Rickey Medlocke rejoined Lynyrd Skynyrd as their guitarist in 1996, years after sitting behind the drums for them in the ‘70s. He apparently impressed Gary Rossington as soon as he played the band’s famous ‘Free Bird’ solo for the first time during a four-day rehearsal session in Fort Myers, Florida.
“I went, ‘Hell, let’s play the damn thing now.’ We rehearsed all the way through the set, got to ‘Free Bird,’ started it, and when the ending started, I played it on my old reverse-body Firebird,” the guitarist recalled in a recent interview with Guitar World. “At the end of it, Gary came over, shook my hand, and goes, ‘Unbelievable job, Rickey. I couldn’t ask for any better.’”
Almost three decades have passed since Medlocke began performing ‘Free Bird’ live with the band, but he says playing the 1973 song still didn’t lose its spark on him.
“Every night I play it, the one thing I really love is the energy level it takes from within you,” the musician explained to the outlet. “When you get going, and your adrenaline is flowing to where it just takes over, I mean, I know what I’m doing, but it’s like my hands are on autopilot. And when it’s over, I have to snap myself back into reality.”
Gary Rossington performed ‘Free Bird’ for one final time in Dolly Parton’s rock album, ‘Rockstar,’ last year. The cover song included his pre-recorded guitar slide and Ronnie van Zant’s vocal tracks.