In spring 1969, the British group Free rocked up in Lynyrd Skynyrd’s hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, to play the local ice rink during their first US tour. Free’s lead vocalist Paul Rodgers came from Middlesborough which, like Jacksonville, was an industrial city noted for its steelworks and chemical plants. Free’s frontman also had a reputation for solving trouble with his fists. It was something he shared in common with a 21-year-old singer and local tearaway named Ronnie Van Zant, who turned up to watch the show.
Stood alongside Van Zant were two friends, teenage guitarists Allen Collins and Gary Rossington. The three had been playing in a group together since high school. But witnessing Free changed their lives forever. “We didn’t even know their songs,” says Gary Rossington. “But we watched them set up with their beat-up old Marshalls, and we thought they were cool ’cos they had long hair. And, boy, when they played, we were just floored. It freaked us out.”
