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REMEMBERING GUITAR GREAT ED KING THE KING IS GONE


by Michael Buffalo Smith After a long battle with


Cancer, the disease took the life of our friend Ed King on August 22, 2018 at his home in Nashville. King who wrote the signature guitar riff and music for “Sweet Home Ala- bama” (the late Ronnie Van Zant wrote the lyrics), was 68 years old. Ed was a member of


Strawberry Alarm Clock, the band who scored a hit single in the ‘60’s with “Incense and Peppermints.” He joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1972, giving the band their unique three-gui- tar sound. King played on the band’s first three albums before a run in with Van Zant caused him to leave in 1975. Ten years after the fatal plane crash


killed Van Zant and other band members, Ed joined surviving members for a “Tribute Tour” in 1987, and the band kept going. Ed was forced to leave again in 1996 due to con- gestive heart failure. King joined the surviv- ing band members when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. On a personal note, I met and became


friends with Ed following our first interview for GRITZ magazine. I would enjoy two more interviews with the guitarist in years to come, and in the early 2000’s, he agreed to join me for my acoustic set at the annual Winters Brothers Summer Southern Jam in Ten- nessee, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and puff- ing on a stogie, he played his heart out on my original songs. It was one of the biggest thrills


of my life. Later that night, Ed joined the Winters Brothers band for a red hot set of Skynyrd songs. The following day, Ed took a group of


us out for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, flanked by his wife Sharon and former wife Patricia King Lipton, Ed sat at the head of the table, truly looking like the “King.” He was telling the waitress, “Bring us a big ol’ basket of bis- cuits, tubs of gravy, lots of coffee and then we will order.” It was great! In keeping with tradition, we chose to


reprint an archived interview with Ed as a way of remembering him “in his own words.” The interview took place in 1999, and is fea- tured in my new book From Macon to Jack- sonville: More Conversations in Southern Rock (Mercer University Press.)


Ed, tell us a little about your pre-


Lynyrd Skynyrd career, “Incense & Peppermints” and your other accom- plishments. I grew up in Southern California and the


17


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