Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington as soon as spent an evening “slapping the crap” out of Tesla counterpart Frank Hannon’s palms.
Hannon shared the reminiscence in a tribute to Rossington, who died on March 5, describing him as one in all Tesla’s “largest influences.”
“Gary Rossington was a person and musician that was really distinctive to himself, and an instance of energy and ease,” he wrote. “His type was at all times very stoic and actual, and it was mirrored within the music he created since their very beginnings. I as soon as heard an interview with Gary from years in the past the place he mentioned his mom instructed him early in his life to at all times ‘simply be your self,’ and he at all times did simply that as expressed within the Lynyrd Skynyrd tune ‘Easy Man.’”
He went on to commend Rossington’s strategy to taking part in, noting that he was “by no means one to point out off technical abilities or overplay.” He famous that “when our band Tesla toured because the opening act for Lynyrd Skynyrd for a full summer time within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, we’d make some extent each evening to depart our dressing room and stand on Gary’s aspect of stage to get a dose of his lovely slide guitar tone. … That is the final word purpose of a songwriter or guitarist: to create an unique tune or guitar half that touches individuals’s souls without end. Gary Rossington did that along with his guitar and songwriting.”
Hannon recalled the final evening of the tour when he was invited to hitch Skynyrd onstage for a rendition of “Name Me the Breeze.” “When it got here time to play the primary guitar solo, Gary came visiting to me and gave me a swift kick within the butt to rise up entrance of the stage and play my guitar!” he mentioned. “That part was normally his solo half, however he gave it to me with a kicking gesture and a nod.”
“Later that evening … all of us ended up in Johnny Van Zant’s lodge room, partying till the solar got here up, spending hours consuming beers and taking turns slapping the crap out of one another with a recreation of ‘slap hand.’ It was apparent that Gary and the boys had performed this recreation for a few years as a result of I couldn’t get a slap in on Gary as soon as! My palms had been beat purple from Gary’s fast smacks! I’ll always remember that evening and that recreation.”
Hannon concluded, “Thanks for sharing a lot with the world, not solely along with your superb songs however along with your friendship, realness and honesty … your easy type and surviving legacy will at all times encourage me and Tesla to proceed on on this world of music.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd Albums Ranked
From the traditional lineup to the reunion period, we rank Skynyrd’s LPs from worst to finest.
