Post by Cagey-1 on Nov 24, 2011 13:10:38 GMT -5
This is the story and how I recall it from all my years of being around Skynyrd band members...
Posted here are three images from Artimus Pyle's personal band photos. I'd like to provide some of the background story going from memory so I may not have all the details perfectly accurate, but this is how I can best recall the stories I heard directly from Artimus over the many years I was fortunate to be around him......
The Skynyrd band knew they had a problem with Bob Burn who was losing it. The fame and substance abuse took its toll on him and he began to develop what some would describe as a chemical embalance within the grey matter. Ronnie and the band knew he would have to be replaced, but they never could have expected how it came about...
While on the road Skynyrd performed with Charlie Daniels. Ronnie told Charlie of his problem with Bob Burns and asked if Charlie knew of a drummer that he could recommend to him to replace Bob Burns.
Charlie Daniels was carrying around some guilt and it was because he too needed a drummer at one time, and at the time Artimus was fresh out of the Marines and living up around the Greenville-Spartanburg area of South Carolina and he was friends with the members of the Marshall Tucker band and even performed with them.
***Artimus named his second son Marshall Tucker Pyle.
When Charlie needed a new drummer he remembered Artimus from his association to the MTB, and Charlie had asked that Artimus come to Nashville to join his band.
Artimus did as requested and arrived in Nashville on a greyhound bus. Charlie Daniels was waiting on Artimus at the station. And when Artimus arrived, Charlie was upset and bummed out for lack of a better word. While Artimus was enroute from South Carolina to Nashville, Charlie's drummer returned to Charlie Daniel's band and so when Artimus arrived at the station and walked down off the bus, Charlie was there to inform Artimus that his drummer had come back and that he would not be needing Artimus to join his band.
Charlie Daniels felt really bad about the situation and so he purchased Artimus return ticket to South Carolina and gave Artimus some cash for his troubles. And so Artimus climbed back onto the bus and rode it on back home.
Charlie Daniels did not forget this. So when Ronnie and Charlie talked backstage one day, and Ronnie asked Charlie if he knew of a drummer, Charlie immediately said that he did know of a drummer named Artimus Pyle who was hanging out with the MTB.
Ronnie and Skynyrd band leaders Allen and Gary had set up some auditions back home in Jax, but after Charlie Daniels had recommended Artimus, he moved to the top of Ronnie's list based purely on this word of mouth recommendation.
(***Something to consider... those auditions for drummers set up back in Jax never happened. They were cancelled and Ronnie and the band never even listened to nor considered any other drummers after hearing Artimus play in Atlanta, but after all these years I am wondering if maybe Derek Hess might have been one of those other drummers waiting to audition???)
Ronnie contacted Artimus and told him to meet up with him and Allen and possibly Gary in Atlanta Georgia for an audition. Ronnie and Allen and possibly Gary drove up to Atlanta to hear Artimus play and it only took a few minutes of listening for Ronnie and the others to tell Artimus to get his things together and come to Jacksonville.
So sometime in late 1974 Artimus drove down to Jacksonville to meet up with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Bob was still the band's drummer and the band had a schedule of live performances to meet and in the coming months they would work Artimus into the band and slowly work Bob Burns out of the band.
Artimus had also scheduled some work with another band and would have to meet those dates and complete them before he could join Skynyrd on a permanent basis.
So beginning about November of 1974 Artimus began touring with Skynyrd and learning the band's music. Bob was still the band's drummer and Artimus actually roomed with Bob during this time they were together on the road with Skynyrd.
Artimus had to leave Skynyrd to join his other band's gigs with some of them being booked in London England.
And it just so happened that Skynyrd was also scheduled in London to perform at exactly the same time, but as I recall Artimus telling me this story, the Skynyrd band had no idea Artimus was in London performing. It just one of those quirky coincidences.
So while Skynyrd was in London they were staying at an exclusive hotel and I want to say it was called the Mayflower or something like that, and the owner of the hotel was into prize show cats and he had them roaming all over the hotel with some of them even wearing their prize ribbons around their necks as they roamed the halls of this old hotel.
When Skynyrd showed up, it was at exactly this time that Bob Burns completely lost and had some sort of melt down and he just cracked up. One of the stories I heard was that Bob was chasing the band's road manager down the road in front of the hotel with a pick axe threatening to kill him. Another story I heard was that Bob Burns had taken at least one or more of the hotel's prized show cats up on the roof of the hotel and was throwing over the edge to see if they landed on their feet way down below as they splattered on the sidewalks around the hotel.
Needless to say it, but Skynyrd got tossed out of the hotel rather quickly and the band was all in a panic because they could no longer depend on Bob Burns. He had lost it and they needed Artimus right now.
So the band, probably Ronnie or management phoned back to the USA to reach Artimus and tell him they had to have him right now in London and they were pleasantly surprised to discover that low and behold, Artimus was already in London! And I think Artimus said once they found out, that Ronnie and maybe others in the band came to see him perform with his other band and then you can bet Ronnie, Allen, and others put the pressure on Artimus to come with them immediately. And so he did.
Bob Burns was sent home on the first flight they could get him on, and Artimus was now taking over the full reign of drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd. And as I recall, Artimus said he toured with Bob and Skynyrd for about 4 month, so this would be November and December of 1974 and January and February of 1975.
So Artimus took over Skynyrd drums sometime in either February or March of 1975 in London England. Artimus said he refused to sign a contract and told Ronnie and the band to pay him in cash what they thought was fair. Artimus use to describe to me how Ronnie would bring him brown paper bags full of cash after each performance.
***This situation of Artimus NOT signing a contract worked for him in some ways and against him in other ways, but that is another story. And something else I want to add in here, when Artimus joined Skynyrd Artimus was at the top of his game. He was in excellent physical shape and he was one powerful drummer who had a flare for throwing in licks out of the blue and Ronnie knew this and fully respected Artimus capabilities behind those drums. Artimus told me that Ronnie said and told him that he had his permission and full blessing to play those drums however he wanted to, but Ronnie insisted on one thing and that was that Artimus always keep the beat and never lose the beat. If Artimus could do that for Ronnie, then Artimus was free to throw in whatever extra licks and surprises that he wanted to.
Three of the photo images posted in this thread are some of the photos Artimus took of himself and the Lynyrd Skynyrd band immediately after joining them in London. All three of these images were taken in and around London. The band took some time off in London and they did some sight seeing around London at the time.
Artimus was taking lots of photos because this was a big deal for him back then. This was a major acheivement for him in joining a world class band on their way up in the rock world.
His personal photo albums have lots of photos of him and the band members in hotel rooms, walking the streets of London sight seeing and on the bus on tour around England and Europe to include Germany, Belgium and more... some of the photos Artimus took right from the Skynyrd stage looking out into the audience at an English crowd there to see Skynyrd perform. Quite often Artimus would hand his camera over to others to snap photos for him so he could be seen in them as well such as walking the streets of London with other band members and even photos of Skynyrd performing on stage in London and other.
So right at the very beginning of Artimus joining Lynyrd Skynyrd he was taking a lot of photos, and around Europe on this tour. At no other time in his career did Artimus ever take as many photos as he did right at his beginning with Skynyrd.
And for some strange reason Artimus said he liked to snap photos of people just as they were waking up and so photo albums was loaded up with pictures of Ronnie, Allen, Gary, Dean Kilpatrick and others who were sound asleep only to be jostled awake by Artimus with a camera in hand snapping pictures of them at exactly the seconds of them waking into consciousness and you can see some of this here in this thread if you back up a page or two.
Sooooo there you have it. The story as best as I can recall it years later going from memory. Like I said, I may not have all the facts exactly right, but this is as close as my memory will allow.
Posted here are three images from Artimus Pyle's personal band photos. I'd like to provide some of the background story going from memory so I may not have all the details perfectly accurate, but this is how I can best recall the stories I heard directly from Artimus over the many years I was fortunate to be around him......
The Skynyrd band knew they had a problem with Bob Burn who was losing it. The fame and substance abuse took its toll on him and he began to develop what some would describe as a chemical embalance within the grey matter. Ronnie and the band knew he would have to be replaced, but they never could have expected how it came about...
While on the road Skynyrd performed with Charlie Daniels. Ronnie told Charlie of his problem with Bob Burns and asked if Charlie knew of a drummer that he could recommend to him to replace Bob Burns.
Charlie Daniels was carrying around some guilt and it was because he too needed a drummer at one time, and at the time Artimus was fresh out of the Marines and living up around the Greenville-Spartanburg area of South Carolina and he was friends with the members of the Marshall Tucker band and even performed with them.
***Artimus named his second son Marshall Tucker Pyle.
When Charlie needed a new drummer he remembered Artimus from his association to the MTB, and Charlie had asked that Artimus come to Nashville to join his band.
Artimus did as requested and arrived in Nashville on a greyhound bus. Charlie Daniels was waiting on Artimus at the station. And when Artimus arrived, Charlie was upset and bummed out for lack of a better word. While Artimus was enroute from South Carolina to Nashville, Charlie's drummer returned to Charlie Daniel's band and so when Artimus arrived at the station and walked down off the bus, Charlie was there to inform Artimus that his drummer had come back and that he would not be needing Artimus to join his band.
Charlie Daniels felt really bad about the situation and so he purchased Artimus return ticket to South Carolina and gave Artimus some cash for his troubles. And so Artimus climbed back onto the bus and rode it on back home.
Charlie Daniels did not forget this. So when Ronnie and Charlie talked backstage one day, and Ronnie asked Charlie if he knew of a drummer, Charlie immediately said that he did know of a drummer named Artimus Pyle who was hanging out with the MTB.
Ronnie and Skynyrd band leaders Allen and Gary had set up some auditions back home in Jax, but after Charlie Daniels had recommended Artimus, he moved to the top of Ronnie's list based purely on this word of mouth recommendation.
(***Something to consider... those auditions for drummers set up back in Jax never happened. They were cancelled and Ronnie and the band never even listened to nor considered any other drummers after hearing Artimus play in Atlanta, but after all these years I am wondering if maybe Derek Hess might have been one of those other drummers waiting to audition???)
Ronnie contacted Artimus and told him to meet up with him and Allen and possibly Gary in Atlanta Georgia for an audition. Ronnie and Allen and possibly Gary drove up to Atlanta to hear Artimus play and it only took a few minutes of listening for Ronnie and the others to tell Artimus to get his things together and come to Jacksonville.
So sometime in late 1974 Artimus drove down to Jacksonville to meet up with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Bob was still the band's drummer and the band had a schedule of live performances to meet and in the coming months they would work Artimus into the band and slowly work Bob Burns out of the band.
Artimus had also scheduled some work with another band and would have to meet those dates and complete them before he could join Skynyrd on a permanent basis.
So beginning about November of 1974 Artimus began touring with Skynyrd and learning the band's music. Bob was still the band's drummer and Artimus actually roomed with Bob during this time they were together on the road with Skynyrd.
Artimus had to leave Skynyrd to join his other band's gigs with some of them being booked in London England.
And it just so happened that Skynyrd was also scheduled in London to perform at exactly the same time, but as I recall Artimus telling me this story, the Skynyrd band had no idea Artimus was in London performing. It just one of those quirky coincidences.
So while Skynyrd was in London they were staying at an exclusive hotel and I want to say it was called the Mayflower or something like that, and the owner of the hotel was into prize show cats and he had them roaming all over the hotel with some of them even wearing their prize ribbons around their necks as they roamed the halls of this old hotel.
When Skynyrd showed up, it was at exactly this time that Bob Burns completely lost and had some sort of melt down and he just cracked up. One of the stories I heard was that Bob was chasing the band's road manager down the road in front of the hotel with a pick axe threatening to kill him. Another story I heard was that Bob Burns had taken at least one or more of the hotel's prized show cats up on the roof of the hotel and was throwing over the edge to see if they landed on their feet way down below as they splattered on the sidewalks around the hotel.
Needless to say it, but Skynyrd got tossed out of the hotel rather quickly and the band was all in a panic because they could no longer depend on Bob Burns. He had lost it and they needed Artimus right now.
So the band, probably Ronnie or management phoned back to the USA to reach Artimus and tell him they had to have him right now in London and they were pleasantly surprised to discover that low and behold, Artimus was already in London! And I think Artimus said once they found out, that Ronnie and maybe others in the band came to see him perform with his other band and then you can bet Ronnie, Allen, and others put the pressure on Artimus to come with them immediately. And so he did.
Bob Burns was sent home on the first flight they could get him on, and Artimus was now taking over the full reign of drums for Lynyrd Skynyrd. And as I recall, Artimus said he toured with Bob and Skynyrd for about 4 month, so this would be November and December of 1974 and January and February of 1975.
So Artimus took over Skynyrd drums sometime in either February or March of 1975 in London England. Artimus said he refused to sign a contract and told Ronnie and the band to pay him in cash what they thought was fair. Artimus use to describe to me how Ronnie would bring him brown paper bags full of cash after each performance.
***This situation of Artimus NOT signing a contract worked for him in some ways and against him in other ways, but that is another story. And something else I want to add in here, when Artimus joined Skynyrd Artimus was at the top of his game. He was in excellent physical shape and he was one powerful drummer who had a flare for throwing in licks out of the blue and Ronnie knew this and fully respected Artimus capabilities behind those drums. Artimus told me that Ronnie said and told him that he had his permission and full blessing to play those drums however he wanted to, but Ronnie insisted on one thing and that was that Artimus always keep the beat and never lose the beat. If Artimus could do that for Ronnie, then Artimus was free to throw in whatever extra licks and surprises that he wanted to.
Three of the photo images posted in this thread are some of the photos Artimus took of himself and the Lynyrd Skynyrd band immediately after joining them in London. All three of these images were taken in and around London. The band took some time off in London and they did some sight seeing around London at the time.
Artimus was taking lots of photos because this was a big deal for him back then. This was a major acheivement for him in joining a world class band on their way up in the rock world.
His personal photo albums have lots of photos of him and the band members in hotel rooms, walking the streets of London sight seeing and on the bus on tour around England and Europe to include Germany, Belgium and more... some of the photos Artimus took right from the Skynyrd stage looking out into the audience at an English crowd there to see Skynyrd perform. Quite often Artimus would hand his camera over to others to snap photos for him so he could be seen in them as well such as walking the streets of London with other band members and even photos of Skynyrd performing on stage in London and other.
So right at the very beginning of Artimus joining Lynyrd Skynyrd he was taking a lot of photos, and around Europe on this tour. At no other time in his career did Artimus ever take as many photos as he did right at his beginning with Skynyrd.
And for some strange reason Artimus said he liked to snap photos of people just as they were waking up and so photo albums was loaded up with pictures of Ronnie, Allen, Gary, Dean Kilpatrick and others who were sound asleep only to be jostled awake by Artimus with a camera in hand snapping pictures of them at exactly the seconds of them waking into consciousness and you can see some of this here in this thread if you back up a page or two.
Sooooo there you have it. The story as best as I can recall it years later going from memory. Like I said, I may not have all the facts exactly right, but this is as close as my memory will allow.