As it’s a slow news day (come on slebs! Pull your fingers out!) it gives us a rare chance to completely indulge ourselves with some rock ‘n’ roll pop history.
This is down to the fact that Leonard Skinner, the PE teacher whose name was tinkered with and immortalised in rock’n’roll history by his students, has died in Florida, aged 77.
Skinner’s fondness for busting the balls of students with long hair at Robert E Lee high school in Jacksonville in the ’60s saw him sarcastically championed by some kids who went onto become Lynyrd Skynyrd.
The story goes that the band adapted their teacher’s name as a tribute to the way ‘Leonard Skinner’ was said in the tongue of the southern American accent.
It wasn’t long before the bastardised version of his name was known across the pop charts of the world as Lynyrd Skynyrd achieved worldwide fame with tracks such as Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird.
You’d think that this tribute by a bunch of hippies would irritate a man who once busted his students chops for the length of their hair, but you’d be wrong.
Skinner once said :
“I just went along with the flow. There was not much I could do about it.”
Gary Rossington, member of the group (who was once asked to get a crew cut and wear a wig if he wanted long hair by the PE teacher) paid tribute to Skinner:
“Coach Skinner had such a profound impact on our youth that ultimately led us to naming the band, which you know as Lynyrd Skynyrd, after him. Looking back, I cannot imagine it any other way. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.”
Oddly enough, Skinner joined up with the band in the ’70s and later became close friends with bassist Leon Wilkeson (RIP).
Forby Leonard Skinner was dubbed by the New York Times as “arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture.”
He died at a nursing home in Jacksonville, at age 77 after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years.