Can you identify this angler?

[N Florida Mike]

That's cool.Thanks for sharing it.The national forest site says its still open.It mentioned  a boat ramp and tent camping.I'm going to make it a goal to get down there this year at least once.My motors broke down so I can hopefully fix it soon.

[FloridaFishinFool]

Hey Mike! I will also check into lake Delancy and see if I can find out who now owns the boat ramp on this lake and see if it is still private behind a 6 foot chain link fence with locked gate.

I have used google earth satellite imaging to look down on the lake and can see where people have been putting boats into the lake by just backing down the sandy bank on the SE side of the lake near the canal. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

[FloridaFishinFool]

I received a PM asking me about how Ronnie died so I will try and do a write up on where discussion on this subject is at these days as this is still one of the most argued and passionately debated subjects of the plane crash mainly because survivors of the crash say different things in public often contradicting previous statements over the past 39 years since the crash.

For now though, for the fans of Skynyrd on this forum I thought I would share another rare track, this one is still unreleased to this day and may never be released because of legal issues surrounding who should get paid if it is released.

This song is called "CottonMouth Country" and as usual the words are written by Ronnie Van Zant himself and he puts the songs together first with his guitarists and then brings in the rest of the band to build up the song.

Back in late 1974 the band went into the studio to work on their 3rd album called "Nuthin' Fancy." At this time in the band's career their fame was skyrocketing, but the band was worn out from grueling constant touring all over the country and the world. So for this 3rd album the band did not have a whole lot of new creativity in developing new songs like they had the time for on their first two albums, so some of the music for this 3rd album was created inside the recording studio and they made it up as they went along reaching for new ideas.

Usually, the correct way to approach recording an album is to be well prepared in advance of spending tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars for studio recording time and engineers and producers. Again, usually the way Skynyrd went about preparing for a new album was to work on new songs out on the road developing them sometimes at soundchecks before a concert, and often including a new song within their set list for live performances and judge how it went across to the audience. But this time Skynyrd was not well prepared. They did not have all the songs prepared in advance nor their arrangements for all of them. They did not have a lot of them nailed down before going into the studio. So some of this 3rd album came from the studio experience itself, and this is how "CottonMouth Country" came into existence. It was one of those instant ideas turned into a song.

What is interesting about this song is that its very existence is one of mystery.

No one had ever heard of this song before it was recorded, and how it came to light is also one of great mystery. So let me try and briefly explain.

The band was working with a world famous artist working with Skynyrd as engineer and producer. A man named Al Kooper from New York City who was in the South on a mission to revive his own useless music career and to also cultivate and make money on the growing popularity of Southern music and artists. Al Kooper moved down from NYC to Atlanta where he created his own record company called Sounds Of The South which was basically just a paper company, or a company on paper only, and his music was distributed through already existing big time recording companies like MCA Records out in California who made the product and used their network for distribution.

Al Kooper discovered Skynyrd in a bar in Atlanta and signed to a recording contract for a mere $9,000.00. And it was Al Kooper, this old has-been from NYC who recorded and produced Skynyrd's first 3 record albums under contentious circumstances. For example on the first album Ronnie and Gary created a song called "Simple Man" which is today a Skynyrd classic, but in the studio when Skynyrd wanted to record it, Al Kooper hated the song and refused to record it. So what did Ronnie Van Zant do? Well in classic Ronnie style he told Al Kooper screw you yankee, we are going to record with or without you. And the story goes that Ronnie himself escorted Al Kooper out of the studio physically and threw him into the back of his limo and sent him to the airport and back up to NYC where he belonged.

Then Ronnie and Skynyrd went back inside the studio now with Al Kooper GONE and the band went ahead and recorded "Simple Man" without Al Kooper. Al settled down and came back to the South- to Atlanta-to Doraville Studio One outside Atlanta- where he rejoined the band inside the studio and he took a listen to "Simple Man" and eventually came around to actually liking the song he refused to record and he eventually went on to play organ on the track for eventual release on Skynyrd's first album Pronounced. Al Kooper is credited on the album under the alias name Roosevelt **** as an additional player.

So jumping ahead to Skynyrd 3rd album, by now Al Kooper was less contentious in the studio and more open to letting the band do as they pleased or else he knew Ronnie would again pick him up by the scruff of the neck and throw his yankee butt out of the studio if he did not co-operate with the band on what they wanted to record. Little did the band know while recording this last album that Al Kooper was already involved in secret negotiations with MCA Records to sell his Sounds of the South record label to them and bolt back up to NYC for good washing his hands of the whole Southern thing.

And this is where the mystery of "Cottonmouth Country" begins...

We know it was recorded during the studio sessions for the band's 3rd album. This is without question. An we also know Al Kooper was involved in recording it. But it was considered a blown track as you can hear Ronnie at the end of the track saying "Cut! Cut! Cut!" So something was not right and most agree it was because one of the guitarists had made a mistake. No one really knows why Ronnie said this. But what we do know is that this is the only known take or version of this song on tape. It was never duplicated and it was never finished and this song was never known to have been carried out on to the band's live stage performances. This song was lost in the studio where it was created.

Around the time this song was recorded in the studio, Al Kooper had made a deal with MCA Records who was already making his albums for him and distributing them, and Al Kooper accepted $1,000,000.00 cash for all the rights to his record company Sounds of the South and all the music it owned, but there was a catch in the deal that MCA Records was buying USEABLE RELEASABLE music. This means that all of the numerous blown tracks and out takes, and unreleaseable recordings were not a part of this deal which meant that Al Kooper himself could walk away with Skynyrd recordings that were not finished or completed tracks!

So many of us to this day believe this is what Al Kooper did. We believe he only handed over to MCA Records finished recordings such as the first 3 albums worth of completed tracks that MCA did actually release, but all the unfinished recordings we believe those disappeared back up to NYC with Al Kooper including this new song "Cottonmouth Country."

It was common back then for band members to make cassette tape copies of their newly recorded music. Each band member had different requirements on what they wanted on cassette tape to take home with them to listen to and review in private so they could make changes to their parts, change arrangements, etc.

And this is how many of us think this track "Cottonmouth Country" was actually leaked out. We do not think Al Kooper is behind the leaking of this track because it is not in his best financial interests to do so. But, if a band member took a rough mix of this track home with them from the studio on a cassette tape, now here is where it is most likely that this track was leaked out to the outside world.

I know from conversations with an engineer at MCA Records that he has been searching for the original studio recording for this track and has not been able to locate it. Al Kooper has not exactly been a very co-operative person in this regard. So his line is to get defensive that he might still have something everyone is looking for and even if he has it, he is saying no he does not. Regardless, even if Al Kooper does still have that original studio tape it is now 40 years old and has probably deteriorated to a virtually unuseable condition as the glue holding the oxide particles onto a polyester backing tape turns to goo after so many years and requires thousands of dollars in restoration work before a tape like this can even be put onto a machine and played to see if there is anything usable on the tape.

So more than likely, the original may never be found and if it is, it is probably not usable.

Next, the modern day current Skynyrd band stated publicly they had an interest themselves in recovering this song for a possible new release. They can record an all new version of this song if they wanted to, but their mere mention of an interest doing so brought out the lawyers of a former band member- not going to mention any names- who claims he is one of the writers of this song and he would demand financial compensation if any such release and new recording was made of this song. Well, needless to say it, but the threat of lawyers and lawsuits and royalty disputes nixed that idea real fast.

The band could have gone two ways on this song. One way would be to locate the original recording and overdub it releasing a part original track complete with the deceased original members on it plus all newly recorded overdubs on it, or the current band could just as easily have recorded a completely new version without any of the original 1974 version any where on it. Either way, that former band member and his lawyers would have certainly pursued legal compensation and the mere threat of this has completely nixed any possible released of this song ever!

So today, all we have to listen to is one rare unreleased studio outtake that was leaked out to the public under unknown and mysterious circumstances. So take a listen to a very special "Southern" track by native Floridian Ronnie Van Zant and some very special words, lyrics, and message from the man himself nearly 40 years after he died tragically in a plane crash back in 1977... Here is his "CottonMouth Country"

 

 

You have to realize this is an unreleased track, so there are no known official lyrics to this song. To come up with these written lyrics I had to listen to this song and attempt to understand what all Ronnie was saying and transcribe my own lyrics for this song. Even still, sharing the same ethnic and cultural roots and geographical roots as Ronnie, I was not able to understand all of what he was saying so there are some places I was not able to decipher his exact wording, so here is the best I could do:

Here are the lyrics I came up with some years back:

COTTONMOUTH COUNTRY:

This here is a little swamp song.

Lord, swamps....

There is an old sayin' everbody knows is true
that home sweet home is the place that's best for you.
I likes to travel and I do likes to roam
When we get that fever before I got to go back home.
I've seen them city folks try to move in way down South
Try to tell them swamper people what it's all about.
I seen them city people try to live in the bayou
Mutual of Omaha that they play for a fool

Way down South ______________________(could not understand)
You got to be careful of the gators and mud n' snakes
just a word of warning when traveling Southbound
I said, Cottonmouth Country - no place to fool around!

It's a bad pad

Just one little Skeeter bite will make your body sweat
And a twelve foot she-gator 'scare you slap to death
And they got them Cottonmouths as mean as can be
And if he bites you, your maker your gonna see

Well don't forget the mud son is as deep as a creek
and some old razorback gonna chase you up a tree
they got them bobcats Lord tear you limb from limb
and if you get lost your chances mighty slim

Cottonmouth Country is a place that's misery
it's one of them places still the way it's suppose to be
well a man can be so brave tall as a big 'ol tree
better know his way around - wear boots above his knees

It's a bad spot.

Sh**! CUT! CUT! CUT! CUT! CUT!

[N Florida Mike]

Heard this before .Another song of theirs I can relate too.Thanks for sharing the story behind it too

[N Florida Mike]

9 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Hey Mike! I will also check into lake Delancy and see if I can find out who now owns the boat ramp on this lake and see if it is still private behind a 6 foot chain link fence with locked gate.

I have used google earth satellite imaging to look down on the lake and can see where people have been putting boats into the lake by just backing down the sandy bank on the SE side of the lake near the canal. Not sure if this is still the case or not.

Yeah please see what you can find out.It would be great to get on it again.The last time I fished it was around 10 years ago I think.A Jon boat MIGHT be drug down to the lake possible on the N side behind the campground.But it might be hard to get out to fishable water from there.

[FloridaFishinFool]

 

http://data.ecosystem-management.org/nepaweb/nepa_project_exp.php?project=41935

Lake Delancy Boat Ramp Improvement Project

Improve recreation infrastructure, public safety, and satisfaction associated with access to Lake Delancy. Location Summary Lake Delancy District: Lake George Ranger District Project Documents Analysis Lake Delancy Draft EA (PDF 991kb) US Fish and Wildlife Concurrence Letter (PDF 715kb) Wildlife Biological Evaluation (PDF 535kb) Aquatics Specialist Report (PDF 168kb) Lake Delancy Recreation Specialist Report (PDF 138kb) SHPO Concurrence (PDF 653kb) Engineering Report (PDF 1196kb) Wildlife Biological Assessment (PDF 580kb) Scoping Lake Delancy Scoping Letter and Map (PDF 1687kb) Lake Delancy Scoping Comment letters (PDF 1574kb) Scoping List (PDF 240kb) Scoping List (PDF 131kb) Supporting 30-Day Notice and Comment Period (PDF 58kb) Mail Box Rd FSR 11-18.4C5 (PDF 847kb) Lake Delancy Pic 1 (PDF 222kb) Lake Delancy Pic 2 (PDF 646kb) Legal Ad Notice and Comment Period (PDF 429kb) New Objection Process (PDF 86kb)

Notice in the above image it shows Lake Delancy is now two lakes? This is because water levels have dropped considerably. Back in the 1970's when Ronnie fished this lake it was all one big beautiful lake- as it was when I fished it too, but now it is not the same lake!

I wonder why water levels have dropped so drastically since the 1970's???

[tomustang]

You sure that ain't Jeff Spicoli? 

[N Florida Mike]

49 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

 

http://data.ecosystem-management.org/nepaweb/nepa_project_exp.php?project=41935

Lake Delancy Boat Ramp Improvement Project

Improve recreation infrastructure, public safety, and satisfaction associated with access to Lake Delancy. Location Summary Lake Delancy District: Lake George Ranger District Project Documents Analysis Lake Delancy Draft EA (PDF 991kb) US Fish and Wildlife Concurrence Letter (PDF 715kb) Wildlife Biological Evaluation (PDF 535kb) Aquatics Specialist Report (PDF 168kb) Lake Delancy Recreation Specialist Report (PDF 138kb) SHPO Concurrence (PDF 653kb) Engineering Report (PDF 1196kb) Wildlife Biological Assessment (PDF 580kb) Scoping Lake Delancy Scoping Letter and Map (PDF 1687kb) Lake Delancy Scoping Comment letters (PDF 1574kb) Scoping List (PDF 240kb) Scoping List (PDF 131kb) Supporting 30-Day Notice and Comment Period (PDF 58kb) Mail Box Rd FSR 11-18.4C5 (PDF 847kb) Lake Delancy Pic 1 (PDF 222kb) Lake Delancy Pic 2 (PDF 646kb) Legal Ad Notice and Comment Period (PDF 429kb) New Objection Process (PDF 86kb)

Notice in the above image it shows Lake Delancy is now two lakes? This is because water levels have dropped considerably. Back in the 1970's when Ronnie fished this lake it was all one big beautiful lake- as it was when I fished it too, but now it is not the same lake!

I wonder why water levels have dropped so drastically since the 1970's???

Probably all the people watering their lawns.It depletes the aquifer.But maybe its not as bad as it looks.