Editing Lynyrd Skynyrd (section)

===Peak (1973–1977)===
[[File:Lynyrd Skynyrd band (1973).jpg|thumb|Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1973]]
In 1972, the band (then comprising Van Zant, Collins, Rossington, Burns, Wilkeson, and Powell) was discovered by musician, songwriter, and producer [[Al Kooper]] of [[Blood, Sweat & Tears]], who had attended one of their shows at Funocchio's in Atlanta. Kooper signed them to his Sounds of the South label, which was to be distributed and supported by [[MCA Records]], and produced their first album. Wilkeson, citing nervousness about fame, temporarily left the band during the early recording sessions, playing on only two tracks. He rejoined the band shortly after the album's release at Van Zant's invitation and is pictured on the album cover. To replace him, [[Strawberry Alarm Clock]] guitarist [[Ed King]] joined the band and played bass on the album (the only part that Wilkeson had not already written being the solo section in "[[Simple Man (Lynyrd Skynyrd song)|Simple Man]]"), and also contributed to the songwriting and did some guitar work on the album. After Wilkeson rejoined, King stayed in the band and switched solely to guitar, allowing the band to replicate its three-guitar studio mix in live performances. The band released their debut album ''[[(Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)]]'' on August 13, 1973.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/board_posts/pronounced |title=Lynyrd Skynyrd Discography |publisher=Lynyrdskynyrd.com |access-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227083914/http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/board_posts/pronounced |archive-date=February 27, 2012}}</ref> It sold over one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America|RIAA]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book |first= Joseph |last= Murrells |year= 1978 |title= The Book of Golden Discs |edition= 2nd |publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd |location= London |page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/1330 1330] |isbn= 0-214-20512-6 |url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/1330}}</ref> The album featured the hit song "[[Free Bird]]", which received national airplay,<ref name="Butler, J. Michael 2014">Butler, J. Michael. "Lynyrd Skynyrd". Grove Music Online. N.p., September 3, 2014.</ref> eventually reaching No.&nbsp;19 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] chart.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits|edition= 6th|year= 1996}}</ref>

Lynyrd Skynyrd's fan base continued to grow rapidly in 1973, thanks to their opening on [[the Who]]'s ''[[Quadrophenia]]'' tour in the United States. Their 1974 follow-up album, ''[[Second Helping]]'', featuring King, Collins and Rossington all collaborating with Van Zant on the songwriting, cemented the band's breakthrough. Its single "[[Sweet Home Alabama]]", a response to [[Neil Young]]'s "[[Southern Man (song)|Southern Man]]", reached #8 on the charts that August. Young and Van Zant were not rivals, but fans of each other's music and good friends; Young wrote the song "[[Powderfinger (song)|Powderfinger]]" for the band, but they never recorded it.<ref>Simmons, p. 135.</ref> During their peak years, most of their records sold over one million copies, but "Sweet Home Alabama" was the only single to crack the top ten.<ref name="Butler, J. Michael 2014"/>

By 1975, personal issues began to take their toll on the band. In January, drummer Burns left the band after suffering a mental breakdown during a European tour<ref name="kijak-documentary" /> and was replaced by Kentucky native and former [[United States Marine Corps|US Marine]] [[Artimus Pyle]]. The band's third album, ''[[Nuthin' Fancy]]'', was recorded in 17 days.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunt |first1=Dennis |title=Ups and Downs of Lynyrd Skynyrd: More Pop News |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 15, 1975|id={{ProQuest|157771298}}}}</ref> Unhappy with the band's lack of preparation for the album's recording,<ref name="kijak-documentary" /> Kooper and the band parted ways by mutual agreement after the tracking was completed, with Kooper mixing the album while the band left for the tour that had precipitated the constricted recording schedule.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kooper |first1=Al |title=Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards |date=2008 |publisher=Backbeat Books/Hal Leonard Corp. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-87930-922-0 |pages=193–195}}</ref> Though the album fared well, it ultimately had lower sales than its predecessors. Midway through the ''Nuthin' Fancy'' tour, guitarist Ed King abruptly left the band after a falling out with Van Zant. King's guitar roadie and Van Zant were arrested together and spent the night in jail. With his guitar roadie unavailable, King played that night's show with old strings that broke and caused his performance to be substandard, and Van Zant subsequently belittled him in front of his bandmates. King quit and returned home to Los Angeles, believing Van Zant had been responsible for his guitar roadie being in jail in the first place.<ref name="kijak-documentary" />

[[File:Crowd at Knebworth House - Rolling Stones 1976.jpg|thumb|A crowd of 120,000 fans at Knebworth House in 1976]]
Collins and Rossington both had serious car accidents over Labor Day weekend in 1976, which slowed the recording of the follow-up album and forced the band to cancel some concert dates. Rossington's accident inspired the ominous Van Zant/Collins composition "[[That Smell]]" – a cautionary tale about drug abuse that was aimed towards him and at least one other band member. Rossington has admitted repeatedly that he was the "Prince Charming" of the song who crashed his car into an oak tree while drunk and stoned on [[Quaaludes]]. With the birth of his daughter Melody in 1976, Van Zant was making a serious attempt to clean up his act and curtail the cycle of boozed-up brawling that was part of Skynyrd's reputation.<ref name="kijak-documentary" />

[[File:Lynyrd Skynyrd (1977).jpg|thumb|right|Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1977]]
The ''[[Street Survivors]]'' album of 1977 turned out to be a showcase for guitarist/vocalist [[Steve Gaines]], who had joined the band just a year earlier and was making his studio debut with them. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the multiple talents of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day".<ref>{{cite web|title=Lynyrd Skynyrd – L.A. Times|url=http://www.theuncool.com/journalism/lynyrd-sknyrd-l-a-times/|website=The Uncool - The Official Site for Everything Cameron Crowe|access-date=October 17, 2015}}</ref> Gaines' contributions included his co-lead vocal with Van Zant on the co-written "You Got That Right" and the rousing guitar boogie "I Know a Little", which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Gaines' abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Gaines delivering his self-penned bluesy "Ain't No Good Life" – the only song in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Ronnie Van Zant (the album ''[[Skynyrd’s First: The Complete Muscle Shoals Album]]'', which features two songs sung by former drummer/future guitarist [[Rickey Medlocke]], was released after the plane crash). The album also included the hit singles "[[What's Your Name (Lynyrd Skynyrd Album)|What's Your Name]]" and "That Smell". The band was poised for their biggest tour yet, with shows always highlighted by the iconic rock anthem "Free Bird".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lynyrd-skynyrd |title=Freebird |publisher=Wolfgangsvault.com |access-date=September 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818231906/http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/lynyrd-skynyrd/ |archive-date=August 18, 2011}}</ref>