LYNYRD SKYNYRD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM

ALLEN COLLINS AND STEVE GAINES PERFORMING FREE BIRD IN SPOKANE ON 10-7-76. PHOTO BY BEN UPHAM.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD-
“WISH YOU WERE THERE” (Part 4)
BY BEN UPHAM

Five months later I moved 1,000 miles North from the Bay Area up to Spokane, Washington. A very different concert scene in Spokane as opposed to the Bay Area. Not so many Rock Concerts to choose from. But…after I’d lived in Spokane for about a month they announced that Skynyrd would be headlining at the Coliseum with Journey opening (on their “Next” tour, which is a great album). I bought a ticket right away and anticipated the upcoming show! Little did I know at that time how amazing and life changing that day would be…The band had just released their first Live album, “One more from the Road” on September 13th and it was Killer! They had added a third guitarist, Steve Gaines, Cassie’s Brother, and he sounded great!

It had been announced that the day of the show the band was going to be doing an in-store appearance at “The Magic Mushroom” record store in downtown Spokane at high noon. I grabbed some of my best Skynyrd pictures and headed down to the record store hoping to get a chance to meet my Rock Heroes (mainly Allen and Ronnie). As I arrived at about 11:41 I was waiting outside the store with some other fans when an odd thing happened. I looked up to the sky and noticed something floating down towards me very slowly. As it got closer I realized that it was a dollar bill. It was headed for the sidewalk but I stepped over and caught it before it hit the ground. I don’t really know the significance of that event, but it was rather odd. (more…)

LYNYRD SKYNYRD PHOTOS BY BEN UPHAM

RONNIE VAN ZANT AND ALLEN COLLINS AT WINTERLAND ON MARCH 6, 1976. PHOTO BY BEN UPHAM.

LYNYRD SKYNYRD-
“WISH YOU WERE THERE” (Part 3)
BY BEN UPHAM

My “Second Helping” of Live Lynyrd Skynyrd came just 5 months later at the “Day on the Green” put on by Bill Graham in Oakland, Ca. on September 20, 1975. The lineup was Earthquake, Climax Blues Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Johnny Winter Band, Edgar Winter Band and then Johnny Winter & Edgar Winter together. The Charlie Daniels Band was supposed to play on this bill as well but canceled.

It was a beautiful Fall day, a bit windy, but overall rather nice conditions. Earthquake Rocked, and Climax played some really good Blues, but it was nothing close to what we would get from Skynyrd or Johnny Winter. Although Skynyrd played nearly the same set as they had at Winterland in April it sounded very different. Billy Powell was with the band this time so I got to hear the songs live with the keyboards, which was nice, but also Ed King had left the band, leaving all of the guitar solos to Allen and Gary. Although they were very capable I must admit that I missed Ed’s musical contributions to the band, especially on “Sweet Home Alabama”.

There was a huge crowd at the Oakland Coliseum, you can see a picture of that very crowd on the back cover of Johnny Winters 1976 album, “Captured Live”, and if you look real close you will see a banner in the bleachers (just above Floyd Radfords head) that says “Free Bird” on it. (more…)