OFF: Skynyrd/Ed King

[Ted Jackson]

On 6 Aug 2001, at 19:48, mike c wrote:

> "no,artemus is still alive,he was the drummer...met him a coupla years
> ago, really nice guy,but won't be in skynyrd because he believes it's
> not skynyrd without ronnie v.z. ...has a great cooking band of his
> own,though,A.P.B. tim"
>
>
>  Quite admirable, he is also the one who can speak all his words
>  without
> any stutter, very intelligently, and saved a couple of them (living
> Skynyrd members) in the plane crash apparently,,,
>
Same reason I tuned out of LS after Ed King left.  All the really
talented guys were gone, and now, though they've got 2 smokin'
replacement gtrsts, it's more like a LS tribute band.  I saw them a
couple times in the 90s and they were pretty good indeed, but Ed
was still in the band, as was Leon, Billy and Gary--enough to
comprise a decent aproximation of the original group.  Johnny VZ is
an okay stand-in for his bro...

>
> Now if I could get someone to "teach" me about Ed King.....who he
> was/is.....why he left, what's the deal, etc.....as he appeared to be
> a founding member....wasn't he???  what happened?   where did he go?
>
Ed actually played bass on the first LS album--only played gtr on
one song--Mississippi Kid, I think.  Then Leon rejoined the group
and Ed moved to gtr, his 'real' instrument.  He wasn't technically a
founding member of LS--he's a Yankee actually, whose first band
was--get this--Strawberry Alarm Clock.  He was based in the South
at the time though, and hooked up with the rest of the group, who
were all high school buddies, and a few years younger than Ed.
Ed wrote all the best LS stuff:  Sat. Night Spec., Workin' for MCA,
Sweet Home Ala.  He was certainly the most distinctive gtrst, IMO,
probably 'cause he played a Strat whlst all the other LS gtrsts
played Gibsons.  He left the group after the 3rd record--sick of the
road grind and RVZ's excesses.

After the crash the band stayed out of action until a 'tribute' tour in
the 80s.  At that point Ed rejoined the band, thinking it was just a
one-off thing.  Public reaction was favorable, so the band got back
together permanently.  Ed stayed in the group, and made 2 or 3
records with them--LS 1991 and The Last Rebel.  Maybe one more,
can't remember.  Anyway, he developed congestive heart disease,
and could no longer tour, so he's been retired for the last few years.
After EK left, LS added Rickie Medlocke [Blackfoot] and Hughie
Thomasson [Outlaws] on guitar, and have made a few albums with
that lineup.  Haven't heard any of that stuff, but gtr-wise should be
pretty good.  I always considered EK's gtr playing the heart and
soul of LS [apologies to GR fans!] so I quit listening to them after he
left...

theo