Post by WizKid on Nov 20, 2011 15:55:24 GMT -5
Date: October 21, 1997
Characters: AP = Artimus Pyle
DJ = disc jockeys ( 2 )
Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax
Station: The Fox, Denver, Colorado
AP: Well, you know, I got to tell you first of all, um, I stole all my
licks from every other drummer that's gone before me, and I still steal
licks, uh, when I watch my sons play I'll see somethin' they are doing
and I'll pick up on somethin'. So I'm Still learning.
DJ: Your sons play in a band?
AP: Uh, yeah man, you know I started runnin' bulldozers when I was like
7 years old for my grandpa's road building company. (DJ: Yeah.) And
they'd give me a little bulldozer and a little job to do and I would sit
up on the bulldozer and feel the engine coming through my body, and all
these rhythms, and uh, and then my father would beat on the dashboard of
the car and keep time to the music and so I started beating on mother's
oats boxes and pots and pans in my moms kitchens and I love it and I've
been playing all my life. I tell people that when the doctor slapped me
on my butt that was the downbeat and I've been goin' ever since. (DJ's
LOL) And another thing I want to tell you guys, um, there was another
drummer before me. As a matter of fact there was 2 drummers. Rickey
Medlocke who's playing with the current band that's out there,
DJ's: He is a good friend of ours.
AP: Rickey use to actually play drums for the band. And he's a great
drummer, and he played for the band and he sang, um, you know, are you
familiar with the songs Seasons and White Dove off the first and Last
album?
DJ1: No.
DJ2: I got the greatest hits one that uh 4 disc thing. (BOX SET)
AP: See, on there Rickey sings 2 songs in the early days of Skynyrd
called Seasons and White Dove, and I mean his voice is beautiful. And he
plays drums on a few tracks and then after Rickey, see, Rickey from what
I understand was born with one lung. And when you play Freebird on drums
it's almost like running the 440.
DJ's: Yeah, especially when you are smokin'.
It was so hard on Rickey and you know he switched to guitar and the guy
sings like a banchee. Then after him Bob Burns who I feel was one of the
best drummers that the band ever had. Bob had a real nice touch. And he
played on Pronounced Lehnard Skinnerd and Second Helping. And then my
albums started at Nuthin' Fancy and I played the next 15. I think Bob
played so great on Pronounced- you're familiar with Pronounced I know?
(DJ's: Oh yeah) That's a masterpiece. I appreciate you guys letting me
get in touch with you today to talk about Ronnie Van Zant and Steve
Gaines and Allen Collins and Cassie Gaines and Dean Kilpatrick who were
all people in the band that we have lost over the years. And of course
Cassie, Dean, Steve, and Ronnie in the plane crash. That was yesterday.
DJ's: Yes that was 20 years ago yesterday. Artimus how much time do we
have to talk to you? Do you have to go anywhere?
AP: No, I'm sitting here in Florida looking across the intercoastal
waterway with sailboats going by and it is a beautiful day. I know you
guys just lost a native son, at least we talked about John Denver the
other day and I know that has been hard for the state of Colorado 'cause
that beautiful song he wrote. I don't think I appreciated John Denver
enough while he was alive. You know I loved his music, but I wasn't the
kind of guy that would go out and buy John Denver albums because I was
always playin', but I loved his music and I tell you I wish I could sing
like that man could sing. I'm going to miss his voice in this world. He
was about the environment and I love John Denver, and I just did not
appreciate him while he was alive and it should be a lesson to really
appreciate people while they are here and tell them so.
DJ 1: Artimus we have to take a break, but when we come back we want to
talk with you about that day 20 years ago yesterday, the plane crash
that took Ronnie Van Zant's life and 6 people total were killed and from
what we understand you were instrumental in helping some of the
survivors get out of the wreck.
DJ 2: So if you don't mind hangin' on we'd like to talk to you for a
little while about that when we come back.
AP: Well that's all true and I'd be glad to.
DJ 1: OK, Artimus Pyle , the drummer from Lynyrd Skynyrd, we'll talk
with him next on the Fox.
DJ: Rick Lewis, Michael Floorwax, and Artimus Pyle(AP, Hey man.)The
drummer from Lynyrd Skynyrd. 15 albums with Skynyrd. And has his own
band now called the Truth and was 20 years ago yesterday, that the band
LYNYRD SKYNYRD was on their way to a show in Louisiana, travelling from
South Carolina when their private plane ran out of fuel and crashed into
a forest in Mississippi. And how many people were on that plane Artimus?
AP: There was 26.
DJ: Were they all with the band in some way? or no?
AP: Well you know this plane was a convair 240 and it was built in 1947
for Eastern airlines and it had originally carried about a hundred
people, and we had it fixed up like a tour bus, and we had it pretty
much maxed out at 26 people on board. There was everybody in the crew,
people from SHOWCO out of Dallas, Texas, our light and sound company.
And we had a couple of extra people, one gentleman from Rolling Stone
that was travelling with us that was going to do a story. So there was
quite an entourage travelling with us. We were overloaded.
DJ:Did you know the plane was running out of fuel and that it was going
to crash. Did they give you any warning?
AP:I use to fly that airplane all the time. My father was killed in a
plane crash in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I was a pilot with my dad. I
was in the Marine Corp for 4 years and flew planes so I just had this
feel for the aviation part of this thing. I was kind of the ground crew.
And so I was in the cockpit when the right engine went out and I knew
that we could fly on one engine because of the glide ratio of the
convair. Then the left engine went out and what we had done was the old
airplanes, the guages on the old airplanes don't read that accurately.
We had taken on 400 gallons of fuel in Greenville, South Carolina. And
we were 60 miles short of Baton Rouge and we went dry in the fuel tanks
and spiralled in from about 9,000 feet. Hit the ground at about 200, 250
miles an hour and then got sucked in to the trees at about a 45 degree
angle. Yes, we actually knew that we were going down 'cause the engines
were out and we were gliding. It is very quiet. Everybody is in prayer.
Yeah, we knew we were goin' down, but our copilot said just before we
hit that we were going to try to make an interstate or a field. Which
you know neither one of those choices is real popular. Our glide ratio
wasn't whay it should have been and we went in to the trees.
DJ: Because you had too much weight on the plane??
AP: Well we were overloaded and we were carrying flight cases and
Halaburton briefcases and camera equipment that we had just gotten in
Japan when we were over touring Japan. Everybody had to buy a camera. I
mean we had a ton of cameras. We had musical instruments, guitars, 26
people and we had the interior fixed up like a tour bus and everything,
but it was still pretty crowded. So all the factors. The fact that our
right engine was having auto rich trouble where it was running lean and
rich and lean and rich. It used more fuel than it should have. We
fought a slight headwind. We were a little bit overloaded and we
literally did not top off our tanks in Greenville. All of those factors,
pilot error, and our glide ratio I felt...when I left the cockpit after
the pilot told me to-He said Artimus you had better go back and strap
yourself in. And I got up like a zombie and walked back to the first
seat that I saw over the left wing on the aisle and sat down behind
Cassie Gaines.(PAUSE) And Cassie,of course, in the crash was killed and
I wasn't so that tells you how close it can be. I sat down and you know
the engines were out and I felt the landing gear go down which I felt
that if we were going to try to belly in to a field and we were losing
altitude that putting the landing gear down cut down our speed with more
wind resistance so we slowed down even more. I think that was a mistake
to put the landing gear down, but the pilot and copilot paid very dearly
for their mistakes and I've never really held any anger or animosity
towards them. They made a mistake and they paid for it. And of course
Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines and Steve's sister Cassie who was an
incredible roll model for women. She had a degree in physical education.
She sang in the original Broadway production of HAIR. She was killed and
our road manager Dean Kilpatrick. So that happened on impact basically.
DJ: Were you injured at all?
AP:My sternum. My breastplate was cracked on impact. All of the
cartilage was ripped from the impact. Because my friends were killed and
hurt really really bad. I never even considered that I was injured.
DJ:Plus you're a Marine.
AP:Huh?
DJ:You know, you being in the Marines, you...
AP:Well I think my combat training... actually... when I knew that we
were goin' in and the copilot, the last thing he said was that we were
heading for an interstate which was I-55 and we had already passed over
McComb, Mississippi. I figured that we were headed in the direction of
civilization. My instincts and my training in the Marine Corp...I was in
for 4 years. '67 to '71. And my last name is Pyle P-Y-L-E, right, so
they called me Gomer everyday for 4 years. I followed my instincts and I
went to a farm house to get help and the man looked at me, you
know I was covered with blood and walking kind of funny and you know I
looked like Charles Manson (he laughed at this) with the long hair and
this wild look and the beard. And he fired a shotgun over my head as a
warning shot 'cause he was protecting his family. We have become friends
over the years. And he caught me with some bird shot in my left
shoulder. It spun me around(DJ:WOW!)(DJ2:JESUS!) as I fell to the ground
I yelled plane crash and I had walked over a mile through this swamp and
a freshly plowed field so I was exhausted and goin' in to shock. And I
yelled plane crash with my last breath and fell to the ground and uh,
Johnny Mote from McComb, Mississippi and Magnolia and that area he ran
over to me and picked me up and then um they said they were going to
take me to the hospital and I said you can't take me anywhere until I
show you where the plane is so all the emergency people showed up within
minutes and we were goin' through fence lines in Johnny's pickup with
him holding me against the seat with one arm. And runnin' through fences
and fields and we came out where I came out of the swamp, and I told
them if you throw from first-if you throw from home plate to center
field 2 times a baseball you'll be right on top of the airplane. Then
they took me to the hospital and I saw hundreds of people goin' into the
woods towards my friends and I could take a breath at that point. So you
know, it was pretty wild man.
DJ: Do you think Ronnie Van Zant was killed on impact?
AP: Yeah. I kept asking the doctors to tell me who made it and who
didn't. We were splattered all over the country. We were in five
different hospitals. Gary Rossington and Allen Collins were medi-vac'd
to Jackson, Miss. I went to Magnolia, Miss. And I asked the doctor who
had made it. Ronnie had told me in Tokyo Japan. We had a VH-1 special
last night they played it back to back with our movie FREEBIRD the Movie
and then an hour long special the VH-1 Sue Sugarman had put together for
VH-1. It was an incredible special that they did on the band and I had
said that in Tokyo Japan Ronnie Van Zant had told me one night, um, we
were sittin' in the hotel room. And he said he would not live to see 30
and that he would go out with his boots on and you know what that means,
right?(DJ'S: Both:UH HUH.) to die doin' something you love in battle or
what ever, you know, on the road. And I said Ronnie, you know, I don't
want to hear that kind of talk man, your going to live forever. And of
course you guys, Rick, Mike, you know that Ronnie's music, Ronnie Van
Zant's music- 'cause he's the man. He wrote the songs. He's the prolific
writer. And his music will live forever and he will. And he told me he
would not live to see 30, and he was 29 when we had the plane crash, and
he was killed instantly, and the doctor told me. He said are you ready
to hear who made it? When he told me Ronnie. I wasn't surprised. I knew
it. And he said that Ronnie was killed by a single blow to the head that
Ronnie was killed immediately upon impact. Like, you know we had Sony
Trinitron televisions and betamaxes and stuff floating around in our
cabin. We were Rock-N-Roll. And um, we should have had that stuff tied
down and stowed away. I should have known better. I'm a Marine. I should
have squared away- we had all these Haliburton briefcases that are
suppose to be indestructable that looked like aluminum foil after the
plane crash uh, with our cameras and stuff in it and instruments and
that stuff all flew forward as we impacted so you know that's a lesson
to anybody out there. When you're flying do everything you are suppose
to do to help. My father was killed in a mid air plane collision in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. The sky gets pretty crowded up there. A mid air
plane collision. What are the chances of that , but it happens.
DJ: Well um, Ronnie was a great musician and a great writer, but I don't
think the music could have been put forth without all of you together
and when we come back we wanted to talk to you just a little bit about
your music and what it meant to you if that would be OK with you???
AP: Oh, of course, and of course you got to talk about Steve Gaines
there too because he also wrote songs and Cassie. And they were from
Oklahoma. So yeah man let listen I got to tell you something. I wasn't
going to do anymore interviews after yesterday. At 20 years I was going
to close the door. I love talking about my friends Cassie and Steve.
They were such great people and Ronnie is prolific and of course the
band helped out a lot. We were inspired. Being on stage with somebody of
that kind of stage presence. You miss that. We'll talk about it man I've
got time.
DJ: All right Artimus Pyle is with us. Lynyrd Skynyrd's drummer.
DJ2: And people feel like you know, that you are their friends too,
'cause we still love all your music and we appreciate you coming on our
show and we'll talk some more when we come back.
AP: I left the band in 1991. It was a hard decision. I mean Lynyrd
Skynyrd has been an everyday part of my life for 24 years. I love the
band. And I miss the band. And I miss the music, and I miss the fans,
and I would love to be out there on this 20th year celebration and I
should be! And I was asked to be. But I left the band in 1991 basically
because there was a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I felt as though
we should have put all that stuff behind us years and years ago. And I
love Gary, and I love Allen. We lost him in 1990. Billy, Leon, these
guys are great people and everything, but you are right they try to
forget things... I wanted to move on and I couldn't. I was a part of the
REAL LYNYRD SKYNYRD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND GUYS???? I mean, it was THE REAL
LYNYRD SKYNYRD! And I couldn't be a part of something that was less than
that! And I'm not going to be! It cost me a lot of money and a lot of
people talk real bad stuff about me.
DJ: I don't see why?
AP:Well it happens believe me, but the fact is I can't be a part of
something... I want Blue Cross and Blue Shield for the band, and good
things and positive things to raise money for children, and cancer
research, and anything that we can. WE COULD BE AS BIG AS THE ROLLING
STONES!!!And lend our name to all kinds of greart causes, but, you know,
instead of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield, THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL
MANAGERS...AND THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL ATTORNEYS. Let me repeat
that...THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL ATTORNEYS manipulate the band and drive
them to the brink of you know, insanity. So I am probably not going to
be out there, but I do have a band called THE TRUTH. It is an awesome
group with awesome players. I'm 50 years old and I'm playing better than
I ever have in my life. I love playing. THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASELS AND
ATTORNEYS HAVE NOT TAKEN THE COMPASSION AND THE PASSION OF MUSIC. I
still love luggin' my sets of drums up a flight of stairs. Spending an
hour setting them up and then playing them all night long. And then
tearing them down and loading them up again. I love it!
DJ: Right on!
Tape ends. break in interview.
DJ: ...Rickey's influence??
AP:I agree with you 100%. Rickey Medlocke has definitely been a great
influence on the guys 'cause he won't stand for that nonsense.
DJ: yeah and he's organized and he's kind of the businessman of the
group.
AP:Rickey's organized and he won't stand for that nonsense. I believe
Rickey told me from his own words that he wanted me to be back in the
band. And I should be. I tell ya, you know I've heard the way Owen Hale
plays drums with the band and he's a fine drummer and Owen I'm sure has
great attributes, but he plays generically. He does not play the
drums for LYNYRD SKYNYRD the way they should be played. When I
came in to LYNYRD SKYNYRD they needed a FIRE set underneath them. And I
SET that fire. And I have been a loyal hard working member of the Lynyrd
Skynyrd band for over 24 years that it's been a part of my life. I have
put my life on the line MORE than once for Gary, and Billy, and Leon,
and Allen. I have pulled Ronnie off of them when he was getting drunk
and abusive with them. I have gone to their defense and they know it. If
they were to be honest and sit in that studio and tell you, they would
say "Artimus you are our brother, we love you. You saved our life in the
plane crash. There would be no band if it wasn't for you!" Yet, when I
need those guys, when I was facing life in prison, ok, they looked the
other way and turned their back on me because they were gakked out on
cocaine and alcohol. Now that's the facts my brothers. And I love those
guys. You're talkin' about guys that I would still put my life on the
line for. But when it comes to me they trade my azz in on, you know, on
some drugs and alcohol. So, I don't know,(UNINTELLIGIBLE)is not like
that, Leon, and Billy, and Gary should stand up for themselves and tell
the management to go straight to hell!
You know, they should have been here in America out at the Ronnie Van
Zant Park with their friends and their loved ones and their family
members playin' music for Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines,
Allen Collins, and Dean Kilpatrick. But they're over in Madrid, Spain
you know, playin' for some people that I'm sure enjoy seeing the music,
but that's not where they belong, but their management told them to be
over there, because the movie, FREEBIRD the Movie, and our VH-1 special
and the plane crash do not put any money in the managements pockets.(DJ:
that sucks.) Now if I'm lyin' I'm dyin. All I've got to say is I love
those guys. I hope they straighten their azz up and call me someday.
They NEED me badly on drums, believe me.
DJ: We know what you are talking about and we felt the same way when we
saw them here in August.
AP:Look at my track record. All my albums that I played with the band,
every song on them are hit songs.(DJ: Well Artimus...)Since they have
been getting their little hired hand drummers, they got Custer. He
turned out to be a crack head liar. You know, they sent him packin' back
to Burbank, California. And now they got this session drummer from
Nashville who I am sure is a nice guy, but man...I SMOKE HIM!!!!
DJ: Well, Artimus it's rough and I'll tell you why, because.....
AP:You know what guys, Rick, Mike, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME MY BROTHERS, I
HAVE EVER SAID ANYTHING!!!! I closed the door yesterday. Yesterday at
6:00 is when we went down and I'm sitting here in Florida on my back
porch lookin' across the marsh and the intercoastal waterway and I'm
reliving every minute of it sitting here in the darkness, and I was
going to shut the door on it. But you know, you guys asked me the
questions and I have never come out on any station and said this, but
you know, my boys need to straighten up and fly right and do the right
thing. Because Ronnie is not here and he won't be here, but it has been
said that if Ronnie was here he would have a few words to say to Gary
Rossington, and Leon, and Billy, and his little brother. What can I say,
I did the Tribute Tour with the guys and we did the first 32- I lived in
Jerusalem Israel, and I came back from Jerusalem we did the first 32
cities of the Tribute Tour in 87 and it was beautiful man. Everybody was
straight. No cocaine. No alcohol. Nothin', and it was beautiful. We were
strong and vibrant. The crowd loved it. And now I really feel like the
kids are not getting their money's worth. Those kids spend 2 and 3
hundred dollars to come and see the band. And they need to see guys that
are singing from the heart with the spirit. And sometimes they do and
sometimes they don't. I'm sorry guys this is the first...(DJ: don't
apologize) You know, It hurts because I was asked to join the band about
a year ago to be a part of this 20 thing. And I said of course I will.
They called me and set me up and said we want you to play on the album.
We want you to do the tour. And I said OK guys, you know I'm ready to
go. I'm in shape, and Gary said Artimus I love you, I want you back in
the band, get in shape. I said I'm in shape brother, just give me the
call. Well not one of them called me. No one from the management. No one
from the band. And Judy Van zant and I were talking one day and she
wanted me to go out and do something on FREEBIRD the Movie and I said
well Judy I got to go to Muscle Shoals and play on the new Skynyrd
record because it's the right thing to do. It's 20 years after the plane
crash and I need to be there. The band needs me and I felt good about
it. And Judy goes "Oh Artimus they already hired a session drummer from
Nashville, Tenn. and they are through with the album."(DJ:OOOOHH!!) You
know, so Gary Rossington gives MY album that I put my blood, sweat, and
tears and worked for just like he did in 1991. He gave my album to Kurt
Custer to play when I wrote seven of the songs and gave credit to Kurt
Custer. I mean these guys have not treated me right. You know they have
been poopoo faces and they need to be spanked, but I still love them.
DJ: It sounds like you say it's drugs and alcohol talkin' because we
know that we love you and we love those guys, but when that group starts
getting loaded it's not very cool. We just wanted to tell you for your
own information. This time through they looked like they had it together
a little bit more. I mean they were wearing pictures of Ronnie on their
back and they were trying a little. Maybe if you called Rickey Medlocke
and rapped with him he could at least make you feel a little bit better
'cause I think they still are your pals and they are trying hard, but
boy when they get on the jive just like anybody else it's not a very
good thing.
AP: Well I don't know man. I'm a vegetarian. I'm kind of organic. And I
feel that there is nothing wrong in the world about drinking a beer if
that is what you like. If it tastes good to you. Or rolling up a big fat
doobie!!!(DJ'S:laughing)All of this other stuff, the heavy alcohol, and
when they make cocaine they have to like process that stuff and there is
just something not right about that. And then to ingest that stuff in to
your system is just stupid!!! There is nobody that I know that does a
bunch of cocaine and drinks a bunch of alcohol that acts cool.(DJ:that's
for sure) Everybody acts like an idiot. You know what they say about
cocaine??? The bad thing about cocaine is that it keeps the drunks
awake.(DJ'S: laughing)
DJ: Artimus we need to take a break real bad here.
AP: All right man, well listen, thank you for keeping Ronnie Van Zant's
music alive for 20 years. Radio stations like yours. People all over the
world man, it is so cool what you have done, and it will probably go,
you know, another couple of lifetimes. Thanks a lot guys...
DJ: Well it's your music too, Artimus and we are going to play some more
of it this morning and rock out with the Skynyrds and we hope to see
your new band in Denver soon.
AP: Well listen, my new band, we decided to call it THE TRUTH. And as
you know the truth will set you free. So come and hear THE TRUTH you
guys, Rick, Mike, thank you so much. Believe me, from my heart, I love
all the guys in the band. They've hurt me. And maybe I'm a little hurt
and I'll get over it. I've been hurt a lot. I've had 2 airplane crashes,
8 motorcycle wrecks, 10 car wrecks. I've been shot. I've been stabbed.
And I still say life is beautiful. Live it to it's fullest. Live every
MINUTE to it's fullest. I love you guys thanks a lot for everything.
DJ'S: Thank you Artimus. we hope to talk to you again sometime.
AP: Bye Rick, bye Mike, we'll see ya!!!
DJ: All right, Artimus Pyle from LYNYRD SKYNYRD. You can hear it!! That
is how all that good music came out of Muscle Shoals. It is straight
from the heart.
Thank you Artimus for having the courage
to say it how you feel it. For all the
FREEBIRDS...
Characters: AP = Artimus Pyle
DJ = disc jockeys ( 2 )
Rick Lewis and Michael Floorwax
Station: The Fox, Denver, Colorado
AP: Well, you know, I got to tell you first of all, um, I stole all my
licks from every other drummer that's gone before me, and I still steal
licks, uh, when I watch my sons play I'll see somethin' they are doing
and I'll pick up on somethin'. So I'm Still learning.
DJ: Your sons play in a band?
AP: Uh, yeah man, you know I started runnin' bulldozers when I was like
7 years old for my grandpa's road building company. (DJ: Yeah.) And
they'd give me a little bulldozer and a little job to do and I would sit
up on the bulldozer and feel the engine coming through my body, and all
these rhythms, and uh, and then my father would beat on the dashboard of
the car and keep time to the music and so I started beating on mother's
oats boxes and pots and pans in my moms kitchens and I love it and I've
been playing all my life. I tell people that when the doctor slapped me
on my butt that was the downbeat and I've been goin' ever since. (DJ's
LOL) And another thing I want to tell you guys, um, there was another
drummer before me. As a matter of fact there was 2 drummers. Rickey
Medlocke who's playing with the current band that's out there,
DJ's: He is a good friend of ours.
AP: Rickey use to actually play drums for the band. And he's a great
drummer, and he played for the band and he sang, um, you know, are you
familiar with the songs Seasons and White Dove off the first and Last
album?
DJ1: No.
DJ2: I got the greatest hits one that uh 4 disc thing. (BOX SET)
AP: See, on there Rickey sings 2 songs in the early days of Skynyrd
called Seasons and White Dove, and I mean his voice is beautiful. And he
plays drums on a few tracks and then after Rickey, see, Rickey from what
I understand was born with one lung. And when you play Freebird on drums
it's almost like running the 440.
DJ's: Yeah, especially when you are smokin'.
It was so hard on Rickey and you know he switched to guitar and the guy
sings like a banchee. Then after him Bob Burns who I feel was one of the
best drummers that the band ever had. Bob had a real nice touch. And he
played on Pronounced Lehnard Skinnerd and Second Helping. And then my
albums started at Nuthin' Fancy and I played the next 15. I think Bob
played so great on Pronounced- you're familiar with Pronounced I know?
(DJ's: Oh yeah) That's a masterpiece. I appreciate you guys letting me
get in touch with you today to talk about Ronnie Van Zant and Steve
Gaines and Allen Collins and Cassie Gaines and Dean Kilpatrick who were
all people in the band that we have lost over the years. And of course
Cassie, Dean, Steve, and Ronnie in the plane crash. That was yesterday.
DJ's: Yes that was 20 years ago yesterday. Artimus how much time do we
have to talk to you? Do you have to go anywhere?
AP: No, I'm sitting here in Florida looking across the intercoastal
waterway with sailboats going by and it is a beautiful day. I know you
guys just lost a native son, at least we talked about John Denver the
other day and I know that has been hard for the state of Colorado 'cause
that beautiful song he wrote. I don't think I appreciated John Denver
enough while he was alive. You know I loved his music, but I wasn't the
kind of guy that would go out and buy John Denver albums because I was
always playin', but I loved his music and I tell you I wish I could sing
like that man could sing. I'm going to miss his voice in this world. He
was about the environment and I love John Denver, and I just did not
appreciate him while he was alive and it should be a lesson to really
appreciate people while they are here and tell them so.
DJ 1: Artimus we have to take a break, but when we come back we want to
talk with you about that day 20 years ago yesterday, the plane crash
that took Ronnie Van Zant's life and 6 people total were killed and from
what we understand you were instrumental in helping some of the
survivors get out of the wreck.
DJ 2: So if you don't mind hangin' on we'd like to talk to you for a
little while about that when we come back.
AP: Well that's all true and I'd be glad to.
DJ 1: OK, Artimus Pyle , the drummer from Lynyrd Skynyrd, we'll talk
with him next on the Fox.
DJ: Rick Lewis, Michael Floorwax, and Artimus Pyle(AP, Hey man.)The
drummer from Lynyrd Skynyrd. 15 albums with Skynyrd. And has his own
band now called the Truth and was 20 years ago yesterday, that the band
LYNYRD SKYNYRD was on their way to a show in Louisiana, travelling from
South Carolina when their private plane ran out of fuel and crashed into
a forest in Mississippi. And how many people were on that plane Artimus?
AP: There was 26.
DJ: Were they all with the band in some way? or no?
AP: Well you know this plane was a convair 240 and it was built in 1947
for Eastern airlines and it had originally carried about a hundred
people, and we had it fixed up like a tour bus, and we had it pretty
much maxed out at 26 people on board. There was everybody in the crew,
people from SHOWCO out of Dallas, Texas, our light and sound company.
And we had a couple of extra people, one gentleman from Rolling Stone
that was travelling with us that was going to do a story. So there was
quite an entourage travelling with us. We were overloaded.
DJ:Did you know the plane was running out of fuel and that it was going
to crash. Did they give you any warning?
AP:I use to fly that airplane all the time. My father was killed in a
plane crash in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I was a pilot with my dad. I
was in the Marine Corp for 4 years and flew planes so I just had this
feel for the aviation part of this thing. I was kind of the ground crew.
And so I was in the cockpit when the right engine went out and I knew
that we could fly on one engine because of the glide ratio of the
convair. Then the left engine went out and what we had done was the old
airplanes, the guages on the old airplanes don't read that accurately.
We had taken on 400 gallons of fuel in Greenville, South Carolina. And
we were 60 miles short of Baton Rouge and we went dry in the fuel tanks
and spiralled in from about 9,000 feet. Hit the ground at about 200, 250
miles an hour and then got sucked in to the trees at about a 45 degree
angle. Yes, we actually knew that we were going down 'cause the engines
were out and we were gliding. It is very quiet. Everybody is in prayer.
Yeah, we knew we were goin' down, but our copilot said just before we
hit that we were going to try to make an interstate or a field. Which
you know neither one of those choices is real popular. Our glide ratio
wasn't whay it should have been and we went in to the trees.
DJ: Because you had too much weight on the plane??
AP: Well we were overloaded and we were carrying flight cases and
Halaburton briefcases and camera equipment that we had just gotten in
Japan when we were over touring Japan. Everybody had to buy a camera. I
mean we had a ton of cameras. We had musical instruments, guitars, 26
people and we had the interior fixed up like a tour bus and everything,
but it was still pretty crowded. So all the factors. The fact that our
right engine was having auto rich trouble where it was running lean and
rich and lean and rich. It used more fuel than it should have. We
fought a slight headwind. We were a little bit overloaded and we
literally did not top off our tanks in Greenville. All of those factors,
pilot error, and our glide ratio I felt...when I left the cockpit after
the pilot told me to-He said Artimus you had better go back and strap
yourself in. And I got up like a zombie and walked back to the first
seat that I saw over the left wing on the aisle and sat down behind
Cassie Gaines.(PAUSE) And Cassie,of course, in the crash was killed and
I wasn't so that tells you how close it can be. I sat down and you know
the engines were out and I felt the landing gear go down which I felt
that if we were going to try to belly in to a field and we were losing
altitude that putting the landing gear down cut down our speed with more
wind resistance so we slowed down even more. I think that was a mistake
to put the landing gear down, but the pilot and copilot paid very dearly
for their mistakes and I've never really held any anger or animosity
towards them. They made a mistake and they paid for it. And of course
Ronnie Van Zant and Steve Gaines and Steve's sister Cassie who was an
incredible roll model for women. She had a degree in physical education.
She sang in the original Broadway production of HAIR. She was killed and
our road manager Dean Kilpatrick. So that happened on impact basically.
DJ: Were you injured at all?
AP:My sternum. My breastplate was cracked on impact. All of the
cartilage was ripped from the impact. Because my friends were killed and
hurt really really bad. I never even considered that I was injured.
DJ:Plus you're a Marine.
AP:Huh?
DJ:You know, you being in the Marines, you...
AP:Well I think my combat training... actually... when I knew that we
were goin' in and the copilot, the last thing he said was that we were
heading for an interstate which was I-55 and we had already passed over
McComb, Mississippi. I figured that we were headed in the direction of
civilization. My instincts and my training in the Marine Corp...I was in
for 4 years. '67 to '71. And my last name is Pyle P-Y-L-E, right, so
they called me Gomer everyday for 4 years. I followed my instincts and I
went to a farm house to get help and the man looked at me, you
know I was covered with blood and walking kind of funny and you know I
looked like Charles Manson (he laughed at this) with the long hair and
this wild look and the beard. And he fired a shotgun over my head as a
warning shot 'cause he was protecting his family. We have become friends
over the years. And he caught me with some bird shot in my left
shoulder. It spun me around(DJ:WOW!)(DJ2:JESUS!) as I fell to the ground
I yelled plane crash and I had walked over a mile through this swamp and
a freshly plowed field so I was exhausted and goin' in to shock. And I
yelled plane crash with my last breath and fell to the ground and uh,
Johnny Mote from McComb, Mississippi and Magnolia and that area he ran
over to me and picked me up and then um they said they were going to
take me to the hospital and I said you can't take me anywhere until I
show you where the plane is so all the emergency people showed up within
minutes and we were goin' through fence lines in Johnny's pickup with
him holding me against the seat with one arm. And runnin' through fences
and fields and we came out where I came out of the swamp, and I told
them if you throw from first-if you throw from home plate to center
field 2 times a baseball you'll be right on top of the airplane. Then
they took me to the hospital and I saw hundreds of people goin' into the
woods towards my friends and I could take a breath at that point. So you
know, it was pretty wild man.
DJ: Do you think Ronnie Van Zant was killed on impact?
AP: Yeah. I kept asking the doctors to tell me who made it and who
didn't. We were splattered all over the country. We were in five
different hospitals. Gary Rossington and Allen Collins were medi-vac'd
to Jackson, Miss. I went to Magnolia, Miss. And I asked the doctor who
had made it. Ronnie had told me in Tokyo Japan. We had a VH-1 special
last night they played it back to back with our movie FREEBIRD the Movie
and then an hour long special the VH-1 Sue Sugarman had put together for
VH-1. It was an incredible special that they did on the band and I had
said that in Tokyo Japan Ronnie Van Zant had told me one night, um, we
were sittin' in the hotel room. And he said he would not live to see 30
and that he would go out with his boots on and you know what that means,
right?(DJ'S: Both:UH HUH.) to die doin' something you love in battle or
what ever, you know, on the road. And I said Ronnie, you know, I don't
want to hear that kind of talk man, your going to live forever. And of
course you guys, Rick, Mike, you know that Ronnie's music, Ronnie Van
Zant's music- 'cause he's the man. He wrote the songs. He's the prolific
writer. And his music will live forever and he will. And he told me he
would not live to see 30, and he was 29 when we had the plane crash, and
he was killed instantly, and the doctor told me. He said are you ready
to hear who made it? When he told me Ronnie. I wasn't surprised. I knew
it. And he said that Ronnie was killed by a single blow to the head that
Ronnie was killed immediately upon impact. Like, you know we had Sony
Trinitron televisions and betamaxes and stuff floating around in our
cabin. We were Rock-N-Roll. And um, we should have had that stuff tied
down and stowed away. I should have known better. I'm a Marine. I should
have squared away- we had all these Haliburton briefcases that are
suppose to be indestructable that looked like aluminum foil after the
plane crash uh, with our cameras and stuff in it and instruments and
that stuff all flew forward as we impacted so you know that's a lesson
to anybody out there. When you're flying do everything you are suppose
to do to help. My father was killed in a mid air plane collision in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. The sky gets pretty crowded up there. A mid air
plane collision. What are the chances of that , but it happens.
DJ: Well um, Ronnie was a great musician and a great writer, but I don't
think the music could have been put forth without all of you together
and when we come back we wanted to talk to you just a little bit about
your music and what it meant to you if that would be OK with you???
AP: Oh, of course, and of course you got to talk about Steve Gaines
there too because he also wrote songs and Cassie. And they were from
Oklahoma. So yeah man let listen I got to tell you something. I wasn't
going to do anymore interviews after yesterday. At 20 years I was going
to close the door. I love talking about my friends Cassie and Steve.
They were such great people and Ronnie is prolific and of course the
band helped out a lot. We were inspired. Being on stage with somebody of
that kind of stage presence. You miss that. We'll talk about it man I've
got time.
DJ: All right Artimus Pyle is with us. Lynyrd Skynyrd's drummer.
DJ2: And people feel like you know, that you are their friends too,
'cause we still love all your music and we appreciate you coming on our
show and we'll talk some more when we come back.
AP: I left the band in 1991. It was a hard decision. I mean Lynyrd
Skynyrd has been an everyday part of my life for 24 years. I love the
band. And I miss the band. And I miss the music, and I miss the fans,
and I would love to be out there on this 20th year celebration and I
should be! And I was asked to be. But I left the band in 1991 basically
because there was a problem with drugs and alcohol. And I felt as though
we should have put all that stuff behind us years and years ago. And I
love Gary, and I love Allen. We lost him in 1990. Billy, Leon, these
guys are great people and everything, but you are right they try to
forget things... I wanted to move on and I couldn't. I was a part of the
REAL LYNYRD SKYNYRD. DO YOU UNDERSTAND GUYS???? I mean, it was THE REAL
LYNYRD SKYNYRD! And I couldn't be a part of something that was less than
that! And I'm not going to be! It cost me a lot of money and a lot of
people talk real bad stuff about me.
DJ: I don't see why?
AP:Well it happens believe me, but the fact is I can't be a part of
something... I want Blue Cross and Blue Shield for the band, and good
things and positive things to raise money for children, and cancer
research, and anything that we can. WE COULD BE AS BIG AS THE ROLLING
STONES!!!And lend our name to all kinds of greart causes, but, you know,
instead of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield, THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL
MANAGERS...AND THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL ATTORNEYS. Let me repeat
that...THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASEL ATTORNEYS manipulate the band and drive
them to the brink of you know, insanity. So I am probably not going to
be out there, but I do have a band called THE TRUTH. It is an awesome
group with awesome players. I'm 50 years old and I'm playing better than
I ever have in my life. I love playing. THE BLOOD SUCKING WEASELS AND
ATTORNEYS HAVE NOT TAKEN THE COMPASSION AND THE PASSION OF MUSIC. I
still love luggin' my sets of drums up a flight of stairs. Spending an
hour setting them up and then playing them all night long. And then
tearing them down and loading them up again. I love it!
DJ: Right on!
Tape ends. break in interview.
DJ: ...Rickey's influence??
AP:I agree with you 100%. Rickey Medlocke has definitely been a great
influence on the guys 'cause he won't stand for that nonsense.
DJ: yeah and he's organized and he's kind of the businessman of the
group.
AP:Rickey's organized and he won't stand for that nonsense. I believe
Rickey told me from his own words that he wanted me to be back in the
band. And I should be. I tell ya, you know I've heard the way Owen Hale
plays drums with the band and he's a fine drummer and Owen I'm sure has
great attributes, but he plays generically. He does not play the
drums for LYNYRD SKYNYRD the way they should be played. When I
came in to LYNYRD SKYNYRD they needed a FIRE set underneath them. And I
SET that fire. And I have been a loyal hard working member of the Lynyrd
Skynyrd band for over 24 years that it's been a part of my life. I have
put my life on the line MORE than once for Gary, and Billy, and Leon,
and Allen. I have pulled Ronnie off of them when he was getting drunk
and abusive with them. I have gone to their defense and they know it. If
they were to be honest and sit in that studio and tell you, they would
say "Artimus you are our brother, we love you. You saved our life in the
plane crash. There would be no band if it wasn't for you!" Yet, when I
need those guys, when I was facing life in prison, ok, they looked the
other way and turned their back on me because they were gakked out on
cocaine and alcohol. Now that's the facts my brothers. And I love those
guys. You're talkin' about guys that I would still put my life on the
line for. But when it comes to me they trade my azz in on, you know, on
some drugs and alcohol. So, I don't know,(UNINTELLIGIBLE)is not like
that, Leon, and Billy, and Gary should stand up for themselves and tell
the management to go straight to hell!
You know, they should have been here in America out at the Ronnie Van
Zant Park with their friends and their loved ones and their family
members playin' music for Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines,
Allen Collins, and Dean Kilpatrick. But they're over in Madrid, Spain
you know, playin' for some people that I'm sure enjoy seeing the music,
but that's not where they belong, but their management told them to be
over there, because the movie, FREEBIRD the Movie, and our VH-1 special
and the plane crash do not put any money in the managements pockets.(DJ:
that sucks.) Now if I'm lyin' I'm dyin. All I've got to say is I love
those guys. I hope they straighten their azz up and call me someday.
They NEED me badly on drums, believe me.
DJ: We know what you are talking about and we felt the same way when we
saw them here in August.
AP:Look at my track record. All my albums that I played with the band,
every song on them are hit songs.(DJ: Well Artimus...)Since they have
been getting their little hired hand drummers, they got Custer. He
turned out to be a crack head liar. You know, they sent him packin' back
to Burbank, California. And now they got this session drummer from
Nashville who I am sure is a nice guy, but man...I SMOKE HIM!!!!
DJ: Well, Artimus it's rough and I'll tell you why, because.....
AP:You know what guys, Rick, Mike, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME MY BROTHERS, I
HAVE EVER SAID ANYTHING!!!! I closed the door yesterday. Yesterday at
6:00 is when we went down and I'm sitting here in Florida on my back
porch lookin' across the marsh and the intercoastal waterway and I'm
reliving every minute of it sitting here in the darkness, and I was
going to shut the door on it. But you know, you guys asked me the
questions and I have never come out on any station and said this, but
you know, my boys need to straighten up and fly right and do the right
thing. Because Ronnie is not here and he won't be here, but it has been
said that if Ronnie was here he would have a few words to say to Gary
Rossington, and Leon, and Billy, and his little brother. What can I say,
I did the Tribute Tour with the guys and we did the first 32- I lived in
Jerusalem Israel, and I came back from Jerusalem we did the first 32
cities of the Tribute Tour in 87 and it was beautiful man. Everybody was
straight. No cocaine. No alcohol. Nothin', and it was beautiful. We were
strong and vibrant. The crowd loved it. And now I really feel like the
kids are not getting their money's worth. Those kids spend 2 and 3
hundred dollars to come and see the band. And they need to see guys that
are singing from the heart with the spirit. And sometimes they do and
sometimes they don't. I'm sorry guys this is the first...(DJ: don't
apologize) You know, It hurts because I was asked to join the band about
a year ago to be a part of this 20 thing. And I said of course I will.
They called me and set me up and said we want you to play on the album.
We want you to do the tour. And I said OK guys, you know I'm ready to
go. I'm in shape, and Gary said Artimus I love you, I want you back in
the band, get in shape. I said I'm in shape brother, just give me the
call. Well not one of them called me. No one from the management. No one
from the band. And Judy Van zant and I were talking one day and she
wanted me to go out and do something on FREEBIRD the Movie and I said
well Judy I got to go to Muscle Shoals and play on the new Skynyrd
record because it's the right thing to do. It's 20 years after the plane
crash and I need to be there. The band needs me and I felt good about
it. And Judy goes "Oh Artimus they already hired a session drummer from
Nashville, Tenn. and they are through with the album."(DJ:OOOOHH!!) You
know, so Gary Rossington gives MY album that I put my blood, sweat, and
tears and worked for just like he did in 1991. He gave my album to Kurt
Custer to play when I wrote seven of the songs and gave credit to Kurt
Custer. I mean these guys have not treated me right. You know they have
been poopoo faces and they need to be spanked, but I still love them.
DJ: It sounds like you say it's drugs and alcohol talkin' because we
know that we love you and we love those guys, but when that group starts
getting loaded it's not very cool. We just wanted to tell you for your
own information. This time through they looked like they had it together
a little bit more. I mean they were wearing pictures of Ronnie on their
back and they were trying a little. Maybe if you called Rickey Medlocke
and rapped with him he could at least make you feel a little bit better
'cause I think they still are your pals and they are trying hard, but
boy when they get on the jive just like anybody else it's not a very
good thing.
AP: Well I don't know man. I'm a vegetarian. I'm kind of organic. And I
feel that there is nothing wrong in the world about drinking a beer if
that is what you like. If it tastes good to you. Or rolling up a big fat
doobie!!!(DJ'S:laughing)All of this other stuff, the heavy alcohol, and
when they make cocaine they have to like process that stuff and there is
just something not right about that. And then to ingest that stuff in to
your system is just stupid!!! There is nobody that I know that does a
bunch of cocaine and drinks a bunch of alcohol that acts cool.(DJ:that's
for sure) Everybody acts like an idiot. You know what they say about
cocaine??? The bad thing about cocaine is that it keeps the drunks
awake.(DJ'S: laughing)
DJ: Artimus we need to take a break real bad here.
AP: All right man, well listen, thank you for keeping Ronnie Van Zant's
music alive for 20 years. Radio stations like yours. People all over the
world man, it is so cool what you have done, and it will probably go,
you know, another couple of lifetimes. Thanks a lot guys...
DJ: Well it's your music too, Artimus and we are going to play some more
of it this morning and rock out with the Skynyrds and we hope to see
your new band in Denver soon.
AP: Well listen, my new band, we decided to call it THE TRUTH. And as
you know the truth will set you free. So come and hear THE TRUTH you
guys, Rick, Mike, thank you so much. Believe me, from my heart, I love
all the guys in the band. They've hurt me. And maybe I'm a little hurt
and I'll get over it. I've been hurt a lot. I've had 2 airplane crashes,
8 motorcycle wrecks, 10 car wrecks. I've been shot. I've been stabbed.
And I still say life is beautiful. Live it to it's fullest. Live every
MINUTE to it's fullest. I love you guys thanks a lot for everything.
DJ'S: Thank you Artimus. we hope to talk to you again sometime.
AP: Bye Rick, bye Mike, we'll see ya!!!
DJ: All right, Artimus Pyle from LYNYRD SKYNYRD. You can hear it!! That
is how all that good music came out of Muscle Shoals. It is straight
from the heart.
Thank you Artimus for having the courage
to say it how you feel it. For all the
FREEBIRDS...