Believe it or not, Jacksonville, FL's Randall Hall has the Monkees to thank for his gritty guitar playing. In his younger days Hall attended the infamous Monkees tour where the legendary Jimi Hendrix was the opening act. While most attendees were busy booing Hendrix off-stage, former Monkees fan Hall was entranced and decided heavy riffing was the way to go. Add the Southern flavor of the Allman Brothers and you have the sound of Hall's first band, Running Easy, which he formed in 1971 with future .38 Special bassist Ken Lyons.
Lynyrd Skynyrd's leader, Ronnie Van Zant, becam...