In October 1977, one of the biggest tragedies in rock history took place when the plane carrying the band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, the band’s road manager, and the two pilots.
Two years later, surviving Lynyrd Skynyrd members Gary Rossington and Allen Collins formed the Rossington Collins Band, joined by fellow Skynyrd survivors Billy Powell and Leon Wilkeson. Female vocalist Dale Krantz, guitarist Barry Lee Harwood, and drummer Derek Hess filled out the band.
Though the Rossington Collins band’s run was brief, the spinoff band produced a 1980 hit, a song that diehard fans still recall even though it slipped from the spotlight.
“Don’t Misunderstand Me,” from the Rossington Collins Band’s debut album Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace, became a Top 55 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 in August 1980. Four decades later, it remains an overlooked gem from a remarkable chapter in the musicians’ history.
Written by Collins, Krantz and Harwood, the song blended Skynyrd’s Southern rock roots and distinctive twin guitars with a melodic, catchy chorus and clever vocal interplay between Krantz and Harwood.
Rossington, who later married Krantz, once told Rock Cellar magazine that his future wife was hired because the band wanted to stand apart from Lynyrd Skynyrd by having a female lead.
“She’s a great, great singer,” he said in 2016. “Back when we started the Rossington Collins Band, we didn’t want to get another male singer right off the bat and start playing because it would just be like we went on without Ronnie, and we didn’t want to do that at the time. We thought if we got a female lead singer that would change the look and sound of the band, so that’s what we did. She was just a great singer, and I loved her looks and we got along.”
Rossington added that after both of their marriages fell apart, he and Krantz “decided to get together and fell in love through the music.”
“It happened really quick,” he shared.
The Rossington Collins Band didn’t do a lot of interviews to promote their music. Instead, MCA Records went to radio host Redbeard, later known for In the Studio With Redbeard, for one big interview instead of forcing the new band to endure repeated questions about the Skynyrd plane crash.
The lack of promotion, bad timing, and tensions within the band may have contributed to why Rossington Collins Band didn’t last. The group came to an end in 1982 after two albums.
More than 45 years later, fans on Reddit and other social media platforms think the Rossington Collins Band, and “Don’t Misunderstand Me” in particular, were “criminally underrated.”
“This song takes me on a ride down memory lane! This band was so underrated,” one fan wrote on YouTube.
“I wished they would have went further than they did. I love this song,” another agreed.
“This song hit my core upon the first listen, it still affects me the same today,” another wrote. “RIP Gary Rossington.”
Related: 1981 Southern Rock Hit, Often Compared to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Got Its Title From Dinah Shore
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