Bob Burns bio

All bands have a resident comedian, and in Skynyrd's case it was Bob Burns, the man that former manager Alan Walden affectionately refers to as "Harpo".

"In the early days the band got around however they could and Bob used to have an old Corvair. It may have been his sister's car, I am not sure. But anyway, One day the band decided to play a little rough in Bob's ride and the car ended up wrecked, needless to say.

So, one day in Atlanta, just as things were beginning to look a little bit better career wise we were all at The Day's End on Clairmont. We had recorded our first album and while it was still in the early release days, we had already hired our first real road manager. And he had brought an old Corvair to Atlanta to sell.

Bear in mind, Bob was always the one in the band everyone picked on and I came up with this idea to buy this old car and give it to Bob since the band had destroyed his (I actually think there was two they wrecked).

So, I called Bob down to my room and proceeded to give him this car. He was very shocked but also very happy. he left to go back and tell the rest of the guys. About ten minutes later he returned only to tell me he could not accept my gift. I explained I had already paid for this car and he was hurting my feelings by giving it back to me. He thanked me again and left once again.

About ten minutes later he knocked again, telling me once again he could not accept. I proceeded to tell him this was ridiculous, and I had bought this car for him and could not get my money back and that was IT!!! For him to take that car anyway. "No strings attached"!!!!  His reply, " No Strings Attached?". Mine, " No Strings Attached, Bob!!!"

As he dashed from my room, I could hear him screaming to the rest of the band, "NO STRINGS ATTACHED!!!!" 

And as I watched from my window, I saw the whole band pile into that old  Covair and roar out of the parking lot.  I do not think I had laughed that hard in years! I don't think it ever stopped rolling until the wheels fell off."...... told to me by Alan Walden

Ronnie Van Zant played baseball with a local team The Green Pigs. He was playing in particular game in 1964 and it was his turn to swing. He hit a line drive a little harder than he thought and the ball flew straight at a guy who played for a rival team, "The Bugs". The guy landed out cold and Ronnie (panicking that he may have killed him) ran over to see how he was. The guy sprawled on the floor was to evolve into Lynyrd Skynyrd's first drummer, and his name is Robert "Bob" Burns.

Ronnie felt guilt at first and spent some time making sure Burns (and a friend he was with, Gary Rossington) was OK. He found though that he was spending time with them not out of guilt, but because they all loved music. Ronnie was an aspiring singer, Gary picked a guitar, and Bob had a drum kit.  They headed back to Bob's house, and started to play for the first time - "Last Time" by the Stones and "Gloria."

Gary and Bob were already well into sharing their music with each other. In fact, Gary wanted to be a drummer too, but realising that two drummers and nothing else wouldn't work, Gary took up guitar. Before long, the duo were joined by another young friend, bass player Larry Junstrom (who eventually found fame with 38 Special) and they called their band "You Me and Him". It was during the life of this band that Ronnie Van Zant appeared on the scene. 

The foursome wanted to be more original than other bands, and decided a second guitarist was the way to do it, and so they recruited Allen Collins to their band.

The band which was to become Skynyrd held its first rehearsal in the garage adjoining Bob's parents house. Unfortunately, Bobs parent got deluged with complaints about the din, so the band had to find other premises to practice in. 

The band moved to rehearse at a disused building they christened "Hell House". It was so named because of the lack of air conditioning which turned it into an oven, and the long hours the band played in there. These conditions were often enough to upset the meekest of people, but the two baddest tempers in the band were owned by Ronnie and Bob, who frequently clashed in the enclosed surroundings. 

When the band were still at the stage of their career where they couldn't settle on a permanent name for the group, Bob was instrumental in them settling on Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Gary recalled, "All the teachers thought we had short hair, but then at gym
you had to take a shower - it was mandatory." Remembering the results of
those showers, Gary related, "Leonard Skinner would come through the showers
while you were doing it, and if he caught you with your hair down touching
your ears or something he'd kick you out or send you to the principal. After
about 20 or 30 times of doing that to me, and kicking me out for two weeks
of suspension, I just quit school. He kicked me out and I said,`____ you,
I'm gone!'

"We played at the Forrest Inn a night or two later and as a joke, because
Ronie was goofing on me leaving and what happened when Skinner kicked me
out, he said `Hey, we're One Percent. We're gonna play for y'all tonight,
but we're gonna change our name though. Everybody who wants to change it to
Leonard Skinner applaud, Everybody who don't, don't.' Everybody knew Leonard
Skinner because he was everybody else's coach too. So everybody roared and
cheered and they thought it was a big joke and funny, but we kept it. And
later we changed the Y's and stuff so we wouldn't get in trouble and it kind
of caught on from that little joke."

After the Forrest Inn date, Bob Burns reinforced the name change by joking
that Skinner would come for Gary. Whenever a phone would ring and no one
would be on the line or they thought they heard a knock on the door, it was
always "Leonard" out to get Gary.

By 1971, Bob decided he was missing an education and so he left (temporarily), being replaced by future Blackfoot frontman Rickey Medlocke. The arrangement didn't last long, and Burns was back the following year. ( on 1987's Tribute Tour video, there is footage, owned by Randall Hall, of a 1971 Earth Day gig featuring both Burns and Medlocke as twin drummers. Sadly the footage has no soundtrack to it. )

"There are so many groups making it on their acts and clothes instead of on their music and that's not right. We just play our music and hope people like us."
.....Bob Burns

Bob had a funky, distinctive, almost jazzy, drumming style that no-one else on the scene at the time even came close to resembling. This style marked Bob out from his contemporaries (Ringo Starr once said in an interview that he considered Bob to be the best drummer in the world). 

During 1974, Skynyrd were joined on the road for a short period by North Carolina drummer Artimus Pyle, who went on to become a stalwart of the band. Artimus roomed with Bob at various hotels on tour and the two became friends. When Bob quit, the line of succession was practically guaranteed.

At the time he left the band, Bob was engaged to be married with a child on the way. This was his prime reason for leaving, although some of the others believed he was acting "Strange". Burns later claimed, 

"I just had to leave for my own sake. The touring, the recording, the constant motion was too much. I'm very proud of my contributions though, even today, when I listen to the radio and hear me, I can hardly believe it."

Alan Walden (see my Skynyrd bio) remembers meeting Bob at an airport, and finding that the band had fired him. Another version of why Bob left was that Bob suffered with his health due to the bands lifestyle.

The song "Am I Losin" from "Nuthin Fancy" was written by Ronnie on the subject of Bob Burns leaving the band.

Bob disappeared from view in 1975 and I had a tough time finding background on him. I have to thank David Anderson for helping me out with some info on those years. David played guitar in the same band as Bob from 1987. 

This initial band was called Reckless, and featured David on guitar (and equipment manager!), Bob Burns on drums, Bud Jones on guitar and vocals, and Greg West on bass. They played progresssive country music at their gigs, but in the last set of the night, they would play more country rock stuff. Occasionally, from 1988 onwards, Leon Wilkeson would show up and play a guest slot with the band, often until three in the morning. The band held a residency type arrangement for a year at Dottie's Bar and Grill, Memorial Drive, Atlanta Ga. 

Later in its career, Reckless changed its name to "American Steel", which continued for another two years before breaking up. Bob and David then hooked up again in 1999 to form "Burns and Co." That band played a series of shows in summer 1999 with Jimi Hendrix' cousin Riki. 

Bob Burns 2003

After many years out of the limelight, Bob Burns re-emerged in a surprise, one off guest appearance to play live with Skynyrd in 1995. It was a show performed to celebrate the premiere of Freebird the Movie. Here's how Judy Van Zant's www.skynyrd.com described it;

"At the end of legendary producer and player Al Kooper’s set, several members of Skynyrd came out to jam. The crowd’s response grew as first Billy and then Leon walked out, then increased even more when Gary came onstage, but the Fox Theatre nearly exploded when Bob Burns sat down behind his drums. This historical event marked the first time in twenty-one years that Skynyrd’s original drummer played onstage with Lynyrd Skynyrd. Later, towards the end of the show Bob and Artimus both played with Skynyrd on the all-time classic, ‘Gimme Three Steps’."... Judy Van Zant

Bob is held in awe by fans of the band - but sometimes this can turn sinister, which happened when Bob was plagued by a guy  impersonating him. The man (eventually exposed as one Carroll Church) played gigs and turned up at music stores claiming to be Bob. The owner was suspicious when "Bob" was unable to answer some of his questions on the band. He was eventually arrested when he ran up an $8,000 hospital bill and tried to charge it to Bob and MCA Records. The Police press release said;

Church was treated at Sierra Vista Hospital and generated an $8,000 bill.
Church attempted to have the bill sent to an address in Monterey, Ca. Church
said he was Robert Burns, the original drummer for the rock band Lynyrd
Skynyrd. Investigating officers made contact with the victim, Burns, who lives
in Georgia. Burns told the officers that Church has been doing this for about
ten years all over the country. According to Burns, Church has been signing
autographs and playing in nightclubs under his name.

When officers originally contacted Church, he told them that he was Robert Burns
and that he was the former drummer for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Based on statements
made by both the victim and Church himself it was determined that Church had
attempted to avoid the $8,000 hospital bill by impersonating Burns. Church was
booked into SLO County Jail and booked for 529 PC- false impersonation of
another person and 664/487 PC- attempted grand theft. His bail was set at
$10,000. He also had a felony warrant out of Trinity County, in Northern
California, for similar behavior.

After his one-off gig, Bob again vanished from view for a number of years. In fact it wasn't until very recently that he re-emerged with the Classic Southern Rockers (http://www.classicsouthernrockers.com) comprising of himself, ex-Skynyrd guitarist Mike Estes, former Outlaws picker Steve Grisham, former Skynyrd bassist Timmy Lindsay, keyboardist Barry Rapp, and ex- Southern Rockers Reunion vocalist Ted Patton.

Bob Burns is happily married to Marsha, and living in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

l-to-r: Randall Hall, Bob Burns, Ted Patton

(Photo courtesy of Ted Patton, vox for Classic Southern Rockers)

l-to-r : Bob Burns, Ted Patton, Jackson Spires, Mike Estes, Greg T Walker

(photo courtesy of Ted Patton)