Larkin Allen Collins Jr.
(July 19, 1952 – January 23, 1990)
was an
American guitarist,
and one of the
founding members
of the Southern
rock band
He co-wrote
many of the
band's songs
with frontman
and original
lead singer
Ronnie Van Zant.
Biography
Early life
Collins was born in
Jacksonville, Florida in 1952.
He started playing guitar
at 12 years of age,
with a few lessons
from his stepmother,
Leila Collins,
a country-and-western guitarist,
and received his
first guitar and amplifier
from his mother.
Inspired by
the Beatles
on
The Ed Sullivan Show
in 1964,
he formed his first group,
The Mods,
with friends
Larry Steele
(bass),
Donnie Ulsh
(guitar),
and
James Rice
(drums).
Collins attended
Nathan B. Forrest High School.
In 1970,
Collins married
Kathy Johns.
All of his bandmates
were in his wedding party,
but Kathy worried that
the band's
long haired appearance
would disturb her parents.
To solve this problem,
she required all
the band members
to keep their hair under wigs
at the wedding ceremony.
The wedding reception
was one of the
first public performances of
"Free Bird"
complete with the
trademark extended
guitar jam at the end.
Collins's family grew
with the birth
of his daughter Amie,
followed quickly by Allison.
Collins was fond of cars,
and had an
extensive car collection,
one of his
favorites being a
1932 Plymouth coupe
nicknamed
"Dixie Blue".
Career with Lynyrd Skynyrd
Collins joined Skynyrd
in Jacksonville, Florida,
just two weeks
after its formation by
Ronnie Van Zant
and
Gary Rossington,
along with
Bob Burns
and
Larry Junstrom.
Knowing that Collins
played guitar
and owned his
own equipment,
the band decided
to approach him
about joining them.
Van Zant
and
Burns
both had a reputation
for trouble,
and Collins fled
on his bicycle
and hid up a tree
when he saw them
pull up in his driveway.
They soon convinced him
that they were not there
to beat him up
and he agreed to join
the band,
then known as
"The One Percent"
Collins and lead singer
Ronnie Van Zant
co-wrote many of
the biggest
Skynyrd hits,
including
"Free Bird",
"Gimme Three Steps",
and
"That Smell".
The band received
national success
beginning in 1973
while opening for
the Who
on their
Quadrophenia tour.
Collins played all
of the leads
on the iconic
Freebird outro himself,
doubling everything
in the studio
On October 20, 1977,
an airplane carrying
the band crashed into
a forest in Mississippi,
killing three band members,
including Van Zant.
Collins was
seriously injured
in the crash,
suffering two
broken vertebrae
in his neck
and severe damage
to his left arm.
Amputation was recommended
but Collins's father refused,
and he eventually recovered.
Later life and death
During the early 1980s
Collins continued to
perform onstage in
The Rossington Collins Band,
which enjoyed modest success,
releasing two albums
Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
and
This Is the Way,
and charting a
few singles
(notably "Don't Misunderstand Me").
In 1980,
during the first days
of the band's debut
concert tour,
Kathy
died suddenly of a
hemorrhage
during the miscarriage
of their third child.
This forced the
tour's cancellation.
The Rossington Collins Band
disbanded in 1982.
Collins continued to
pursue music,
starting
the Allen Collins Band,
which released one album,
Here, There & Back in 1983.
The six members
included two
Skynyrd bandmates
keyboardist
Billy Powell
and bassist
Leon Wilkeson
along with lead singer
Jimmy Dougherty,
drummer
Derek Hess,
and guitarists
Barry Lee Harwood
and
Randall Hall.
In 1984,
Collins tried to
resurrect the band,
hiring Jacksonville
guitarist
Mike Owings
and bassist
Andy Ward King.
Later members
included
guitarist-vocalist
Michael Ray FitzGerald
and bassist
"Filthy Phil" Price.
On January 29, 1986,
Collins was driving a
new black
Ford Thunderbird
in Jacksonville
on Plummer Grant Road
when he lost control
of the car
just south of
Old St. Augustine Road
and crashed.
The crash claimed the life
of his girlfriend,
Debra Jean Watts,
and paralyzed
the guitarist from
the waist down,
with limited use
of his arms and hands.
Collins pleaded no contest
to vehicular manslaughter
as well as driving
under the influence
of alcohol.
Due to his injuries,
he would never
play guitar
on stage again.
Collins died on
January 23, 1990,
from
chronic pneumonia,
a complication
of the paralysis.
He is buried beside
his wife in
Jacksonville, Florida.
The Allen Collins Band
was a spinoff
of southern-rock bands
Lynyrd Skynyrd
and
The Rossington-Collins Band.
It existed from
1983 to 1984
and was formed
shortly after
the dissolution
of
the Rossington-Collins Band.
Most of the members
carried over from
the Rossington-Collins Band,
with the exceptions of
Dale Krantz
and
Gary Rossington,
who quit
after a row
with Collins.
The Collins Band's name
was originally
Horsepower,
but just prior to
the band's release
of its debut album
it discovered another band
was already
using that name.
The Allen Collins Band
released
"Here, There and Back"
on MCA in 1983,
its only album.
Collins was
emotionally drained due
to the sudden death
of his wife,
Kathy,
and as his behavior
became more
and more erratic,
the band began
to disintegrate.
Jacksonville guitarist
Mike Owings
joined
The Allen Collins Band
in the spring of 1984
and co wrote
several
unrecorded songs.
Vocalist/guitarist
Michael Ray Fitzgerald
replaced Owings
in early 1985,
bringing bassist
Phil Price
aboard also,
but the project
completely fell apart
at this point
Fitzgerald,
Price and Dougherty
had already formed
Mike Angelo
and the Idols,
with Dougherty
on drums
Dougherty later
played drums with
St. Augustine
alt-country band
Gunga Din,
later renamed
Crabgrass.
Keyboardist
Billy Powell
and bassist
Leon Wilkeson
worked with
Christian-rock band
Vision
for several years
before re-joining a
re-formed
Lynyrd Skynyrd
in 1987.
Guitarist
Randall Hall,
at Collins' insistence,
also joined the
reconstituted
Skynyrd
Collins was at this point
paralyzed from an auto accident
Hall later formed
the Randall Hall Band
and now performs
with
World Classic Rockers.
Drummer
Derek Hess
lives in
Jacksonville
and performs
regularly with
various local bands.
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