![]() At the hospital, he was found to have suffered a closed double fracture of his left leg, a severe double compound fracture of his left arm, 6 broken ribs (one of which was an internal compound fracture which punctured and deflated his left lung), upper/lower jaw/nose/facial bones extensively smashed and 15 teeth (basically all of his teeth except the molars) knocked out. Wilkeson awoke to find Gaines dead from a broken neck and himself severely injured. Wilkeson was seated next to Steve Gaines, and both were thrown face first into a bulkhead at high speed while still strapped in their airline seats. ![]() The band and its entourage went down in a plane crash on October 20, 1977, outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi, which left members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines dead and the rest suffering severe lacerations, broken bones and various internal injuries. #Original lynyrd skynyrd members seriesWilkeson can be seen playing this bass in a 1975 Lynyrd Skynyrd performance on the British TV series The Old Grey Whistle Test. The Fenderbird bass mated a custom made Gibson Thunderbird body to a Fender Precision Bass neck. Wilkeson acquired a "Fenderbird" bass from John Entwistle. #Original lynyrd skynyrd members plusWith its outlaw image, tough Southern rock, and solid touring, Skynyrd quickly became one of the top bands of the 1970s, scoring such hit albums as 1974's Second Helping, 1975's Nuthin' Fancy, 1976's Gimme Back My Bullets and One More from the Road, plus 1977's Street Survivors and such hit singles as " Free Bird" and " Sweet Home Alabama." It was also during this time that Wilkeson picked up the gimmick of wearing colorful hats onstage, garnering the nickname "Mad Hatter." Van Zant subsequently visited Wilkeson and convinced him to rejoin the band, and King moved to lead guitar. Former Strawberry Alarm Clock lead guitarist Ed King replaced Wilkeson during the recording of Skynyrd's debut album, Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, but just as sessions wrapped up, King and vocalist Ronnie Van Zant both agreed that King wasn't suited to be a bassist. Wilkeson returned to Jacksonville and his regular job stocking ice cream at Farmbest Dairy Products. Lynyrd Skynyrd signed with Al Kooper's production company, Sounds of the South, a joint venture with MCA Records, in 1973. For a short time, Wilkeson worked at a dairy plant, Farm Best Dairy in Jacksonville, during which on an interview he laughed that he "got paid every two weeks and got all the ice cream he could eat". Walker left the band, Wilkeson was brought in as his replacement. ![]() By 1972, Wilkeson was becoming one of Jacksonville's top bassists. He began to study the "lead bass style" of bassists such as Cream's Jack Bruce, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Jefferson Airplane's Jack Casady, The Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh and the Allman Brothers' Berry Oakley. Soon Wilkeson found himself in another local group, the King James Version. However, due to plummeting school grades, Wilkeson had to drop out of the group. ![]() Her brother turned out to be Ronnie Van Zant, and soon after, Wilkeson signed on with Van Zant's group, the Collegiates. Wilkeson dropped out of his school band in order to focus on learning the bass at the age of 14 and shortly afterward was approached by a fellow student who told him that her brother was searching for a bassist for his band. Born on April 2, 1952, in Newport, Rhode Island, but raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Wilkeson became a major Beatles fan just as he was becoming a teenager and began learning to play bass guitar in order to emulate his favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney. ![]()
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