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Edward C. King (born September 14, 1949 in Glendale, California) is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.^[1]

King was one of the founding members of Strawberry Alarm Clock, formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band's largest success was with a song that King co-wrote, "Incense and Peppermints" (but, along with keyboardist Mark Weitz, did not get credit). The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1967. Their follow-up single, "Tomorrow", reached No. 23 in January 1968.

King met the members of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd when the band opened up for Strawberry Alarm Clock on a few shows in early 1968. It wasn't until 1972 that he joined Skynyrd, replacing Leon Wilkeson on bass, who left the band briefly. Wilkeson rejoined the band, and King switched to guitar, creating the triple-guitar attack that became a signature sound for the band.

His guitar playing and songwriting skills were an essential element to the band's first three albums: Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, Second Helping and Nuthin' Fancy. King co-wrote the Skynyrd hit song "Sweet Home Alabama" and it is his voice you can hear counting off the tune before launching into his famous Stratocaster riff. Other songs that King wrote or co-wrote the music for include "Poison Whiskey", "Saturday Night Special", "Mr. Banker", "Swamp Music", "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller", "Railroad Song", "I Need You", and "Workin' For MCA".

King decided to leave the band in 1975 during the 'Torture Tour'. He was replaced in 1976 by Steve Gaines, who was killed in a plane crash along with singer Ronnie Van Zant on October 20, 1977. Coincidentally, Gaines and King share the same birthdate.

King was one of the guitarists for the reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987, and played a major role in the reunited band. He was forced to leave Lynyrd Skynyrd again in 1996 due to congestive heart failure. He left on the understanding that he would rejoin once he regained his health, but the band did not allow him to rejoin.

King, along with all pre-crash members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. He now lives in Nashville, TN and is "quite happily retired".

In January 2012, Ed King underwent a successful heart transplant and in his words is "healing well".

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ed King discography at Discogs

Stuart Daniel Baker, better known by his stage name, Unknown Hinson, is a comedic country musician, songwriter, and voice actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as the voice of Early Cuyler on the Adult Swim cartoon series Squidbillies.^[1][2]

The character[link]

Persona[link]

Unknown Hinson, dressed in his signature rodeo tailor coat and black ribbon necktie, is a dark parody of the country western stars from the 1950s through the mid-1980s. His recorded material has the sonic qualities of a regional country star with access to cheap recording studios and hack producers. With his glued-on sideburns, blacked-out front teeth, and dark hair slicked back to reveal a prominent widow's peak, he has been referred to as the "hillbilly vampire." The self-proclaimed "king of country-western troubadours" speaks and sings with an authentic southern drawl, commonly pronouncing words like woman "womern," and window "winder." Hinson's personality is that of a hell-raising and hard-drinking country western singer with a preference for "party likker," sexy womerns, and fine guitars. Baker has carefully cultivated his alter-ego. Much like Andy Kaufman's alter-ego, Tony Clifton, Unknown Hinson never breaks character in public and adamantly denies having any connection to Danny Baker.

Fictional background and arrest[link]

Unknown Hinson was an only child named after his father "says right there on my birth certificate—Mama: Miss Hinson. Daddy: Unknown." and raised by his mother who gave him his first guitar. After his mother's mysterious disappearance, Unknown ran off and joined the circus as part of the sideshow, where he learned how to lift 50-pound weights with his tongue and a variety of other skills.

Later, Hinson was convicted of various trumped-up charges, including three counts of murder, 19 paternity suits, vampirism and random grave-robbing offenses and was sentenced to thirty years in prison. He was released in 1993 and set forth to reclaim his long-denied musical legacy.

Origins[link]

Stuart Daniel Baker, a music teacher and studio musician from Albemarle, North Carolina, created his alter-ego for The Wild Wild South, a Charlotte area public-access program that featured comedy sketches and concert footage. Baker along with co-star Don Swan played the characters of Unknown Hinson and Rebel Helms. After Swan's death in 1995, Baker created "The Unknown Hinson Show", a direct spin-off of "The Wild Wild South". The Unknown Hinson Show won Creative Loafing's "Best Of" poll for Best Public-Access Television Show four years in a row.^[3] After the series ended, Baker continued in his role as Unknown Hinson, performing live concerts and releasing several recordings.

Music[link]

Live performer[link]

As a live performer, Unknown Hinson has been known to tour for months at a time. After his shows, he takes the time to meet as many of his fans as want to stay, and graciously takes pictures and signs shirts, posters, CDs, and body parts. Hinson is known to always fire his signature gun on the up swing, a true mark of his skill. He has shared the stage with many notable rockabilly, country, and psychobilly acts such as The Reverend Horton Heat, Marty Stuart, Hank III and, in a rare appearance in Nashville, Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd fame, joined Unknown on stage at the Exit/In. Unfortunately, Ed started playing Rock and Roll, which everybody knows is straight from hell and Unknown had to run him off the stage at gunpoint. A video recounting this sad incident is on YouTube.

He has a strong cult following and many high-profile fans, including Ed King, Waylon Reavis of Mushroomhead, Billy Bob Thornton, and Matt Groening. Hank III, grandson of Hank Williams, has Unknown's face tattooed on his biceps.^[4] In late 2008, working under his real name of Stuart Baker, Hinson was hired to play bass as well as lead guitar in Billy Bob Thornton's band The Boxmasters. For this hired-gun gig, Baker appears without the familiar Unknown Hinson wardrobe and makeup, instead appearing in a 60's vintage suit, white shirt and black pencil tie.

Recording artist[link]

Unknown Hinson writes his own music, performs live, and produces all of his own recordings. His music often parodies the dark elements of today's country and redneck culture. In early 2009, Hinson's 'Torture Town' won in The 8th Annual Independent Music Awards and Vox Pop vote for Best Alternative Country Song "Torture Town".

Discography[link]

Voice acting[link]

Hinson, credited as Baker, provides the voice of Early Cuyler, a balding hillbilly squid from Georgia, on Cartoon Network's late night Adult Swim program, Squidbillies. The Early Cuyler character echoes Unknown Hinson in several ways, including an affinity for guns and liquor, and a "no-nonsense" alpha-male attitude.

Notes[link]

• Baker, Margo. *Unknown Hinson website Retrieved August 21, 2007.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paper + Wire Magazine: An Interview with Unknown Hinson

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Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant (January 15, 1948^[1] – October 20, 1977) was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of the founder and vocalist of 38 Special, Donnie Van Zant, and of current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant.

Early life[link]

He was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lacy (1915–2004) and Marion (1929–2000) Van Zant. Van Zant aspired to be many things before finding his love for music. Notably, Ronnie was interested in becoming a boxer (as Muhammad Ali was one of his idols) and in playing professional baseball. Ronnie also tossed around the idea of becoming a stock-car racer. In fact, he would say that he was going to be the most famous person to come out of Jacksonville since Lee Roy Yarbrough.

Lynyrd Skynyrd[link]

Van Zant formed Skynyrd late in the summer of 1964 with friends and schoolmates Allen Collins (guitar), Gary Rossington (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass), and Bob Burns (drums). Lynyrd Skynyrd's name is a mock tribute to a gym teacher the boys had in high school, Leonard Skinner, who disapproved of male students with long hair.^[2]

The band's national exposure began in 1973 with the release of their debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), which has a string of hits and fan favorites including: "I Ain't the One", "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man," and their signature song, "Free Bird", which he later dedicated to the late Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band.^{[citation needed]}

Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest hit single, although "Free Bird" was a close second, was "Sweet Home Alabama" which came off the album Second Helping. "Sweet Home Alabama" was an answer (or response) song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man." The common belief that Van Zant and Young were rivals may be incorrect; they may have actually been fans of each other or could be considered collaborating on several occasions by using response lyrics to each others' lyrics.^{[citation needed]} Young's song "Powderfinger" on the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps was reportedly written for Skynyrd, and Van Zant is pictured on the cover of Street Survivors wearing a T-shirt of Young's Tonight's the Night.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Van Zant married Nadine Inscoe on 2 January 1967. The couple had a daughter, Tammy (born 1968), before divorcing in 1969. He then married Judy Jenness in 1972. They remained married up until his death in 1977. This marriage produced one daughter, Melody, born in 1976.

In his spare time, Van Zant enjoyed baseball, and was a fan of the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.

Van Zant had several run ins with the law, especially in 1975, when he was arrested for hurling a table out of a second-story hotel room.^[4]

Death[link]

On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-300 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about problems with one of the plane's engines and told to brace for impact.^[5] Van Zant died in the crash on impact, after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were also killed. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured.^[6] According to former bandmate Artimus Pyle and family members, Van Zant frequently discussed his mortality. Pyle recalls a moment when Lynyrd Skynyrd was in Japan: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, 'Ronnie, don't talk like that,' but the man knew his destiny."^[7] Van Zant's father, Lacy, said, "He said to me many times, 'Daddy, I'll never be 30 years old.' I said, 'Why are you talking this gunk?' and he said, 'Daddy, that's my limit.'" Van Zant's father later noted that, "God was a jealous god. Taking him for reasons I don't know."^[7] Van Zant was 29 years old at the time of his death.

Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer when the band reunited in 1987.

Van Zant was buried in Orange Park, Florida, in 1977, but was relocated after vandals broke into bandmate Steve Gaines' and Ronnie's tombs on June 29, 2000. Van Zant's casket was pulled out and dropped on the ground. The bag containing Gaines' ashes was torn open and some scattered onto the grass.^[8] Their mausoleums at Orange Park remain as memorials for fans to visit.

According to the cemetery listing website Find-a-Grave, Van Zant was reburied at Riverside Memorial Park in Jacksonville, near the grave of his father Lacy and mother Marion. Both his current resting place and the empty mausoleum in Orange Park are listed. The following statement was made on the Find-a-Grave entry of his current resting place in Jacksonville: "Due to the June 29th, 2000 vandalization of his original grave site, his casket was moved to this new location and buried in a massive underground concrete burial vault. To open the vault would require a tractor with a lift capacity of several tons. It is also patrolled by security."^[9]

A memorial park funded by fans and family of the band was built in honor of Van Zant. The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park is located on Sandridge Road in Lake Asbury, Florida, nearby his hometown of Jacksonville.

References[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Anderson, R. Michael (2000-06-30). "Van Zant's tomb defaced". The Florida Times-Union. http://www.jacksonville.com/special/lynyrdskynyrd/vanzantstombdefaced.html. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Check-Six (2007-05). "The 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Crash". http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/LynyrdSkynyrd-N55VM.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• "SKYNYRD HISTORY LESSONS - Name Changes and Ten Dollar Gigs". The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History Website. http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/less2.html. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Social Security Death Master Index (2007-05). "Ronald Van Zant Social Security Death Index (#73220275)". http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/zsearch.aspx?ix=ssdiall&qt=l&zfn=Ronald&zln=Van+Zant. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Soorus (2002-09-01). "Current Find-A-Grave Record for Ronnie Van Zant". Find-A-Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Van+Zant&GSsr=41&GRid=6742069&. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• US National Transportation Safety Board (1978-06-19). "Aircraft Accident Report - L & J Company, Convair 240, N55VM, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October 20, 1977" (PDF). National Technical Information Service. pp. 27 pages. http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR78-06.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 

External links[link]

• NTSB Aircraft Accident Report for N55VM
• Original Find-a-Grave entry
• Current Find-a-Grave entry