Week in Rock History: Members of Lynyrd Skynyrd Die in Plane Crash
This week in rock history, Joan Baez was arrested for anti-war demonstrating, three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in a plane crash, AC/DC toured England with Brian Johnson, Paul McCartney unveiled the Concert for New York City and CBGBs closed.
October 16, 1967: Joan Baez is arrested along with over 60 other anti-draft demonstrators
A passionate political activist, Joan Baez spoke out against the Vietnam War constantly in her folk music and in public forums. From headlining the famous anti-war 1967 concert at the Washington Monument to spurring Bob Dylan into civil rights discourse, she was widely influential in her anti-war adherence.
In 1967, the 26-year-old Baez participated several times in nonviolent protests outside the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California, which blocked the doorways of the draft center to discourage new recruits and cheer on those who resisted signing up (including the dramatic burning of draft cards, an iconic image of the 1960s). That fall, she was arrested along with many other protestors (generally estimated at over 60, the majority of them women) and imprisoned for a week.
Incarceration, however, worked out pretty well for Baez: while in the jail, she met fellow anti-draft activist and future husband David Harris.
Oct 20, 1977: Ronnie van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines of Lynyrd Skynyrd are killed in a plane crash
In the midst of their greatest mainstream success, “Free Bird” rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd were shaken by tragedy when three members and their road manager died in a plane crash.
Three days after the release of Street Survivors, the Florida band’s fifth album (which included the hit singles “What’s Your Name” and “That Smell”), the group boarded a chartered aircraft to Baton Rouge, Louisiana – the sixth date of their major headlining tour. The flight crashed en route, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the two pilots. The remaining band members suffered serious injuries.
Lynyrd Skynyrd disbanded after the fatal flight, though Street Survivors continued to climb the charts (eventually going platinum). Eerily, the original sleeve artwork for the record showed the band members standing in a wall of flames; it was replaced in subsequent pressings.
October 19, 1980: AC/DC begins first U.K. tour since the death of singer Bon Scott
After the death of lead singer Bon Scott (in February of 1980), AC/DC nearly collapsed from the loss. The remaining band members debated calling it quits and also consulted with Scott’s family, and then chose to carry on with replacement vocalist Brian Johnson of the band Geordie, whom Scott had once raved about to bandmate Angus Young. With Johnson, they completed songwriting and recording for their next album, Back in Black.
In the fall after Scott’s death, AC/DC nervously embarked on a 20-date tour throughout the United Kingdom. They’d played several shows in the United States already, but the British gigs were even more daunting, as Bon Scott was born in Scotland and a national hero. These crucial performances of Back in Black were a test before all the fans who’d loved Scott’s theatrics on the band’s electrifying previous album, Highway to Hell – and Johnson was beside himself with worry before each gig, especially the inaugural night in Bristol, England.
Thankfully, AC/DC fans embraced the band during the tour, with Johnston swaggering through the now-ubiquitous title track and “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Back in Black was the biggest album of the band’s career, and has sold over 40 million copies to date.
October 20, 2001: Paul McCartney organizes the Concert for New York City
After the September 11 attacks, New York found a passionate advocate in Paul McCartney, who organized the star-studded Concert for New York City in just six weeks.
The five-hour benefit show, held at Madison Square Garden, raised over $35 million for victims’ families and honored the first responders from the New York fire and police departments. It was an enormous endeavor: musical performers included McCartney, David Bowie, Bon Jovi, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Destiny’s Child and many more. Numerous prominent politicians made speeches, including Bill Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, and local filmmakers Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Spike Lee aired short works.
The Madison Square Garden crowd was an extremely emotional one; members held up photos of slain family members, and booed some speakers (including actor Richard Gere for advocating pacifism).
In 2004, Rolling Stone named the Concert for New York City as one of the 50 moments that changed rock and roll.
October 16, 2006: CBGBs closes
The famously decrepit New York rock club CBGBs – once the formative stomping grounds of Patti Smith, Blondie and the Ramones — shut its doors in 2006 after three decades of noise.
Established in 1973 by owner Hilly Kristal, CBGB‘s was a small, flyer-pasted den in the East Village of Manhattan that came to embody the spirits of American New Wave and punk in the 1970s and hardcore in the 1980s. Kristal attempted to secure historic landmark status for the club in 2005 after its landlord billed him with almost $100,000 of back rent that he couldn’t afford. He died in 2007 at age 75.
The final week of CBGB’s featured sentimental shows by Bad Brains, Blondie and the Bouncing Souls. The final performer on the CBGBs stage was also an old friend: Patti Smith, whose seven-week residency there in 1975 is still considered a defining moment for the club and for New York rock itself. In her farewell set, Smith snapped a photo from the stage and told the crowd, “CBGBs is a state of mind.”
LAST WEEK: Keith Moon Dies