Ed King

Who is Ed King?

Edward C. King is an American musician. He is best known as the guitarist for psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock and Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.

King was one of the founding members of Strawberry Alarm Clock, formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band's largest success was with a song that King co-wrote, "Incense and Peppermints". The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1967. Their follow-up single, "Tomorrow", reached No. 23 in January 1968.

King met the members of Jacksonville, Florida-based Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd when the band opened up for Strawberry Alarm Clock on a few shows in early 1968. It wasn't until 1972 that he joined Skynyrd, replacing Leon Wilkeson on bass, who left the band briefly. Wilkeson rejoined the band, and King switched to guitar, creating the triple-guitar attack that became a signature sound for the band.

His guitar playing and songwriting skills were an essential element to the band's first three albums: Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd, Second Helping and Nuthin' Fancy. King co-wrote the Skynyrd hit song "Sweet Home Alabama" and it is his voice you can hear counting off the tune before launching into his famous Stratocaster riff. Other songs that King wrote or co-wrote the music for include "Poison Whiskey", "Saturday Night Special", "Mr. Banker", "Swamp Music", "Whiskey Rock-a-Roller", "Railroad Song", "I Need You", and "Workin' For MCA".