Billy Powell

Billy Powell

Birth : 1952-06-03, Corpus Christi, Texas

Death : 2009-01-28

History

Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Powell grew up in a military family (his father was in the U.S. Navy) and spent several years of his childhood living in Italy where his father was stationed. After his father died of cancer in 1960, he moved with his family back to the United States and settled in Jacksonville, Florida. He met his lifelong friend, Leon Wilkeson in elementary school. Billy's interest in piano began to grow and he began taking piano lessons from a local teacher named Madalyn Brown. She swore he did not need her, claiming that Billy was a natural and picked things up well on his own. When it was time for high school, his mother enrolled Billy and his brother, Ricky at Sanford Naval Academy in Sanford, FL. Billy returned to Jacksonville where he enrolled at Bishop Kenny High School. When he graduated in 1970, he enrolled briefly in a community college, majoring in Music Theory. Around this time he found work as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Billy remained a member of the Skynyrd crew for two years (which included, amongst the grittier shows, highlights such as Skynyrd landing a support slot for Leslie West's "Mountain") In his second year with them, 1972, Skynyrd played one particular gig, a show at the Bolles school prom. After his usual routine working with Kevin Elson, Billy had time to rest for a short while. In the corner he spotted a piano, so Billy went over and sat down with it. Just fooling around, Billy launches into his piano based version of Freebird for the boys in the band to listen to. Ronnie, astonished at his roadies hitherto secret ability said 'You mean to tell me, you've been playing the piano like that and you've been workin' for us for a year....'. Billy replied, "Well, you know, I've been classically trained most of my life.' He was then told Skynyrd were looking for a keyboard man, and Billy was in! In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd was signed to MCA Records and received national exposure with the release of their first album,(pronounced 'lĕh-'nérd 'skin-'nérd). The band's popularity soared in 1974 with their follow-up album, Second Helping, which featured their highest-charting single, "Sweet Home Alabama". The band enjoyed great popularity over the next three years, culminating in the 1977 release of Street Survivors, which many considered to be their strongest effort to date. However, three days after the release of Street Survivors, Skynyrd's chartered plane crashed into a forest near McComb, Mississippi. The crash took the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, his sister and backing vocalistCassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, and both pilots. The remainder of the band suffered injuries ranging from mild to severe. Powell suffered severe facial lacerations, almost completely losing his nose but was otherwise relatively uninjured. He was the first to be released from the hospital, and the only member able to attend the funerals of his fallen band-mates. Powell rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987 for a tribute tour, and remained with the band until his death. Guitarist Gary Rossington is the only member from the classic lineup who continues to record and perform with the band today .On January 28, 2009, the keyboardist died from an apparent heart attack at the age of 56 at his home in Orange Park, Florida.

Profile

Billy Powell

Movies

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Knebworth '76
Self
Featuring the legendary line-up, this set was part of a daylong festival which also boasted headliners The Rolling Stones. This footage, originally only available via the 1996 film Freebird: The Movie, was intercut with interviews and other performance footage. Now, Live At Knebworth '76 presents the pure concert experience in its entirety, delivering the show as it happened that day.
If I Leave Here Tomorrow: A Film About Lynyrd Skynyrd
Himself
The story of Lynyrd Skynyrd; The Greatest American Rock Band Ever. We fly beyond Free Bird to celebrate the life & times of leader Ronnie Van Zant, from boogie-woogie beginnings in Jacksonville’s Shantytown to a tragic end in a Mississippi swamp.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Live from Freedom Hall
Keyboards
One of the last concerts to be recorded with longtime members Billy Powell and Ean Evans, both of whom passed away in 2009. Track-listing: 1. Main Menu Page Loop / 2. Song Selection Menu Page Loop (Sweet Home Alabama / 3. Intro (Band Interviews w/Call Me The Breeze) / 4. Travelin' Man / 5. Workin' / 6. What's Your Name / 7. That Smell / 8. Simple Man / 9. Down South Jukin' / 10. The Needle And The Spoon / 11. The Ballad Of Curtis Loew / 12. Gimme Back My Bullets / 13. Tuesday's Gone / 14. Red White And Blue / 15. Gimme Three Steps / 16. Call Me The Breeze / 17. Sweet Home Alabama / 18. Free Bird.
Lynyrd Skynyrd - Live in Atlantic City
Self
Newly mixed and mastered, Live in Atlantic City celebrates the legend that is Lynyrd Skynyrd in an energetic 70 minute show. Featuring special guest artists 3 Doors Down, Hank Williams Jr., and Bo Dice.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Vicious Cycle Tour
Piano
The Vicious Cycle Tour was a live tour celebrating Lynyrd Skynyrd's 30 years of being a group. The recording is from The Amsouth Amphitheater In Antioch, Nashville, Tennessee.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Lyve from Steel Town
Piano
Recorded and filmed on July 15, 1997, at Star Lake Coca-Cola Amphitheatre, Burgettstown, PA Songs include: Sweet Home Alabama, Freebird, Saturday Night Special, I Know a Little, Gimme Three Steps, What's Your Name, Travelin' Man, Bernice, On the Hunt, You Got That Right, Voodoo Lake, That Smell, Bring it On, Simple Man, We Ain't Much Different
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Live at Rockpalast
Himself
A concert shot for the Rockpalast show on the Loreley Festival on June 23, 1996. As a special treat for the fans, the bonus material include three of the band's most famous songs performed by the original line-up at the Hamburg Musikhalle in 1974.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Freebird... The Movie
Himself
See classic live performances, interviews and vintage footage of the original Lynyrd Skynyrd band.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Tribute Tour
Piano
The Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute Tour was a tour that was undertaken to pay tribute to the original band members who died in a plane crash in 1977. The tour began in the fall of 1987, in honor of the 10-year anniversary of the plane crash. A number of surviving members reunited for the tour. Original members Gary Rossington, Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson were joined by Ed King (original member who had left the band in 1975), Artimus Pyle (drummer at the time of the plane crash), Randall Hall and Johnny Van Zant.
Lynyrd Skynyrd: The Old Grey Whistle Test
Himself
Bob Harris presents a 1975 concert by the Southern rockers, recorded in Shepherd's Bush, London. Songs featured include Sweet Home Alabama, Every Mother's Son, Double Trouble, I Ain't the One, Call Me the Breeze, Same Old Blues and Freebird.