Phoenix Rising
The Rossington Collins Band
I’ll admit it upfront—I’m a Southern Rock fan. Now that’s out of the way, let’s talk about one of the genre's underrated gems.
The Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in 1977 is one of too many tragedies that claimed artists before their time. Had it never happened, the Skynyrd we know today would be very different. In those days, if the lead singer passed away, the band would typically fold up shop (at least under the original banner).
And that’s exactly what Gary Rossington and Allen Collins did.
For reasons known only to the ether, I’ve been listening to the only real post-Skynyrd band, the Rossington Collins Band, and their debut album, Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere, lately.
After the plane crash, the road to The Rossington Collins Band was not an easy one.
The surviving members were in a pretty bad way, not only mentally but physically. Allen Collins (guitar) had severe injuries to his arm that almost made it necessary for the arm to be amputated. Leon Wilkeson (bass) had suffered internal injuries that initially made doctors declare him dead at the scene of the crash, only to be resuscitated later. He also had a badly broken arm. Gary Rossington (guitar) had also suffered severe injuries in the crash. Only Artimus Pyle (drummer) and Billy Powell (keyboards) were in good enough condition to be released from the hospital within two weeks of the crash.
Two weeks is a pretty extensive stay in a hospital. and I can’t help but wonder if insurance companies today would consider plane crash survivors as outpatients. But I digress.
Two years later, the surviving band members got together to play an instrumental version of “Freebird” at the annual Charlie Daniels Volunteer Jam.
It would be Daniels who declared that “Lynyrd Skynyrd is back!”
In truth, they weren’t.
Despite containing former Skynyrd members Collins, Rossington, Powell, and Wilkerson (drummer Artimus Pyle didn’t join because he broke his leg just as rehearsals started and was replaced by Derek Hess), they weren’t interested in creating Lynyrd Skynyrd, the sequel. They opted to do this by hiring .38 Special backup singer Dale Krantz (who would later marry Gary Rossington) as their lead singer.
Along with newcomers Hess and Barry Harwood, who would share some vocal duties with Krantz in addition to his guitar playing, the newly christened Rossington Collins Band converged on the famous Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida, to begin work on what would become Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere.
[Fun Fact: While recording their second album at Criteria, Allen Collins had a notable clash with John Mellencamp, who was recording American Fool at the same time there. According to Paul Rees’ book Mellencamp, tensions ran high between the two with Mellencamp calling Collins “a fucking yahoo” and saying: “Every time I saw him I wanted to start a fight.”]
Sonically, RCB picks up where Skynyrd left off. With two original Skynyrd members (Collins, Rossington) and two newer members (Powell and Wilkerson), it would’ve been strange if it didn’t sound similar. But that’s where it ends because this record is really all about Dale Krantz. Despite her misgivings, Krantz moved from backup singer to lead singer adroitly. And having co-written eight of the nine songs on the album, proved to be quite adept at songwriting, too.
Given the backstory of the plane crash and the pedigree of the band, Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere was released to much AOR (Album Orientated Rock radio) fanfare in 1980, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Album Chart.
The vocal duel between Krantz and Harwood helped the captivating lead single, “Don’t Misunderstand Me” find its way on to the Billboard charts.
This was 1980, the high era of frontloading an album. Which is to say that Side One of this album is rock solid. With songs like “Three Times As Bad,” “One Good Man,” and “Don’t Misunderstand Me,” Krantz plants herself squarely as the focal point. Which is no easy feat considering the degree of musicianship in the band.
While side two doesn't have the same immediate impact, it still offers highlights like “Misery Loves Company” and “Sometimes You Can Put It Out.”
Dale Krantz’s vocals enshrine the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd while proving to level up the band's overall sound. Does this more melodic sound point in the direction Skynyrd would have gone? Who can say, we never got to find out (and no, the releases over the past 30+ years don’t really count. With all due respect, many fans agree that the Lynyrd Skynyrd we love went down in that plane crash in 1977.)
In the canon of great Southern Rock albums, I feel like this one gets overlooked and I suspect that may be because of its roots. While you can’t discuss The Rossington Collins Band without talking about Lynyrd Skynyrd, it’s unfair to label the Rossington Collins Band as an offshoot because they stand on their own just fine.
The band released a second album, This Is The Way, in 1981 to mostly mixed reviews. It failed to match the promise set by Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere and the band imploded shortly thereafter.
While they did leave more than just “Don’t Misunderstand Me” behind, the band failed to leave much of a mark. The Rossington Collins Band legacy will forever be overshadowed by the tragedy on October 20, 1977. All of this is to say that Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere remains a Southern Rock gem, with its pedigree and quality elevating it above the genre’s usual fare.
As a fellow Southern Rock fan, I was thrilled when this came out. It’s a very solid piece of music that holds up well, and I was saddened when the band broke up.
While this is somewhat off-topic, since we're talking about Southern Rock, I wanted to highlight a new song I recently ran across which sounds like some great lost Southern Rock track from the 70s. I've listened to Jett Holden's "Feels Like Home" about 100 times in the last month and already ordered his premiere album. https://youtu.be/9FYqOIYHOgk?si=R6tvJV8ei-H_AWlK