This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Berean Hunter (talk | contribs) at 18:04, 13 June 2009 (Canning spam...looks like a FOR-PROFIT organization). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 18:04, 13 June 2009 by Berean Hunter (talk | contribs) (Canning spam...looks like a FOR-PROFIT organization)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Allen Collins |
|---|
Larkin Allen Collins Jr.(July 19, 1952 – January 23, 1990) was one of the founding members and lead guitarists of Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Allen Collins co-wrote twenty-four of the band's songs with late frontman [[Ronnie Van Zant. Collins was a self-taught master guitarist, and his guitar playing and songwriting skills were vital to the success of the band during his time with them. He was born in Jacksonville, Florida.
Musical career
Allen Collins joined Skynyrd just two weeks after Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington, along with Bob Burns and Larry Junstrom. So came the birth of Lynyrd Skynyrd in the summer of 1964. Allen Collins and lead singer Ronnie Van Zant co-wrote many of the biggest Skynyrd hits, including "Free Bird", "Gimme Three Steps", and "That Smell". The band received national success beginning in 1973 while opening for The Who on their Quadrophenia tour. The Skynyrd plane crashed into a forest in Mississippi killing three band members, including Van Zant. Collins was seriously injured in the crash, suffering three broken vertebrae in his neck and severe damage to his left arm. While amputation was recommended, Collins' father refused and Allen eventually recovered and went forth to play in two more bands.
During the early 1980s, Collins continued to perform on stage in The Rossington-Collins Band which enjoyed modest success, releasing two albums (Here, There & Back, This Is The Way), and charting a few singles (notably "Don't Misunderstand Me"). In 1980, Collins' wife Kathy suddenly died. The pressures of the road and the grief over th loss of his beloved wife led to the dissolution of the Rossington Collins Band in 1982.
In 1983, Allen Collins began a new musical venture -- Allen Collins Band -- which released one album, "Here, There & Back" in 1983. The six band members were Skynyrd keyboardist Billy Powell and Bassist Leon Wilkeson, along with lead singer Jimmy Dougherty, drummer Derek Hess, and guitarists Barry Lee Harwood and Randall Hall. During this time, the musical landscape was changing dramatically, and MCA did little to promote Allen Collins Band. Consequently, Here, There & Back is the only album that the band ever produced, as they were dropped from the label.
Accident and band reunion
In 1986, Allen Collins was involved in a motor vehicle accident that killed Collins' girlfriend and left him paralyzed from the waist down and limited the use of his upper body. Collins plead no contest to vehicular manslaughter as well as driving under the influence of alcohol. Allen Collins never played guitar on stage again.
All remaining members of Lynyrd Skynyrd reunited to perform in 1987, but due to his injury Collins could not perform with them. He was, however, an integral part of the Tribute Tour, acting as musical director. As part of his plea bargain for the 1986 accident, Collins addressed fans at every Skynyrd concert with an explanation of why he could not perform, citing the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as drugs and alcohol. Because of Collins' accident, the band donated a sizable amount of concert proceeds from the 1987-88 tour to the Miami Project, which is involved in treatment of paralysis.
Death
Allen Collins died January 23, 1990 from chronic pneumonia a complication of the paralysis. He is buried beside his wife in Jacksonville, Florida.
Instruments
For most of Skynyrd's tenure, Collins used a Gibson Firebird guitar fitted with a chrome, dog-eared P-90 pickup in the bridge position and a Gibson "teaspoon" nickel vibrato arm. In 1976 he switched to a natural-finished korina Gibson Explorer and would use that all the way through his tenure with the Allen Collins Band. Starting in late 1977, he would also use a Gibson Les Paul Jr. occasionally. And on "Gimme Back My Bullets", "Sweet Home Alabama", and many other songs, he used a Sunburst Fender Stratocaster after Ed King left. Collins has been filmed playing an all-black, rosewood neck Stratocaster with white single-coil pickups and white control knobs.
Notes
- http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=4676
- Brant 2002, pg. 18
- Odom 2002, pg. 34
- Allen Collins Biography
- Allen Collins Biography
References
- Brant, Marley. Freebirds: The Lynyrd Skynyrd Story. Billboard Books; New York; 2002. ISBN 0-8230-8321-7
- Odom, Gene with Frank Dorman. Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock. Broadway Books; New York; 2002. ISBN 0-7679-1026-5.