=Ohiodawg said:My first brush with LS was in November '73 @ the Cow Palace in San Francisco. They were the opening act for The Who as they had recently signed with The Who's label MCA. From what I've read over the years this was the first night of the tour and the bands first Arena gig. Sad to say my best friend & I spent most of their set in the parking lot gettin' tuned up for The Who performance. We came in as they were on the last song, but I was immediately stopped in my tracks when I saw 3 guitars smokin' up the stage and could feel the excitement from the crowd. They left and the crowd begged for more and I was amazed when an opening act came back for an encore, unheard of back then. Well what happened next knocked my johnson in the dirt as they played Freebird.....I WAS HOOKED!!! It's been a long, sometimes sad ride since that night, but if anybody ever asks who my all-time favorite band is it's a no-brainer. It got more memorable when The Who came on and 3 songs in Keith Moon OD'd right off his stool twice and a kid from the audience was brought up to sit in and jam with Pete, Rodger, and The Ox. Can't wait for the next gig!!!
J Dawg

We didn't even know how to pronounce it, Lie nard Sky neerd??? WTF? It was all a moot point once I heard them play. Went straight to the local record store (remember those?) and grabbed a copy of Pronounced the next morning. Yeah, when Pete Townshend asked the crowd if there was a drummer in the crowd he said, "Mind you, you've got to be F#&%in' good!". One of my most memorable concert nights ever, right up there with the night the next spring goin' to an after party and gettin' hammered with Ronnie when they opened for Marshall Tucker @ Chico State Univ. in NorCal about May '74. Surprised I remember any of this anymore, crazy assed times! BTW, I think that Who footage might be @ wolfgangsvault.com, if you've never explored this website be prepared to have your mind blown. It's like a trip to Music Mecca!

J Dawg

@wb92056: I like to say I was at their best show and worse show. Both of which are not listed here. I think you are confused on the Myrtle Beach date 5-31-1976. In 1976 there was no venue in Myrtle Beach that they could have played. In March or April of 1976 I saw Foghat, Montrose and Head East at the American Music Hall in Myrtle Beach for $5 and that was a pole barn with 2 sets of bleachers. What I think you're confusing that date with is a show that I call their best show was in May at Columbia SC in a 15,000 seat auditorium at University of SC. It was a month before One More from the Road was recorded and they were awesome! Opening act was Atlanta Rhythm Section

The worse show was, also not listed here Jan 1, 1977 at San Diego Sports Arena. Playing the next day after a New Years Eve show in San Francisco. They were all so hung over. Ronnie wore the hat and overcoat and nothing else as far as we could see, no pants, no shoes. As the consummate pros they were, they played the entire set and as Ronnie sang the last notes of Free Bird with his last ounce of strength slammed the mike back in it's holder and drug himself off stage. Rossington, Collins and Gaines finished with like professionalism and the house lights went up, no encore that night.

=SkynyrdSlate said:
Below is the link that demonstrates that Steve Gaines was in the house at RFK Stadium Sunday May 30, 1976, Memorial Day weekend.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/steve-gaines-shirt-was-on-lynyrd-skynyrd-plane

=rossa5 said:I think you are confused on the Myrtle Beach date 5-31-1976. In 1976 there was no venue in Myrtle Beach that they could have played. In March or April of 1976 I saw Foghat, Montrose and Head East at the American Music Hall in Myrtle Beach for $5 and that was a pole barn with 2 sets of bleachers. What I think you're confusing that date with is a show that I call their best show was in May at Columbia SC in a 15,000 seat auditorium at University of SC. It was a month before One More from the Road was recorded and they were awesome! Opening act was Atlanta Rhythm Section

That's funny,because I live in Kansas City, Mo. , and the first time I saw steve with them was in Lawrence, kansas in Sept. of 76.
NOT in May.

@prez. rusty: I am on the MO state Fair mailing list,and they have not said that lynyrd will be there...Yet. it isn't even on their website. do you know something the rest of us don't know Prez???

Maybe because they know band history better than most?

Here's the story... Cassie Gaines was pestering all of the band members to check out her brother Steve. She was getting cassette tapes of Steve and his music from Steve and making copies and giving them out to band members to listen to her brother play guitar hoping someone in the band would actually listen to the tapes and give him a chance.

(If you go to www.skynyrdfrynds.proboards.com you can actually locate some of these recordings and listen to them from someone who got them from Allen Collins- known as the Driftwood recordings of Steve Gaines his band and vocalist Rusty Day of Cactus.)

On May 11, 1976 Steve Gaines and his band Crawdad were playing in a hotel bar right down the street from the place Skynyrd was to perform in Kansas City, Mo. Cassie ramped up her pestering of band members and had Steve come down to meet Skynyrd before going on stage and he brought his guitar with him. The band members decided to give Steve a chance since the band was playing in a remote location BF Kansas and not much harm could come of it if he were to screw things up.

Lynyrd Skynyrd took to the stage and Steve Gaines was standing at the side of the stage with guitar in hand hoping for his chance. About 2/3 of the way into the Skynyrd set the band was reaching a point where they wanted to perform T for Texas which they could easily fit in a third guitarist. Ronnie Van Zant looked over to Steve Gaines and with a motion of his hand and a nod of approval Steve Gaines was invited to step out onto a Skynyrd stage.

Steve walked out and plugged up into a spare amplifier. Lynyrd Skynyrd kicked off T for Texas and Steve just stood there for a moment taking it all in. He was listening and carefully watching what the other guitarists were doing. None of them were playing slide and Steve reached into his pocket and whipped out his glass slide and tore it up.

Allen and Gary were blown away and they all smiled with approval as did Ronnie and other band members especially a very proud Cassie Gaines who had pestered the hell out of the band members for months to get to this point.

Allen and Gary and Ronnie all looked at each other while still playing T for Texas and they all nodded in approval of Steve Gaines and it was decided right there on stage in Kansas City, Mo. on May 11, 1976 that Steve Gaines would be their next guitarist to replace the dead weight who quit back in May of 1975 nearly a year earlier.

After T for Texas Steve Gaines took off his guitar and left the stage and Skynyrd finished out the show. After the show was over and the band members met up with Steve and his sister backstage they told Steve they had one seat left on the bus and it was his and they wanted Steve to come with them right then and there.

Steve Gaines told Skynyrd he could not just up and leave his band right then and there, and so he went back to the little hotel bar down the street and informed his band Crawdad he would be leaving them to join Lynyrd Skynyrd and Steve Gaines then picked James Ace Moreland, Jr. to take his place on guitar in Crawdad.

Steve Gaines was then able to leave Crawdad and he traveled to Myrtle Beach, SC and met up with Skynyrd June 3-5, 1976. And from this point forward Steve Gaines was a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd. He followed the band home to Jacksonville where the band took June 1976 off to rest and prepare for the upcoming live album OMFTR. Sometime in late June or early July Allen Collins and Gary Rossington sat down in Leon's living room to teach Steve Gaines his parts for the live album. This rehearsal was recorded by Leon on his Sony Walkman cassette tape recorder and is known as "Teaching An Okie To Fly" named by the person who acquired it directly from Leon.

(Again, to hear these unreleased recordings you need to be a member of www.skynyrdfrynds.proboards.com)

OMFTR was recorded in Atlanta July 7,8,9, 1976.

Lynyrd Skynyrd went on to perform numerous shows with Steve Gaines through July and August and even went to Europe in late August with Steve Gaines to perform at Knebworth on 8-21-1976 and then came back to USA to perform in Mass, NJ, and even Nebraska before arriving in Lawrence, Ks. on September 24, 1976 where you said you first saw Steve Gaines perform with Skynyrd. He had already been a full band member since June of 1976 by the time you saw him in Lawrence.

Please check the intinerary for yourself and really click on the link this time:BAND CAREER INTINERARY CLICK HERE

@SkynyrdSlate: I saw the shows in D.C. and MD.The R.F.K. show and the Cap. center shows were my favorites.Steve Gaines was with them at the Cap.Center show on Oct 20 76.In D.C. it was cloudy and drizzling when they were getting ready to do Alabama, Ronnie said " IM guna sing a song that will make the sun come out" and that's what happened and when the song was over it clouded up again.I know other people that were at the show will remember that happening.I think the oct 76 show had them coming on stage to the theme song of the Magnificent Seven theme song Ronnie,Allen,Gary,Steve,Leon,Arti, and Billy.Both shows had the girls with them Cassie,Jo Jo,and Leslie.The first picture in Lacy's book is at the Oct 20 1976 show.Duffy

@ArtimusFan: You know things most people don't.I have a cassette of the audition.it was called Driftwood and also was known as Steve learning to fly.I think it,s Allen making comments in the back ground.Duffy