HAMLET – Bob Burns was born in Jacksonville, FL, on November 24th, 1950, and died on April 3, 2015. I knew Bob well; he was a kind and simple man with very little demands.
I was invited to meet him many years ago. We met in a studio, traded drum licks with each other and talked music. He had some of the original recordings of Lynyrd Skynyrd hits. There were two drum kits set up side by side and we played those songs for over an hour together. I must say it was not only an honor to have met him but to also play alongside of a Hall of Fame drummer and get compliments from him – well, that was just about as good as it gets.
Over the years we crossed paths a few more times and each time we seemed to pick right up where we left off. He was a pleasure to be around and I for one miss him.
Bob started with the original musicians that made up Lynyrd Skynyrd before they changed the name and yes, it is true: the name was adapted from their high school physical education teacher. In fact, Burns was one of the founding members of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In the early days of the band they were all very young and poured their lives into rehearsals that would last for hours on end. They had a house out in the middle of nowhere that they used for their rehearsals and one of the band members would always have to be there day and night so the equipment wouldn’t get stolen. When it came Bob’s turn, he didn’t like that at all. But he did his part just like the rest of them. Ronnie Van Zant was most definitely in charge and he was very demanding. However, being the leader that he was, things always went his way and if not, the consequences might not be something one would want to deal with as things would get a bit physical. Ronnie didn’t back down from anyone, ever, and he had battle scars to prove it. But the music was developed to as close to perfection as it could get and exciting things started to happen for the boys.
The record deal came and along with that so did the major tours and the grueling tour schedule. The sudden exposure to fame became a bit more than Bob could handle. He started having some personal issues trying to cope but things just spun out of control. So, after appearing on some of the biggest hits (e.g., Sweet Home Alabama; Gimme Three Steps; and of course, their anthem, Free Bird) and supporting those huge hits on tours, he made a decision to leave the band.
He wasn’t pushed out or anything like that. Ronnie worked out a deal for him and I think he was very kind to Burns when he left but he just simply couldn’t take the rigors and stress of it all anymore, so in 1974, he left the band. In 1975 Artimus Pyle was chosen for his replacement and it was business as usual, and with Ronnie, it was serious business. So Bob was gone and Artimus was in but the closeness remained between Bob and Ronnie.
Over the years Bob made special appearances all over, playing the music he so dearly loved. Then something very special came along – Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. So, along with some of his former bandmates, he performed on that stage and was enshrined as a Hall of Fame drummer as part of Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Just to be clear, Bob was not in the deadly plane crash of 1977 as he had already left the band. However, his replacement Artimus Pyle was on the plane. He was a survivor. Injured, yes, but a survivor nonetheless, along with a few other lucky ones. But many have said that Lynyrd Skynyrd went down with the plane because Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines, (Steve’s sister who was a singer) were killed in the accident. But that is another story perhaps to come later.
Burns left his home in Cartersville, GA, one night at 11:56 p.m. and came upon a sharp curve in the road. According to the Georgia State Police report, his vehicle left the road, hit a mail box, and then hit a tree, killing him. I don’t know what happened other than what the report, which I did read, stated. There wasn’t anything indicated regarding what one might suspect about what could have caused this accident. I received a phone call from his personal manager about two hours after it happened and she gave me the news that Bob was killed in an accident.
He was a wonderful drummer, beautiful human being and became a friend whom I am just honored to have gotten to know before he left us. Long live his memory, and you can hear him on all of the original hits that pushed Lynyrd Skynyrd to become huge “rock stars”!
