LYNYRD SKYNYRD: Not Even A Boogie Band Is As Simple As It Seems

Early this spring, before 11,000 fans in Tuscaloosa, the members of Lynyrd Skynyrd were declared Honorary Lieutenant Colonels in the Alabama State Militia by the governor of that state, George Wallace. Although a fair share of country singers have been so honored, these were the first such "hard rock" stars anyone can name. They were singled out, according to a state press aide in Montgomery, for their declared, willingness to assist the Governor should he, er, require their assistance, to raise funds on college campuses, say. The aide was referring not to charity but to politics, another hard rock first: the public support of Ronnie Van Zant, the trucker's son from Jacksonville, Florida, who is Lynyrd Skynyrd's lead singer, for the Governor's presidential candidacy.

But Vqn Zant's politics were certainly not .the reason that Mark Gaughan, a University of Alabama student from Buffalo, New York, conceived and promoted this chauvinistic shebang. Gaughan just wanted an Alabama-style party, and he thought Lynyrd Skynyrd deserved recognition for yet another hard rock first: "Sweet Home Alabama," a top-10 state song. Of course, in addition to celebrating the state's blue skies and muscle shoals and parrying the insults of Neil Young, this anthem does include a troubling reference to the Governor himself: "In Birmingham they love the Governor (Boo boo boo) / Well we all did what we could do/Well Watergate does not bother me/Does your conscience bother you?" But Mark Gaughan says he doesn't vknow what these lines mean, and I believe him, because neither do I. I'll bet the Governor doesn't either. In fact, I'm not even sure Ronnie Van Zant knows. Attached as they are to the most likable music ever recorded by an immensely likable, and very Southern, hard rock band, the question remains a compelling one. But confusing.