Donnie, younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd co-founder, Ronnie Van Zant, took a liking to music in his teen years. He'd form numerous bands between 1965 and 1969 before coming together with Jeff Carlisi, Kevin Elson, Bill Pelkey, and Ken Lyons to form Sweet Rooster. After graduating high school, Carlisi would depart, and be replaced by Don Barnes.
Sweet Rooster evolved into Alice Marr with Van Zant, Barnes, Elson, Pelkey, Larry Steele, and Billy Powell. However, the latter would decide to become a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd before joining them as their pianist. By 1974, the guys began writing their own song, but reality was also quickly setting in. Van Zant considered leaving the group, and instead take a higher paying job with the railroad. It would be brother Ronnie, who would convince him to stick it out. Refocused, the boys decided to give it one final shot in an attempt to form the ultimate band.
Donnie Van Zant, Don Barnes, Ken Lyons, Steve Brookins, Jack Grondin, and a returning Jeff Carlisi would make up the core group. They would come up with the name, .38 Special, while rehearsing in a warehouse because of a padlock, but becoming locked in. It would be an officer who would tell them, "That's all right. We'll let this .38 special do the talking," before shooting the lock off.
Though they would put in the effort by performing multiple one-night acts throughout 1975 and 1976 around the South, and Midwest, it would ultimately be connections of brother Ronnie, who would push the band further. He set them up with Phil Walden's Paragon Booking Agency, and Peter Rudge, the latter who also managed The Who, and Rolling Stones. Rudge put them on a series of shows, opening for Peter Frampton, Kiss, and Foghat, and got them signed with A&M Records.
During the recording sessions for what would become their first album in 1977, Lyons would depart of his free will, and be replaced by Larry Junstrom. Backup singers, Carol Bristow and Dale Krantz. From there, a series of backing vocal changes would occur. Krantz would be replaced by Nancy Henderson in 1979, who was then replaced in 1981 by Lu Moss, who left in 1984. Lynn Hineman would join in 1986, but by 1987 the band would dispense with backup singers.
.38 Special would release three albums in the 70's, their 1977 self titled debut, 1978's Special Delivery, and 1979's Rockin' Into The Night, which all featured a strong Southern rock sound. None were met with much fanfare.
By 1980, changes were needed. The first was a shift to a more accessible guitar driven arena rock style. The second would come with Van Zant stepping back a bit from lead vocals, turning them over to Barnes. This latter change ushered in an era of commercial hits for the band, as well as the success of their albums as a result.
Wild-Eyed Southern Boys was released in January 1981, and with the aid of its hit, Hold On Loosely, which peaked at number twenty-seven, the album would eventually receive a platinum certification. It's here that we dive into our first .38 Special Retro Spin.
The album opens with the hit, and from there, while things stay guitar heavy, really drifts off into forgettable territory. It wasn't until Hittin' And Runnin', that I finally gave a thumbs up of approval to the second and final tune from the album that would make my shuffle list.
Instrumentation wise, the album is solid. Lyrically, and overall sound is where it fails to speak to me. Mind you, I didn't really expect it would. Southern Rock was never really my forte, and mind you, don't let the above blurb about guitar driven arena rock confuse you. This is very much still a Southern Rock album. It's not bad by any means. It's just not my preferred style of music. Frankly, I didn't expect to get more than the hit from it.
.38 Special pretty much rushed back into the studio to record and release their follow-up, 1982's Special Forces. It, and the 1983 released Tour de Force would both go platinum, cementing their rock status in the early 80's. Band wise, things stayed pretty status quo, with the same line-up remaining until 1987 when Barnes left. Candidly, there's not much drama leading up to that point, so there's really not much to say. That's not a bad thing, but it does make for some bland content in a Retro Spin. So, with nothing to bicker about, we'll head into their 1982 album tomorrow.
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THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
November 18, 1989
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