In the 1960s, especially in the South, boys’ hair length was a significant issue. That was certainly the case at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, FL. Coach and P.E. teacher Leonard Skinner’s enforcement of the school’s dress code concerning hair length led to one of the most iconic names in music, Lynyrd Skynyrd. The N.Y. Times later said of Skinner that he was “arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture.”
Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and original Skynyrd drummer Bob Burns sported long hair in those days and used Vaseline to try and disguise the length. Leaving the showers after P.E. revealed their actual hair length, so Skinner, enforcing the rules, had sent the boys to the principal’s office. Rossington eventually decided to quit school as a result of feeling hassled.
In Burns’ parent’s carport, the three had jammed together, playing The Rolling Stones’ “Time is on My Side.” Liking the way they sounded, they decided to form a band. They soon recruited guitarist Allen Collins and, bassist Larry Junstrom, later to be an Outlaws founding member,
They began playing using the name My Backyard. That soon changed to The Noble Five, then the 1%ers. Unfriendly audiences would yell that they only had 1% talent, which led to Van Zant deciding a name change was needed. Burns suggested Leonard Skinner as a poke at their former teacher. Eventually, the members decided to change the vowels to avoid legal issues, and by 1970 the band was playing as Lynyrd Skynyrd, with the classic spelling.
The band was on the road almost year-round, when, during a gig at Funochio’s in Atlanta, they were seen by Al Kooper. He soon signed them to a contract, recorded their first album at Doraville, GA’s legendary Studio One, and convinced Pete Townsend to have them support the Who on their North American tour. The rest, as they say, is history.
Did you know Georgia hosted a music festival a month before Woodstock, with many of the same artists, plus Led Zeppelin and Grand Funk Railroad? Click here for the story.
Over time, the relationship between Skinner and the band improved. For their third album, Nuthin’ Fancy, Skinner, by then retired with a real estate firm, agreed to allow a picture of his sign in the album’s liner notes. He later recalled his phone ringing at all hours with people calling the number on the sign pictured on the sleeve. Years later he introduced the band at a concert at Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum.
In 1999, Coyote’s, a bar in Louisville, KY decided to play an April Fool’s prank on their audience. WLRS-FM began advertising Lynyrd Skynyrd for an April 1st concert. Being somewhat cynical and knowing that a band with Skynyrd’s following would be in a larger facility if they were appearing in Louisville, I listened more carefully to the radio spots and could make out the subtle difference in hearing Leonard Skinner, which the ad included, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, which everyone thought they’d heard. I could envision how this reveal was going to go when an announcer shared that news with a capacity crowd. Being the inquisitive person I am and knowing the story of how the band got its name, I wanted to go and meet Mr. Skinner.
As expected, the crowd was doing an excellent job in reducing the on-hand supply of beer. This was an excited crowd, ready to see the band that stands for all things Southern. The announcer takes the stage and introduces…..Leonard Skinner. Imagine the reaction, then double it. After the furor calmed a bit and the announcer could be heard again, they shared that there would be a Skynyrd cover band and that Mr. Skinner and Gene Odom, the former director of security for the band, and survivor of the 1977 crash, would be meeting fans.
My friends and I spent a great deal of time with Skinner and Odom, and over several beers, heard some amazing stories of the boys in their school years, the band once they made it big, and about who they really were at heart; good Southern boys with a touch of a wild side. It was a night to remember.
Some of the band members played at a bar Skinner opened in Jacksonville. In a 2009 interview, Skinner told The Times-Union of Jacksonville, “They were good, talented, hard-working boys. They worked hard, lived hard, and boozed hard.” Skinner appeared in the short film “A Tribute to Lynyrd Skynyrd,” which was initially intended to be a promotional video, but after the crash was released as a tribute.
