![]() ![]() His guitar and singing talent challenged and rejuvenated the band. Little known facts: Raised in Missouri, Gaines came aboard as the band's third guitarist, after an on-stage jam/audition in 1976. Later that year, he and schoolmates Gary Rossington and Allen Collins formed a group - alternately called My Backyard and The Noble Five - that they would redub Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1970. The others knew they couldn't beat Ronnie in a fight, so Ronnie became the singer. He went to the audition and announced that he was the new frontman. Little known facts: In early 1964, Ronnie heard that students he knew at Lakeshore Junior High in Jacksonville, Fla., were putting together a band and needed a singer. Stay tuned to the Forbes Lifestyle channel.Died: Band's plane wreck outside of Gillsburg, Miss. ( Editor’s Note: In future parts of this interview series with Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, we cover how he went for help after the plane crash, his recent movie, “Street Survivors: The True Story Of The Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash,” Pyle’s current projects, his early drum influences and more. ![]() When I saw them, I knew I had to live until I could get some help. It was just flesh and blood to me, because their souls and spirits had already come out of those bodies. One was decapitated, and one was hanging in a tree, body parts. I started putting one foot in front of the other. Every second a drop of blood drips out is a step closer to death. I knew that the only thing that would help them was to go get help. I did some triage I had learned in the Marine Corps, on a couple of people. I got out through a hole underneath me, pushed through the jagged metal, cut myself up. The pilots were responsible for a lot of it. Every plane crash has several things that happen in a row to cause it. They trusted the gauges on a 1947 Convair, which is stupid. They didn’t check the wing tanks to make sure they were fueled. Why didn’t I do that? The pilot and copilot didn’t know what they were doing. What am I supposed to do, punch the guy in the face and drag him out of the cockpit when we’re that close to the ground, then fly the plane myself? Years later, I thought about it. He said, “Artimus, you had better go back and strap yourself in.” What I really heard him say was, “If you want to live, you had better get out of this cockpit.” All the while I was playing stewardess, going back and forth from the cockpit, saying, “Put out your damn cigarettes, tighten your seat belts, brace for impact, get something to put in your lap.” When I went back to the cockpit for the last time, the pilot turned around. if we landed on I-55, we would have wanted our landing gear down. If we were to belly land in a field, the landing gear would trip us. Then they tried to get it back up, but didn’t have enough power. I heard a guy named Clayton Johnson, who worked for Bill Graham and was looking out of the window, say one word, “Trees.”Īnother mistake the pilots made is that they lowered the landing gear. When we came out, we were over trees, close to the tops. That’s the front of the plane.’ But we were in the heat of the moment. At one point, we became a glider in the clouds looking for a hole to land. ![]() When he came past me, I thought, ‘Bad idea. He stopped right at my seat on the way, and we did the old hippie handshake. When he stayed in the back of the plane, I thought, ‘Good idea.’ But he came forward with a crimson velour velvet pillow. ![]() Anyway, when we got on the plane, he and I shook hands, and I could see in his eyes that he knew. You’re going to live forever.” Well, he was in his saddle with his boots on going to a gig on tour. At the time, I just said, “Oh Ronnie, don’t talk like that. He told me in Tokyo, Japan, that he would never live to see 30, and that he would go out with his boots on. When I got on that plane, stepped onto the back and climbed up, Ronnie said, “Ok we’re all here, let’s go.” If Ronnie says go, then it’s go. We were so happy just to have gigs that we didn’t question things when we should have. ![]()
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