Rickey Medlocke has recalled the first time he played the outro lead line from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird – and how he received Gary Rossington’s seal of approval when he tackled the iconic guitar solo during an early rehearsal.
Medlocke first joined Lynyrd Skynyrd in the early 1970s, completing a brief stint as the band’s drummer. Two decades later, he’d rejoin the band, but not as a percussionist – as their latest electric guitar player.
He’s been with the band ever since, and one of his key responsibilities has been to help take care of Allen Collins' Free Bird guitar solo – a lead effort so legendary that it is widely regarded as undoubtedly one of the finest (and most popular) fretboard workouts of all time.
After rejoining Lynyrd Skynyrd at the behest of founding member Gary Rossington, Medlocke quickly went to work studying the song’s speedy pentatonic runs and, having closely watched Collins compose and record the original effort, was quickly ready to navigate the solo.
Before long, it was time to put it all into practice during a rehearsal with Rossington and the rest of the band.
“When I came back into the band in ’96, I knew that was going to be my lead,” Medlocke tells Guitar World in a new interview. “I broke it down, and I was the drummer in Muscle Shoals when we cut the original Free Bird. I watched Allen, and I knew the licks.
“When I joined in ’96, we had four days of rehearsal in Fort Myers, Florida, and when the day came to play Free Bird, Gary walked in, and goes, ‘Alright, today’s the day.’ I went, ‘Yup. Sure is.’”
Medlocke was fully prepared for the moment. In fact, the first time he played Free Bird, he nailed it, and received the highest praise possible from Rossington.
“I went, ‘Hell, let’s play the damn thing now,’” Medlocke continues. “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.
“At the end of it, Gary came over, shook my hand, and goes, ‘Unbelievable job, Rickey. I couldn’t ask for any better.’”
To this day, Medlocke is in charge of performing the Free Bird solo, and every time he runs through it, it gives him the exact same feeling.
“Every night I play it, the one thing I really love is the energy level it takes from within you. 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.”
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