1968. The Noble Five - to - The One Percent

 

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1968 

The Noble Five - to - The One Percent

Ronnie Van Zant, 20 y.o. -Allen Collins, 16y.o, - Gary Rossington,17y.o.  -Bob Burns, 18y.o. - Larry Junstrom, 19y.o.

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The Noble Five,

 meet and ply with The Hour Glass.

In 1968 "The Hour Glass" -(The Allman Bros) had been in L.A. and released two records their, now back playing at the Comic Book Club, Bob tells us that story, of meeting Duane & Greg Allman, 

 and they gave them good advice. write your own songs and rehearse.

The Noble Five were a top 40 cover band, Playing the Local Live Circuit!

Teen Clubs and Dens, playing Covers of British invasion Bands!

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Bob Burns says about The Noble Five, They did copy tunes and did them well!

"We Played, Doors, The Stones, The Beatles, some Blues Rock, all Copy Tunes! it was one of the best copy tune bands in the world!" says Bob.

Gene Odom says " How good were they? , Not really good!" 

Larry Steele says They were Average!

"Ronnie was confident, and had a lot of stage presence and had a plan of what he wanted to do!"-Larry Steele.

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In this short Video, How the Allman Bros met Phil Walden,

In March 1969 Capricorn Records and The Allman Brothers were born in Macon Georgia.

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Larry Steele says Once Capricorn signed The Allman Brothers, it gave them all hope that they all could do it too!

Alan Walden says The Allmans opened the doors for everybody.

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The Noble Five and The Hour Glass.

In 1968 "The Hour Glass" -(The Allman Bros) had been in L.A. and released two records their, now back playing at the Comic Book Club, Bob tells us that story, of meeting Duane & Greg Allman,
and they gave them good advice. write your own songs and rehearse.

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 Alex Hodges, Larry Steele, Alan Walden all talking about Capricorn Records, and the Allman Bros, and how much talent there was in the South. Rock on! 

 

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"It's been so long since I've been gone Lord I'm tired and I want to go home My throat is raw from singing the blues"
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This Video. About Capricorn records, with Allman Bros, Free, One Percent , Skynyrd, interviews with Bob Burns , Alex Hodges, Alan Walden, Larry Steele, - 

 

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They changed their name to, The One Percent. 

The Noble Five did Copy Tunes and did them well!

Alot of Rock'n'roll, Blues/Rock.The Doors , Stones , Beatles, Copy Tunes! People loved it! "- Bob Burns.

They changed their name to, The One Percent.

Slowly, they developed their musical talents and the gigs increased. At the very beginning, only Ronnie had reached the legal driving age and for quite a while he was the only one with a car. 

Gary explained setting up for a gig, "Actually, it was always the same band - we just kept changing the name." " We used to play teen dens, church socials and stuff so the band's name didn't matter.

We used to change our name every day, just for the heck of it, because we weren't known at all." 

The longest-lasting pre- Lynyrd Skynyrd name was also the last, the One Percent. In early 1968, the group saw a movie in Gainesville about the Hell's Angels and saw a slogan that appealed to them. Gary recalled, 

"A couple of bikers came up, Hell's Angels, and we saw they had tattoos or patches saying `One Percent'.
That was their little logo - one percent of the world is bikers you know.

We thought that was cool, so we changed to the One Percent like we were bad-ass biker dudes or something."
 The One Percent lasted for more than a year.

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"We'd play anything on the radio, `Satisfaction', `Day Tripper' - we were into Yardbirds, Blues Magoos. 

We used to play at clubs at night and go to school during the day. 

They called us a psychedelic band and it was hard for us to get work at dances because people wanted Top-40.

After about four years playing at parties, playing anywhere we could, we were making about twenty dollars a week."

"Allen was really Loud and when you came in a room you would know it , he would knock stuff over." - Gary

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"Besides Bob Burns, Allen was the next craziest person on the face of this earth!"- Larry

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"Allen used to sniff glue, He could put a model Airplane together with his Breath!" - Larry Junstrom

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"Everyone used to take speed back then.it was hard keeping a girlfriend or going to school. We just wanted to to play guitar all night."

"Allen and i used say , I wish we could get thrown in jail so we could play our guitars all night."

"Teen Dens and Garages! music music , Guitar Guitar. thats all we thought you know" - Gary Rossington.

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The One Percent.

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Leonard Skinner says even after sending one of the boys from the band to the Principal's office, if you had of yelled out there names , he wouldn't have known who they were. If Any of the boys came up to him , he said he wouldn't have know who they were!

Post High School:

Lynyrd Skynyrd's first contact with Leonard Skinner was to ask if they could use a Leonard Skinner Real Estate Sign for their "Nuthin Fancy" Album Cover! Released in early 1975.

<namf02>Leonar d Skinner

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There is Evidence that they were called:

The Pretty Ones, The Noble Five, The One Percent, and Lynard Skynard and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

They are the only names that the band went by! that we have proof of.
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There is no evidence that they were ever called "My Backyard"
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On the Contrary:
Larry Steele, remembers The Allman Brothers band "The Hour Glass'" ex bass Player, Peter Carr returning to the Comic book Club in 1968 with his new band, "My Back Yard".
Peter Carr, was later, one of the Swampers!
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"It was around Christmas, 1968, when former Hour Glass bassist, Pete Carr, also returned to the Comic Book, with his new band, “My Back Yard.”

Pete had been playing guitar long before playing bass for the Hour Glass, and was now back on guitar for this latest, Alabama-based project.

 This too was a good band, as I recall, but after only two nights they were gone, never to be heard from again. Pete would eventually end up back in Muscle Shoals, as lead guitarist of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, amassing a long list of credits as a musician, engineer and producer." - Larry Steele.
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I would really like to see some more evidence for this!
the most reliable info we have is this text above from Larry Steele.
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I think a long time ago this name got mixed up with Skynyrd!
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The Comic Book Club. Jacksonville.

In this Video , Capricorn Records , Alan and Phil Walden, Allman Brothers, Free!

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"I think Free changed our band, More than any band in the world!" - Bob Burns.

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The Band Free was as influential to Ronnie as seeing the Stones 5 years earlier.

The boys all got to see Free at a Skate rink in Jacksonville in 1969/70 (sate is unclear)

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The One Percent were at the Hellhouse Practicing, and trying to write their own material, Their first gig was in October 1966, so at the end of 1968 , they have been playing together for 2 years. 

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The Comic Book Club. Jacksonville.

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The Noble Five and The Hour Glass.
In 1968 "The Hour Glass" -(The Allman Bros) had been in L.A. and released two records their, now back playing at the Comic Book Club, Bob tells us that story, of meeting Duane & Greg Allman, 
 and they gave them good advice. write your own songs and rehearse.

The Noble Five were a top 40 cover band, Playing the Local Live Circuit!
Teen Clubs and Dens, playing Covers of British invasion Bands!
-
Bob Burns says They did copy tunes and did them well!
"We Played, Doors, The Stones, The Beatles, some Blues Rock, all Copy Tunes! it was one of the best copy tune bands in the world!" says Bob.

Gene Odom says " How good were they? , Not really good!" 
Larry Steele says They were Average!

"Ronnie was confident, and had a lot of stage presence and had a plan of what he wanted to do!"-Larry Steele
-
They Changed their name to, The One Percent,
Dean found the Cabin in the Woods to Write and rehearse ! The Hell House!

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1968, Forest Inn, (Show, #1)
Jacksonville.

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First Pic L-R:

Allen, Bob, Gary, Ronnie, Larry.

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Gary with his Yellow, Les Paul Special!

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1968.

Bob Burns, Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington.

How tight is that band, perfectly in time,

Bob Burns, Gary Rossington, Larry Junstrom.

Ronnie in the background and Bob Burns, 

Allen And Gary.

Gary Rossington.

Allen Collins with a wig on.

Gary Rossington.

Allen Collins.

Bob and Gary.

Ronnie Van Zant.

Gary and Dean Kilpatrick.

Gary

Allen Collins.

Allen Collins, Bob Burns, Gary Rossington , Dean Kilpatrick.

Allen Collins and Gary Rossington.

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The Hell House in Green Cove Springs.

Hell House was an old cabin with a tin roof located in the woods on a farm in Green Cove Springs.

The band had got tired of being hassled by the police when they played around their homes on Jacksonville’s Westside, so they found

 an abandoned shed deep in the woods to make their music. 

It was cramped and without air conditioning, but it was the perfect place away from distractions – not including thunderstorms 

that turned their tiny sweatbox into a sauna.

Lynyrd Skynyrd did alot of writing there and is where they wrote most of their first and second albums.

The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park is located just a few miles from where Hell House stood.

The cabin appealed to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s founder and lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, because it sat near the creek. 

An avid fisherman since he was a boy, Van Zant occasionally took breaks from rehearsals to fish there.

Gary Rossington, talked about Hell House in a 2006 Rolling Stone interview, after the band

 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He said they had to find a quiet place away from Jacksonville so the 

police would stop bothering them.

“We finally found this place way out in the woods, this cabin with a tin roof,” he said in the article. 

“We didn’t have the money to buy an air conditioner, so it was hot. We’d sweat and sweat, and

 when it rained it was double bad. … The owner was a real swamp boy. He’d go around and

 hit big rattlesnakes on the head, so we had a bunch of snakes in barrels. It was just a mess, 

but we got a lot of writing done there.” 

“And the sheriff wasn’t after them.”

Johnny and Donnie took a chunk of the concrete floor to preserve what was left. Local friends Terry Smiley, 

Mike West and Kurt Towne also took a chunk, while a piece of center-block wall now is on display at the Clay County Archives.

“It’s history,” Johnny said. “It’s incredible to think of all the things that happened on that floor. They were tearing

 the place down. We couldn’t let that go by.”

According to a forum posted online by former guitarist Ed King before he died last year, Ronnie Van Zant used to 

pick up band members at 8 in the morning and drive 28 miles for another grueling day at their musical boot camp.

Once they got there, the ear-shattering music – and the sweating – didn’t stop until long after sunset.

“We all had a lot of respect for what had been accomplished out there in the swamp,” King wrote.

King said he met a man named Lee Rollins, who also managed to take a piece of the concrete floor.

“Hasn't figured out what to do with it,” King wrote. “He thinks that slab holds a lot of energy from all the songs that 

were written there.”

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For Lynyrd Skynyrd, it was a magical place where songs like “Free Bird,” “Gimme Three Steps,” “Tuesday’s Gone,” “Simple Man” 

and “Sweet Home Alabama” were written. in 1972-73.

Gary Rossington, an original member of the band, told the story of Hell House to Rolling Stone magazine in 2006. In it he said:

“Oh, man. We were rehearsing all around Jacksonville, and the cops kept coming, so we finally found this place way out in the 

woods, this cabin with a tin roof,” he said. “We didn’t have the money to buy an air conditioner, so it was hot. We’d sweat and

 sweat, and when it rained it was double bad, the humidity. It was just this old abandoned cabin.

“One night we got ripped off. Somebody came in and stole some amps and stuff. So, then we had to take turns staying out

 there overnight with a gun to protect the place. There were farm animals and snakes and alligators, out in the Everglades 

on a little creek. The owner was a real swamp boy. He’d go around and hit big rattlesnakes on the head, so we had a bunch 

of snakes in barrels. It was just a mess, but we got a lot of writing done there. We wrote most of the first album there,

 and the second one, too.”

Lynyrd Skynyrd eventually moved to recording studios to do their work. Hell House burned down and was bulldozed 

to make room for progress – but not before several fans, including the brothers of founding member Ronnie Van Zant, 

rescued their own piece of historic treasure.

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The Hell House.

3346 Southern Oaks Dr, Green Cove Springs, FL

The gated residential development north of Green Cove Springs now occupies

 the land where the band’s early rehearsal studio, Hell House, once stood. 

That’s when Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote most of its first two albums, which included

 “Free Bird,” “Gimme Three Steps,” and “Sweet Home Alabama.”

The new Edgewater Landing is near the train trestle on Peters Creek and still has the moss-draped 

oaks and cedar trees. But the cabin burned down many years ago. 

A drive into The Hell House.

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Rock'n'Roll 

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