The Allman Brothers Band
Encyclopedia
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock
/blues
band once based in Macon, Georgia
. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida
, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman
(slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman
(vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts
(lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley
(bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock
, they also incorporate elements of blues
, jazz
, and country music
, and their live shows have jam band
-style improvisation and instrumental songs.
The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East
, featuring extended renditions of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
" and "Whipping Post
" and often considered one of the best live album
s ever made. George Kimball of Rolling Stone
magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years." A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell
and Lamar Williams
, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters
and the hit single "Ramblin' Man". Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.
In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with Warren Haynes
and Derek Trucks
, the nephew of their drummer, serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring. The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band
called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys
in 1965. From there the brothers formed Hour Glass
and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records
in 1967 and 1968. They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential. Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February
while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman
on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett
's hit version of "Hey Jude
" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
, recording with Aretha Franklin
, King Curtis
, Percy Sledge
, and others. Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton
, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band. Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.
Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records
. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.
The Allman Brothers Band played numerous shows in the South
before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band
in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post
" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.
Idlewild South
was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd
it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider
". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton
and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos
to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
.
1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East
, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East
. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone
listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
. It showcased the band's mix of jazz
, classical music, hard rock
, and blues
, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles
-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendition of Blind Willie McTell
's "Statesboro Blues
" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post
" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
" invited comparisons to John Coltrane
and Miles Davis
.
The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.
The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71
, would be released. It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.
died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia
, when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck
that had turned in front of him. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.
Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach
, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky
", "Little Martha
") and wistful in tone ("Melissa
", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam
" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus
described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."
The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell
, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC
's In Concert late-night television program.
Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach
album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident.
Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams
at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters
, released in August 1973.
Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader. Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man
" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.
The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen
outside Watkins Glen, New York
, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead
and The Band
. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack
where this massive outdoor festival took place.
In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock
groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band
(who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd
.
Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham
arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace
. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs
sitting in, along with Grateful Dead
members Jerry Garcia
and Bill Kreutzmann
(Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).
, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse
took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.
The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw
(1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters
' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne
-influenced title song.
The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level
, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.
Meanwhile, Capricorn Records
released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever
, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas
. Neither sold very well.
The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues
(1979). It featured new members Dan Toler
(guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus
" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records
, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram
took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records
. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.
Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band
with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.
The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.
In 1987, Epic Records
signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track
to the 1987 album I'm No Angel
. Just Before the Bullets Fly
quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success.
(guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel
(keyboards and harmonica), and Allen Woody
(bass guitar) joined originals Allman, Betts, Jaimoe and Trucks. Leavell opted to go on tour again with the Rolling Stones
, with whom he has been a touring member since 1982.
After the 20th Anniversary tour, the band signed to Epic Records and released Seven Turns
(1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's
departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold by the RIAA 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quiñones
. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule
in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge
. Derek Trucks
, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.
In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts out for "personal and professional reasons." For this tour, he was replaced by Jimmy Herring
. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. Also in 2000, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead on August 26. The band did release the live CD Peakin' at the Beacon
that year which chronicled the now-annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The band has sold out the 2900-seat Upper West Side Manhattan theatre 188 times since 1989. The tradition is known as the "Beacon Run" among fans, who travel from across the United States, Canada and Western Europe to see these annual March and April shows.
). Haynes' return marked a new period of stability and productivity for the band after nearly four years of lineup shifts. The Haynes-produced Hittin' the Note
was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theatre DVD film (2003, certified Platinum 2004). The live CD One Way Out
(2004) also chronicled the Beacon concerts.
The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award
nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental
for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone
magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list.
The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam band
s The String Cheese Incident, moe
, and Dave Matthews Band
among others. The Allman Brothers Band continue to be a major attraction at the Bonnaroo Music Festival
since 2003. Since 2005, the Allmans have staged their own two day Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
in Live Oak, Florida
. The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Derek Trucks Band perform on different stages along with younger roots artists including the North Mississippi Allstars
, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe, Nickel Creek
, Mofro
and others.
Allman Brothers songs have been used in various advertising campaigns and television programs, with the most well-known use being that of "Jessica" used in both the 1977 and 2002 formats of the BBC
television series Top Gear. "Jessica" was also used in the film Field of Dreams
. It was also the opening song of a famous radio show in the State of Bavaria, Germany during the 70s known as "Club 16" (http://peterhammer.de/sound4/br/club16outro.html with an example while the show ends. )
The band cancelled their Beacon run for 2008 due to Gregg Allman recovering from hepatitis C
treatments, but they were back on the road that summer for the amphitheater circuit. On November 20, 2008, The Allman Brothers Band received the Legend Of Live Award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards
ceremony in New York. The award recognized "a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry." At the ceremony, Gregg Allman talked about his brother Duane, saying: "It happens to be today would have been his 62nd birthday and I'm sure he's looking down on this and is really proud of us. We'll keep coming back until we can't come back no more."
The Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009. That year's Beacon run also marked the 20th anniversary of their appearances in that venue; and the band focused on paying tribute to Duane, inviting guest appearances from those who had played with him. The 15-night stand was considered to be the best Beacon run of all, highlighted by two nights of the first-ever stage appearance of Eric Clapton
with the band and performances of numbers from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
. Guests on other nights included members of the Grateful Dead
, Phish
, Levon Helm
and his band, and represented genres from bluesman Buddy Guy
to jazz great Lenny White
to rap-rock-country eccentric Kid Rock
. On March 26, three days after the actual anniversary of the band's 1969 forming, what's been known as the "Legendary Jacksonville Jam", the band featured no guests but performed their first two albums in their entirety.
In March 2010, The Allman Brothers Band's New York run changed venues from the Beacon Theater to the far uptown United Palace Theatre, but in March 2011, the Allman Brothers returned to the Beacon Theater, playing their 200th show there on March 26.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
band once based in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
(slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman
Gregg Allman
Gregory Lenoir Allman , known as Gregg Allman, is a rock and blues singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter, and a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgia...
(vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts
Dickey Betts
Forrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
(lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley
Berry Oakley
Raymond Berry Oakley III , was an American bassist and one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band.-Biography:...
(bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums). While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
, they also incorporate elements of blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and their live shows have jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
-style improvisation and instrumental songs.
The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue...
, featuring extended renditions of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
"In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is a jazz-influenced instrumental composed by Dickey Betts that became one of the best-known works ever recorded by The Allman Brothers Band, especially the version on their 1971 live album At Fillmore East.-Overview:...
" and "Whipping Post
Whipping Post (song)
"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense...
" and often considered one of the best live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
s ever made. George Kimball of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years." A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
and Lamar Williams
Lamar Williams
Lamar Williams was an American musician, most known as the bassist for The Allman Brothers Band and Sea Level....
, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters (album)
Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album...
and the hit single "Ramblin' Man". Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.
In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
and Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
, the nephew of their drummer, serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring. The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.
Beginnings
The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida on March 26, 1969, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson. Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, FloridaDaytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band
Garage band
The term garage band can refer to:* A band that performs garage rock* GarageBand, audio production software published by Apple Inc.* GarageBand.com, a website that helps publicize emerging bands...
called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys
Allman Joys
The Allman Joys was an early band with Duane and Gregg Allman fronting. It was originally the Escorts, but it eventually evolved into the Allman Joys. Duane Allman quit high school to spend his days at home practicing guitar. They auditioned for Bob Dylan's producer, Bob Johnston, at Columbia...
in 1965. From there the brothers formed Hour Glass
Hour Glass (band)
The Hour Glass were a 1960s rhythm and blues band based in Los Angeles, California between 1967 and 1968. Among their members were two future members of the Allman Brothers Band and three future studio musicians at the world-renowned Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama .-History:Formed from the...
and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
in 1967 and 1968. They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential. Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February
The 31st of February
The 31st of February was a rock and roll band formed by Jacksonville, Florida natives Scott Boyer, David Brown and Butch Trucks.All three were alumni of Englewood High School in Jacksonville, though they did not come together musically until Brown and Trucks found themselves living on the same...
while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman
Duane & Greg Allman
Duane & Greg Allman is an album containing demo recordings for American rock band The 31st of February's second album, recorded at TK Studios, Hialeah, Florida in September 1968. The planned album was never completed as the band broke up shortly afterwards, and the demo recordings remained...
on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
's hit version of "Hey Jude
Hey Jude
"Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The ballad evolved from "Hey Jules", a song widely accepted as being written to comfort John Lennon's son, Julian, during his parents' divorce—although this explanation is not...
" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
in Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
, recording with Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
, King Curtis
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley , who performed under the stage name King Curtis, was an American saxophone virtuoso known for rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk and soul jazz. Variously a bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer...
, Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
, and others. Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton
Eddie Hinton
Eddie Hinton was an American songwriter and session musician best known for his work with soul music and R&B singers...
, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band. Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.
Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records
Liberty Records
Liberty Records was a United States-based record label. It was started by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals.-1950s:...
. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band (album)
The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1969, was the eponymous debut album of Southern rock group, The Allman Brothers Band.The album sold poorly outside of Southern United States, reaching #188 on the Billboard charts...
in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post
Whipping Post (song)
"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense...
" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.
Idlewild South
Idlewild South
Idlewild South is the second album of The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1970.Unlike the band's self-titled debut album, Idlewild South enjoyed some popular success as well as critical enthusiasm, mostly due to what Rolling Stone magazine called "briefer, tighter, less 'heavy' numbers" which...
was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd
Tom Dowd was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.- Early years :Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew...
it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider
Midnight Rider
"Midnight Rider" is a popular and widely covered song by The Allman Brothers Band, from their album Idlewild South. Written by Gregg Allman and Robert Kim Payne, the song has become a fixture of the band's live performances and an enduring standard...
". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos
Derek and the Dominos were a blues rock band formed in the spring of 1970 by guitarist and singer Eric Clapton with keyboardist Bobby Whitlock, bassist Carl Radle and drummer Jim Gordon, who had all played with Clapton in Delaney, Bonnie & Friends...
to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
.
1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East
At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue...
, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
. It showcased the band's mix of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, classical music, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendition of Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell , was an influential Piedmont and ragtime blues singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont blues, although, unlike his contemporaries, he used exclusively a twelve-string guitar...
's "Statesboro Blues
Statesboro Blues
"Statesboro Blues" is a blues song in the key of D written by Blind Willie McTell; the title refers to the town of Statesboro, Georgia. Covered by many artists, the version by The Allman Brothers Band is especially notable and was ranked #9 by Rolling Stone in their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar...
" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post
Whipping Post (song)
"Whipping Post" is a song by The Allman Brothers Band. Written by Gregg Allman, the five-minute studio version first appeared on their 1969 debut album The Allman Brothers Band. But the song's full power only manifested itself in concert, when it was the basis for much longer and more intense...
" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
"In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" is a jazz-influenced instrumental composed by Dickey Betts that became one of the best-known works ever recorded by The Allman Brothers Band, especially the version on their 1971 live album At Fillmore East.-Overview:...
" invited comparisons to John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
and Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
.
The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.
The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71
S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71
S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71 is an archival live album released in 2003 and self-distributed by The Allman Brothers Band.-History:...
, would be released. It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.
Loss and triumph
Duane AllmanDuane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia
Macon, Georgia
Macon is a city located in central Georgia, US. Founded at the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is part of the Macon metropolitan area, and the county seat of Bibb County. A small portion of the city extends into Jones County. Macon is the biggest city in central Georgia...
, when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck
Flatbed truck
A flatbed truck is a type of truck which can be either articulated or rigid. As the name suggests, it has an entirely flat, level 'bed' body with no sides or roof...
that had turned in front of him. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.
Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...
, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky
Blue Sky (song)
"Blue Sky" is the eighth track by the Allman Brothers Band off the Eat a Peach album.Dickey Betts wrote this about his Native American girlfriend, Sandy "Bluesky" Wabegijig. And for a while, Betts refused to perform this after their 1975 divorce....
", "Little Martha
Little Martha
"Little Martha" was the only Allman Brothers Band track written solely by group leader and partial namesake Duane Allman. The tune first appeared on the final studio track on the Allman Brothers Band's fourth album, Eat A Peach, released in 1972...
") and wistful in tone ("Melissa
Melissa (song)
"Melissa" is a song written in 1967 by Gregg Allman and Steve Alaimo. It was first recorded by The 31st of February – an early band comprising the Allman brothers, Gregg and Duane – in September 1968 at TK Studios, Hialeah, United States for the their second album produced by Alaimo, which was...
", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam
Mountain Jam
"Mountain Jam" is an improvised instrumental jam by The Allman Brothers Band. The song's first known recording is on 5-4-1969 at Macon Central Park, but was officially released later on the albums; Live at Ludlow Garage: 1970, Live at the Atlanta International Pop Festival: July 3 & 5, 1970, The...
" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."
The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell
Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling...
, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's In Concert late-night television program.
Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach
Eat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...
album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident.
Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams
Lamar Williams
Lamar Williams was an American musician, most known as the bassist for The Allman Brothers Band and Sea Level....
at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters
Brothers and Sisters (album)
Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album...
, released in August 1973.
Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader. Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man
Ramblin' Man (Allman Brothers Band song)
"Ramblin' Man" is a 1973 song by The Allman Brothers Band, featured on their album Brothers and Sisters. It was written by Dickey Betts, who also sang lead vocals....
" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.
The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen
Summer Jam at Watkins Glen
The Summer Jam at Watkins Glen was a 1973 rock festival which once received the Guinness Book of World Records entry for "Largest audience at a pop festival." An estimated 600,000 rock fans came to the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Raceway outside of Watkins Glen, New York on July 28, 1973, to see The...
outside Watkins Glen, New York
Watkins Glen, New York
Watkins Glen is a village in Schuyler County, New York, United States. The population was 2,149 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Schuyler County.The Village of Watkins Glen lies on the border of the towns of Dix and Montour....
, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
and The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation...
where this massive outdoor festival took place.
In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band
Marshall Tucker Band
The Marshall Tucker Band is an American Southern rock band originally from Spartanburg, South Carolina. The band's blend of rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, country, and gospel helped establish the Southern rock genre in the early 1970s...
(who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
.
Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs
Boz Scaggs
William Royce "Boz" Scaggs is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He gained fame in the 1970s with several Top 20 hit singles in the United States, along with the #2 album, Silk Degrees. Scaggs continues to write, record music and tour.-Early life and career:Scaggs was born in Canton,...
sitting in, along with Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
members Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
and Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann
Bill Kreutzmann is an American drummer who played with the rock band the Grateful Dead for their entire thirty-year career...
(Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).
Turmoil and dissolution
Personality conflicts started to tear the band apart, however. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, while Allman married CherCher
Cher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.
The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw
Win, Lose or Draw (album)
Win, Lose or Draw is the sixth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1975. The record was the end of the line for the band at the time. After the very successful Brothers and Sisters two years previously, the group had fallen prey to internal tensions...
(1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
-influenced title song.
The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level
Sea Level (band)
Sea Level is the name of a fusion group that mixed jazz, blues and rock. It existed between 1976 and 1981. Initially, it was an offshoot of The Allman Brothers Band, but as tensions grew between the loss of two of its founding members, and personal greivances between Gregg Allman and other...
, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.
Meanwhile, Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever
The Road Goes On Forever (The Allman Brothers Band album)
The Road Goes On Forever was The Allman Brothers Band's first compilation album, a two-LP set released in 1975. It featured songs from the Allmans' first five albums. In 2001, an expanded edition was released featuring 13 more tracks...
, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas
Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas
Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas is a 1976 double live album by The Allman Brothers Band.It collected a variety of performances from the mid-1970s line-up of the band...
. Neither sold very well.
The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues
Enlightened Rogues
Enlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band following their 1976 dissolution...
(1979). It featured new members Dan Toler
Dan Toler
Dan Toler, also known as "Dangerous Dan Toler", is an American guitarist.-History:A native of Indiana, Dan Toler became popular in the late 1970s as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. He was featured on the albums Dickey Betts & Great Southern and Atlanta's Burning Down...
(guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus
Pegasus (song)
"Pegasus" is the third song from The Allman Brothers Band's 1979 album Enlightened Rogues. It is an instrumental written by lead guitarist Dickey Betts.The song draws some comparisons to "Jessica" in some respects...
" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records
Capricorn Records was an independent record label which was launched by Phil Walden, Alan Walden, and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia.-First Incarnation:...
, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records
Arista Records
Arista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.
Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band
Gregg Allman Band
The Gregg Allman Band, also known as Gregg Allman & Friends, is a Southern rock/blues rock group that Gregg Allman established and has led since the 1970s, during periods when Allman has been recording and performing separate from the Allman Brothers Band and has chosen not to perform exclusively...
with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.
The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.
In 1987, Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track
I'm No Angel (song)
"I'm No Angel" is a 1987 single, written by Tony Colton and Phil Palmer and recorded by Gregg Allman, during the course of performing with the Gregg Allman Band...
to the 1987 album I'm No Angel
I'm No Angel (album)
I'm No Angel is an album by the Gregg Allman Band, released on Epic Records in 1986. The album is particularly notable for the strength of its title song, which was later covered by others, including Cher, Gregg Allman's former wife.- History :...
. Just Before the Bullets Fly
Just Before the Bullets Fly
Just Before The Bullets Fly is an album by the Gregg Allman Band, released on Epic Records in 1988. The album peaked at number 117 in the Billboard 200 chart.- Track listing :#"Demons" – 3:28...
quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success.
Revival
In 1989 The Allman Brothers reunited and returned to popular consciousness of the American public, spurred by Gregg's recent FM radio success, the release of archival material by PolyGram, and the start of regular appearances on the American summer outdoor amphitheatre circuit. Warren HaynesWarren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
(guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel
Johnny Neel
Johnny Neel is an American vocalist, songwriter, and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his songwriting, stage, and session work for the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, and Dickey Betts....
(keyboards and harmonica), and Allen Woody
Allen Woody
Douglas Allen Woody was bass guitarist best known for his tenure in the rock groups The Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, The Artimus Pyle Band, The Peter Criss Band, Blue Floyd, and Montage.-Biography:...
(bass guitar) joined originals Allman, Betts, Jaimoe and Trucks. Leavell opted to go on tour again with the Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, with whom he has been a touring member since 1982.
After the 20th Anniversary tour, the band signed to Epic Records and released Seven Turns
Seven Turns
Seven Turns is the tenth studio album and eleventh album by the Allman Brothers Band, released in 1990. The album was well-received, and was their first release since 1981...
(1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's
Johnny Neel
Johnny Neel is an American vocalist, songwriter, and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his songwriting, stage, and session work for the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, and Dickey Betts....
departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold by the RIAA 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quiñones
Marc Quiñones
Marc Quiñones is an Puerto Rican American percussionist, a longtime player in salsa music, and a member of the Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band....
. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge
Oteil Burbridge, in Washington, D.C.), is a Grammy Award-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, specializing on the bass guitar, trained in playing jazz and classical music from an early age. He has achieved fame primarily on bass guitar during the current resurgence of the Allman Brothers Band...
. Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.
In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts out for "personal and professional reasons." For this tour, he was replaced by Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring
Jimmy Herring is an American guitarist who is currently the lead guitarist in the band Widespread Panic. Herring is a founding member of Aquarium Rescue Unit and Jazz is Dead...
. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. Also in 2000, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead on August 26. The band did release the live CD Peakin' at the Beacon
Peakin' at the Beacon
Peakin' at the Beacon is a live album by the rock group The Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in March, 2000, and released later that year....
that year which chronicled the now-annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The band has sold out the 2900-seat Upper West Side Manhattan theatre 188 times since 1989. The tradition is known as the "Beacon Run" among fans, who travel from across the United States, Canada and Western Europe to see these annual March and April shows.
2000s onward
Warren Haynes began appearing with the Allmans again in 2000 and rejoined full-time in 2001, while also maintaining his active schedule with Gov't Mule. (Haynes also toured during this time and later in the decade with former members of the Grateful DeadGrateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
). Haynes' return marked a new period of stability and productivity for the band after nearly four years of lineup shifts. The Haynes-produced Hittin' the Note
Hittin' the Note
Hittin' the Note is a 2003 studio album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. Released through Sanctuary Records, it was their first studio album to include lead slide guitar player Derek Trucks and bass player Oteil Burbridge and marked the full-time return of guitar player...
was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theatre DVD film (2003, certified Platinum 2004). The live CD One Way Out
One Way Out (album)
One Way Out is a live album by The Allman Brothers Band. It is the first live album to feature Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks together, although both had appeared separately on previous live albums...
(2004) also chronicled the Beacon concerts.
The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental
Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list.
The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam band
Jam band
-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...
s The String Cheese Incident, moe
Moe.
moe. is an American jam band, formed at the University at Buffalo in 1989. The band members are: Rob Derhak , Al Schnier , Chuck Garvey , Vinnie Amico , and Jim Loughlin ....
, and Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
among others. The Allman Brothers Band continue to be a major attraction at the Bonnaroo Music Festival
Bonnaroo Music Festival
The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is an annual four day music festival created and produced by Superfly Productions and AC Entertainment, held at Great Stage Park on a 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. It hosted its tenth annual event June 9–12, 2011...
since 2003. Since 2005, the Allmans have staged their own two day Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is located in North Central Florida, in Suwannee County, United States. Situated on the banks of the historic Suwannee River, the park consists of over 600 acres of camping areas, concert venues, recreational facilities, and unspoiled forests...
in Live Oak, Florida
Live Oak, Florida
Live Oak is a city in Suwannee County, Florida. The city is the county seat of Suwannee County and is located east of Tallahassee, Florida. The population was 6,480 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 6,828 ....
. The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Derek Trucks Band perform on different stages along with younger roots artists including the North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars
North Mississippi Allstars is a Southern rock/blues jam band from Hernando, Mississippi, founded in 1996. The band is composed of brothers Luther Dickinson and Cody Dickinson , and Chris Chew...
, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe, Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
, Mofro
MOFRO
JJ Grey & MOFRO is a soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern rock band from Jacksonville, Florida composed of JJ Grey , Andrew Trube , Anthony Farrell , Anthony Cole and the "Hercules Horns" Dennis Marion , Art Edmaiston JJ Grey & MOFRO (formerly billed just as Mofro) is a soul/funk/R&B/blues/southern...
and others.
Allman Brothers songs have been used in various advertising campaigns and television programs, with the most well-known use being that of "Jessica" used in both the 1977 and 2002 formats of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series Top Gear. "Jessica" was also used in the film Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams
Field of Dreams is a 1989 American fantasy-drama film directed by Phil Alden Robinson and is from the novel Shoeless Joe by W. P. Kinsella...
. It was also the opening song of a famous radio show in the State of Bavaria, Germany during the 70s known as "Club 16" (http://peterhammer.de/sound4/br/club16outro.html with an example while the show ends. )
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
treatments, but they were back on the road that summer for the amphitheater circuit. On November 20, 2008, The Allman Brothers Band received the Legend Of Live Award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards
Billboard Touring Awards
Established in 2004, the Billboard Touring Conference and Awards is an annual meeting sponsored by Billboard Magazine which also honors the top international live entertainment industry artists and professionals...
ceremony in New York. The award recognized "a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry." At the ceremony, Gregg Allman talked about his brother Duane, saying: "It happens to be today would have been his 62nd birthday and I'm sure he's looking down on this and is really proud of us. We'll keep coming back until we can't come back no more."
The Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009. That year's Beacon run also marked the 20th anniversary of their appearances in that venue; and the band focused on paying tribute to Duane, inviting guest appearances from those who had played with him. The 15-night stand was considered to be the best Beacon run of all, highlighted by two nights of the first-ever stage appearance of Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
with the band and performances of numbers from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a blues-rock album by Derek and the Dominos, released in November 1970, best known for its eponymous title track, "Layla"...
. Guests on other nights included members of the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
, Levon Helm
Levon Helm
Mark Lavon "Levon" Helm , is an American rock multi-instrumentalist and actor who achieved fame as the drummer and frequent lead and backing vocalist for The Band....
and his band, and represented genres from bluesman Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
to jazz great Lenny White
Lenny White
Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
to rap-rock-country eccentric Kid Rock
Kid Rock
Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...
. On March 26, three days after the actual anniversary of the band's 1969 forming, what's been known as the "Legendary Jacksonville Jam", the band featured no guests but performed their first two albums in their entirety.
In March 2010, The Allman Brothers Band's New York run changed venues from the Beacon Theater to the far uptown United Palace Theatre, but in March 2011, the Allman Brothers returned to the Beacon Theater, playing their 200th show there on March 26.
Awards and recognition
- Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental PerformanceGrammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental PerformanceThe Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
, 1996, "Jessica" - Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, 1995 - Rolling Stone Magazine's "Greatest...of All Time" lists:
- 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004): #52
- 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): #49 for At Fillmore EastAt Fillmore EastAt Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue...
- 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2003):
- #2 Duane AllmanDuane AllmanHoward Duane Allman was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band...
- #23 Warren HaynesWarren HaynesWarren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
- #58 Dickey BettsDickey BettsForrest Richard "Dickey" Betts is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and composer best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band. He was inducted with the band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 and also won with the band a best rock performance Grammy Award for his...
- #81 Derek TrucksDerek TrucksDerek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
- #2 Duane Allman
Discography
- The Allman Brothers BandThe Allman Brothers Band (album)The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1969, was the eponymous debut album of Southern rock group, The Allman Brothers Band.The album sold poorly outside of Southern United States, reaching #188 on the Billboard charts...
(1969) - Idlewild SouthIdlewild SouthIdlewild South is the second album of The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1970.Unlike the band's self-titled debut album, Idlewild South enjoyed some popular success as well as critical enthusiasm, mostly due to what Rolling Stone magazine called "briefer, tighter, less 'heavy' numbers" which...
(1970) - At Fillmore EastAt Fillmore EastAt Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue...
(1971) - Eat a PeachEat a PeachEat a Peach is a 1972 double album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band; it was the last to include founding member and lead slide-guitar player Duane Allman, who was killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 while the album was being recorded.-History:This album...
(1972) - Brothers and SistersBrothers and Sisters (album)Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album...
(1973) - Win, Lose or DrawWin, Lose or Draw (album)Win, Lose or Draw is the sixth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1975. The record was the end of the line for the band at the time. After the very successful Brothers and Sisters two years previously, the group had fallen prey to internal tensions...
(1975) - Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar GasWipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar GasWipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas is a 1976 double live album by The Allman Brothers Band.It collected a variety of performances from the mid-1970s line-up of the band...
(1976) - Enlightened RoguesEnlightened RoguesEnlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band following their 1976 dissolution...
(1979) - Reach for the SkyReach for the Sky (Allman Brothers Band album)Reach for the Sky is the eighth studio album and ninth album by the rock group The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1980.Reach for the Sky was the first Allman Brothers Band album to be released by a label other than Capricorn Records...
(1980) - Brothers of the RoadBrothers of the RoadBrothers of the Road is the ninth studio album, and tenth album overall, by the rock group the Allman Brothers Band. Released in 1981, it is the band's only album without drummer Jai Johanny Johanson...
(1981) - Seven TurnsSeven TurnsSeven Turns is the tenth studio album and eleventh album by the Allman Brothers Band, released in 1990. The album was well-received, and was their first release since 1981...
(1990) - Shades of Two WorldsShades of Two WorldsShades of Two Worlds is a 1991 album by the Allman Brothers Band. Among the tracks are several longer songs of varying genres: the rock song "Nobody Knows"; jazzy instrumental "Kind of Bird"; and the blues-rocker "Get On with Your Life". Dickey Betts takes a more prominent role in songwriting here...
(1991) - An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First Set is the thirteenth album by the rock group the Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded live in December, 1991, and March, 1992, and released in 1992....
(1992) - Where It All BeginsWhere It All BeginsWhere It All Begins is a 1994 studio album by The Allman Brothers Band. "No One to Run With" obtained the greatest amount of album-oriented rock airplay, while "Soulshine", written by Warren Haynes, gained success as a concert and fan favorite. Gregg Allman also started to confront his substance...
(1994) - An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd SetAn Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set is a live album by the American rock group the Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded in 1992 and 1994, and released in 1995.-Track listing:...
(1995) - Peakin' at the BeaconPeakin' at the BeaconPeakin' at the Beacon is a live album by the rock group The Allman Brothers Band. It was recorded at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in March, 2000, and released later that year....
(2000) - Hittin' the NoteHittin' the NoteHittin' the Note is a 2003 studio album by the American Southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. Released through Sanctuary Records, it was their first studio album to include lead slide guitar player Derek Trucks and bass player Oteil Burbridge and marked the full-time return of guitar player...
(2003) - One Way OutOne Way Out (album)One Way Out is a live album by The Allman Brothers Band. It is the first live album to feature Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks together, although both had appeared separately on previous live albums...
(2004)
Lineups
Original members in bold.| (1969–1971) |
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|---|---|
| (1971–1972) |
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| (1972) |
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| (1972–1976) |
Chuck Leavell Chuck Leavell is an American pianist and keyboardist, who was a member of The Allman Brothers Band throughout the height of their popularity, a founding member of the jazz-rock combo Sea Level, a frequently-employed session musician, and later, the keyboardist for Eric Clapton and The Rolling... - piano, synthesizer, background vocals |
| (1978–1980) |
|
| (1980–1982) |
|
| (1989–1990) |
Johnny Neel Johnny Neel is an American vocalist, songwriter, and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for his songwriting, stage, and session work for the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, and Dickey Betts.... - keyboards, harmonica |
| (1991–1997) |
|
| (1997–1999) |
|
| (1999–2000) |
|
| (2000) |
|
| (2001–present) |
|
| Live/Studio Musicians: |
At Fillmore East At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue... concert and various albums) At Fillmore East At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue... concert) Bobby Caldwell (drummer) Bobby Caldwell is a drummer, songwriter, producer and arranger who co-founded rock cult bands Captain Beyond and Armageddon during the first part of the 1970s. Prior to these projects he played in some of Johnny Winter's seminal albums like Live Johnny Winter And and also on Saints and Sinners... - Percussion (for the At Fillmore East At Fillmore East At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue... concert) Elvin Bishop Elvin Bishop is an American blues and rock and roll musician and guitarist.-Career:Bishop was born in Glendale, California, and grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was ten years old... - Vocals (for the At Fillmore East At Fillmore East At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue... concert) Steve Miller (musician) Steven H. "Steve" Miller is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter who began his career in blues and blues rock and evolved to a more popular-oriented sound which, from the mid 1970s through the early 1980s, resulted in a series of successful singles and albums.-Early years:Born in Milwaukee,... - Piano (for the At Fillmore East At Fillmore East At Fillmore East is a double live album by The Allman Brothers Band. The band's breakthrough success, At Fillmore East was released in July 1971. It ranks Number 49 among Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and remains among the top-selling albums in the band’s catalogue... concert) Les Dudek Les Dudek is an American guitarist.-Early years:Les Dudek's father, Harold, was born in Campbell, Nebraska, and was a World War II veteran in the United States Navy. His mother, Alma, born in Brooklyn, was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Les has one older sister, Sandy, who was born in... - Lead and Acoustic Guitar on Brothers and Sisters Brothers and Sisters (album) Brothers and Sisters is the fifth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1973.The group's first album recorded completely after the death of leader Duane Allman, and mostly after the death of bassist Berry Oakley, Brothers and Sisters saw the Allmans reach a commercial peak. The album... Win, Lose or Draw (album) Win, Lose or Draw is the sixth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1975. The record was the end of the line for the band at the time. After the very successful Brothers and Sisters two years previously, the group had fallen prey to internal tensions... Bill Stewart (musician) William Harris "Bill" Stewart is an American jazz drummer. Stewart is a versatile player who has performed with a broad array of musicians, from Maceo Parker to Jim Hall... - Percussion on Win, Lose or Draw Win, Lose or Draw (album) Win, Lose or Draw is the sixth album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1975. The record was the end of the line for the band at the time. After the very successful Brothers and Sisters two years previously, the group had fallen prey to internal tensions... Joe Lala Joe Lala is an actor and voice actor, notable for his dubbing of Kun Lan of the video-game Killer7.He also played drums and percussion on 32 gold and 28 platinum albums. His credits include Blues Image, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Manassas, The Bee Gees, Whitney Houston, and many... - Percussion on Enlightened Rogues Enlightened Rogues Enlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band following their 1976 dissolution... Enlightened Rogues Enlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band following their 1976 dissolution... Bonnie Bramlett Bonnie Bramlett is an American singer and sometime actress known for her distinctive vocals in rock and pop music. This began in the mid 1960s as a backing singer, forming the husband-and-wife team of Delaney & Bonnie, and continuing to the present day as a solo artist.-Life and career:Bramlett... - Backing Vocals on Enlightened Rogues Enlightened Rogues Enlightened Rogues is the seventh studio album by The Allman Brothers Band, released in 1979 on the Polydor and Capricorn labels. It was from the first reunion of the band following their 1976 dissolution... |
See also
- Almost FamousAlmost FamousAlmost Famous is a 2000 musical comedy-drama film written and directed by Cameron Crowe and telling the fictional story of a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone magazine while covering the fictitious rock band Stillwater , and his efforts to get his first cover story published...
- List of rock instrumentals
- Gregg Allman BandGregg Allman BandThe Gregg Allman Band, also known as Gregg Allman & Friends, is a Southern rock/blues rock group that Gregg Allman established and has led since the 1970s, during periods when Allman has been recording and performing separate from the Allman Brothers Band and has chosen not to perform exclusively...
- Sea LevelSea Level (band)Sea Level is the name of a fusion group that mixed jazz, blues and rock. It existed between 1976 and 1981. Initially, it was an offshoot of The Allman Brothers Band, but as tensions grew between the loss of two of its founding members, and personal greivances between Gregg Allman and other...
- Gov't MuleGov't MuleGov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
- The Derek Trucks BandThe Derek Trucks BandThe Derek Trucks Band has been called a "group of musicians that share a passion for improvisation and musical exploration" by a reviewer at Allmusic....
- The Allman Brothers Band MuseumThe Allman Brothers Band MuseumThe Allman Brothers Band Museum — also known as The Big House — is located at 2321 Vineville Avenue in Macon, Georgia, United States. It was the home to The Allman Brothers Band's original members, their families, and various friends from 1970 to 1973...
(the "Big House")
Further reading
- The Allman Brothers Band: Dreams liner notes
- Freeman, Scott. Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band, Little, Brown & Co. 1995.
- Reynolds, Dean. The Complete Allman Brothers Band Discography, 2000.
- Leavell, Chuck with J. Marshall Craig. Between Rock and a Home Place, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004.
- Perkins, Willie. No Saints, No Saviors, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005.
- Poe, Randy. Skydog: The Duane Allman Story, Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 2006.
- Reid, Jan. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos (Rock of Ages). New York: Rodale, Inc., 2006.
External links
- Official web site
- Founding Member Dickey Betts' Website
- Flying Frog Records - Butch Trucks' jamband label
- Chuck Leavell's website - former keyboardist
- David Goldflies' website - former bassist
- The Allman Brothers Band at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
- The Allman Brothers Band Legends of Southern Rock at Swampland.com
- The Allman Brothers Band at RollingStone.com
- 2009 Concert Photo Gallery