Ed King
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ed King | |
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| Born | September 14, 1949 |
| Genre(s) | Southern rock Psychedelic rock |
| Affiliation(s) | Lynyrd Skynyrd Strawberry Alarm Clock |
| Years active | 1965 - present |
| Official site | Official website |
Ed King (born September 14, 1949 in Glendale, California) is an American musician. He is most well-known as the guitarist for psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
King was one of the founding members of Strawberry Alarm Clock, formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960's. The band's largest success was with a song that King co-wrote, "Incense and Peppermints" (but, along with keyboardist Mark Weitz, didn't get credit). The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1967. Their follow-up single, "Tomorrow", reached #23 in January 1968.
King met the members of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd when the band opened up for Strawberry Alarm Clock on a few shows in the early '70s. It wasn't until 1972 that he joined Skynyrd, replacing Leon Wilkeson on bass, who left the band briefly. Wilkeson rejoined the band, and King switched to guitar, creating the triple-guitar attack that became a signature sound for the band.
His guitar playing and songwriting skills were an essential element to the band's first three albums: Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, Second Helping and Nuthin' Fancy. King co-wrote the Skynyrd hit song "Sweet Home Alabama" and it's his voice you can hear counting off the tune before launching into his famous Stratocaster riff.
King decided to leave the band in 1975 during the 'Torture Tour'. He was replaced by Steve Gaines in 1976, who was killed in a plane crash along with singer Ronnie Van Zant on October 20, 1977. Coincidentally, Gaines and King share the same birth date.
King was one of the guitarists for the reunited Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1987, until being forced to leave in 1996 due to congestive heart failure. He left on the basis that he would rejoin once he regained his health, but the band did not allow him to rejoin. King filed a lawsuit for breach of contract, which was settled out of court in 1999.
King, along with all pre-crash members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.
