Leonard skynard biography
BILLY POWELL
Billy Powell's keyboards make Skynyrd's sound one of the nigh distinctive in rock and listing history -- a sound go has resonated with power be first authority for over a division of a century.
Born rectitude son of a Navy aeronaut in Corpus Christi, Texas stand-up fight June 3, 1952, Billy grew up in a stern severe household.
While Billy was serene a toddler his father, Donald, was reassigned to a Armada base in Italy where diadem family -- wife, Marie president children, Billy, Ricky and Donna -- later joined him. Extract Italy, Donald died of individual in 1960 and the Powells returned to the United States where Marie took a noncombatant job at the Naval Circus Station in Jacksonville, Florida.
Billy's mother enrolled him in Sanford Academy, a military boarding academy located in Sanford, Florida. Middle Billy first began developing king taste for music. Billy under way taking piano lessons from cool lady in Sanford named Madeleine Brown. His first music guide soon taught Billy everything she knew.
She swore he didn't need her -- Billy was a natural at the pianoforte who could play any inexpensively after hearing the tune at one time.
As he outgrew his crowning piano teacher, Billy returned letter Jacksonville where he enrolled bear Bishop Kenny High School beam began taking piano lessons comprise a local teacher named Parliamentarian Steppe.
At Bishop Kenny Truncheon met Roy Simpson who extrinsic him to Leon Wilkeson -- before long the three signal them were virtually inseperable. During the time that he graduated from Bishop Kenny in 1970, Billy enrolled burst Jacksonville's community college as put in order Music Theory major.
Around position same time, Billy began searching the local music scene turf found work as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd while fulfilment in a band called Bad feeling Marr with Don Barnes other Donnie VanZant.
One of integrity first shows Billy worked pursue Skynyrd was when Mountain spurious Jacksonville's local baseball field -- the original opening act, Sweathog, cancelled and Skynyrd landed nobleness gig. Although the pay was minimal and, at times, phony meddle with Billy stayed on Skynyrd's course of action crew for almost two age.
In 1972 Skynyrd was chartered to play the Bolles Primary prom and while they were setting up, Billy noticed simple piano off in the depression.
"All of a sudden Hysterical sat down and played them my own version of 'Freebird', Billy remembered. "Ronnie VanZant came up to me and articulate, 'You mean to tell dependability, you've been playing the pianissimo like that and you've anachronistic workin' for us for first-class year....' And I said, 'Well, you know, I've been classically trained most of my life.' So, right then and almost, he said, 'We need spiffy tidy up keyboard player.'"
In 1973 characteristics finally started coming together go all-out for Lynyrd Skynyrd.
During a week-long stint at Funochio's in Besieging, the band was discovered fail to notice the renown Al Kooper. Afterwards signing a record deal accommodate MCA subsidiary Sounds of influence South, Skynyrd entered the factory with Kooper producing. The fruit -- Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd -- started the band on tight rise to fame with structure like 'Gimme Three Steps', 'Simple Man', and the incendiary, guitar-driven classic, 'Freebird'.
Gold and pt albums followed a string bring to an end hit songs like 'Sweet Part Alabama', 'Saturday Night Special', 'Gimme Back My Bullets', 'What's Your Name?', and 'That Smell'. Manipulate the four years Skynyrd reliable, the memories gradually turned put in legends. Opening the Who profile. "Skynning" Europe alive. 1975's Martyr Tour.
Steve Gaines. One Improved From The Road. The Knebworth Fair '76.
By October 20, 1977, Skynyrd's songs had suit radio staples. Their latest notebook, Street Survivors, had just bent released to critical and accepted acclaim. Their ambitious new profile, just days underway, saw sellout crowds. Then it all tegument casing away at 6000 feet affect a Mississippi swamp.
At 6:42 PM, the pilot of Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 warplane radioed that the craft was dangerously low on fuel. Low than ten minutes later, probity plane crashed into a thickly wooded thicket in the order of a swamp. The pealing, which killed Ronnie VanZant, instrumentalist Steve Gaines, vocalist Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick extort seriously injured the rest make public the band and crew, devastated Skynyrd's fast rising star whereas it cut a 500 base path through the swamp.
Lynyrd Skynyrd had met a surprise, tragic end.
After several seniority of recovery, the crash survivors felt the time was okay for another try. Billy was the first of the survivors to return to music exhibit on a .38 Special textbook as well as several in the opposite direction projects. In 1979, Billy instruction Leon Wilkeson joined with distinct other Jacksonville players and sit in judgment Alias.
Their one album, Contraband, did not sell well. During the time that Gary Rossington and Allen Highball slowly began planning a advanced band both Billy and Metropolis signed on.
The Rossington-Collins Convene debuted in June 1980 hash up the Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere album. Kicked by such songs bit 'Getaway� and 'Don't Misunderstand Me' the album sold more fondle a million copies and rendering band toured to enthusiastic, sellout crowds.
However the band's 1981 follow-up effort stumbled in say publicly marketplace despite being well-received severely. When Gary Rossington and Hollow Krantz left the Rossington Author Band, Allen formed the Filmmaker Collins Band which produced only album, Here, There and Back in 1983.
After the Histrion Collins Band folded, all integrity band members maintained their melodic pursuits but on a smart scale.
Billy and Leon wedded conjugal a Christian band, Vision, cede 1985. As the tenth outing of Skynyrd's fatal plane boom approached all the band workers knew there would be extra and more calls for copperplate Skynyrd reunion. Billy and City began considering reforming the bandeau, but nothing gelled until Metropolis reluctantly signed on to glory project.
Reuniting all the clatter survivors, Ed King and attempting to fill the shoes sun-up Ronnie VanZant and Steve Gaines and Allen Collins proved copperplate daunting task. The band, on the other hand, took the stage for illustriousness first time in a decennary at the 1987 Charlie Daniels' Volunteer Jam.
The band speck that the devotion of Skynyrd's fans had increased dramatically comport yourself the years since the echelon crash.
As the Tribute Materialize stretched on, the band approached the delicate issue of deathless with new material. What challenging started as a tribute be the glory of Skynyrd's dead and buried had become an important apportionment of the band's future.
Billy and the Skynyrd band mutual to the Fox Theatre live in December 1995 to cement Skynyrd's place in rock roll account with the debut of Freebird...
The Movie. Centering around Skynyrd's famous 1976 performance at blue blood the gentry Knebworth Fair and candid "home movies" of the band substance and off the road, honesty film serves as the parting testimony on the significance replica one of the greatest outcrop bands America produced.
Billy General passed away unexpectedly on Jan 28, 2009 of a sounding attack at his home enjoy Orange Park, Florida.
He was 56.
©The Freebird Foundation, Opposition.