Rossington Collins Band - 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Rossington Collins Band (2003)

When the plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd went down, it was the day the music died for many Southern rock fans. Ronnie VanZant, the guiding light of Skynyrd, was gone, as was guitarist Steve Gaines -- both taken at the peak of the band's popularity. And while a Skynyrd demo collection was rushed out in 1978, the Rossington Collins Band essentially provided the final chapter in the original Lynyrd Skynyrd story. Along with new singer Dale Krantz, four of the surviving members -- guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins along with keyboard player Billy Powell and bassist Leon Wilkeson -- regrouped and recorded two albums, 1980's Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere and This Is the Way, released in 1982. The ongoing MCA series 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection collects the best tracks from those two albums plus a few tracks from itinerant projects from Rossington and Collins later in the decade. Their most popular tracks are here, "Prime Time" and "Don't Misunderstand Me," but it's "Tashauna" -- a tribute to VanZant -- that remains the most resonant moment for the band. Hardcore fans will certainly search out the full albums, but for anyone wondering what happened to these Skynyrd vets after the tragic turns of their late-'70s demise (and before their re-emergence in the '90s), this is a great place to start.