. After Collins played the unused sequence at a rehearsal one day, Van Zant asked him to repeat it, then wrote out the melody and lyrics in three to four minutes. The guitar solos that finish up the song were originally added to give Van Zant a chance to rest, as the band was used to playing several sets per night at honky tonks at the time. Shortly thereafter, the band learned that piano-playing roadie Billy Powell had written an introduction to the song and upon Ronnie hearing it, they included the intro as the final touch to the song. This significant contribution to the song elevated Powell to formally join the band as their keyboardist. In another interesting note about the song, Allen Collins' girlfriend, Kathy, whom he later married, once asked him, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" Collins took note of the question and it eventually became the opening line of this Lynyrd Skynyrd classic