Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Ed King dies at 68

[|iR|Focalor]

Ed King, former guitar player for Lynyrd Skynyrd dies at 68.

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/08/23/ed-king-former-guitarist-for-lynyrd-skynyrd-who-co-wrote-sweet-home-alabama-dead-at-68.html

Ed King was probably the least regarded member of Skynyrd, but his playing was a big part of the bands 3 guitar sound since he typically played a Stratocaster to contrast that thinner sound against the thicker sounds of Gary Rossington's Les Paul or SG and Allen Collins' Gibson Explorer. Dude could play too. I think Steve Gaines who replaced him right before the plane crash might've been a little better, cuz that guy could wear a stratocaster THE... FUCK... OUT. But Ed King was probably the least insane member of the band, and the only one NOT from Florida, as he came all the way from California to join the band in the early Muscle Shoals demo days. Never got enough credit for his work in my opinion.

Kind of a shy guy, never really did many interviews, and after the 90's he rarely ever made any public appearances. If you've ever heard of the Adult Swim cartoon show Squidbillies, the guy who does the voice of the main character on there also has a music persona he calls Unknown Hinson (real name is Stuart Daniel Baker). Well Ed King and Baker were pretty good friends, and King lived right outside of Nashville TN, so every once in a blue moon when Baker would play a show in Nashville, King would come to the show to see him and sometimes come on stage with him to play a song or two.

<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sbFx0STLKqQ/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sbFx0STLKqQ"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/sbFx0STLKqQ" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/sbFx0STLKqQ</a>

[|iR|Focalor]

A few videos about some of Ed King's guitars.

'59 Les Paul sunbursts are probably the most expensive guitars there are. The guy in the video appraises Ed King's '59 sunburst at about $500,000, but that's probably a low figure, especially now that Ed King has passed.

1959 Gibson Les Paul sunburst "Red Eye"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwVnvEASv2Q
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AwVnvEASv2Q/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AwVnvEASv2Q"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/AwVnvEASv2Q" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/AwVnvEASv2Q</a>

1959 Fender Stratocaster
King used this one a lot during his tours with Skynyrd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX6ZDbaw3Io
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AX6ZDbaw3Io/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AX6ZDbaw3Io"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/AX6ZDbaw3Io" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/AX6ZDbaw3Io</a>

More about his black 59 Strat and his 1964 Gibson SG standard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnmdyejQYsk
<span data-s9e-mediaembed="youtube" style="display:inline-block;width:100%;max-width:640px"><span style="display:block;overflow:hidden;position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%"><iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" style="background:url(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KnmdyejQYsk/hqdefault.jpg) 50% 50% / cover;border:0;height:100%;left:0;position:absolute;width:100%" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KnmdyejQYsk"></iframe></span></span><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/KnmdyejQYsk" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/KnmdyejQYsk</a>

[FLAT]

Saw them in Jackson in 87 with the reunion/tribute tour. It was pretty amazing. I can only imagine what the shows before the plane crash were like. If i'm not mistaken he played bass for the band before switching to guitar. My memory is shit but I think Allan Collins was in a wheel chair and a kid named Randall Hall was playing in his spot with Rossington and King. And yeah, Steve Gaines was the fuckin man. I was born about 10 years too late.

[|iR|Focalor]

After the crash, Allen Collins' drinking became worse and worse. I think he had been in NUMEROUS drunk driving accidents before the one in '86 that paralyzed him and killed his girlfriend.

They weren't the kind of band that improvised anything. They rehearsed songs over and over with the intention of playing them the exact same way every time. And with 3 guitarists, they could easily play their parts and have everything sound just like the albums.

And then you had the Allman Brothers who everyone termed "southern rock" who thrived on improvisation and often changed the tempos of different songs from night to night on a whim. A great band for sure, but much like with the Grateful Dead, you never knew what you were gonna hear. A lot of Deadheads claim that the Dead's best stuff was their live recordings. I don't really agree with that sentiment. While the Allman Brothers certainly sounded FUCKING INCREDIBLE on their Fillmore East recordings (my favorite album of theirs), most of the Dead's live recordings including stuff from the Fillmore West was just... lackluster... in my opinion, anyway.

[FLAT]

I just now watched the Unknown Hinson video and bout fell out of my chair. I'm a closet squidbillies fan and that guy is definitely Early Cuyler. Whoo! Hell Yeah! Do not touch the trim!