Lynyrd Skynrd doesn't disappoint (intended for yesterday)

I heard Lynyrd Skynyrd live for the first time Saturday night, and they were as awesome as I expected them to be.
As part of their “Gods and Guns” tour, they played for a little more than 1-1/2 hours before a huge crowd in Atmore, and I don’t think that anyone left disappointed. I got the biggest case of the chills of my life when they played “Simple Man,” and I thought the National Guard was going to have to be called in during “Sweet Home Alabama.”
I did have two conversations prior to the concert that left me with a couple of questions that I couldn’t answer. I got to talking with one guy about how some of the original band members were killed in a plane crash back in the Seventies. This left us wondering just how many of the original band members were still a part of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Lynyrd Skynyrd currently consists of nine members: Johnny Van Zant (lead vocals), Gary Rossington (guitars), Rickey Medlocke (drums, guitars, backing vocals), Mark Matejka (guitars, backing vocals), Robert Kearns (bass, backing vocals), Michael Cartellone (drums), Peter Keys (keyboards), Dale Krantz-Rossington (backing vocals) and Carol Chase (backing vocals.) Of its original members, only Gary Rossington remains with the band as of Saturday night.
Another friend wanted to know where the band got its name. I knew there was a story there (a story that I’d heard before), but I couldn’t remember for the life of me. A little research at home led me to the story behind the band’s unusual name.
After trying a number of different names, the band, in 1970, settled on the name “Leonard Skinner,” which was meant as a mocking tribute to their P.E. teacher at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Fla. Skinner was notorious for enforcing the school’s “No Long Hair” policy for boys. The band adopted the distinctive spelling of its name shortly before the release of its first album.
Altogether, the band has released a dozen albums since 1973. They include Lynyrd Skynyrd (1973), Second Helping (1974), Nuthin’ Fancy (1975), Gimme Back My Bullets (1976), Street Survivors (1977), Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 (1991), The Last Rebel (1993), Endangered Species (1994), Twenty (1997), Edge of Forever (1999), Vicious Cycle (2003) and God and Guns (2009).
In the end, I enjoyed the concert and would encourage any music fan to listen to Skynyrd live if you get the chance.