Steve Gaines would have been a superstar... so sad. This is a rare gem - thanks for posting.

Agree with you about Steve. The band was really charged with a renewed passion for music when he joined. I really believe that if he (Steve) were still alive, he would be one of the best blues/rock guitarists around.

I saw steve gaines live in chicago before the crash. a true super star!

Yep. Steve did spark the band to new heights. So did Artie. Ronnie picked up on talent, and brought them into the band to make it better. If you ever heard them in the early days, before the girl singers were added, you could easily see the growth that happened later, and while all the band were talented way beyond their years, Ronnie had the vision and the hunger that really made it happen, IMHO......

@atomicplayboy4u Ronnie Van Zant said. "STEVE IS A GUITAR PLAYING/SINGING/SONG WRITING FOOL AND ONE DAY WE WILL ALL BE STANDING IN HIS SHADOW". Sad it never came true.

Yeah ... this is terrific, a great post! Steve Gaines had so much talent, so sadly cut short.

Steve does a bang up job on vocals here. He could have been a singer. He was one heckuva guitar slinger though! Luckily for us, we still have Gary, Ed and Artimus around. RIP Billy Powell......

very valuable man. I never knew this existed, Gaines really was a good player and singer, One in the Sun always makes me think of gaines and old times when i hear it.

Nice to hear them tearing it up on the solos even for a soundcheck. I think these guys really liked playing.

@SteveGaines Agreed! LS were all getting stale in writing and playing until Steve really "pumped them up" again. Street Survivors was like the "rebirth" Skynyrd had needed, (not to mention the 3-guitar attack again), that Steve brought back into the group. Just listen to the difference between "Gimme Back My Bullets" to "Street Survivors". NO comparison! Woulda loved to have been able to seen the (cut short)'77 Street Survivors Tour! They played 5 shows before the crash, hence so few good vids.

God Damn, that boy's funky!

this was a sound check and Ronnie preferred to save his voice by not doing them

fucking amazing. this is so cool.

Love this!

OH this makes me sad, Steve was amazing...

Man, I'd pay good money to get this on CD! Universal, are you reading this?!?!?!

@mebloke69 Gary Rossington was "PRINCE CHARMING AND PRETTY BOY". That was Ronnie's nick name for him because of his long hair and his way with the women.

Steve Gaines was enjoying life. He loved the music the band and the members. He was awesome. I love this

such a shame that so much talent was taken so young, so soon. i just read that ronnie said steve would shadow the band someday. could you imagine had they not gotten on that plane, where the band would of gone with their new guitarist/vocalist? check out "ain't no good life" to hear steve all by himself singing.

This is awesome Tony! Thanks for posting it:)

Cool, must have been hard to find this!

All I do is pic on my guitar I feel bad for that lol as I've matured I can tell you Steve was all that and a bag a chips considering his guitar skills his voice was a perfect compliment today's music is so undefined singer is too opera over the top Neometal. or mumbles I'll stop now but they get me started

Right on...so cool to hear Steve singing this...it's a treat..but.. we all know it just ain't right without the man who breathed life into it. no one else can do this song, the idea of anyone else attempting this song is considered slightly blasphemous...

There has been talk over the years and I found this "fact" about Lynyrd Skynyrd to be fascinating. A tired, unhealthy and homesick Ronnie wanted to retire from singing in Lynyrd Skynyrd. However, he would then take over management duties of the band. Ronnie had been wanting to do this for a long time and then Steve came along and Ronnie had found his man.

I met Gene Odom When the Rossington Collins band was touring. He was selling his book!! and Then we met up again when he was with molly hatchet doing the same! really approachable and if you got the time and he also!! what a story!! he has been thru a lot, it's all in the book if you got a couple bucks!! IF YOUR A SKYNYRD FAN, YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!!

awssome song thinks for posting this video LONG LIVE THE OLD BAND.. RIP ALL WHOM HAVE GO ON TO THE SKY ABOUVE LONG LIVE SKYNYRD

Steve was the man. Love it

BTW, a pretty damn decent "77 Tour "live vid" of this song with Gaines @ watch?v=hQlCxE4z3u4&feature=related. One of the last 5 shows they'd played before the crash. Although in B&W and the sound's a little low, you could tell they were READY for this tour!

my favourite lynyrd skynyrd song

If he had lived I think he would have eventually left Skynyrd for a solo career. He was that good.

Thank you so much.

Steve doing Ronnie. Classic.

Steve rlz so much. RIP.

much thanks for a description this video. i never know this

@Raptorfy - Gary is a rhythm guitarist. Allen and Steve were lead guitarists. You can't compare the two.

Gary Rossington was PRINCE CHARMING and PRETTY BOY for his way with the women..RVZ gave him that name.

@TheSpawnofSkynyrd Check out the OLD VIDEOS of when the band was just TWO GUITAR PLAYERS. Rossington played 99% of the solos. Check out Winterland and Old Grey Whistle Test. Why? Because Collins was the better Rhythm player and could hold it down..Gary wasn't NEAR the rhythm player Allen was. And when Gaines joined that left TWO great rhythm players when one would solo. That was Gaines and Collins check out Gaines rhythm work during Billy Powell's solo on "CALL ME THE BREEZE" live..

Lol... he's hitting Steve on the head, & Ronnie's just sitting back there like, "Man, I'm awesome..." (BTW, you were, & still are awesome, Ronnie!)

GEM.

i agree with you to...i watched (freebird the movie) and the songs that i did watch he didn't do much but then when he played that 1st solo on that smell my jaw dropped and i was like holy fuck that guy can fucking play!!1 soo i agree with u derock! rip stevie

Mudville, OK He one of my favs and not just bc we from same town. My mom has necklace from Cassie still and their paper from funeral so many Crawdad pics.

Bingo!..Gene Odom said that Steve like a "GOOD SMOKE AND A BEER" but only in moderation...Steve was the SPARK that the band needed...Gary and Allen had tasted success and were stale..Steve had been playing the club scene and was hungry...He scared the shit out of Gary and Allen into playing better than they had in years..and Ronnie had to TRY HARDER too...because Steve pushed him with his songwriting and singing.....He died WAY TOO SOON...

stave didnt write this, allen and ronnie did.......

@DeaconBlues61 predominately Gary is the rhythm guitarist. That does not mean a rhythm guitarist can't solo. Not sure where you got that belief. And yes Gary did play some of their best solos. The way Skynyrd was setup was that Gaines and Collins were the lead guitarists...Gary was rhythm. If you think all rhythm guitarists to is keep the feeling/rhythm, you need to re-check that.

@SteveGaines Original Prince Charming was Brian Jones and Ronnie took it from that you can hear it even Eric Burdon´s song for Woodstock.

It's been rumored that Steve played and sang Saturday Night Special with his pre-Skynyrd band Crawdad in 1976. Wonder if that's true?

@atomicplayboy4u It's in the biography "FREEBIRDS" The Lynyrd Skynyrd story by Martley Brandt.

@Raptorfy - I agree that both that died were amazing....but you can't deny that Rossington was amazing too. You can't just say Gary had no talent.

Did anyone catch that he changed the lyric? 'There's too much coke, and "not enough" smoke.' Lol😂😂

Cassie Gaines died on impact on a BROKEN NECK.. Judy Van Zant posted her autopsy report on the internet back when Billy Powell told that. Gene Odom says Steve was still alive when they pulled him from the crash but died on the way to the hospital from internal injuries.

@SteveGaines Sorry,Ronnie took that name from the original Prince Charming who was Brian Jones...even you can find it from Eric Burdon´s song for Woodstock.

likely they was th ebest ever right there with beatles and allmans

Wonder if Steve ever rehearsed free bird

yup i said the same ting when i saw dean i was like thats allen then when i would see allen i would be like hey thats dean not allen haha

Too bad they couldn't clean up this recording to make it better quality. Steve had a great voice.

The Gary Moore of southern rock.

Prince Charming was Brian Jones and songwriting is playin´with words.and RON was an gifted songwriter as we know...

i'm going this summer but don't know were it is

@shadowgunsxfrompaper Steve arranged it according to Kevin Elson...

It is, just looks different

Does anyone know exactly where in Green Cove Springs Fl. they used to practice? Wanna say it was in some shack in the woods.Near the mine?Closer to town?Anyone know?

The fact that you listen to Madonna, Justin Beiber and Outkast is proof your comment should not be taken seriously

@TheSpawnofSkynyrd - I don't know where you got that shit from. Gary played some of Skynyrd's best and most famous guitar solos. Saying he's just a rhythm guitarist is just ignorant and silly.

Who played lead on "Was I Right or Was I Wrong" ?(Essential Version) Whoever that was is in a class by himself(was it Ed King?)

Couldn't find "moranik" on Wiktionary...not sure what you're trying to say here...

@shadowgunsxfrompaper whoops, sorry, didnt realize by that u meant steve on vocals. sorry!

Brian Jones alias Prince Charming and all other versions are borrowed from that.

steve couldve and probably would have took the lead singing/guitar position if he wouldnt have died...

whos the guy with the explorer in the pic?, its not deff not allen

@TheSpawnofSkynyrd Skynyrd was simply just not set up that way. There were not primarily rhythm or lead guitarists- they were all just "guitarists". In the early days........ Rossington, Collins, and to an extent Ed King- simply took turns playing lead guitar. And when they weren't playing solos, they played rhythm. Later around '76 when Gaines came aboard it stayed the same way.Your assertion that Rossington was predominately a rhythm guitarist is still just silliness.

How do you mean?

juttin39 is partly right man.... she died in gary and billy's arm..... not artimus....

Does anyone have the studio version of That Smell?

I listened twice,did not relize S.Gaines was singing, Awsome Job, But Why Was He Singing??... I remember Delivering News papers, When I Read The news.....It Was A Bad Day...

@meperidine - no one person was more of a tragedy. Losing another human to a crash is devastating. Ronnie was and still is the greatest lyricist and vocalist of all time (yes better than Lennon, Page, etc...) and Steve was simply amazing on the guitar (honestly one of the top 5 - i believe Hendrix is good, but just a bit overrated.... 1) Dimebag Darrell 2) Steve Gaines 3) SRV 4) Joe Satriani 5) John5 6) Hendrix 7) Gary Rossington 8) Allen Collins ....

RVZ found"Prince charming from an English boy.

must have been a "roadie" who invested in some equipment.Thankyou. contact me,meet me,see if you think I am Ronnies Son here in Florence Al

neither. steve had the same injury as ronnie. cassie had something else, but she wasnt decapitated.

God damn shame

dean kilpatrick was decapitated.

Steve was great songwriter and guitarist. However, not sure his vocals are quite there for a lead singer

Technically Ronnie was not right for a lead singer as he hurt his vocal chords by singing from the throut, and not from the belly as most singers are trained to do. Heck, if Bob Dylan can be a lead singer, anyone can