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Today, HPR All Things Considered Host Dave Lawrence welcomes one of only two band survivors still alive from the historic 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer Artimus Pyle.
In Episode #473 of the Iron City Rocks Podcast, the crew are joined by Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Inductee and former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer, Artimus Pyle.
In 1977, Lynyrd Skynyrd was on top of the world. The band just released their fifth record, Street Survivors, when the unthinkable happened. The plane crashed killed six and injured 20. Of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band members that were on that flight, only 2 are still alive. One of those survivors, former drummer Artimus Pyle, recently took some time to talk with me about his story,
Exactly 44 years ago on Oct. 20, 1977, a plane crash killed members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Now, one of the band’s Hall of Fame drummers, Artimus Pyle, describes surviving that crash in the film “Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash.”
“I just thought it was time for the Skynyrd fans to know what happened to us on that fateful day,” Pyle told WTOP. “It was time to tell that story. … I think about this every single day. It’s not something that I can put out of my mind. It’s always there. … For many years I was sad, but I just decided that after 40 years … I’m going to be happy about the music.”
For Artimus Pyle, former drummer for the legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, music has no age limit.
“I’m 72 and playing drums like I’m 30 and loving it more than I ever have. We’re playing great songs that everyone loves so much,” Pyle said during a phone interview.
Pyle played with Lynyrd Skynryd during the band’s formative years, from 1974 through 1977. During this time, Lynyrd Skynryd rose to the top of the charts with classic hits like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Simple Man” and “Free Bird.” Pyle also played with the band during the tribute tour in 1991.
Sometimes, the sound of impending doom is quiet. And sometimes it is loud. Less often, it is both. That’s how Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle recalls what he and 25 other band members, crew, associates, and pilots heard inside of their Convair CV-240 plane over the swamps near Gillsburg, Mississippi on October 20, 1977.