Music Stories Episode 1 (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

     Welcome to music stories. I’m your host, Damian DeadLove. I’m here to share the knowledge I’ve learned over many summers. There will be different flavors to this show I’m sure. I was a lyricist on the local scene off and on for the last 30 years. So music was a huge part of my life. But at the end of the day I’m still a fan. So let’s dive right in shall we?  
 
      This first episode is gonna be kind of a light hearted one. It’s just about common misconceptions that casual fans sometimes assume to be true. I’m not pointing blame or thinking less of humanity for getting information wrong. It happens. It’s not the end of the world. Trust me.  
 
      I must be honest here this first topic is more of a pet peeve of mine. It started in high school when a guy I was talking to made this statement. He said, “I like Lynyrd Skynyrd, he’s a good singer”. Does anybody see the mistake here? I want you the audience to have a voice as well. I do read my comments and will reply.  
 
      First off no one in the band is named Lynard Skynard. The origin of the name has two references. The first being that the name came from a novelty song called, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. By Allen Sherman”. In which a character in the song goes by the name of, Leonard Skinner.  
 
      The second is that it also has to do with a Physical Education teacher/coach also named, Leonard Skinner, who taught at Robert Lee High School. The band kinda did this as a mocking tribute to him. Supposedly because two members of the band had been disciplined by the teacher for letting their hair grow long. This would of been in the late 60’s.  
 
      One night in 1970 at a local club the band who were calling themselves, One Point, at the time of the gig. Shouted out to the crowd, “We’re Leonard Skinner and were gonna play for y’all tonight.” Since most of the crowd had run into Coach Skinner at one time or another the name stuck. To make the name more original they changed the spelling to what it remains to this day.  
 
      So now you know and I’ve done my good deed for the day. That’s it for the first episode. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember everyone that music is the soundtrack of our lives. Peace, Love, and Lennon.  
 
 
 
Damian DeadLove