How did Lynyrd Skynyrd get their name?
Regarding band names, Lynyrd Skynyrd has long been among the most confounding. However, there’s meaning behind it, if you look back far enough.
Band names are a truly odd thing. They have to be expertly balanced between being normal, cool, memorable, not too odd, but odd enough that they stick forever in your brain. And, while there are some great band names out there, like The Cure, Guns ‘N Roses, Nirvana, that possibly got some kind of boost from their seemingly chic names, there are also inexplicable bad monikers attached to great bands, like Oasis, Captain Beefheart and, if we’re honest, The Beatles.
They might well be one of the most influential bands of all time, and their name certainly isn’t awful, but if you were to suggest a pun-led name about music to your four friends in your garage as they awaited some kind of naming ceremony, you would, rightly, be laughed out of your own property.
A name can mean a lot, and Lynyrd Skynyrd is not the kind of name that instantly jumps off the page as a perfect one. But it does deliver on one vital aspect for rock band names: it is memorable. It is an odd spelling that almost sounds like a set of English words but just falls short, and for that reason, it is enticing enough to linger on. And, it turns out, that is all down to one man.
So, who was the real person behind the name Lynyrd Skynyrd?
The southern rock pioneers took their name from an actual figure, a PE teacher who hated long-haired pupils. This attitude brought him into conflict with Skynyrd’s founding members when they were in high school.
Although Leonard Skinner passed away aged 77 in 2010, he is immortalised by the Florida group, who gave the world a range of classic rock pieces such as ‘Free Bird’ and ‘Sweet Home Alabama’. The story goes that Skinner’s disdain for long-haired male pupils that filled the halls of Robert E Lee High School in Jacksonville in the 1960s was immeasurable. His constant anger caused many students who ascribed to the counterculture to be sent to the headmaster’s office. Among them were the founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
One of the band members – long thought to be Garry Rossington, who passed away in March this year – was so annoyed by the suspension notices he received from the headteacher because of Skinner that one day, he arrived at school with his father. The senior Rossington maintained that his son needed long hair to support the family from the earnings with the band. Reflecting the state of the time, the headteacher was unfazed, suggesting that the young musician get a crew cut and a wig.
It is reported that at drummer Bob Burns’ suggestion, the band initially settled on ‘Leonard Skinnerd’, one part a reference to the character of ‘Leonard Skinner’ from Allan Sherman’s 1963 novelty track ‘Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh’, and in another a mocking nod to Leonard Skinner, the PE teacher.
The band adopted and eventually adapted Skinner’s name, with the final ‘Lynyrd Skynyrd’ spelling also said to be a homage to the odd pronunciations of America’s deep south. Whilst the final version of their name might appear to have contained some vitriol towards their old enemy, the group eventually befriended Skinner in the 1970s after they’d achieved fame. “I just went along with the flow,” Skinner said of the name in 1996. “There was not much I could do about it.”
The name is not the only aspect of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s career that saw them look to their old PE teacher. The band also turned to Skinner when designing the inside of the 1975 album Nuthin’ Fancy, using a photograph of a sign from his estate agency, which contained his name and telephone number. This saw the former teacher flooded with calls from around the world from fans wanting to discuss Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Nevertheless, when Skinner passed away in 2010, Rossington paid tribute to their old scourge: “Coach Skinner had such a profound impact on our youth that ultimately led us to naming the band, which you know as Lynyrd Skynyrd, after him. Looking back, I cannot imagine it any other way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.”
