Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, and Me ... Gene Odom

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, and Me ... Gene Odom

During a time when toughskin blue jeans, button-down shirts, and flat-top haircuts were all the rage, Gene Odom and Ronnie Van Zant became best friends. Growing up on the same block, Ronnie and Gene fished, played football, and dreamed together. Years later, one of the boys would become famous-and the other would stand by his side through thick and thin. This is the story of two young men from the same neighborhood, school, and world who together, discovered the meaning of true friendship. As Ronnie's dreams of becoming a professional musician finally became a reality, Lynyrd Skynyrd began selling out arenas and became famous for not only their music, but also their substance abuse. After Ronnie offered Gene a job as a security officer for the band, he embarked on an unforgettable journey into a world like no other. But everything would change in October 1977 when the plane carrying the band plummeted from the sky. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant, and Me ... Gene Odom provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it was like to be friends with one of the biggest rock stars of the 1970s and how a friendship between two childhood buddies stood the test of time. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ronnie Van Zant and Me ... Gene Odom By Scott Coner iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2011 Scott Coner All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4620-0695-3 Chapter One 1974 "If You want to talk Fishin; That'll be okay." The phone started ringing while it was still dark. He looked over at the alarm clock and crawled out of the perfectly warm bed. As he answered the kitchen phone, the voice on the other end said, "Are you ready to go yet?" He smiled a sleepy smile. His buddy, Ronnie Van Zant was ready to go fishing. Gene looked out the window over the sink. The street lights allowed him to see that the wind was calm and the car hoods were dry up and down the street. He grabbed a bottle of RC cola out of the refrigerator and went back to the bedroom closet to put on some jeans and a tee shirt as quietly as possible. He didn't want to wake his wife, Brenda Joe, and little Melissa. He grabbed his wallet, kissed his wife on the cheek, and headed out to the car port to gather his fishing gear. He could hear the truck coming up Mull Street as he picked up his tackle box. He nearly dropped everything as he turned to leave the garage. Maybe later today would be a good time to talk to Melissa about how to use the kickstand on her bike. The truck stopped in the middle of the street. Gene opened the truck door to be greeted by a long haired rock `n' roll star that was truly glad to see him. "How's it going Buddy?" The radio was playing "Silver Wings," and Merle Haggard sounded like he meant every word. As the truck ambled slowly around the corner, it was just like it had always been. Two young men from the same neighborhood, the same school, the same world. Yet the dreams were different. Life can sure throw some curve balls. It seemed like yesterday that these same men were just teenagers, barely 15 years old, "jukin' "at some neighborhood party, trying to act cool, hoping to meet a girl. Any girl ..." How is life on the road? You know you're gettin' pretty well known for tearing up hotels. Doesn't that hurt the bottom line just a little bit?" Ronnie looked a little bit embarrassed. "Man, those hotels are like being put into some kind of prison. We spend day and night together and sometimes you just want to blow off a little steam, you know? The music is all that matters anyway. And maybe bad press is better than no press." Gene just laughed and said, "You are gettin' press, there ain't no doubt about it. I'll tell you one thing, when this music thing slows down, if it ever does, we ought to get you into politics. You know people hear what you're saying in those songs. We could get you to be governor and maybe I could be like a fishing ambassador or something." The water was slick as glass when they dropped the boat in. There was a sliver of pink showing in the eastern sky. It was going to be hot, but not until later in the day. Right now, all things seemed perfectly aligned to catch a fish. "I stopped by Claude Hamner's midway grocery store yesterday. That "Curtis Loew" song has really put some smiles on some faces around here. I'm not really used to hearing Skynyrd when I'm buying bologna for my lunch at work." Ronnie laughed and said, "I can't believe all of this is happening myself. Me and Gary and Allen were talking about it the other day during sound check. It seems like yesterday we were running around the block, throwing rocks and sneakin' cigarettes. A mullet jumped out of the water making a splash 50 feet from the boat. "You know I can feel that bass swimming our way right now. One of us is going to catch a monster." Ceremoniously, the water broke across the top as Ronnie's pole nearly fell out of his grip. "Gene! I've got something on the other end of this thing!" It truly was a trophy and Gene had neve