Defying time & age, Lynyrd Skynyrd continues to rock, and is headed to Fort Worth

Of all rock bands that formed in the 1960s and early ‘70s, none of them has a “Behind the Music” like Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Hits. Sold out shows. Some booze. Death. A plane crash. New members. Maybe a few drugs. Old members come back.

Lynyrd Skynyrd is the constant.

“I look at it like the Rolling Stones; they have been around for 50 years,” Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke said in a phone interview. “Or ZZ Top. Aerosmith. AC/DC. When you are in a band for that long, guys will go off and do side projects.

“But I’m a loyal guy. I am loyal to Lynyrd Skynyrd.”

When Medlocke rejoined the band in 1996, he promised Gary Rossington that he would be there until the “last note of ‘Free Bird’ was struck.” Rossington was the last founding member of the band; he died in March of this year.

His band lives.

“There have been a lot of changes to the band, with people passing away,” Medlocke said. “One of Gary’s last wishes was the music not die. (Current member) Johnny Van Zant and I don’t want to see this to go by the way of tragedy and sorrow.”

The original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd are gone, but “Tuesday’s” not.

Lynyrd Skynyrd will play Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on July 28, with ZZ Top.

Medlocke recently spoke about the band, the current state of rock, and whom he thinks is the best to ever play the guitar.

Star-Telegram: You are still rocking and performing in your 70s; isn’t that hard on the body?

Rickey Medlocke: It all depends on being aware of your body, and your limitations. I go to extremes to take care of myself; I eat as clean as I can. I try to get as much rest as I can. As much exercise as I can.

S-T: To keep playing and performing, did you have to give up the cliche rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, or did you ever do that?

RM: I fell into it in my late 20s and early 30s. I got up one day, when I was 34 or 35, and I took a good look at myself and I didn’t like what I was looking at. I said, ‘This isn’t for me.’

I weaned myself off the drinking, and the party goods. I used to love Wild Turkey and tequila. I gave up the extra substances so I could still perform and have a life.

S-T: Was it hard to re-join this band when you came back to a group that was so established and beloved?

RM: No, because I had been with them early on. I was one of the original drummers, and I played some guitar, wrote and performed six songs. Collectively I’ve been with the band 27 years.

S-T: Most bands die, or end. The Beatles. The Police. How does this one keep going?

RM: Johnny and I want to call it a day on our terms. People say that’s selfish, but I don’t believe that because we are real musicians. This music is so iconic, and it will be here long after we are gone. This is the real deal, not some tribute band.

I have referenced this interview with Merle Haggard; a young lady asked him, ‘Why do you keep doing this?’ He said, ‘This is what I do. I play music. I entertain people.’ That’s Rickey Medlocke. It all seems like a flash, and it all seems like it’s gone by so quick.

S-T: Do you ave a favorite song from the Lynyrd Skynyrd set list that after all of these years you still love playing?

RM: All of them. I have some that I love to play more than others. I love doing ‘Needle and Spoon.’ ‘Tuesday’s Gone’ is one of my all-time favorites. I love being able to play ‘Free Bird.’ After all of this time I am never, ever not satisfied playing unless I am have tech’ problems.

S-T: When you play live, do you think the audience expects the song to sound like it does on their phone or CD?

RM: You put on a record you got a fine tune that’s been mastered. When you go to our show, we rehearse it over and over and we try to keep the integrity of the original songs, you know, we’ve been that way since I got back in the band.

You might get someone who says, ‘Aw, man, it doesn’t sound like the original band.’ Please. It’s two-thousand-whatever. The original was 1975. The equipment and fidelity has chaaaaaaaaaaanged.

S-T: A friend, who worked in the music industry for a while, almost insisted that on these big shows that the performer sings about 30 percent of the time. There is no way a person’s vocal chords can take the repeated punishment. Tell me she’s wrong.

RM: That might be Taylor Swift or whoever, and that is no knock to Taylor. She is a great performer. She has had a lot of great success that she earned. There are a lot of bands that rely on prerecorded background vocals, or guitar parts.

Take it from me, you still next to the stage for our show and I’ll put you where the engineer is and you can see that everything coming off that stage is real and life. Nothing prerecorded.

S-T: Has there been anyone you played with that was sort of a bucket list moment for you?

RM: We did a tour in 1999 and 2000; we did 103 shows together. On New Year’s night in Houston ZZ Top invited us on stage. A few years ago, we played with Bad Company. Kid Rock has been on stage with us. We did the Grammy’s back in 2006, and we had Keith Urban with us.

S-T: Greatest guitarist of all time?

RM: I was able to see Elvis Presley before my seventh birthday. There is Elvis standing up there with Scotty Moore. The next thing you know, The Beatles come along. I was a huge George Harrison fan.

Then Jimi Hendrix. Then Eric Clapton. Then Jeff Beck. Then Jimmy Page.

I don’t know, man. It’s funny, time went by and then we have the guy who reinvented the guitar, in Eddie Van Halen. He was just unbelievable.

S-T: Can a song be great without commercial success?

RM: No, I don’t think so at all. There are a lot of Lynyrd Skynyrd songs that didn’t have success on the charts yet they are great songs. ‘Call Me the Breeze.’

There are great songs out there that will never be commercials or see the light of day, which is a shame, especially the way the rock business is today. You have to record a song and see if it’s ‘great’ by the YouTube standard. What the hell is that? If it doesn’t get a million views, it stinks, or it’s not a hit.

I feel for the young artists coming up trying to get recognized.

S-T: Does the term ‘sellout’ have a place in the commercial music industry?

RM: I know why people call (certain musicians) sellouts; because they feel like the started in one genre, and the next thing you know they are trying in another and they happen to hit it.

People feel like they should remain true to their roots, and what they were.

I don’t look at having success in doing one genre or the next, as a being a sellout. I look at it as trying your best to come up with the next something that hits and puts you on the board. The only sellout you get is an arena from doing what you are doing.

If you want to call Lynyrd Skynyrd a ‘sellout’ go ahead, because we’re selling out arenas.