Ed King

Edward Calhoun King was an American musician. He was a guitarist for the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and guitarist and bassist for the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1987 to 1996.

King was born in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California. He was one of the founding members of the LA-based Strawberry Alarm Clock, a mid-1960s pop psychedelic rock band. The band's largest success was with the 1967 single "Incense and Peppermints", which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. While with the band he played both electric guitar and bass guitar. The band's popularity waned considerably in the early 1970s. Faced with the loss of their recording contract with Uni Records and with internal conflicts over musical direction, Strawberry Alarm Clock disbanded in early 1972. King opted to remain in the South, inspired by an up-and-coming band called Lynyrd Skynyrd.

King met the members of what was to become the Jacksonville, Florida-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd when an earlier incarnation of the band known as The One Percent opened for Strawberry Alarm Clock in early 1968. King was so enamoured with the band that he told vocalist and leader Ronnie Van Zant that if they ever needed his services, he would be happy to join. It was not until 1972 when bassist Leon Wilkeson left the band that Van Zant took King up on his offer and asked him to join Skynyrd as the band's new bassist. Wilkeson soon regretted leaving and rejoined the band, and King switched to lead guitar, creating with Allen Collins and Gary Rossington the triple-guitar attack that became the band's signature sound. The band referred to this unique new setup with King as the "Three Guitar Army".

King's guitar playing and songwriting skills were an essential element of Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums: (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), Second Helping and Nuthin' Fancy. King co-wrote one of the band's most recognizable hits "Sweet Home Alabama", and his voice counted the "one, two, three", before he launched into his famous riff to start the song. Other songs that King wrote or co-wrote for Lynyrd Skynyrd include "Poison Whiskey", "Saturday Night Special", "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller" and "Workin' for MCA".