Gary Rossington sets the record straight about Rickey Medlocke status as an original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd

4/19/2022

Rickey is an original Member

Gary Rossington makes a video statement about the status past and present of rocker Rickey Medlocke and his origins as an original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

â€‹Gary Robert Rossington (born December 4, 1951) is an American musician, best known as a founding member of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, in which he plays lead and rhythm guitar.

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It is way past time for this FACT to be corrected in all history records of the band.

This fact should be added to all Wikipedia pages, the bands website and the history books in general. People discounted Rickey's status as an original member because he founded BLACKFOOT and help bring that band to success for several years. His success with BLACKFOOT should never have diminished his original band member of Skynyrd status. Thank you Gary for publicly setting the record straight.

17 Comments

David W

4/19/2022 11:35:28 am

This comes after Ronnie's Widow Judy Van Zant recently a few days ago disputes that Ricky is a original member on a fan site. It all comes down to money in some people eyes. Respect

Travis Nugara

4/19/2022 06:16:51 pm

Bob Burns was the original drummer 1966 to 1971
Rickey joined 5 years later in the summer of 1971.

Paige Turner

4/19/2022 10:18:40 pm

They weren't LS then.

4/22/2022 08:27:58 pm

changed in 1969,

Yes

2/18/2023 05:56:33 pm

Yes . Money

Keith Chamberlain

3/4/2023 10:28:09 pm

Ill never understand the animosityshe holds against other members of the band. No reason to dispute facts...Gary just set it straight!!!

Steven Lankford

4/19/2022 02:38:00 pm

Thanks Gary,
I’m glad you came forward with that statement. I’ve been a Skynyrd fan since the early seventies. First saw you guys at Jacksonville State University, Alabama back in 74. So my wife and I have been with y’all almost 50yrs. You’re my all time favorites, always have been and always will be. Carry on Brothers!

NICK KLEIN

4/19/2022 03:33:52 pm

Love you guys! My wife and I have seen you more times than we can even count!! Wish you would come and play in or around Kearney Nebraska this year!!

4/19/2022 06:14:59 pm

Blackfoot split up for a little over a year!!
Ron Gross put me onto this:
From Charlie Hargrett’s website….. “ Late Spring, 1971: Times are getting lean again (eating Cheerios and water). The schools and colleges are winding down for the summer, and so are our gigs. Once again, we are getting by only with the help of our friends the Whitesells and the Lorets (and more others than I can name). Roadies John Vassiliou and Ricky Reynolds decide to go back home to North Carolina. We can't keep the band farmhouse in Hackettstown any longer, and we move in with the band "Yiege" in their house outside of Princeton, N.J.
With Blackfoot's gigs dried up (no bars to play, schools out for the summer), tensions were high with two bands in the house. Then one evening, Ronnie Van Zant phoned from Jacksonville, looking for a new drummer for his band the One Percent, now re-named Lynyrd Skynyrd. Medlocke took the job playing drums, and Greg T. signed on as their new bassist. Rick, Jakson, Greg T., and Nancy went back to Florida, I stayed in New Jersey, and Blackfoot was history. Or so I thought.”
https://web.archive.org/.../blackfoot_history/1969_1971.htm
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More from Charlie Hargrett….. “ Friday, August 25, 1972: Blackfoot has been disbanded for a little more than a year. I stayed up North all that time and am living in Hackettstown, N.J. with the Loret Family (thank you, Ma, Pa, Alan & Paul!)! During this time I played with rock bands Max Rush (Tony Granito, guitar & vocal; Bill Chambers, bass; Sandy Slavin, drums; and myself on lead guitar), and "The Band With No Name" (Steve Bondy and myself on guitar, Bert Carey on bass, Phil Peabody on drums, and lead vocalist Ellis Cooper).
That Friday afternoon, out of the blue, my old friend (and ex-Blackfoot roadie) John Vassiliou shows up at my door with Reidsville, N.C. bassist Lenny Stadler. John was now a roadie with Lenny's band Blackberry Hill, and when their guitar player quit, John and Lenny drove up to New Jersey and tracked me down.
I left for North Carolina with them the next day, at first to play with Lenny's band, but I really had other motives.
In the weeks before John and Lenny showed up in New Jersey, I had been talking to Jakson and Medlocke about playing together again; Rick had left Lynyrd Skynyrd after playing drums on what would become "Skynyrd's First-and Last" album. By the end of November, '72, Blackfoot had re-formed in North Carolina, with Medlocke, Spires, myself, and Lenny Stadler on bass.
For a while, Rickey thought that he would enjoy being strictly a lead singer, without playing guitar, so we invited Danny Johnson, an excellent guitarist from the Louisiana band Axis, to join us. He did a great job, and it was a real pleasure to play with him.
After a few weeks Rick missed playing guitar, so we decided to go back to the original line-up, and we parted company with Danny with no hard feelings. He had quit Axis to play with us, and still he wasn't mad! What a great guy! Good thing for us! As it turns out later, we'd be seeing him again.”
https://web.archive.org/.../blackfoot_history/1972_1978.htm

Bruce Simon

4/19/2022 08:34:20 pm

It's always been true, no matter how many people can't or won't admit it. The simple fact of the matter is Rickey Medlocke was playing drums the night Ronnie Van Zant announced from the stage that the band's name was Lynyrd Skynyrd. If that one thing doesn't qualify him as an original member, not to mention what Gary said about Rickey and the first recording sessions, then I don't know what does.

Accepting Rickey's position as an original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn't in any way lessen the important roles played by Bob Burns or Artimus Pyle, it just clarifies the timeline.

4/22/2022 08:32:25 pm

thats incorrect,
Rickey was not there!!

Bob Burns was playing drums and Larry on Bass, that night at the Sugar Bowl, in Cedar Hills,
in 1969 when they announced name change, Rickey joined in the summer of 1971

https://jitneybooks.com/lynyrd-skynyrd/

4/22/2022 08:35:01 pm

they were not the first recording sessions!!!!!!

Shade Tree demos in 1969
Quinvy demos in 1970
then came Muscle Shoals in 1971

Vince Woods link

4/20/2022 05:12:24 pm

I saw Blackfoot in 1980 at ladd stadium in Mobile , Alabama one of the best rock shows I've ever seen !

Mitchell Timmons

4/23/2022 05:27:51 am

Ricky might not be a founding member but all bands go thru different musicians and he was one of them, the dude damn sure can play some Skynryd and note for note!

Christopher Hall

1/13/2023 04:40:49 am

Im curious why i can't find L. Skynyrd performing any Blackfoot songs? Like of course Train,Train or Highway Song? My guess is there might be some type of copyright clause. Does anyone know the details? I would love to see or hear Ricky perform the songs with Rosington.

Michael Barndt

3/9/2023 09:16:08 pm

In the summer of 1982 or 83 , long long time ago , I was living in S. Florida and just had to get up to the Tallahassee area for a weekend outdoor event, the main bands Molly Hatchett, Blackfoot, the Marshall Tucker band, the Charlie Daniel's band and the Rossington Collins band , I don't remember how many of the local bands played, but the 5 headliners all played for atleast an hour and a half, 2 headliners Friday 2-satarday and Sunday I am almost positive that R/C played the last set and the only player extra that went up was Rickey , and it was a complete jam session, we had about a 7 hour drive back to Miami, $75.00 car almost made it to Fort Lauderdale and the engine blew, had beer left so started walking about 10pm got into my apt. Just in time to take a shower and get to work, Damn good days

Matthew Ward

3/6/2024 03:41:07 am

The band was founded in ‘64, and became Lynyrd Skynyrd in ‘69. Medlocke became a member briefly in ‘71. That makes him an early member, but not an original member. Bob Burns is the original drummer of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

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