Leonard Skinner - Jan. 11, 1933 - Sept. 20, 2010.
This is Robert E Lee High School gym teacher Leonard Skinner on Oct. 21, 1977. He is holding the “Nuthin’ Fancy” Lynyrd Skynyrd album in ’The Still’ bar in Jacksonville, Florida, which he owned.
The album is from a band of Leonard’s former students. As their basketball coach and a former military man and wearer of a crew cut at the time Skinner apparently had given the guys a hard time for the length of their hair, including sending Gary Rossington to the principal's office on one occasion. After that, the band changed its name from the One Per Cent to Lynyrd Skynyrd "in honor" of Skinner.
The band took the teacher's name and gave it a different spelling to accentuate a Southern drawl pronunciation. Skinner originally was not overjoyed by the honor, but later came to embrace it as the band's popularity increased. He even went so far as to allow the use of his Real Estate business sign on an album cover and even once introduced the band at a Jacksonville concert.
"I really didn't know who they were until they named a band after me," Skinner recalled. "There was no personal involvement. I was a coach and they were students ... apparently, I sent some of the members to the principal's office."
The Times-Union of Jacksonville Interviewed Skinner in January 2009 and Skinner said he was just following the rules about hair length. It bothered him that the legend had grown that he was particularly tough on the band members or that he had them kicked out of school. He said, "It was against the school rules. I don't particularly like long hair on men, but again, it wasn't my rule." He said "They were good, talented, hard-working boys. They worked hard, lived hard, and boozed hard." Skinner's son said, "I think he kind of ate it up. He didn't like it at first, he had mixed emotions later, but I think he kind of liked it eventually."
Skinner was a guard on the Robert E. Lee High School team in the early 50’s. He attended Jacksonville Junior College on a basketball scholarship before being drafted into and serving in the U.S. Army in Korea. After his discharge, he attended Florida State University, graduating in 1957. For many years Skinner taught gym at his alma mater, eventually retiring from coaching in 1970 while working at Jacksonville Tech. High School. Later he also owned ‘The Still’ and Leonard Skinner Realty.
In 1975, he allowed the band to use a photo of his "Leonard Skinner Realty" sign for the inside of their third album, Nuthin' Fancy.
After the album was released, Skinner began receiving late-night calls from around the country from fans who had seen the sign (and phone number) in the album artwork. Skinner recalled, "They'd say, 'Who's speaking', and I'd say Leonard Skinner, and they'd say 'Far out!' which it really wasn't at four in the morning."
Skinner had became friends with some members of the band, and they occasionally played at a bar that Skinner opened in Jacksonville called "The Still".
He is pictured with (l to r) Leonard Skinner Jr., Leonard Skinner, and Gene Odom, former Lynyrd Skynyrd bodyguard, on Oct. 17, 2007 in front of the westside bar, ‘The Pastime’ in Jacksonville that inspired the lyrics to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.”
