Steve Gaines
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2020) |
Steve Gaines | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Birth name | Steven Earl Gaines |
Also known as | Okie
|
Born | Miami, Oklahoma, U.S. | September 14, 1949
Died | October 20, 1977 Gillsburg, Mississippi, U.S. | (aged 28)
Genres | Blues, Southern rock |
Occupation(s) | Guitarist |
Years active | 1964–1977 |
Formerly of | Lynyrd Skynyrd |
Steven Earl Gaines (September 14, 1949 – October 20, 1977) was an American musician. He is best known as a guitarist and backing vocalist with rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1976 until his death in the October 1977 airplane crash that claimed other band members and crew. His older sister Cassie Gaines, a backup vocalist with the band, also died in the crash.
Life and career
Gaines was born in
In December 1975, Steve's older sister,
This paragraph possibly contains original research. (May 2017) |
Gaines' guitar-picking and songwriting skills were a major revelation to the band, as demonstrated on his one studio album, 1977's Street Survivors. Publicly and privately, Ronnie Van Zant marveled at the vocal and instrumental skill of Skynyrd's newest member, claiming that the band would "all be in his shadow one day". Steve's contributions included his co-lead vocal with Ronnie on the co-written "You Got That Right" (a solid hit single released after the plane crash) and the rousing guitar boogie "I Know a Little" which he had written before he joined Skynyrd. So confident was Skynyrd's leader of Steve's abilities that the album (and some concerts) featured Steve delivering his self-penned bluesy "Ain't No Good Life" – one of the few songs in the pre-crash Skynyrd catalog to feature a lead vocalist other than Van Zant.
On October 20, 1977, three days after Street Survivors was released (and five dates into the band's most successful ticket sales tour yet), a plane carrying both musicians and crew between shows from
Gaines was cremated and his ashes were buried in
Gaines is the subject of the 2001 song "Cassie's Brother" by rock band Drive-By Truckers.
Less than two years after the plane crash, Cassie LaRue Gaines, mother of Cassie and Steve, was killed in an automobile accident near the cemetery where her children were buried. She was buried near them.
Discography
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- One More from the Road (1976)
- Street Survivors (1977)
- Solo
- One in the Sun (1988)
References
- ^ Check-Six (May 2007). "The 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Crash". Retrieved July 5, 2008.
- ^ "Craigslist posting reveals Ronnie Van Zant's burial site". WKMG. April 19, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
External links
- Official Website at the Wayback Machine (archived January 2, 2012)
- Official Lynyrd Skynyrd Homepage
- Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History site
- US NTSB Report on Plane Crash
- Steve Gaines at Find a Grave