was an inspiration. I wish we could’ve parted on easier terms.
guy who wrote that article. It seems he wanted to get the facts straight.
I know you probably get this a lot, but would you mind sharing your thoughts on Ronnie Van Zant? Ronnie was two people. When he was straight, he was one of the finest people I’d ever met; when drunk, he was a mad man. Unfortunately, towards the end of my tenure with the band, he was drunk the whole time. That’s mainly why I left. Working with him just wasn’t fun anymore - and he was the only reason I wanted to join the band anyway. One of my fondest memories of Ronnie,
one that displays his genius, was in January 1975. I had written this entire musical piece in my hotel room. We were working on Nuthin Fancy. He came by the hotel room to hear it and all I told him was “It sounds to me like the song should be about a train.” It took him only 15 minutes to write “Railroad Song” that night. Ronnie never wrote anything down- ever. But as long as the band could re- member the “groove” of the music, the lyrics would always come back to him. One other thing comes to mind- and
this is so cool. Many times, in rehearsal while writing, the band would be playing, it’d get loud, and Ronnie, after completing a verse or two of lyrics in his head, would walk over to me. He’d cup his mouth to my ear and sing me the song! On at least three occasions I was the first person to hear what he’d come up with. I remember hearing “Saturday Night Special” this way and my jaw dropping. He
Tell us about the original reunion of the band, why you left and what you know about Artimus’ leaving. I guess I stuck with the reunion band because I was chasing some kind of dream. I was under the impression that just maybe we could write some music that mattered, and that maybe Johnny Van Zant would do a good vocal. I was misguided, I guess. I did it to my- self.
The ‘91-’93 version of the band was fun.
Custer was a great drummer, and we had some great live shows. Artimus left the band because . . . you’ll have to ask him. It’s way too complicated and I’m not sure I under- stand why. But that version of the band Ron- nie would’ve been proud of. We were tight, energetic and inspired. Every night was a mu- sical surprise. I had a blast. In September of ‘95 I went into con-
gestive heart failure while on the road. I had been diagnosed with an enlarged heart back in late ‘92. I caught a really bad cold and the infection landed in my heart. The only rem- edy is a heart transplant. I held my own from ‘93 thru ‘95. Though touring did get a bit rough at the end. I had hoped to get a new heart and re-
join the band eventually. But the band kind of deserted me and maybe it’s just as well. The doctors say my health is doing a lot better than they expected, and that I may not need a new heart for five years. By that time, they say, new technologies might be available so that I won’t need the new heart at all. Who knows.
I had thought the guys in the band
were closer friends. I was mistaken. Took me a while for that to sink in. I didn’t expect them to support me financially, but I didn’t expect them to forsake me either. The way they handled my “leave of absence” was a dis- grace. I should be grateful to be away from
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