Post by Forum Lord on Dec 13, 2019 8:24:31 GMT -5
2362 Artimus Interview: Part One
templar33@xxxx.xxx Sep 28, 1999
I have received a number of requests for this interview and so I thought
I would go ahead and post and let the chips fall where they may.
Kent
______________________________________________________________
This is the begining of the transcribed interview:
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 and...
templar33@xxxx.xxx Sep 28, 1999
I have received a number of requests for this interview and so I thought
I would go ahead and post and let the chips fall where they may.
Kent
______________________________________________________________
This is the begining of the transcribed interview:
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 and...