Page 34 - the NOISE January 2016

the allman brothers band
The Allman Brothers Band was a rock & roll group formed in Jacksonville, Florida, by brothers Duane (b. 1946) and Gregg (b. 1947). When the boys were in grade school, their
father was murdered by a hitchhiker. They were sent to a military academy, which they both hated. Eventually Duane, Gregg and their mother settled in Daytona Beach, Florida.
A performance by B.B. King spurred an early interest in music, specifically the blues. Duane learned guitar and Gregg the organ. Through their teens, the brothers helmed several groups, including The Escorts, The Allman Joys and The Hour Glass. Their time with the latter band soured Duane on the music industry. The Hour Glass had a hot shot Los Angeles manager, who forced them to abandon their beloved rhythm & blues for watered down psychedelic pop.
After two albums, the group split. Gregg stayed in L.A., hoping for a solo career, while Duane moved back to the South. He landed a job at Alabama’s famed Muscle Shoals Studio as a session guitarist. Duane played on records by Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, King Curtis, Otis Rush, and dozens more. Duane’s fellow musicians dubbed him “Skydog.”
While in Muscle Shoals, Duane started jamming with black drummer“Jaimoe”Johansen. Afterayearorsoofsessionwork, Duane took Jaimoe back to Florida and set about forming a new group. This time, no managers would tell him what to play. Duane’s vision was of a multi-racial hard rocking rhythm & blues combo with room for extended soloing. He slowly found his bandmates: second guitarist Dickey Betts, bassist Berry Oakley, and second drummer Butch Trucks.
After months of rehearsing, Duane realized he needed a strong front man. He called Gregg, whose solo career in Los Angeles was going nowhere, and convinced him to move home. Gregg was floored by what his older brother had accomplished in their year apart. Duane was always a solid guitarist, but now he had taken his instrument to another level. Jaimoe had introduced him to the music of John Coltrane, and Duane’s mind was suitably blown.
Duane had developed a new style of playing: a mixture of Coltrane’s abstract note flurries, B.B. King’s deep blues, Chet Atkins’ country fingerpicking, and the LSD-fueled jams of the Grateful Dead. Combined with the double drumming power of the new band, the sound was astounding. The first time Gregg sat in, they played one continuous song for hours. Gregg knew in his heart that this was the music he and Duane were destined to perform.
With Gregg’s soulful keyboards and gritty voice now in place, Duane christened the sextet The Allman Brothers Band. But the name meant more than just Duane and Gregg. Shortly after Gregg’s return, Duane took the whole band to Idlewild South,hisgetawaycabininthewoods,forablow-out. Inthe
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small hours of the night, around a roaring campfire and waxed to the gills on whiskey, reefer and acid, the six men made a pact to the death: Brothers Forever.
The group relocated to Macon, Georgia, after finding a sympathetic ear in Phil Walden (formerly Otis Redding’s manager) who signed the Brothers to his new label, Capricorn. Gregg Allman’s songwriting blossomed into classics like “Midnight Rider,” “Dreams,” “Please Call Home,” and “Whipping Post,” which the Brothers would explore for hours onstage. Dickey Betts also contributed strong originals such as “Revival” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.” They began attracting a rabid following due to their marathon live shows. They discovered vast chasms in the simplest of blues songs as well as their originals.
Sometimes I feel
Sometimes I feel
Like I been tied — to the whipping post Tied — to the whipping post
Tied — to the whipping post
And good Lord, I feel like I’m dyin’ *
They would finish up a basic blues like Willie Cobbs’“You Don’t Love Me,” and Duane would let the bottom fall out and begin exploring the second-to-last chord for endless minutes. “Whipping Post” in particular led to some amazing improvisation:
Sometimes ... Oh baby, sometimes ... Sometimes I ... Oh don’t you know Sometimesssssss I
Feeeeeeel ...
The spaces between grew and grew, the notes like dinosaur steps. They would come off stage, look at each other and think, Did we just play the final chorus of “Whipping Post” for 3 1/2 hours? Not the song itself, that was over in ten minutes, but the final chorus for 3 1/2 hours? How is that possible? Where did we go, exactly?
In early 1970, Producer Tom Dowd recorded the band’s second album, Idlewild South, at his Criteria Studios in Miami. His next clients were Derek & The Dominos, Eric Clapton’s current group. The Dominos sessions were rather uninspired until Dowd took Clapton and crew to see The Allman Brothers in concert. Eric, who already knew about Duane through his Muscle Shoals work, was impressed. The two men recognized each other as kindred souls. Duane droppedbyCriteriatojam,andhissparkignitedtheproject.