38 Special's 50-Year Legacy

That's got to be wild to you, like, I mean, because literally, you know, 1974, I guess, is like the 50-year mark for you guys.

That's crazy.

Yeah, I know.

As we started out, we were, you know, broke-ass local guys with day jobs, you know.

You know, I tried Donny Van Zandt, and I did about eight bands before this, you know, through the teen years and all that.

And he had gotten a job offer to work for the railroad, and he called me and said, man, you want to try it one more time? Because, you know, people would flake away.

You know how bands go.

Guys don't show up and that kind of thing, and And eventually flakes away.

And so we, we, uh, I got real despondent about the whole thing, but he's let's try it one more time.

So, all right.

He said, we'll find the right people that will show up and be serious.

We're going to do this.

So, you know, we lectured each one of them said, man, we're, we're doing this for real.

If you, if you're in, you're going to have to show up every night and rehearse, uh, you know, uh, Any kind of thing you're pushing for success, you have to sacrifice everything.

Your birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, you're rehearsing.

That's what most people don't realize.

You're trying to write song and move yourself one step forward.

So we finally got the guys to show up every night and rent a little shack.

You probably heard the stories about the broken down places we had to rehearse because you get the cops called on you, being too loud in somebody's garage.

So, yeah, we went through that whole thing.

Yeah, that's what I wondered, like, because I saw this on the Internet.

Is it an urban legend as far as how the name came about with the cops showing up at the warehouse and shooting the lock off? Is that true?

There are that actually did happen that it was kind of half truth, you know, that that happened.

uh it was an old auto parts place way out in north florida long story but you know yeah we did put a tractor chain through the cinder block and the door was like a vault door we had built it up fortified it you know and and we were irresponsible somebody lost the key to the lock and it was raided out there and uh so the uh when they we actually became friends with those guys but uh, the other half of the truth is, is the, uh, there was a guy, a friend of friend of ours.

I said, why don't you just, he, he had a little, he was an artist and he drew a little thing.

That's got to be wild to you, like, I mean, because literally, you know, 1974, I guess, is like the 50-year mark for you guys.

That's crazy.

Yeah, I know.

As we started out, we were, you know, broke-ass local guys with day jobs, you know.

You know, I tried Donny Van Zandt, and I did about eight bands before this, you know, through the teen years and all that.

And he had gotten a job offer to work for the railroad, and he called me and said, man, you want to try it one more time? Because, you know, people would flake away.

You know how bands go.

Guys don't show up and that kind of thing, and And eventually flakes away.

And so we, we, uh, I got real despondent about the whole thing, but he's let's try it one more time.

So, all right.

He said, we'll find the right people that will show up and be serious.

We're going to do this.

So, you know, we lectured each one of them said, man, we're, we're doing this for real.

If you, if you're in, you're going to have to show up every night and rehearse, uh, you know, uh, Any kind of thing you're pushing for success, you have to sacrifice everything.

Your birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, you're rehearsing.

That's what most people don't realize.

You're trying to write song and move yourself one step forward.

So we finally got the guys to show up every night and rent a little shack.

You probably heard the stories about the broken down places we had to rehearse because you get the cops called on you, being too loud in somebody's garage.

So, yeah, we went through that whole thing.

Yeah, that's what I wondered, like, because I saw this on the Internet.

Is it an urban legend as far as how the name came about with the cops showing up at the warehouse and shooting the lock off? Is that true?

There are that actually did happen that it was kind of half truth, you know, that that happened.

uh it was an old auto parts place way out in north florida long story but you know yeah we did put a tractor chain through the cinder block and the door was like a vault door we had built it up fortified it you know and and we were irresponsible somebody lost the key to the lock and it was raided out there and uh so the uh when they we actually became friends with those guys but uh, the other half of the truth is, is the, uh, there was a guy, a friend of friend of ours.

I said, why don't you just, he, he had a little, he was an artist and he drew a little thing.