Loading...

Mercer University -- Mercer Snack Bar

Macon, GA
Add
Date
Artist
Sources
+
10/17/1970
Lynyrd Skynyrd
CommentThere is no known recording but this was a real 10-17-1970 Skynyrd performance, at the Mercer University Snack Bar, LOL!!!! I wonder if they even got paid? Skynyrd in Macon, GA in 1970, just like the pictures fans have seen. Were the Allman Brothers in Macon, GA in October of 1970? There is one ABB show listed on 10-23-1970 in Stonybrook, NY at the State University of New York.

Lynyrd Skynyrd group plays in jam session
by Suzanne Jones
(10-26-1970 publication)
Mercer Cluster/Macon, GA

Most people think of a jam session as a loosely organized group of musicians more or less practicing on their instruments for an hour or so. This was what Mercer students expected of Lynyrd Skynyrd as they entered the Snack Bar at 3:00 PM on Saturday, October 17. What they got instead was two hours worth of polished performance.

The group, all of who are from Jacksonville, Florida, has been professional for quite a while. Two years ago, Lynyrd Skynyrd was hailed as the number one band in St. Louis, Missouri. This year, they have made quite a name for themselves all over Florida as well as in their home town. They are the resident (or "house") band at the Comic Book Club in Jacksonville and have recently returned from a Florida road tour with the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Currently the band is being managed by Hustlers Inc. of Macon, which is owned by Alan Walden and Eddie Floyd. In November, Lynyrd Skynyrd is scheduled to record in Muscle Shoals, Alabama with hopes of an album coming up soon.

Making up the group are Ronnie Van Zant, lead singer, Larry Junstrom on bass, Gary Rossington and Allen Collins lead and Bob Burns on drums. Their material, most of it heavy rock by definition, is entirely original, either in arrangement or composition. In reply to a question of how their music is written, Larry Junstrom said, "Allen starts out with a chord progression and then we just jam around with it until we have a song." Two of the songs preformed at the Mercer Snack Bar were borrowed from one of Macon's own famous groups, The Allman Brothers**. Indeed, Lynyrd Skynyrd's sound is very similar to that of the local group, due to their expert use of double lead guitars.

When asked how the group arrived at the name Lynyrd Skynyrd, bass player Larry Junstrom just replied, "It's a long, freaky story." To which Bob Burns added, "He's a figment of our imagination and we decided to use the name for our band. It's just a name we made up like 'John Doe'."
Bold dates can be downloaded from the Internet Archive    Italic dates have been a featured show