38 Special - First Time Around (Live in Atlanta, Georgia 1981) FM Broadcast

38 Special - First Time Around (Live in Atlanta, Georgia 1981) FM Broadcast

Don Barnes
Donnie Van Zant
Jeff Carlisi
Steve Brookins
Jack Grondin
Larry Junstrom

Donnie Van Zant, the younger brother of Lynyrd Skynyrd founder Ronnie Van Zant, began playing music himself during his teen years, forming the band Standard Production in 1968, which paved the way for Sweet Rooster, Donnie's first professional outfit that he formed in 1969 with guitarist Jeff Carlisi and bassist Ken Lyons, soon joined by drummer Steve Brookins. Carlisi left Sweet Rooster after graduating high school to study architecture at Georgia Tech and was replaced by Don Barnes in 1970. Brookins also left to work as a truck driver and Sweet Rooster was defunct by 1973.
Nevertheless, Van Zant, Barnes and Lyons, while continuing their day jobs and working in other bands, began working on composing original songs in their spare time. By 1974, they decided it was time to get serious and form the ultimate band that would be their one last shot at success. Briefly, Van Zant was considering a higher-paying position for the railroad at which he worked, but was finally convinced by brother Ronnie to stick with music since it was "in his blood.
The new outfit comprised Van Zant, Barnes, Lyons, Brookins, second drummer Jack Grondin and a returning Carlisi. The band's name was thought up after an incident which found the boys practicing in a warehouse out in the middle of nowhere. When police arrived after being notified by locals of the noise, the band members were unable to come out because of a padlock on the door. One of the cops said, That's all right. We'll let this .38 special do the talking, and shot off the lock.
Now that they had their name, the group spent most of 1975 and 1976 playing a steady grind of one-nighters, mostly in the South and the Midwest. Eventually, big brother Ronnie figured Donnie and the gang had paid enough dues and set them up with Skynryd's manager Peter Rudge, who also handled the Who and was tour manager for the Rolling Stones. Rudge quickly set the group up to open shows for red-hot acts, like Peter Frampton, Foghat and Kiss, and got them signed to A&M Records, who assigned Dan Hartman to produce their first album, .38 Special, which was released in May 1977.
Just before the record's release, bassist Ken Lyons decided to leave the band. He was replaced by their friend and original Lynyrd Skynyrd member Larry Junstrom.
Also in 1977, the band added two female backup singers, Carol Bristow and Dale Krantz. Krantz was replaced by Nancy Henderson (1979–1981), Lu Moss (1981–1984) and Lynn Hineman (1986–1987) before backup singers were dispensed with in 1987.
In October 1977 Ronnie Van Zant was killed when Skynyrd's plane crashed. Donnie wrote Take Me Back as a tribute to his brother, which appeared on the band's second album, Special Delivery (March 1978), also produced by Hartman.

38 Special (1977)
Special Delivery (1978)
Rockin' into the Night (1979)
Wild-Eyed Southern Boys (1981)
Special Forces (1982)
Tour de Force (1983)
Strength in Numbers (1986)
Rock & Roll Strategy (1988)
Bone Against Steel (1991)
Resolution (1997)
A Wild-Eyed Christmas Night (2001)
Drivetrain (2004)