and right next to it was a big warehouse with 16’ ceilings. I started allowing bands to rehearse there if I was booking them. They would leave their equipment there locked up. One day Jackie came up to me and said he


Ronnie Van Zant.


and both of my parents had served during World War II. So, they looked at me and said, “We’re aware of your family. We’re going to give you the deferment, but you’d better be in Law School. If not, we will pick you up so fast and send you to Fort Benning it will make your head spin.” I said “Trust me. I will be in Law School.” So, while I was teaching at Southside Jun-


ior High, they wanted to have a Valentine’s Day dance for the students. Just before this, a friend of mine, Jackie Holeman, had me over to his house and showed me a band that was rehearsing in his garage. He told me I needed to book them. So then came this need for a Valentine’s Day dance. I raised my hand, and that’s when I got into the music business. Back then I was making $600 a month, $450 after taxes. So, I booked the band and got them $250. At the end of the night, Jackie came up and shook my hand and gave me $45. I said, Jackie, you don’t have to do this. He said, well, we want you to book us some more. I said, well, I don’t know if I can get more book- ings. So, I was in class and got called to the office. Some teacher from another school said, “We heard you have this great band and we want to book them.” So, I started booking them, and then started booking other bands. Then I got an office


had a band he wanted me to listen to that was re- ally good. Well, back then you were either playing British rock or soul music- Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Sam and Dave, Carla Thomas, that type of stuff. I asked what they sounded like and he said they kind of did their own thing, but they did “Crossroads” and some other songs I’d recognize. I said, who do I need to meet with. He said. “The guys name is Ronnie Van Zant.” So, Ronnie comes over to my office. He’s short. He’s like a lit- tle fire plug, but he looked like he’d rip your head off if you pissed him off. He told me they had just changed their name from One Percent to Lynyrd Skynyrd, and he needed somebody to book them and manage them. I told him I needed to see them play live. He said that they would be playing for a telethon that Friday and may even be on TV. I told him I’d come over to see them. It was an outdoor event, and there were about 200 people in the audience. I saw the band that played first, they were a pretty good little ol’ band. Then Skynyrd began setting up and by the time they played there were about 2,000 people out there, and they rocked the house. You could get a con- tact high out there. Everybody was smoking dope. At the end of their show, the crowd went back down to about 200 again. So, Ronnie asked me what I thought. I told him it was great and I’d like to work with them. He asked if I could book them.


So, I started booking hem up to Columbia,


SC and all around. The first time we played a city we’d lose a little money. The second time we may break even, Then the third time, people would be lined up around the block. Back then, you were getting $2 a head or $3 a couple. Early on, Ron- nie would come to me and say, “I know you lost money on the show, but we can’t go home with no money. Our wives won’t let us go back out.” I said, alright, what do you need? He said “$50 a man.” At that time, the band was made up of Ronnie, Gary, Allen, Bob Burns and Larry Jun- strom, so that was $250. Another time he showed me they had a bad tire, “may pops” as we called them. So, I gave him $300 for the band and a tire.


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