Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars: The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd

by Mark Ribowsky

This book tells the intimate story of how a band of lost souls and self-destructive misfits with uncertain artistic objectives clawed their way to the very top of the rock ’n’ roll peak, writing and performing as if beneficiaries of a deal with the devil—a deal fulfilled by a tragic fall from the sky. The rudderless genius behind their ascent was a man named Ronnie Van Zant, who guided their five-year run and evolved not just a new country/rock idiom but a new Confederacy in constant conflict with old Southern totems and prejudices.
 
Placing the music and personae of Lynyrd Skynyrd into a broader cultural schema for the first time, Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars is based on interviews with surviving band members and others who watched them. It gives a new perspective to a history of stage fights, motel-room destructions, cunning business deals, and brilliant studio productions, offering a greater appreciation for a band that, in the aftermath of its last plane ride, has sadly descended into self-caricature as the sort of lowbrow guns-’n’-God cliché that Ronnie Van Zant wanted to chuck from around his neck.
 
No other book on Southern rock has ever captured the “Free Bird”–like sweep and significance of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Ribowsky’s cohesive narrative gives the band its full due while not ignoring the cruel irony and avoidability of the band’s tragic end.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Audiobook, History, Cultural

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2015

About the author

Mark Ribowsky is the author of seven books, including the New York Times Notable Book Don't Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball. He lives in Plainview, New York.

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

"Watch for this band. Tight, mean, and rough, they're one of the few rock acts in the business that really get it on." -- quoting the November 1973 issue of Cashbox magazine, on page 98

Even though it was twenty (!) years ago, I can still recall a moment from VH-1 network's I Love the 70's humorous docu-series in which character actor Donal Logue capped a brief segment on Lynyrd Skynyrd by quietly but yet admiringly proclaiming them point-blank to being the "f***ing greatest rock band EVER". To some people those might be fightin' words, but it gave me pause . . . and I realized that he may be correct, at least from a certain point of view. The group's original line-up clocked in at a relatively short-lived five years on the FM radio and Top 40 album chart spotlight (from 1973 to 1977), churning out many dependable tunes while ceaselessly touring the world, and also lived the expected hedonistic, in-fighting, and substance-abusing lifestyle to the fullest before a deadly plane crash sent three of them to (presumably) rock 'n roll heaven. Comprised of mostly young northern Florida natives - which, author Ribowsky amusingly notes about the region, the more northern in the state you get, the more 'Southern'-cultured part of the U.S. it seems - from working-class families, these largely musically self-taught bad boys were known for conjuring up some swampy Dixie-fried blues rock that was dually-spearheaded by Ronnie Van Zant's blistering vocals and the electrified triple-guitar attack of axe-men Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, and Steve Gaines. Author Ribowsky - who has also penned some pretty good bios on their music neighbors to the north Otis Redding and Little Richard - amazingly packs a lot of information into just a tight 250 pages. Much like the 50th anniversary book on KISS that I read earlier this month, this is the type of work that makes me want to go for a leisurely drive on either the back roads or a rural highway and blast 'Double Trouble,' 'Gimme Back My Bullets,' 'Saturday Night Special,' and (of course) 'Free Bird' at maximum volume.

[*TUDOR^QUEEN* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the day when VH1 used to air these hour long documentaries dubbed "Behind the Music" I happened upon one about the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. It couldn't be any more riveting and emotional, as in October 1977 their private jet crashed killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steven Gaines, his sister "Honkette" backup singer Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick and both pilots. How the remaining founding members who survived rose from the ashes to continue the legacy of this band is an incredible story. In 1997 "Freebird...The Movie" was released which recounted their story, intermingled with concert footage. I always wanted to read a comprehensive biography about this band, but the couple I could find in the past focused mostly on the crash and its aftermath, with all its dramatic poignancy. This book, however, is the whole shebang I was looking for...the full story, soup to nuts about this iconic band, from its infancy to the present day. In fact, the crash details didn't occur until around the 80% mark in the book. Finally, the all-encompassing biography of Lynyrd Skynyrd I was looking for! As I write this in July of 2023, this book is for sale on kindle at 91% off...$1.99. However, I enjoyed reading this from my hometown digital library. Highly recommended.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

*NetGalley book review*

...And this bird you can not change...

What an awesome book about one of my most all time favorite bands. My parents use to listen to their music all the time so naturally I fell in love with their songs. I even have the above lyric tattooed on my left forearm. Anyways, this was a action packed, tons of information about the band, storied of their on the road tours and so much more packed into this great book. So tune into some Skynyrd tunes and kick back with this book and read bout who you're listening to.

[Todd · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a good (maybe even great) Skynyrd story to be told, but this isn't it. When the author quotes "Sabbath guitarist" Zakk Wylde about an incident that occurred in the mid-70s, and says Zeppelin IV is the "biggest selling album in history", you can't be sure that he got anything right. Zakk Wylde was born in 1967, and while he could have heard the story second-hand from Ozzy when he was his guitarist, or from the surviving members of Skynyrd, this whole book is full of, at best, inconsistencies. Let alone his proclamations about how Skynyrd were almost as big as the Eagles; it's sad, really. Someday someone will write a definitive biography of this band, because they deserve it. And they deserve better than this.

[Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to like this book - I really did. I'm a Jacksonville native who has listened to Lynyrd Skynyrd for most of his life, but only recently have I started to learn their backstory. I was six when the plane crashed, so I have no memory of them before then, and in fact I wasn't even really exposed to their music until my teenage years. There is so much to be learned about this fascinating group's meteoric rise to fame, but unfortunately Ribowsky's book is so full of errors and his own political agenda that it's hard to know if anything he has written about the band can be taken seriously.

First, there is the insanely over-the-top, mind-numbing, and constant bludgeoning of the reader with liberal politics. It would seem impossible that a writer could insert an insult to 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz into a book about a 1970's rock band, but by God he found a way. And Ribowsky went back again and again and again to the debate over the band's usage of the Confederate battle flag onstage and in marketing materials. While the flag was a hot point of political posturing in 2015, I just don't believe it was as controversial in 1975 as the author paints it to be.

Some points, like the mention of controversial Alabama governor George Wallace are fair game, and Ribowsky wouldn't have been doing his job had he not mentioned them. But my goodness, he just went on and on and on about it. And he never could seem to make up his mind about which point he was trying to make. In one chapter, Ronnie Van Zant is labeled a forwared-thinking, anti-gun liberal of the New South who supported Jimmy Carter, but in the next he's portrayed as a bigoted, back-woods redneck who mocks minorities and abuses women.

Oh, and Ribowsky's use of the word "redneck." I would love to give you a count of how many times that word was used, but my calculator only has nine digits. If you find that word offensive, don't read this book.

It's blatantly obvious that Ribowsky does not like Republicans or Southerners. So, I am truly puzzled why he would even attempt to write a book about a band of Southern Rockers who appeal to the god-and-guns Republican crowd. Was pointing out how backwards and ignorant their fans are his only motivation for writing this?

Finally, the factual inaccuracies. Some are simple - like referring to the Arlington area of Jacksonville as Downtown - which it most certainly is not. It's akin to confusing Manhattan with Long Island. Not an insult, just not accurate.

At another point he seems to be trying to compliment Van Zant by mentioning his self-effacing humor by referencing the lyric "Hey fat fellow with the hair colored yellow." Well, that's not the lyric, and a simple review of the 100+ websites dedicated to rock lyrics could have revealed the lyric to be, "hey THERE fellow...."

Also, Ribowsky refers to Donnie Van Zant as the lead singer of .38 Special when he in actuality was the lead guitarist. He then rattles off a few songs sung by Don Barnes, not Van Zant.

At one point, Ribowsky attributes a quote about the band’s behavior on their first tour to Zakk Wylde – literally QUOTES him, even though Wylde at the time was in elementary school, and therefore not the guitarist for Black Sabbath. I have no idea who made the quote, or if Ribowsky simply made it all up.

The last error that I'll mention (there certainly are dozens more) is his constant reference to guitarist Ed King as a "Jersey boy" who was never fully accepted by the band - drunken, hate filled rednecks that they were. I don't know much about King, but a quick review of Wikipedia shows that he was born in Glendale, California. His personal Facebook page indicates Van Nuys, California. I can find nothing, not anywhere, about New Jersey. Ribowsky also quotes King as saying how much he hates Southerners because they are so dumb and backwards. Again, a quick glance at his biography shows that he lives in Tennessee. Hmm.

There were some facts in this book that I thought were fascinating and I would love to tell people about. But based on so much misinformation being included, I'm hesitant to believe ANYTHING that was said in this book.

Finally, since I listened to the audiobook I'll mention the narrator Jeremy Arthur. Arthur has a deep voice with a strong Southern accent that at first would seem appropriate for a Lynyrd Skynyrd biography. But because so much of the book was geared towards insulting the band and Americans from the South, his voice didn't really fit the tone. And by no real fault of Arthur, half of the time I couldn't tell if he was saying Pyle or Powell when referring to band members Artimus Pyle and Billy Powell.

Ribowsky has a beautiful and lyrical writing style and I can truly imagine enjoying something that he writes. But this one just didn't work. Too many errors, too many insults, and too much time on the political soapbox.

[Alex Bledsoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Lynyrd Skynyrd's heyday, before the advent of rigorous image control, you could get away with being assholes on an almost Wagnerian scale while still selling millions of records. That's what comes across most clearly in this well-written account of their tragic history. And yet, "tragic" may not be the right word, for while tragedies did occur (most famously the plane crash), the majority of their troubles came out of the reality that they--especially Ronnie Van Zant--were just assholes. And yet, they created music of such surpassing grandeur that it's become timeless and passed into common vernacular. There's no way a book can truly explain this contradiction, and to his credit, author Ribowsky doesn't try. He simply presents the events in their history, explains how they grew out of their backgrounds, and led to their self-destruction. Ultimately, but not tragically, it's the story of a bunch of assholes touched by genius.

[Don D'Elia · Rating 1 out of 5]

book is nonsense,,,,funny how zakk wylde was able to comment on the fist fights between rossington and van zant,,,zak was 9 years old.doubt he was in England playing guitar for black Sabbath(?????).zakk didn't hook up with ozzy until he was 20...10 years after the plane crash.

[Kazia Trujillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

"They put a million dollar band in a $1.98 airplane."

[Alysa H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads First Reads. (Yep, a while ago, back before that program changed to Goodreads Giveaways!)

While I cannot speak to the factual accuracy of this book -- and neither, apparently, can most of its subjects, living or dead -- I can say that it's a fun dive into 1970s Southern Rock. I enjoyed it, and it made me rethink Skynyrd and their music in a much broader context. The writing sometimes seems to be trying to hard for poignancy, but then, hey, that's to be expected from any rock music bio.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an in depth look at the rise and tragic crash of the Band Lnyrnd Skynyrd. This book starts with Ronnie Von Zant, and how he went from a rowdy kid to a rock musician who still fought but could write music, sing and play guitar. This band lived life liked they played music loud wild and free. There are fights, yelling and with fists. There are deals made and deals broken. Goes into how much they drank, took drugs, how long they were on the road and how much money other people made off of him and the band. How the so call manger bought a plane that Aerosmith would not buy, and while the band flew on the plane he flew first class on a commercial airline, all to save a few bucks. Aerosmith thanked there guy and gave him a raise, they were flying in their own private jet bought for 200,000 a Cessna 310. Which by the way Skynyrd could have afforded. You get a look at Ronnie’s broken personal relationships and what it took for them to get certain songs they wanted recorded. How it was so frustrating for them to get a record deal but then to do the music their way, and to record Free Bird. This book starts off with the author talking about how Ronnie Van Zant loved to fight as kid and even when he was older. The book ends the same way, for either the surviving members are either fighting for their lives because of drug and alcohol abuse or they are still fighting one another since the crash. The end of the book is the saddest because of instead of the survivors coming together they went after each other and tried to destroy each other that they were bigger than the other one. When in fact they were all there because of Ronnie, he made them practice, he made them write songs, and yes they fought but they did it together and when they all got on stage or in a recording studio they made magic. Why? Because their music is still great today as when I bought their first album back 1973 and the ones after that, I even have the album with the flames on the cover before they pulled them from the shelves. I still listen to their music and it means more to me now than it did to me as a teenager. This is a good book with a ton of information that I have left out you will not be disappointed in this book. I got this book from net galley.

[R. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I appreciate Southern Rock/Country Rock and thought this would be a great read. Quite wrong.
The content is certainly interesting. I learned things about Skynyrd that I hadn't known before. But the writing (and editing) is awful. Ribowsky mangles common idioms (I don't think Damocles would have worried if it were just a flag above his head) and tries to sound "highfalutin" when it just causes confusion ("amercement"? Really? 95% of lawyers have to look that word up yet Ribowsky think it works in a pop history of a Southern rock band...). Don't get me started on "mordancy" or his apparent unfamiliarity with "laying on of hands."
But worst is his infusion of politically liberal slant in what should be a largely non-political story - a non sequitur reference to Ted Cruz in the introduction, exaggerating the 1970s-era significance of guns and the Confederate flag, etc. I read the book to learn about Skynyrd; not to find out what lever this guy pulls in the voting booth.
There's a great book here, but someone else will have to write it.

[Stevejreviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most people think “Southern Rock” when they hear the name Lynryd Skynrd and it’s a label the band would awkwardly embrace, although it’s fair to say it was more aggressively foisted on them by management and label marketing people.You can read my review in its' entirety at allmusicbooksdotcom. The band’s story is fascinating and tragic, which helps to make Ribowsky’s account worth a look, but unfortunately the storyteller insists on trite writing, and recycled clichés, which undermine the fascinating dichotomy that was Lynyrd Skynyrd.

[Brian Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book tells the story of the destructive lifestyles that doomed this band - the plane crash may have killed them, but they were speeding toward death thru the wild life that they led. Good book, and tells a lot of behind the scenes stories.

[Lane Hewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive history of the band that inspires an informed re-appraisal of their music. Reads like a long Mojo article.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional🌟

[Tom Kavanagh · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok book.dopey author has to inject racial politics of course.

[WS Robertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I eagerly jumped into reading this book, excited about learning more about the band that personified Southern Rock. I still remember being at a high school football bonfire , when I heard that their plane had crashed. However, when I closed the book after reading the last page, I was certainly disappointed.
The Good. The author did a remarkable job of presenting so much information about the band and its members. His research into Lynyrd Skynyrd is commendable, and the book is filled with interviews of players that bring much insight into the band and the people who not only performed in the band, but those who had business affiliations with it. Although he sometimes became mired in the business dealing of managing and producing the band, he still presented engaging stories of the iconic band.
The Bad. The author evidently felt that being verbose made him a better writer. While I do not want to read a book written as simply as “see Jack run”, I also do not want to wade through a book that reads as if it was written by Faulkner. It’s a book about a rock band, so know your audience.
The Ugly. The author clearly has much disdain for the South, its culture, and its history. While he writes a book about a southern rock band, he takes numerous opportunities to bash the South for all its historical flaws as well its modern day idiosyncrasies. For a southern boy who just wanted to learn more about the South’s most famous rock band, I was sorely disappointed in the author’s numerous bigoted tirades.
So, read this book for the good, grimace through the bad, and try to overlook the ugly.

[Diane Stultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a die hard Skynyrd fan, but I am a fan and do enjoy their music. It gets you moving and more people than not can sing the words to many of their songs. Because of this, I enjoyed the book.
It tells the Lynyrd Skynyrd story from beginning to end and also the continuing legal battles that occurred after the infamous plane crash. The book is focused on Ronnie Van Zandt, the leader and lead singer of the band. However, you do learn some about the other band members as well as the many agents, producers, and roadies. Although the plane crash was the ultimate demise of Ronnie Van Zandt and other members of the Skynyrd band, it seems like the "fast life"of the band may have killed them anyway.
I did not realize how rough and tumble they really were...just a group of mostly "good old southern boys". They certainly lived up to their whisky drinking, drug using, fist fighting persona. They played hard and lived hard.
One cannot read this story without learning to respect their music and how they rose to the top. Ronnie wrote from his heart and often about his real experiences. You will also be amused about the band ended up with their name. I won't spoil it for you.

[Nadine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I once was a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd and, on the spur of the moment, looked up this book. It is written with a bit of flair, and it's nice to read about all of the members and get into the world of a major rock band in the 1970s milieu. For the most part, I appreciate more the talents of the head honcho-front man-singer-songwriter Ronnie Van Zant; it was also interesting to learn more about the other people in the band and to learn about the construction of their sound. The music business has very little integrity when it comes to dealing with talent and the pressure of this pursuit grinds on the performers. This band was notorious for their level of drug-taking, fighting, filandering, and destruction. The plane crash that killed Van Zant was something that shouldn't have happened. I guess it was his time to go because the survivors suffered with PTSD and most died pretty young. I imagine I would not have admired Van Zant if he were alive today. But they once captured a unique sound, and those guitars were special. We still have their albums if we want to relive their music.

[Bobby Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars, but we round up in these parts. Ribowsky succeeds in separating Skynryd lore from reality. The book is incredibly well-written; perhaps to a fault. The soaring prose gets over its skis at times (the word milieu is used three times before page 100 - willing to bet Ronnie Van Zant never used the word himself in his entire lifetime). Ribowsky also discusses the deeper themes that underpin the Skynyrd saga masterfully.

My favorite anecdote in the book is when Van Zant knocks his pianist’s teeth out wearing nothing but a hotel towel then hands the poor guy a check for the dentist bill while laughing.

[Don Siegrist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale about a bunch of belligerent, hard drinking, peckerwoods who somehow achieve rock & roll immortality. Starts out well as they claw their way to the top but once they achieve stardom its just story after story about drinking, drug abuse and fighting.

The author tries to portray the singer/leader, Ronnie Van Zant, as some kind of complicated/tortured genius, dealing with a myriad of personal demons but he comes across as simply a mean, self-absorbed A-hole.

I enjoyed the book because I was a fan back in the 1970's. Unless you were, or still are a fan of "Skynyrd", you probably won't get much out of this.

[Mike Augustine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book met my expectations. The prologue was a bit overblown, but the rhetoric settled down enough in the rest of book to keep me engaged. The author assembled, what appears to be, a fairly comprehensive coverage of the good, bad, and seriously f’d up situation that was this band. I’ve admired quite a number of their songs for years, and although that remains true, beyond the music, this book shows little reason to admire other aspects of this group.

[Kimberli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skynyrd's In-depth Hystyry -A Must Read

A real good account of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band. The author does not sugarcoat anything. One of the best books I've read on the subject and I've read them all.

One correction for future versions would be to fix the parts where Zakk Wylde is mentioned as the guitar player for Black Sabbath instead of Tony Iommi. But that was the only inaccuracy I found.

[Todd Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Mark Ribowsky basically cribbed Gene Odom's book Lynyrd Skynyrd: Remembering the Free Birds of Southern Rock when he wrote Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars: The Fast Life and Sudden Death of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Few new facts are presented. About the only thing he did was attempt to place the band within the context of the times (and that was done in a long-winded and superficial manner).

[Marcus W · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book that praises Ronnie Van Zant! Thats pretty much it...

A good recap of the bands brief history but idolizes RVZ more than anything else - I'm not even sure if it mentioned the names of every single band member until the end. A lot of alleged second hand stories, but still fairly interesting. Not one of the better music biographies I've read

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard to read. The author's use of vocabulary here is suspect-I needed a dictionary for some of them! Not easy and not entirely accurate. It's almost like he pieced together pieces of Skynyrd's history and didn't actually fact check.

[Brittnee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a ton, but thought it could be a bit more exciting.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got to be kind of the same old same old.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read on the members and antics of one of my favorite bands

[Dorian Pacheco · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent account of the history of Skynyrd but Ribowsky seemed to be obsessed with the Confederate flag which detracted from the story as a whole.