You know the riff. That bouncy, sun-drenched "Sweet Home Alabama" lick that basically serves as the unofficial anthem of the American South. Most people assume it came from a bunch of guys born and bred in the Jacksonville swamps. Honestly, that’s the first thing everyone gets wrong. The man who wrote that riff, the guy who gave Lynyrd Skynyrd its sophisticated edge, was actually a hippie from Southern California.
Ed King was the ultimate outsider in a band that prided itself on being a tight-knit brotherhood of "good ol' boys." He didn't fit the mold. He didn't have the same grit. But without him, the band likely never would have moved past the barroom circuit to become global legends.
The Weird Way Ed King Joined Lynyrd Skynyrd
It wasn't some corporate scout that put them together. It was a chance meeting at a club called the Comic Book in 1968. King was already a star, having hit No. 1 with the psychedelic anthem "Incense and Peppermints" as part of Strawberry Alarm Clock. Skynyrd, a bunch of unknowns back then, was the opening act.
King was floored by them. He told Ronnie Van Zant right then and there: "If you ever need a guitarist, call me."
Fast forward to 1972. Bassist Leon Wilkeson quit just before the band was set to record their debut album. Ronnie remembered the guy from California. He called him up and, in a weird twist of fate, asked the hot-shot lead guitarist to play bass. King didn't care. He just wanted in. He literally spent a week sleeping in a rehearsal space called "Hell House"—a shack in the middle of a swamp with no air conditioning—just to prove he belonged.
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Eventually, Wilkeson came back. But Ronnie wasn't about to let King go. He moved him to guitar, creating the "Three Guitar Attack." That was the moment everything changed. The interplay between Gary Rossington’s bluesy slide, Allen Collins’ raw energy, and Ed King’s technical precision became the Skynyrd trademark.
The Dream That Built a Legend
People always ask about the solo in "Sweet Home Alabama." It’s iconic. It’s perfect. It’s also technically in the "wrong" key, at least according to their producer Al Kooper.
The song starts on a D chord, but it resolves to G. Kooper insisted the solo should be in D. King refused. Why? Because he saw the entire solo, note-for-note, in a dream.
He woke up, grabbed his Stratocaster, and played it exactly as he’d heard it while sleeping. The rest of the band stood behind him because they were superstitious Southerners who believed in that kind of "dream magic." Kooper eventually backed down. History proved Ed right; that solo is one of the most recognizable pieces of music in rock history.
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But it wasn't just that one song. Look at "Saturday Night Special" or "Workin' for MCA." King brought a sense of melody and structure that tempered the band's more chaotic instincts. He was the "stabilizer."
Why He Walked Away (Twice)
The pressure of being in Lynyrd Skynyrd wasn't for everyone. Ronnie Van Zant was a legendary leader, but he was also a hard-nosed disciplinarian. Things came to a head during the 1975 "Torture Tour."
The story is pretty grim. King’s guitar roadie had been arrested along with Ronnie after a bar fight. King was left to restring his own guitars, but he didn't have any fresh strings. He played a show with old, dead strings that kept snapping.
Ronnie tore into him after the set. He belittled him in front of the whole crew. For King, the "California hippie" who was already feeling like an outsider, that was the breaking point. He walked out of the hotel in the middle of the night and didn't look back.
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He missed the 1977 plane crash because of that decision. It’s a survivor’s guilt that haunted him for years. When the band reunited in 1987, King came back to help Johnny Van Zant carry the torch. But by 1996, his health was failing. Congestive heart failure forced him out again.
The Complicated Legacy of the Outsider
Ed King passed away in 2018 at the age of 68. He had lived through the highest highs and some pretty dark lows.
He was never quite one of the "Jacksonville boys," and he knew it. He once said he felt out of place the entire time he was in the band. Yet, his influence is all over those classic records. You can’t talk about the history of Southern Rock without talking about the guy from Glendale who dreamt up its most famous melodies.
If you want to truly appreciate what Ed King did for Lynyrd Skynyrd, don't just listen to "Sweet Home Alabama." Go back and listen to the fills on "Poison Whisky" or the layered harmonies on the Second Helping album. He wasn't just a replacement; he was the architect of a sound that still fills stadiums today.
Next Steps for Music Fans:
- Listen for the "Third Guitar": Put on high-quality headphones and listen to the Pronounced album. Try to isolate the cleaner, more melodic guitar lines—that’s usually Ed.
- Study the "RedEye" Les Paul: King was famous for his 1959 Les Paul, nicknamed "RedEye." It’s considered one of the holy grails of vintage guitars. Look up the Gibson Collector’s Choice #16 to see the recreation of his specific instrument.
- Watch the 1974 Rockpalast Performance: If you want to see the three-guitar lineup at its absolute peak, this live footage is the gold standard for how King, Collins, and Rossington worked together.