Welcome back to Let's Talk Music.....I wanted to talk a little bit about my many ways that I have enjoyed music over the years. Let's see; I guess the first thing I want to mention is the Plastic Fisher Price record player that I had and it played little plastic records. I upgraded to a 45 speed record player for my nursery rhyme records and I had a small hand held battery operated transistor radio.  I would listen to them on and off all day long, I would later move on to Elvis and cooler listening options, ditching the nursery rhymes. I enjoyed the small record player for a few years, so as I got a little older I wanted to move up to something a little better.  I remember my father showing me this odd looking machine that he had purchased while he was over seas in the Navy during the Vietnam War.  This odd looking machine was a reel to reel tape player/recorder. It was amazing, and that would be the first time that I would hear the Beatles.  Music has always been a big part of my life, I just never really noticed until much later.  I will never forget this really cool Disco Stereo that my Mother had in our living room, my Father had won it in a punch board drawing. The punch boards were a really big thing for people to play and not have to chance loosing much money. It was real simple,  you pay a few quarters and you punch out these little holes with a ticket in it with a number. I think he won the stereo for a quarter.  I loved that stereo, I was not allowed to touch it but I would sit in front of it and watch the pretty disco lights flashing to the beat. The stereo was a console type with the components in the middle with the speakers on the sides, it had sliding doors to hide the middle parts when not in use. The stereo was dark wood finish vertical cabinet system, which was rare because the others were horizontal.  My mother would play Conway Twitty and Tammy Wynette as she cleaned the house. I play Nu Metal or David Cassidy, depends on what kind of mood I am in......LOL! The stereo had am/fm radio, 8 track tape player and a turntable.  I know we had some 8 tracks but mom mostly had albums. So, let's recap what I used as a form of listening so far....Plastic record player with plastic records, 45 record player, transistor radio, reel to reel tape player/recorder and a cabinet stereo.  

​Fast forward a little to Middle school and High-School, I had a really nice Sony Stereo with turntable and am/fm radio.  The thing I loved the most about it was that the speakers were 100 watt speakers.  I could blast my favorite tunes and it was LOUD, really LOUD!!! I had many of wonderful hours of playing time with that Sony.  I also had a boom box and that was the newest thing...cassette tapes/am/fm/stereo fm tuning.  I did enjoy the Cassette era but if you played them a lot the players would eat them up...I cant tell you how many cassettes I lost to a hungry player.  The cassette days also allowed us to record our favorite songs from the radio; if you were lucky enough, you also had a double cassette player and could record some of your own tapes for your friends. The Sony Walkman was all the craze as well, for a short time. I had to get one, too; I needed it for the bus ride home.  The future of music was getting ready to take a strong turn.  In comes the Compact Disc and the Compact Laser Disc player.  When first introduced, I was so amazed at the sound quality that the CDs offered.  I invested in the CD movement but I felt guilty leaving my beloved Vinyl.  I was very happy to have the crystal clear sound of the CD, the small compactness...it was going to be hard to beat the CD out. In order to keep ahead of the competition, the Discman was introduced, same concept as the Sony Walkman but with the CDs.   I had a Discman also, kind of tricky having one of those...the least little bump and the disc would not play.   The future of music listening was about to change yet again.  STREAMING your music...I love my streaming provider.  I have any song I want from any artist I want right at my finger tips.  I know a few people that just refuse to use a streaming service, most are free but you will have advertisements in the programming.  I pay a small monthly fee and I have no advertising and my daughter and husband are on the account also.  I usually do not listen to the radio anymore, I just love my streaming and I have Bluetooth on my car stereo so it plays right from the stereo.  This is a great time for music lovers, we have it made. We have great streaming options, Bluetooth cordless headphones, hands free phone devices and thousands of artists at the touch of a button. It's a great day in the neighborhood!!!
​www.youtube.com/@lisaowens7629
​Lisa Bailey-Owens🤘

     

     I was checking my Facebook posts and came across my friend Andrew Scotchies heartfelt tribute to Gary Rossington.  I was not aware that he had passed and I was very sad to learn of it.  I am fifty five years old and it is just the way of life that the ones the I enjoyed listening to and or watching would soon be leaving this earth.  I hate to admit that a lot of our great artists will soon no longer be with us. I read Andrews post and I felt his sadness and respect for Gary. I knew I wanted to post his tribute here on our website, a very fitting place for such words of praise.  Below is what Andrew wrote about Gary.
Lisa Bailey-Owens
__________________________________________________________________________
     A tribute to Gary Rossington and one of the greatest bands of all time.
It was 2003. I was 10 years old and well aware of Lynyrd Skynyrd. So naturally it felt like Christmas when my dad surprised me and my older brother Ryan with tickets he had won from a radio call in contest.

At the Littlejohn coliseum in Clemson, SC I experienced the show that would change my life forever. My first real dosage of the medicine known as live music.

The opening band was .38 Special but before the doors opened to the colosseum, there was a "yard band". That yard band was none other than the hard-driving funk masters, Mothers Finest. I remember the weather was causing the power onstage to fail a few times. That didn't stop Moses Mo MF and the crew from delivering an intoxicating set.

We had floor seats inside the colosseum but my dad, being the seasoned concert goer he was, knew how to slowly but surely slide us to the very front of the stage in the pit.

I can still remember the lights, the sound, that smell, the showmanship and most importantly feeling right at home with thousands of people I had never met in my entire life. I'll never forget that shared experience and the feeling of getting to hear your favorite songs played 10 feet in front of you.

I went to school the next day with my ears ringing and wearing Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt that fell down to my knees. That was it. It was quite clear at that point what I wanted to do with my life. A few weeks later my brother and I were taking guitar lessons at Musician's Workshop in Asheville.

Compared to Allen Collins, Gary was a little more physically stoic onstage but he delivered soaring, melodic riffs that struck you right in the heart. His conversational work on the guitar combined with Ronnie's brutally honest lyric's were just a few of the ingredients that made Skynyrd so potent. They were a southern band that actually denounced some things people associated with the south.
The songs called for better gun control, peace, care for the earth and compassion for all. The songs spoke about the demons we all dance with on our way to truly discovering our purpose. Skynyrd is not "a southern thing" despite what some fans my say. It's a unifying force for all. I have no roots in the holler....my great grandparents were immigrants from Slovakia, Italy and Poland. The things Ronnie spoke about are not isolated to one region, upbringing or anything like that.

The story, the music, the riffs, that was "our thing" in school. I had automatic kinship with those who also loved bands like the Stones, Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy etc. For a spell in highschool, my ringtone on my Nokia flip phone was a Skynyrd deep cut, "Was I Right or Wrong". I never silenced my phone in class...(Yeah I was that kid). My classmates and teachers would hear an almost daily dose of Gary and the gang.

My first band, Rightful Intentions (yeah you guessed it) did an instrumental rendition of "Freebird". My classmates Trent Arwood and Nick Robinson could play the lead part (Gary's slide part and all) note for note. That was no easy feat at age 12/13. And yes I KNOW "Freebird" makes many people cringe because of the generational jackasses that yell it out at any band at any venue but you that slide melody, that accuracy you can't deny the talent there.

Fast-forward to 2023, twenty years after I saw the Skynyrd for the first time, I am 30 years old and my entire career is based around performing and getting honest, heartfelt music to the masses. Any serious musician will tell you: we can only do many of the things we do because of the legends that laid the foundation before us.

Gary's work will live on and continue to inspire guitar players for generations. The message of Ronnie Van Zant has never been more relevant and force that is Lynyrd Skynyrd will continue to unify for years to come.

Rest easy Gary, THANK YOU for the music and for inspiring so many.

*Below are ten of my favorite riffs/songs by the band that continue to inspire me for all you fellow nerds out there. I'll be paying tribute to Gary at my French Broad River Brewery residency this Wednesday in AVL (6pm-9pm)

-Comin' Home

-On the Hunt

-Workin' for MCA

-Am I Losin'

- Needle and the Spoon

-Freebird

-I Never Dreamed

- Searching

-Cry for the Bad Man

- That Smell

#GaryRossington #lynyrdskynyrd #restinpeace #musicismedicine




          Gary Rossington​

Who sang it better? 
Left Banke
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDGDX-ke8D0
David Cassidy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fpQYZ_4sSI
Linda Ronstadt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTXC-iWRefg

Let us know who you think sang it better.