All language subtitles for DUANE ALLMAN - Song Of The South Duane Allman And Birth Of Allman Brothers Band (2013)

- If there was any one
person that was responsible

for Southern Rock music
it was Duane Allman.

- In the mid
1970s a handful of bands

from the deep south
reinvigorated American
Popular music.

Yet, the man that set the
template for these acts,

and who had struggled
to gain acceptance

in an industry firmly
established in the North,

was by then just a memory.

Duane Allman, the
lead guitarist,

and driving force behind
Southern Rock figureheads

The Allman Brothers Band
lived a tragically short life,

but during his brief career
changed music forever.

- He was the South
in his playing.

I think the dedication and
all the years with that guitar

in his hands all the time,
you know, he became great.

I felt like the world was
his to conquer, you know?

I really did.

- Duane was, and continues
to be, in my opinion,

the ultimate...

there is no better.

The fluidiness, the
actual melodic structure,

the tonality, everything
about him was just

that much better
than anyone else.

- This film looks
at Allman's musical output

from his early days in
Florida, to his influencial

session work in Muscle
Shoals, his monumental

collaboration with Eric
Clapton, and the inimitable

virtuosity with which he
set The Allman Brothers Band

alight.

- He was just
incredible, the emotion,

the feeling of the music
and you can see it.

- There was this look
of ecstacy on his face

when he was really into it.

And, no amound of showmanship
can really compare

to witnessing this
illumination of an artist

in the process of making art.

[rock music]

["That's All Right,
Mama" by Elvis Presley]

♪Well, that's all right, mama

♪That's all right with you

♪That's all right, mama

- As Elvis
Presley arrived on the scene

in 1954, his first regional
hit, That's All Right, Mama,

signaled a revolution
in American music.

The premium act to
emerge from Sam Phillips'

framed Sun Studios,
Elvis and his label mates

Carl Perkins, and Jerry
Lee Lewis spearheaded

the new movement of
white Rock and Roll

born out of the musical
melting pot of the South.

- White Rock and Roll, it comes
out of Memphis Rockabilly,

Sun Studios, all
of that is true.

It was hardly as impossible to
imitate as people say it was,

even Ricky Nelson did a pretty
good job of imitating it,

but where it starts is there.

It starts with white singers
with a feeling for black music

that is, to a certain extent,
a function of the different

ways racial relations worked
in the South and the North.

In the North, there
was more tolerance,

and a certain amount of cultural
and economic integration.

But, day to day intereaction?

Day to day interaction happened
much more in the South.

And so, it's not at all
surprising that a certain number

of young white kids, and
this goes back before

Rock and Roll.

This is the story of the
country singer Jimmie Rogers

and Hank Williams, too.

Learned both

musical orientations

having to do mostly with
rhythm and vocal intonation,

and also cultural attitudes.

- As America
entered the 1960s however

things had changed.

The first wave of Rock
and Roll had died off

and cultured notherners
were being drawn to

a revitalized Folk movement
that openly attacked

the white South.

The harmony or racial
interaction that had produced

artists like Elvis was now
overshadowed by the shocking

injustices of an
inexcusable culture.

- In the early sixties
when the Folk boom hit

and the, you know, opposition
to the Viet Nam War,

and the Civil Rights Movement,
all this stuff was happening.

And, you had Bob Dylan doing
Oxford Town, you had Phil Ochs

singing Here's to the State
of Mississippi, and you had,

you know, Pete Seger, and
Joan Baez all talking about

this terrible place down
there called the South.

Much of the problem that
southern musicians faced in the

early sixties was the bad PR
we were getting as a culture.

- By the time
of the great resurgence

of white Rock and Roll in
the sixties spearheaded

by the Beatles and
the British Invasion,

the South had been left behind.

Although it's sound was
the inspiration behind

nearly every new band
emerging on the scene,

and acts like The Rolling
Stones were championing

Blues artists previously
unrecognized in
their own country,

young, white southern musicians
were unable to respond.

- There was no music
coming out of the South.

There was Motown in Detroit.

There was Chess
Records in Chicago.

You know, there was the
Brill building in New York,

there was L.A. and those
were really the hubs,

except for Stax
Records in Memphis.

And, there were no clubs
to play in the South,

there were no talent scouts,
there were no record labels.

There were really no
opportunities for white southern

bands to do anything,
or go anywhere.

- [Voiceover] Yet,
with the release of

The Allman Brothers
Band's debut album in 1969

all that changed.

["Don't Keep Me Wonderin'"
by Allman Brothers Band]

♪Oh, tell me 'bout the car I saw

♪Parked outside your door

♪Tell me what you
left me wait--♪

- Now, there was a
band from the South.

Before that, it was WIlson
Pickett, and Percy Sledge,

and Otis Redding, and Sam and
Dave, and that was all great,

but there weren't any
Rock bands that had come

from the South in ages.

["Don't Keep Me Wonderin'"
by The Allman Brother Band]

- There was a southern
pride element that certainly

helped as well.

The Allman Brothers,
that was my band,

because they were from
the same place I was.

And, that was the band
of a lot of other people

who were from Alabama,
and Tennesse, and Georgia,

and Florida because we
didn't have any before then,

and suddenly we did.

- And, the
driving force behind the band

was Duane Allman, a virtuoso
guitarist whose determination

to break into the rock
world almost single-handedly

reinvigorated the
southern music scene.

Daytona Beach, Florida it
was here in the early sixties

that Duane Allman's
musical journey began.

Born in 1946 in Nashville,
his brother Gregg born

the following year.

Duane was only three years
old when his father Willis

was murdered in a robbery.

In 1957, the family relocated
to this sleepy tourist town

on the east coast of Florida.

Very quickly the Allman's
house on Van Avenue became

a popular hangout for the
brother's circle of friends.

- I had my first
cigarette there, I had
my first beer there,

I read my first playboy there.

There were people, guys
our age, coming and going

all the time.

If you were there friend,
their house was your house.

You were part of the family.

And, mama was particular
about the ones that she would

let come in and
out of the house,

but she was working to
support the boys and herself

so she wasn't
there all the time.

So, we had the opportunity
to do a lot of things

we wouldn't have been able
to do in our own homes,

or maybe going to
anyone elses house.

- As the decade
closed and Duane Allman

hit his early teens he was
becoming a very strong-willed

individual, while
developing an interest in

the two main passions of his
life: motorcycles and music.

- Duane was a very,
very intelligent fellow

that had his own path.

He had his own direction, he
knew what he wanted to do.

Even at that age he just
walked to a different beat.

- For many people who
didn't know him well enough

would probably think that he

was directionless.

I don't know too
many people who had

more direction than he did.

He just didn't waste
time talking with people

about trying to
make his decisions,

it was already made in his mind.

Gregg was still trying to
find his own personality.

We used to joke with him about
being shy with the girls,

all those types of things.

He'd ask us our opinions
about a lot of things,

whereas Duane didn't ask your
opinion about a lot of things.

He would ask you whether you
liked the music he liked,

but that wasn't going to
change his mind if you didn't.

["Three O'clock
Blues" by BB King]

- [Voiceover] And, the
music Duane liked was being

broadcast throughout the South
by Nashville station WLAC.

Through it's revolutionary
night time Rhythm and Blues

shows, four white DJs
controversially played the work

of John Lee Hooker, Bobby
"Blue" Bland, BB King,

and a host of other southern
Blues and Gospel legends.

- Number one, it was what
they called a clear channel

stations, at 1510
AM dial, covered the
whole South, Midwest.

Just had a tremendous
market penetration.

So, it was directed
towards rural blacks

and urban white males.

And, every red-blooded
southern boy

turned into that every night.

♪I like it like that

♪Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho

♪Whoa babe

♪Yes, ma'am

♪Yes, ma'am

♪What you want babe?

- You know, most of the
local stations in the South

they might have a few
hours a day, or on Sunday

they would play black
Gospel and they'd be an hour

or so of every broadcast day
you could hear the Rock music,

but on LAC you
could hear it all:

Howlin' Wood, BB King, Chuck
Barry, all the Chess guys,

and some obscure stuff Sunnyland
Slim, Lightnin' Hopkins,

Elmore James.

♪Mother said son
you was born lucky

♪ But, remember you
gotta die one day♪

♪Whoa, yes you was born lucky

♪Remember you gotta die one day

- That used to be
one of our sayings,

"WLAC in Nashville, Tennesee."

We would listen a lot to
the Blues, not many people

listened to it.

Your general population, kids
our age they were more into

the Surfer music, the Rock
and Roll, that type of thing.

And, not too many paid that
much attention to the Blues,

to Jazz.

- Inspired by the
mysterious and soulful sounds

emanating from WLAC first
Gregg and then Duane

learned to play the guitar,
determined to master

the techniques and
recreate the songs

that they were hearing.

- I can't remember two people
who connected with music

like both of those guys, and
in very different ways to me.

Gregg still had other interests
that he was involved in,

and other things that he was
following, but he was also

teaching himself and
sharpening his craft.

Duane was music, music, music.

I remember spending the
night there sometimes

over at the house and
some guy that lived behind

had a guitar and we would
listen to him messing with it

and he would sit there.

And, any time he heard music,
whether it was on the radio or

live or whatever, just the
focus, the concentration

was phenomenal.

- By 1961, having
sufficiently honed their

skills the friends formed a
band at Duane's suggestion,

and began performing around
the Dayton Beach area

as the Uniques.

- Duane sang a little bit,
and Gregg sang a little bit.

Ted Petrashannie who
played piano for us

on many of the gigs,
he also sang, too.

I did a little back
up, but not much.

Just enough to holler
every once in a while.

We played at well,
the Bandshell, which
is close to where

we are right now, we
did a talent show there

and we won that.

We did school dances
at the high school,

at the junior high school.

We played a couple
of school assemblies,

really rocked the place.

And, as we were going we just
played white teen dances,

you know, all the young
stuff, high school stuff

all around town.

- And, this
included parts of the town

that other bands
refused to enter.

So enamored with the
music of black Americans

Duane ignored the social
dictates of the time

and regularly took his
band into the world

of Daytona Beach's
African-American community.

- Growing up in the South
you're very aware of

the conservative religious
forces, and Duane and Gregg

very much went against that.

I mean, they were hanging
out with black people,

they were playing
Blues and R&B music,

which was black music.

And, it sort of
supercedes what society

was mandating to be separate,

and they actually came together.

- Music speaks where
words stop, you know,

and I think that was a
big thing was we didn't

care what color your
skin was or what language

you spoke, it was just a
simple matter of fact of,

"Man, you can play," you
know, "And, it sounds good."

- We went over to Second Avenue,
which is in, at that time

we called it "Colored Town",
to go to one of the pawn shops

and buy our first shirts,
and we all bought the same

kind of shirts with the mother
of pearl buttons on them.

And, to us that was
the normal thing to do.

I don't remember
having apprehension

about going over there, but
there were a lot of kids,

as we grew up, that had
nothing to do with the blacks

and it was a problem
at that time.

- What was
also a problem was Duane's

academic record.

Afraid that his musical
activities were interfering

with her son's studies
his mother enrolled him

into a military academy,
thus ending the Uniques.

On his return in 1963 both
Duane and Gregg briefly joined

local band, The Houserockers,
before starting their

next outfit, The Escorts,
the following year.

Now, stronger musicians,
despite still playing

cover material, this band
quickly rose to the top

of the local scene.

- What distinguished Duane
and Gregg was their music

was steeped in R&B and Blues,
you know, they were doing

Bobby Bland covers, Marvin
Gaye covers, Motown.

And, that's how you
really set yourself apart

by the songs you did cover,
and no one else was really

playing those kind of songs.

- Although
the Daytona Beach scene

in which they were thriving
was relatively provincial

and limited, in April
1965, the Escorts cemented

their reputation by being
chosen as a supporting act

for the visiting Beach Boys.

And, rather than molding
their set to blend with

the Surf Rock of America's
biggest band, they stuck to

their guns and delivered
renditions of Marvin Gaye,

James Brown, and
Ray Charles numbers.

- For a local band
that was really great.

Two of the local bands
played before the Beach Boys

came on.

The Nightcrawlers was the
other band, and that was

probably the two most popular
bands in Daytona Beach

at that time, were those two.

- It was really a unique set
up because there was a band

called The Nightcrawlers to
the left, the Beach Boys were

on the main stage, The Escorts
were set off to the right.

The Nightcrawlers would play
a song, then The Escorts

would play a song,
back and forth.

Then, for the finale, and
I've heard a tape of this

and it's incredible to hear,
they did the Ray Charles

tune What'd I Say.

Nightcrawlers played a verse,
then The Escorts played

a verse, and this went on
for six and a half minutes.

- It was a great performance
from 'em and as far as having

people there, you know, you're
used to playing in a small

club with maybe 50 to
80, maybe 100 people

and I don't know how many
were there that night,

but that's a first big stage
opportunity that I'm aware of

that they had, and they
hit the note for sure.

- In the summer
of 1965, after minor lineup

changes The Escorts
became the Allman Joys.

Spotlighting themselves
as the focus of the band,

the brothers looked
to spread their appeal

beyond Daytona Beach.

And, with Gregg freshly
graduated from high school

they could now dedicated
themselves entirely

to their music and
turn professional.

First becoming a resident band
at a venue in Mobile, Alabama

by 1966 the Allman
Joys had begun to play

in New York's thriving
Greenwich Village.

On their return to Daytona
Beach in the summer

they were local celebrities,
and here they met future

collaborator, Pete Carr.

- I'd heard a lot about 'em.

I had started playing at
club called the Martinique,

I was about 15, you know,
and we would go and play.

And, they had a picture of
the Allman Joys in the club.

And, they came back into town,
when they started playing

and, you know, they had a
Bobby "Blue" Bland song, or

Ray Charles, back then it was
mostly copies, but they did

a lot of Blues and
R&B, plus a lot of Pop.

And man, they could
nail anything perfect.

♪I've got sunshine

♪On a cloudy day

♪When it's cold outside

♪I've got the month of May

♪Well, I guess you say

♪What can make me feel this way

♪My girl

- That night I first met 'em,
I walked up, Gregg came out

and I walked up to him in front
of the club with my guitar

and said, "Hey man,
come show me some licks.

"You know, guitar, I hope
you'll sit down with me."

And he says, "That's my
brother's department,

"I'll introduce you to him."

I said, "Okay."

So, we went around the
side of the building

and he introduced me
to Duane and we just

clicked like that.

We played a little bit, he
talked, and from then on

we all started becoming
closer and closer friends.

- And, while back
in Florida The Allman Joys

also played a show with
their closest rivals

on the southern
circuit, the 5 Men-Its,

which featured guitarist
and vocalist Eddie Hinton,

drummer Johnny Sandlin,
and guitarist and keyboard

player Paul Hornsby.

- The Allmans were the first
band I knew that played music

and did nothing else,
that was their thing.

They got blond hair
down to their shoulders,

I mean, you gotta
remember in 1965

everybody still had crew
cuts and slicked back hair

and all this stuff.

And, these guys were
right on the cutting edge,

visually and audibly.

Gregg was maybe 17, 18
years old and he already had

that huge husky voice,
R&B, Blues voice.

And, Duane was just playing
like nobody I heard.

Even though they were doing
copy material there was

something about the
way they were doing 'em

that nobody else did it.

Duane could hear things
nobody else could hear,

things in songs.

when you'd hear the
Allman Joys being played

you'd hear the same
song we'd been playing,

but they would be little
things in there, you thought,

"I'll be damned, I never
even noticed that being in

the record."

And, guitar to Duane was just
an extension of his body,

it was like another arm.

If he was sitting where I'm
sitting today, there's no doubt

he'd be holding a
guitar in his hand.

They'd be a guitar here and
they'd be a book in his hand.

And, he was an avid reader.

And, he wasn't highly educated,
never went to college.

I don't think he had
a high school diploma,

but he was well read, very
articulate, and had a vocabulary

you wouldn't believe.

He's there, he's reading, he'd
lay that down and then he'd

play guitar a little bit,
and he's talking to you

the whole time.

And then, he'd pick that then
he'd pick the book back up.

He's reading and he's
playing, anytime he's seated

that's what's going on.

So, it was his life, it was
just what he was meant to do,

playing that guitar.

- [Voiceover] Later in 1966,
Duane and the band travelled

to his hometown of Nashville
and caught the attention

of esteemed song writer
John D. Loudermilk.

Seeing potential in the
young band he took them

under his wing, advising
them how to compose

their own original material,
and also introducing them

to Buddy Killen the
head of Dial Records.

This led to the band's
lone single, Spoonful,

the cover of the Willie
Dixon song popularized

by Howlin' Wolf.

["Spoonful" By The Allman Joys]

- Duane had only been
playing the guitar for

three or four years.

I mean, there's traces
of the talent there,

but really not to any

greater degree than
100 other cover bands.

It had yet to really jell
and Duane had yet to really

find his voice.

["Spoonful" By The Allman Joys]

In my mind, The Allman Joy
recordings is just kind of

another cover band.

And, you can hear, sort of,

the roots of it but it
really hadn't developed yet.

- Dial Records
boss Buddy Killen agreed

and the band were dropped.

Uncertain of their future,
and with their drummer

headed to Viet Nam by
early 1967 Duane and Gregg

saw no sense in keeping
their band going.

Unbeknown to them, their
friendly rivals the 5 Men-Its

were in a similar situation.

-There's a guarded
circuit of the South [coughs]

that you work at and you
make about $150 a week

and eat pills and
drink. [laughs]

It's a bad trip, and so we
just got sick of it man.

You know, travelling around,
playing in bars, man,

you know.

Man, for so long, and
so finally we just said,

"Well, this has been a lot of
fun, but we're tired of it."

You know, so we all quit.

- One day Duane called me
and he said, "Paul," he said,

"How'd you like to have me
and Gregg in your band?"

And, I said, "What?"

He said, "Yeah," he says,
"Bill Cannell, our drummer

"he's getting drafted,
just got drafted

"And, he's leaving us in
a week, and we're letting

"our bass player go.

"And, it's just me and Gregg."

I said, "Man, you couldn't
have called at a better time."

And so, there we had Duane and
Gregg and me, Johnny Sandlin,

and our bass player at that
time was Mabron McKinney,

who we called "The Wolf".

And so, we said, "We're at the
Sandlin's house, come on down

"to the garage."

- The Hourglass
was born, a fusing of the two

strongest groups on
the southern circuit.

And, as with the other
acts he had been a part of

it was Duane Allman who quickly
became the driving force

behind the band.

- When there was a Duane
Allman in your band

they was only room
for one leader.

Because, he was gonna do it
his way and it wouldn't have

mattered if you had
another leader anyway.

He wouldn't have listened to
you, he had to do it his way.

And, it was probably
the best, you know,

what he wanted to do.

- Within weeks
the Hourglass were playing

their first shows in Saint
Louis, Missouri, where they met

the visiting Californian
Country Folk ensemble,

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Hugely impressed by the
Southern Rock outfit

members of the band
introduced the Hourglass

to their manager Bill McCuen.

- With the combined
band of the Allman Joys

and the Men-Its we
were a powerhouse.

Bill McCuen was floored
when he heard us play

and he went right to the
pay phone, this was before

cell phones, and called somebody

at Liberty Records and said,

"I have just discovered
the next Rolling Stones."

He said, "I found the
greatest band in the world."

And, he stayed over an
extra day and talked to us

and he said, "If you'll come
to California I'd like to be

"your manager and I'll
get you a record deal."

And, we thought about it
for a while, mulled it over.

I can't remember, it wasn't
very long, a few days,

maybe a week.

And, he was on the phone
back and forth to us.

So, we decided to take him up
on it, and we drove to L.A.,

a bunch of Alabama and
Florida redneck boys, and here

we were in L.A. in the
Summer of Love, 1967.

Nothing like it!

["The End" by The Doors]

- Arriving in a
California overflowing with

hippies, freaks, acid, and
experimentation the band

were initially well served
by their new label, Liberty.

Los Angeles and San Francisco
were musical hotbeds,

with the Folk rock of The
Byrds and Love, coexisting

with the psychedelia
of The Grateful Dead

and Jefferson Airplane
and the craziness of Zappa

and his Mothers of Invention.

The Hourglass' first show
took a place a week after

they'd driven into L.A. in
support of rising stars,

The Doors.

And soon, they were
being regularly booked

at the biggest
venues on the scene.

- We started opening right away.

After the Doors we opened
for The Grateful Dead

and they got booed
off the stage.

We played first, they
got booed off the stage,

The Grateful Dead.

And, we opened for
Buffalo Springfield

and countless other people.

And, we went to San
Francisco, played the

Fillmore Auditorium.

We opened for Jefferson
Airplane and Moby Grape,

The Animals, and
it was a big deal.

I mean here we were,
we were nobodies,

but I'd hated to
been the headline act

following The Hourglass
when we played.

- Despite firmly
establishing themselves

on the live circuit, in the
studio The Hourglass struggled.

The majority of the band
making an impact with music

steeped in the Blues at
the time were British.

And, California Pop label
Liberty Records, and producer

Dallas Smith in particular,
were unwilling to acclimatize

themselves to the sounds
of the deep South.

- They didn't know what
a Southern Rock band's

supposed to sound like.

And, it was black, Blues
based Rock and Roll.

He kept referring to
us as a Motown band.

I said, "Well, we do black
oriented music, but you got

"the wrong side of the country.

"It's Southern Blues,
Southern Black Blues,

"and, it's not Motown."

But, at the first album
he threw us in their

and he produced it as Gregg
Allman and the Hourglass

sort of thing, he put horns
behind everything we did.

And, we didn't have any say so
about it, it was an absolute

dictatorship, and again,
you don't dictate to Duane.

And, he and the producer
never got along well.

And, most of the rest
of us we were just glad

to be anywhere, you know.

What do we know?

We're just a bunch of
kids and these guys

are a record company, and
they're telling us what to do

and we're going, "Yes
sir, okay, all right."

But, it wasn't turning out
too well, we didn't like it.

We weren't impressed by it.

What we heard coming
from the speakers

and hearing these chicks
and all the horns.

I said, "Who is this? Is
that supposed to be us?"

- Released in
October 1967 and featuring

only one original composition
the the Hour Glass'

self titled debut was
unsurprisingly overlooked.

["Out of the Night"
by Hour Glass]

- I think the Hour Glass
album, the first one,

when you listen to that band
what stuck out was the voice

of Gregg Allman, this
incredible voice from this kid.

And so, Dallas Smith was
interested in that kid.

He didn't get what
they were about,

and I'm not sure they got
what they were about yet.

I know that they were
reaching towards something,

but they had so many
issues to overcome,

including the fact that
one of the demands was

"You just have to got through
these songs on these tapes

"that our company owns
the publishing on,"

this is Liberty Records talking.

And so, "You have to pick
out some songs that'll work

"for you because that's
what you're gonna cut,

"is stuff that we publish."

And, so they had an awful
lot stacked against them

on that first album.

["Love Makes the World
Go Round" by Hour Glass]

- The irony of that first
album was that was the period

where guitar heroes were
coming into full bloom.

I mean, you had Clapton,
Jimmy Page with The Yardbirds.

And, they had a guy
who was about to become

a defining force
in guitar playing,

and they didn't let him play.

- I just can't believe
that they overlooked Duane.

How could anybody hear,
this guy is a genius.

He's the greatest thing
you've ever heard,

and it's like they
can't see through that,

they can't see the
forest for the trees.

It's like they knew
Gregg was a good singer,

and Dallas Smith was just
used to producing records

in his fashion.

That's the kind of
records he'd been doing,

and he had good luck with,

He produced Jan and
Dean, which was miles

from what we were doing.

This was Surf music.

And, he produced Bobby Vee
who was doing this kind of

little bubble gum top 40 stuff.

And, he sold records.

He knew how to cut
records that way,

where you have a lead singer
and you have back up guys.

Duane was just a back up guy
as far as he was concerned.

- Disappointed by
their failure to capitalize

on their live reputation before
beginning a promotional tour

Gregg returned to Daytona
Beach where he hooked up

with guitarist Pete Carr.

- I was in Daytona when Gregg
came home the Hour Glass'

first album.

And, when he was going
back out he wanted to know

if I wanted to come.

I said, "Sure, yeah I'll
go back out with you,

"hang out with you guys, see
what's going on out there.

"See what we can do."

I was there for a
while just hanging out

and their bass
player one day just

was gone, and they
had a gig coming up at

the Whiskey A Go-Go
in a day or two.

And, you know, they were kind
of like, "What we gonna do?"

And they asked me, said
"Pete, would you play bass?"

You know, I said, "Yeah,
sure, sure I can play bass."

I had study the session players
making records like Stax

and so, you know, I
could do the basic bass,

nothing fantastic,
but I could do it.

And so, we practiced a
little bit and the next night

we played at the Whiskey
A Go-Go and it went great.

- Even if the
Hour Glass hadn't captured

their live sound on record yet,
the Los Angeles music scene

was introducing the young
band members to new sounds,

new possibilities, and an
array of talented supporters.

- Oh wow, there were
so many things going on

at that time.

You know, we'd be playing
at the Whiskey A Go-Go

and upstairs, you know,
Janis Joplin would come in,

you know Paul Butterfield,
Buffalo Springfield.

Those guys really liked
us, 'cause they'd seen us

at the Filmore when we'd
go down to San Francisco

and play.

And, they came in Whiskey
A Go-Go and watch,

you know, to hear us.

They loved us.

Neil Young actually did the
liner notes to our second album.

I mean, you never knew
really, what was gonna go on.

We were playing at a club,
and I'm not sure what it was,

but Frank Zappa came walking
up and he was watching.

And afterwards me and Duane
went over and talked to him.

And, he invited us to
one of their rehearsals.

So, the next day or two,
whatever it was, we went to this

little small kind of
auditorium, had some seats

and he had the band up
there and he was like

directing this
thing note by note.

And, you know, he
wasn't just jamming

he really was producing
it, and writing it,

and the whole deal.

So, we sat there
and watched him play

and working on the songs,
and he was really cool.

["Statesboro Blues"
by Taj Mahal]

- Yet, for Duane
the most influential artist

on the scene was Taj
Mahal, who at the time

had just released
his debut solo album.

And, his version of the
Blind Willie Mctell song

Statesboro Blues, with Jesse
Ed Davis on slide guitar

was an inspiration.

["Statesboro Blues"
by Taj Mahal]

- We started doing Satesboro
Blues in the Hour Glass

for a long time.

Taj Mahal came out
with that album

and Duane started
picking it up there

and we went to see
him at the Troubador.

And, watching him do
it in person, you know,

that even fired him up more.

That was the first
slide song we did.

And, we got that down
pretty good, you know,

and of course later, he really
took that to another level.

Whatever he put his mind
too, man he could concentrate

and get on it, you know.

- I'll tell you, somebody
learning to play slide guitar

is not a pleasant
thing to be around.

I'd rather hear cats fighting.

And, we'd always carry
an extra guitar around

just for him to play, it
was tuned up special for him

to play on.

And, we'd be riding in
the car, or sitting around

the apartment or something
and he'd always be playing

on that thing and we'd
all run the other way.

- In January
1968, the Hour Glass returned

to the studio, this time
given greater independence

by Liberty Records,
and armed with a number

of original compositions.

Yet, Dallas Smith
remained the producer

and within a short
amount of time the band

became frustrated with
his Pop sensibilities

and Duane Allman
abandoned the project.

- Duane walks out of the studio
in the middle of the album.

He hadn't even laid
down his lead tracks

and he goes home to Daytona.

He quit the band.

He doesn't like what's going on

with Dallas Smith so
he just up and leaves.

So, by this time Pete Carr
was playing bass with us

and he was the youngest
member of our band,

he was from Daytona.

And, he was also a very
good guitar player and so

we recruited him in there to
play all of Duane's parts.

So, we spent a week or two, I
don't remember just how long,

about a week or two Pete
overdubbing and replacing

everything Duane had done.

And then, all of a sudden
Duane comes back like,

"Hey, what's happening?"

- Deciding to
complete his work on the album

Duane's guitar was this
time far more present.

Yet, the LP Power of Love,
released in March 1968

was poorly promoted and
proved another disappointment

for the Hour Glass.

- We had more original
tunes and the songs

were worked up and
Duane's parts were,

it was important to the
songs, so that's what we

brought to the table.

And, we were ready to go
with them, instead of just

walking in and having your...

Unlike the first album
where they just picked out

a bunch of demos out
of a box and said,

"Okay, how do you like
this one for your record?

"You don't like it, okay
we'll play you this one.

"Here, you're gonna cut this."

Whereas the second album we
did more worked up tunes,

but it still just
wasn't good enough.

["I Can Stand Alone"
by Hour Glass]

- For the time, I think it's
a good Blue Eyed Soul album.

We got to do more of
what we wanted to do,

you know, not totally but...

And, at the same time you can't,

I've heard, you know,
people put it down

say this da, da, da.

But really, that's kind of
where we were at at the time.

I mean, it wasn't like
three years before that

they were doing, you know,
Mustang Sally in a night club

doing cover songs.

We hadn't really gotten
the writing down great yet.

It was just one of
those times, though,

wasn't ready to
go yet, you know,

just wasn't ready to happen yet.

- [Voiceover] Unable to see
any future in working in

L.A. studios under
Dallas Smith the band

considered their next move.

In rural Alabama they
knew of a recording venue

that has slowly built
a formidable reputation

for its unique sound,

Rick Hall's FAME studios
in Muscle Shoals.

Paul Hornsby and
drummer Johnny Sandlin

had previously recorded
there during their time

in the 5 Men-Its.

And, with few options available
the decided to capture

the Hour Glass sound
on their home turf.

- We thought, we saved a few
bucks from a few of our gigs

and we went in and rented
the studio in Muscle Shoals

at FAME studios, actually.

"Let's cut a few things here,
take it back and show them

"where we're going,
what we wanna do."

- We loved it, you know,
we thought and we loved

the studio and

the sound of the studio,
what we got out of it.

And, you know, we were
kinda high after that

on the few little
things we did cut there.

[Sweet Little Angel"
by Hour Glass]

♪I've got a sweet little angel

♪I love the way

♪She spreads her wings

- Hearing the recordings
they did there,

it just transformed
them as a band.

You know, the BB King Medley.

I mean, all of a sudden
there's Duane Allman

on lead guitar playing like

no one you've really
ever heard before.

And, Gregg singing the Blues,
I mean, that was his home.

That's where he felt
most comfortable,

that's where he belonged.

- In the Hour Glass
Muscle Shoals demos

I hear pretty much what
the band wanted to be

and what Duane wanted the
band to be as their leader.

If you listen to the
BB King Medley, I mean,

it's got as much energy
as any Blues performance

that I've ever heard.

It was driving on so
many different levels,

and you could feel that
Duane's vision was actually

coming to fruition.

♪I bought you a new Ford

♪You said I wanna a Cadillac

♪Bought you a ten dollar dinner

♪You said thanks for the snack

- I knew we could play music.

I was beginning to doubt it
listening to some of the stuff

that they turned out in L.A..

We carried it back,
just waiting for them.

And they heard it and they
thought, "This is crap."

They thought, "This is the
worst thing we've ever heard."

And, we just kind of
looked at each other like,

"Man, what are you gonna do?"

- If we came out with that
I think, and people would

have hear that, they would
have said, "These guys

"can do this stuff good, man."

I mean, they're like, "The
Stones? Listen to this."

You know, "They're
doing the Blues."

You know, it was, it
was great, I think.

And, we took them and
played it, you know,

for Dallas the
producer of the band.

He, I mean, was like,
"Oh, it stinks."

But, he was producing
people like Bobby Vee,

stuff like that.

I mean, hey it's okay, but
you know, I mean it's not

a band like we were,
or we wanted to be,

or we sensed we could be.

'Cause, we didn't really know.

And, the management
really didn't know

how to handle what we could do.

- [Voiceover] The rejection
of the demos proved

the final straw.

And, after a run of shows
at the Whiskey A Go-Go

in June 1968 the majority of
Hour Glass left Los Angeles.

- That was the end of the
whole deal, 'cause this was

our dream, this was the
way we wanted to sound.

We were never going to
get that and we were up

against a wall.

And, it wasn't two or
three months, we were gone.

But, Duane made the break start.

He says, "I'm going back east,
I can't take this no more."

- It was at the end of
its cycle out there.

I remember me and I don't
know when it was, what day,

what happened but finally
came a point I remember

Duane and I riding back in a
van from California to Florida,

you know, without
an air conditioner.

Lord have mercy, we
didn't know any better

back that day, I guess.

- We pulled out of L.A. and we
tried to keep the band going

for a little while, and
here we were back in

the same old clubs.

And, Alabama, they were still
wanting to hear Mustang Sally,

and Midnight Hour.

And I thought, "Man, we've
just been in L.A., we've been

"blowing bands off the
stage and they want to hear

"this crap back here."

We were very discouraged,
and broke, and trying to book

our own shows,
and it fell apart.

- By August, Duane
was back in Daytona Beach.

Dismissing the Hour Glass
experience he immediately

linked up with young
drummer Butch Trucks,

a musician he knew from
the Allman Joys' days,

and briefly joined his
band The 31st of February.

The Florida scene
was stagnant however,

and without any immediate
opportunites Duane decided

to head for FAME
studios to look for work

as a session musician.

Yet, owner Rick Hall
was intially unsure

of the young guitarist.

- He had to be convinced.

He had to prove himself
to Rick, and he did.

And, the thing about
Duane was he was such a

astute player and you've
heard the old saying,

"I hear the song one
time and I know it."

Well, he was that way.

And, very few guys I
knew could do that.

He didn't really
read our charts.

And, we all played
on number charts,

but it's pretty amazing to
see him just listen down

and nail it on the first pass.

- Duane
began playing sessions

as a lead guitarist,
but where the members of

the Muscle Shoals rhythm
section had been honing

their craft in the studio
for years the obsession

with which Allman approached
music was a revelation to them.

- Duane was
completely impressive.

I've never seen a more
dedicated, hands on the guitar

probably ten hours a day.

And, he wouldn't be in a gig,
I mean he just lived with it.

- He wanted to
play all the time.

I mean, when we got
through with our work

we all went home, Duane
would stand around

in that studio all night.

And, he wasn't married, didn't
have a home to go to, really.

So, he lived it, and
we had regular lives

besides our studio work.

We would go home and eat
supper, or see the wife,

or whatever, you know.

So, it was different.

He looked at us like
insurance salesmen.

- Since 1966
FAME had become the studio

of choice for Jerry Wexler's
Atlantic Records artists.

The first of these to
work with Duane Allman

was Wilson Pickett, the R&B
singer whose classic hit

In the Midnight Hour had been
a staple of the Hour Glass

set over the previous two years.

Bucking the conventions
of the studio heirarchy

during a lunch break Duane
suggested that Pickett

should consider recording
a version of the Beatles

current hit Hey Jude.

The resulting recording
would prove life changing

for the young guitarist.

- Duane had hair down to here.

And, of course,
Wilson being black,

had a little problem of
going to restaurants here.

But, the long hairs had more
of problem than black folks,

believe it or not.

And so, they stayed
back just to not

get the looks.

Well, while they were
here Duane talked him

into doing Hey Jude and it was
quite an effort I understand.

He fought it at first, big time.

But, by the time, you
know, we got back in

and the first song
we cut was Hey Jude.

♪Hey Jude, don't make it bad

♪Take a sad song
and make it better

♪Remember to let
her into your heart

♪Then you can start

♪To make it better

♪Hey Jude

- Rick and Jerry Wexler
would have songs picked

and that was something
you didn't mess with.

And so, that was pretty
unusual that Duane

would go to Wilson and say,
"Hey, you need to cut Hey Jude."

Especially since it was
already on the charts

with the Beatles, you
know, whoever heard of

cutting something while
something else was still

on the charts?

But, it was a brilliant idea.

- You the vamp on the end,
that happened automatically.

It just developed into
that ending which was

an incredible, intense ending.

Well, Duane started
playing those incredible,

incredible licks
that he's noted for.

And, nobody'd ever heard
that from him before

and when we got through it was
like kind of a shocked thing,

we didn't want to stop playing.

["Hey Jude" by Wilson Pickett]

- There were no lead guitars
on Soul records, none.

It was saxophones
if there was a solo.

And, not only did he suggest it

and Wilson Pickett agreed to
do it, but it was the moment

that changed Duane
Allman's world.

It was so out of context
for a Soul record

that you couldn't help
but take note of it.

He played underneath
Wilson Pickett's voice

on the fade out and
it's incredible to
listen to even now,

you know, forty or
fifty years later.

["Hey Jude" by Wilson Pickett]

- He obviously had
something going on.

He was young, he was white,

he was deeply,
incredibly soulful.

And, he had chops to burn.

That performance kicked
open the door for him,

and led to everything
that followed.

- Really, if you wanna
boil everything down

that's pretty much the
embryo of, you know,

of the whole Southern Rock scene

because that's when Phil Walden
first heard Duane Allman.

- [Voiceover] Phil
Walden was a major figure

on the southern scene,

a booking agent and
manager who'd worked with

the biggest names
in Soul and R&B.

His most significant association
had been with Otis Redding,

who he had managed since 1959.

But, since the singer's
tragic death in 1967

his passion for
music had diminished.

- Otis Redding and he were
really close, like brothers,

you know?

And, when Otis Redding
died, you know, Phil Walden

he produced shows and
he managed musicians,

he was devastated, you know?

That was his friend,
and not only his friend

but it was his meal ticket.

I mean, he really was
making, you know, his living

off of R&B, you
know Southern R&B.

And, he was kind of
aimless at the time.

He didn't like white
Rock music, never did.

And then, with the
assassination of

Doctor Martin
Luther King, Junior

when fewer black artists
wanted to work with white

managers for political reasons
he felt kind of aimless.

- He heard Hey Jude.

He heard that guitar player.

He called in his assistant
and said, "You gotta come

"listen to this.

"Find out who this guy is."

So, they called Muscle
Shoals and found out

it was a kid named Duane Allman.

If you look at the logic
of it, there is no logic.

Duane Allman couldn't sing.

He didn't have a band.

He didn't write songs.

He was a guitar player.

And yet, Phil Walden
signed him to a deal.

I mean, how visionary is that?

- He was again one of that
breed of young, white, hip

southern guys who had
the musical influences.

I'm sure he listened to
WLAC, like we all did.

And, of course, he
had that tremendous

experience with black bands.

He started booking
them in college

when he was a fraternity guy.

But, he knew that market, at
one time he had the biggest

R&B black booking
agency in the south,

but it was all white
guys running it.

But, Capricorn Records
was originally gonna be

a Soul label, but of
course, Otis Redding passed.

And then, Phil got interested
in Duane and it turned into

the premier Southern Rock label.

I mean Phil Walden has had
his clashes with the band

and there's been varying
opinions, but there would never

have been an Allman Brothers
Band without Phil Waldon,

no question about it.

- [Voiceover] Waldon wasn't
the only industry heavy weight

captivated by the talent
on display in Hey Jude.

Jerry Wexler, head of Atlantic
records was equally awestruck

by Allman's performance
on the single.

And, as soon as he became
aware of the young guitarist's

new management deal he
bought out his recording

contract from Rick Hall.

Despite all this sudden
attention, Duane himself

was recording sessions
in Muscle Shoals

with a who's who of
R&B and Soul artists,

from Arthur Connelly,
and Clarence Carter,

to King Curtis, and
Aretha Franklin,

but finding that the world
of the studio musician

was incompatible with
his own lifestyle.

- He didn't fit the normal
studio player at all.

He was the first kind of hippy
looking guy to come through.

And, he just was free as a bird.

- He was free, he
was a free spirit.

Now, he was the kind of guy that

he didn't have any
ties holding him down.

And, even his job with
us kind of held him down

a little bit.

But, he was the kind guy
that you could walk up to

and say, "Hey, let's
go to L.A. tonight."

He'd say, "Hell, let's
go," and they'd just go.

I don't even think they'd go
get their clothes, nothing.

They'd just get in the
car, or whatever and go.

And, none of us had ever
met anybody like that.

- We were all married,
some of us had kids,

had a mortgage or a rent
payment or a car payment

or something.

He just didn't like that at
all, he thought that was crazy.

I don't know if he
thought we'd sold out,

but he just thought that's
just a regular straight

guy's job there.

- [Duane] Studios, that's
a terrible thing, man.

You just lay around and
you get your money, man.

All those studio cats that
I know, man, one of them

gets a color TV, you see,
and then the next day, man,

they're all down to Sears
or, you know, wherever

and , "Hey man, I'd like to
look at some colored TVs."

You know, it's sickening, man.

They're just keeping
up with the Joneses,

they're not playing the music.

They're stuff sounds
like crap now.

I was down there working with
them for about a half a year

and I got sick of it, man.

- I think he always thought
band, that he would want

to get back to Gregg and to
the band stuff, you know.

Like the Allman Joys, the way
they started out, you know?

And, I think that
was his comfort zone.

But, he was so good
at playing on sessions

that he was a delight
to have on sessions.

And, all the artists loved him.

What he added to any record
he played on, you know,

I think he was appreciated.

["The Road of Love"
by Clarence Carter]

- When he did sessions he
didn't tend to really blend

into the background.

I mean, you were
getting Duane Allman,

but people responded to that.

You know, he became great
friends with King Curtis,

played on King Curtis'
version of The Weight,

played on Aretha Franklin's
version of The Weight.

For Duane Muscle Shoals
gave him the opportunity

to do things he had
never done before,

to play a lot of
different kinds of music,

to learn how to
record in the studio,

to learn how to do arrangements,

to learn how to
back up a singer.

And, it really was for him
kind of like going to college,

because he got a wealth
of experience that

he wouldn't have gotten
if he'd stayed in Florida

playing in The 31st of
February or a cover band.

- As important
as the numerous sessions were

as a learning experience
however, Allman's
burning ambition

to become an artist in his
own right remained constant.

- One time we were
in New York and

we went to see Johnny Winter.

And, I remember we were sitting
up in one of the balconies

there at the Filmore and
Duane told me, he says,

but he didnt say
this in a way...

I knew what he meant.

He said, "I can cut him."

And, he knew he could,
and I knew he could.

Duane told me then,
that night, he said,

"This time next year I'll be
down there on that stage,"

and he was.

- The first steps
towards releasing Allman

from his life as a studio
muscian began to take shape

in January 1969.

Jerry Wexler and Phil
Walden decided that Duane

should record demos for a
solo album at FAME studios,

handling both guitar and vocal
duties, and began looking

for musicians to back him.

Walden also had ambitions
to build his own studio

in his hometown of Macon,
Georgia, and had already

brougth in Jazz drummer
Jai Johanny Johanson,

better known as Jaimoe,
who had been part of

Otis Redding's
touring band in 1966.

Walden sent him to Muscle Shoals
to meet the young guitarist

while Allman himself called
in bassist Berry Oakley

who he knew from a Jacksonville
band Second Coming.

Despite the success of the
initial sessions with these

new players, Duane also
required familiar faces

to add to the line up.

- One day I got a call from
Duane and he said. "Hornsby

"I'm in Muscle Shoals, I'm
cutting sessions up here.

"And, they've heard some of
my playing and these people

"at Atlantic like what I'm
doing and they want me to

"cut some demos, and they
think they might want

"to sign me or something.

"Would you come up and play
on some demos with me?"

And, he wanted that, he
liked more of the Hour Glass

sound that we had.

And so, I went up and
Johnny Sandlin's there

and Berry Oakley
was there that day.

So, Berry Oakley wound
up playing on the demos

so it was this whole
thing was featuring Duane.

Fianlly, he gets to step out.

But, more than being a
guitar player they wanted

him to sing, too.

And, Duane just wasn't a singer.

He could have been, but I
don't think he wanted it.

I think it bored him.

You know, he wanted
to play guitar.

♪I've had my fun

♪If I don't ever
get well no more

♪I've had my fun

♪If I don't ever
get well no more

- The tracks that
really stand out to me

are Goin' Down Slow,
just 'cause the emotion

in Duane's playing
and in his vocals.

People who knew Duane will
tell you that he lived his life

as if it was gonna end too soon.

And, that song really
tapped into something

that was almost
mystical and magical.

["Goin Down Slow"
by Duane Allman]

- Aside from his voice
he had made some steps,

but it just had not
been completed yet

with the birth of The
Allman Brothers Band,

but you can definitely
see that he had made

yet another progression
in what his vision was

for the music that
he wanted to play.

- The
sessions ground to a halt.

Not only was Allman
uncomfortable as the vocalist

he was also unable to
convince ex-Hour Glass

collegues Paul Hornsby
and Johnny Sandlin

to join this new ensemble.

Berry Oakley on the other
hand was bound by loyalty

to band Second Coming,
and in particular

their guitarist Dickie Betts,
and returned to Jacksonville.

Again left with few options
Duane decided to hand in

his notice at FAME studios
and set off with Jaimoe

to Florida to convince
Oakley to leave his band.

With The 31st of February
drummer Butch Trucks

also in tow, he arrived at
the Second Comings band house

on March 20th, 1969,
for an improptu jam.

- There was Duane, Dickie
Betts, Berry Oakley,

Jaimoe, Butch Trucks,
and Reese Wynans who was

the organ player
for Second Coming.

And, he would later play
with Stevie Ray Vaughn,

so he was no slouch.

And, they started
a little shuffle.

It lasted about three hours.

And, when they stopped

Duane went to the door

and said, "Anyone who's
not gonna be in my band

"you've gotta fight
your way out of here."

And, that was the day the
Allman Brothers Band was born.

A couple weeks
later Gregg came in

and it went from there.

- Gregg Allman's
time in California had been

far from successful.

After recording a number of
songs for Liberty Records,

of which only two were
released to little attention,

it was clear that without
a fully formed band

to feed off of, his
talents would go unnoticed.

Initially reluctant to left
go of his California dream

three days after the
first jam of the future

Allman Brothers Band Gregg
joined the group in Florida.

In an era of power trios
and quartets, Duane Allman

had assembled an
unusually large ensemble.

Yet, this time he was sure
that it was the perfect unit

to realize his musical vision.

- You're talking about
a guy whose father died

when he was a child.

You're talking about a guy
who is constantly in search

of some kind of family.

And so, the family for him
became a musical family,

to the point that he had
all these guys in the band,

including one who was
black and he still referred

to them as The
Allman Brothers Band.

He wasn't talking about
just him and Gregg.

Obviously, there's no
Duane today and it's still

The Allman Brothers Band.

He was searching for
brothers on a broader scale.

He wanted to create a family
unit, and I think that

was what his music
was about as well.

That's why I don't think it
woulda worked with just him

and a couple of other guys.

He wanted the group, he wanted
something more powerful.

The B3, the other lead
guitarist, as crazy as that was,

the two drummers
instead of just one.

All these things, maybe
he was over compensating

like crazy, but it
worked out great.

- I can't imagine any player
they had in that first band

that didn't belong there.

I just don't know how it
could have been any better,

or anybody else they coulda
chosen that coulda done

a better job.

So, you had six people
out there just slaying it.

Duane is part of it, it's
a unit, it's not just

a lead guitar player out front.

It's not just a lead singer.

This whole thing was one
big glob of power, you know.

[soft rock music]

- [Voiceover] And, with a new
band came a change of scene.

Phil Walden had set up his
new studios in Macon, Georgia

and when Jerry Wexler
expressed doubts over

how to place this act on his
Atlantic roster Walden decided

to form a record company
on which to launch them.

Capricorn records was
born, and the newly named

Allman Brothers Band headed
out to Macon from Florida.

A small city untouched
by the counterculture

it became the groups
base of opertations

with purpose built recording
facilities, communal houses,

a large cemetary where
they would get stoned,

and a local Soul Food restaurant
where they became regulars.

- When the Allman brothers
were in Los Angeles

they were kind of being
pushed around by the industry.

And, they made good
music, you know.

but they didn't make the
music they wanted to make

and they didn't make the music
that would change the world.

That music would never change
the world, it was good music

but it wouldn't
change the world,

and The Allman
Brothers Band did.

When they were in Macon,
they were making music

that sounded like that
area, they felt comfortable

in that area.

That group of people who
were the Allman Brothers,

you know, you had a drummer
that had played with

Otis Redding, you had a
guitar player, Dickie Betts,

who was really into Country
Music, you had Gregg Allman

who was an R&B singer deluxe
Soul with lots of Gospel

in his blood.

You had all this mix of
guys in the south where they

could go next door to
the Soul Food restaurant

and order, you know, collard
greens and black eyed peas,

and then go back home
to their big ole house,

you know, in this small
town and make the music

they wanted to make,
so that was crucial.

- Macon wasn't like all
the other towns around.

You could get killed in
Atlanta, you could get killed

in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa
any of these places.

You had to be very careful.

But, Macon, you know,
everybody had that just

kind of that little laid
back vibe, you know.

Didn't see too
much racial turmoil

and they didn't harass
hippies too bad.

- Originally, when they lived
in a house on College Street,

which is near where the
first album photos were made,

and they were pretty
much a spectacle.

I mean, cars circled the
block to see the hippies

sitting out in front
of their house,

because they didn't look like

late sixties southern boys.

So, there was a bit
of culture shock here,

but there was never any
hostility or, you know,

animosity.

It was just kind of

a bewilderment by the locals.

- [Voiceover] While the
group's members settled into

their southern enclave the
musical climate was changing

in a way that would
benefit the band.

After the heady excesses of
psychedelia and well meaning

flower power the counterculture
was facing harsher

resistance from
the establishment,

and, this in part led
its musical figure heads

into a search for roots,

from the Stones and the
Birds, to Dylan and the Band

this search led them to
reconsider the American South

and the various musical forms
that had emerged from it.

- By the late 60s when the
Allman Brothers got together

and started working on that
first album American culture

had changed and it was
all of a sudden pretty

popular to be southern
and Country and R&B

and all that stuff again.

You had people like Gram
Parsons who was a southerner

in California talking
up Country music.

And, you know, there was this
fascination with Country music

all of a sudden in Los
Angeles particularly.

You know, you had
Country Rock coming from

the Flying Burrito Brothers,
which was Gram Parson's band,

you had Country Rock
coming from The Birds,

which Gram Parsons, you
know, had a big impact on

and played with on one album.

Dylan was recording
in Nashville.

The Band had formed and
they had a great song writer

in Robbie Robertson who could
actually spin a narrative

about the South.

I mean, the South was
fascinating, even Joan Baez,

who had been such a strong
protest singer against

what was going on in the
South did The Night They Drove

Old Dixie Down, a beautiful
song from the perspective

of a confused
Confederate soldier.

You know, who knew that
Joan Baez would do that?

And then, Joan Baez started
even incorporating, you know,

pedal steel guitar into
her own country albums.

So, all of a sudden eyes were
looking back to the South

for musical guidance.

- And, it was
into this climate that

The Allman Brothers
Band emerged.

In stark contrast to the
Hour Glass experience

Phil Walden had given the
group free reign artistically.

And, the music they
developed throughout 1969

at small venues and free
outdoor shows across the South

was steeped in the
Blues, R&B, and Soul.

By August they had entered
Atlantic studios in New York

to record their debut LP,
and though it wasn't a huge

commercial hit upon its
release, it turned the heads

of many influential critics.

After years of false starts
Duane Allman's artist vision

had finally been realized.

- I remember hearing that
first song on released album

for the first time when
I put the record on

I was hooked.

I thought, "Wow, this
deep and dark and soulful,

"and these guys
can really play."

There was something
authoritative about it.

It's a brand new band,

but they seemed
to know something

that I wanted to know.

♪I've been run down

♪I've been lied to

♪I don't know why

♪I let that mean woman
make me out a fool

♪She took all my money

♪Wrecks my new car

♪Now she's one of
my good time buddies

♪They're drinkin' in
some cross town bar

♪Sometimes I feel

♪Sometimes I feel
like I've been tied

♪To the whipping post

♪Tied to the whipping post

♪Tied to the whipping post

♪Good lord, I feel
like I'm dyin'♪

- The music the Allman
Brothers were making

it came from the same influences
as groups like Led Zepplin,

but the British bands tended
to be a little more bombastic,

a little more thudding,
whereas the Allman Brothers

were a lot smoother,

a little bit softer.

The Allman Brothers is very
much a band of dynamics.

They knew enough to lay
back when necessary.

And, they knew enough to bring
it on when they needed to.

["Dreams" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

♪Just one more mornin'

♪I had to wake up with the blues

♪Pulled myself outta bed, yeah

♪Put on my walkin' shoes

♪Went up on the mountain

- Dreams to me is about
the most fascinating song

the band ever recorded.

That's a song that's
like seven minutes long

but it never feels
seven minutes long.

It feels like it's there
and then it's over.

And, I've never had
another song do that to me,

but Dreams is one of those
things where those guys

on that day, at that
moment captured something

that nobody's ever captured
in a studio before.

And, that one song is the
one that fascinates me most

of everything they ever
recorded, because it's just so

unique and ethereal.

- It's basically
one lick droning,

but it's very hypnotic,

and Duane's solo
especially on that track,

I mean, he starts out
playing regular finger guitar

on the lead, and then
suddenly shifts into slide.

["Dreams" by The
Allman Brothers]

It's like Coltrane picking
up the soprano sax,

you know, it just takes it
to a whole different place.

- The first
southern band of the era

had arrived and album's
release marked a turning point

in American music.

When acts from below
the Mason Dixon line

finally began to make
their presence felt

on the national consciousness.

- This was gonna happen, it
was an unnatural situation

to cut off a good
quarter of the country

and an enormous
treasure house of music

from Pop music in general.

And also, our
belief in the North

that all white people were
racists simply wasn't true.

And, there were plenty,
plenty, plenty millions

of white kids in the South who

read the papers, read Life
magazine, saw all these

and started doing the same
thing, but imitated it

because they wanted
to be hip, too.

So, it was an organic process
of which the Allman Brothers

happened to pick up on
early and to come up with

a good musical concept.

- By 1970, the band
were broadening their scope

and played their first west
coast shows while continuing

to develop their live sound.

Yet, their equalibrium
was thrown off balance

when road manager Twiggs
Lyndon was arrested and charged

with murder for stabbing
to death a club owner.

With the bad now attracting
offers from booking agents

across the country a
replacement was quickly found,

Lyndon's close friend
Willie Perkins.

- The night I got hired
Duane Allman sat down with me

in their Winnebago camper that
they traveled in and said,

"Look, Twigg said you
could do this job.

"We want you to do it,
but I'm warning you

"We are the craziest
blankity blanks

"you'll ever run into.

"And, if you can do it
fine, but be warned."

And, it was kind of a
culture shock for me.

I was working at a commercial
bank, so I had short hair and

I didn't look anything like
them, but I thought like them.

And, it worked out fine.

Originally, some of the
band members were a little

put off by me because I was
more of a disciplinarian,

you know, than then
had been used too.

And Duane said, "Look,
stick with this guy,

"he's gonna be an asset,"
which was very kind of him.

And, it worked out.

- In Macon,
Duane's desire to form

a musical family was
further strengthened

by a change of accomodation.

He, Gregg, Berry Oakely, and
their respective partners

moved to a large three story
property on Vineville Avenue.

This would become their base
of operations, the big house.

- Not all the bad members
lived here, but everybody

came and went, it was
the meeting place.

When we left town we left
from here, and when the band

rehearsed they rehearsed
downstairs here.

And, we partied here,
so it was the place.

- It was truly a sense
of family, in a way

that especially Duane and
Gregg had never really had

because it was just
them and their mom.

And, this was a very
communal situation,

everybody supported each
other, helped each other.

And, it really helped
build that foundation

the Allman Brothers
had of the brotherhood.

You know, it was all
for one and one for all

and that was very true for them.

You know, they
really felt that way.

- Adding to
this sense of belonging

was the spread of
countercultural ideas
through the South.

When they had arrived in Macon
the small group of musicians

had been curiosities,
but in the new decade

of more liberal outlook and
freer attitudes and lifestyles

meant that there was a fan
base growing on their doorstep.

The first show under road
manager Willie Perkins reign

was the biggest the
band had played so far,

The Atlanta Pop Festival.

And, it was here that
they would perform to this

new southern audience.

Yet, Duane Allman came
close to missing this

huge opportunity.

- Duane was in Miami
doing some sessions,

but he said, "Don't worry,
I'll be there I'm driving up.

"I'll be done, I'll be
there in plenty of time."

Well, it was 20 or 30 minutes

before the band was on,

no cell phones in that day.

All I knew was that it
was almost time to play

and Duane wasn't there.

Well, he had gotten, in
driving up in his car,

he had gotten caught in
the interstate highway

was like a parking lot.

He just couldn't get there,
so he commandered a guy

on a motorcycle and
hopped on the back seat,

they went down the
shoulder of the road.

And, I'm standing there wringing
my hands and I'd been on

the job a month and, you
know, this is the biggest gig

and there's no Duane.

But, he just drives up
to the back gate, calmly

and my heart calms down.

He walks in, picks up his
guitar and played the gig.

- [Voiceover] This gig, along
with the Love Valley Festival

in North Carolina two
weeks later was of enormous

importance to both the
group and to the region.

Not only did it showcase
The Allman Brothers Band

in front of hundred of
thousands of young music fans,

the mass racially mixed
audience itself demonstrated

to the rest of the world that
once untrustworthy white South

had, with this new
generation, turned a corner.

- It was huge and it was
the small hippie culture

of the South being thrown
in with the young, white,

to coin a phrase
redneck population.

And it worked, it was fine.

- Love Valley and the Atlantic
Pop Fest were massively,

massively important
in introducing kind of

this new South, this new,
and I don't mean that

in the new economics South
sense, I mean this new,

underground,
counterculture South.

And, you know, the South
is always a little bit late

in coming to these things.

It was late to Punk Rock,
you know, it was late to,

you know, counterculture stuff.

I mean, because that
stuff is kind of born on

the west coast, or
New York, and London.

It was hugely
important, you know.

You had a bunch, a bunch,
a bunch, a bunch of people,

you know, with their shirts
off and their shoes off,

and long hair, and you
know, with southern accents.

You know, being very different
from, again, those images

of severe looking guys
with hoses on black people,

you know, it wasn't about that.

The generation gap was an
important issue, you know,

everywhere during that period.

It was particularly
poignant in the South.

If you were a young
southerner who didn't buy

that party line, that
had been force fed you

and, you know, for, you
know, decades, you know,

your family, or your
dad, your dad's dad,

your dad's dad's dad.

You know, this racism
had come, you know,

from generations and it
was very, very intense.

So, that generation gap there
was particularly intense.

So, you broke away from
that and you see, you know,

dad is a moonshine sipping,
beer drinking, hell raising,

PBR raising, you know guy
in a pool bar, you know,

making racist jokes.

That's very different from
the long haired hippie

sittin' at a rock festival
listening to The Allman Brothers

smoking a little dope, talking
about, you know, Kierkegaard.

- [Voiceover] And, like
the culture of the South,

the group itself was
evolving further.

Drummer Jaimoe Johannson
had introduced his bandmates

to a whole genre of music that
they were mostly unaware of,

Jazz.

This would have a major
impact on the development

of their sound.

And Duane in particular,
found a wealth of new artists

and musical ideas
to inspire him.

- The complexity, I
suppose, is the difference

between Blues and Jazz.

That's the only difference
'cause it's all the portrayal

of the feelings in the soul
in a medium other than words.

Miles Davis does the best job,
man, to me of portraying the

innermost subtlest, softest
feelings in the human psyche.

And, he does it beautifully,
he's a fascinating talent

and marvellous, marvellous
man and a great entertainer.

["So What" by Miles Davis]

- Jaimoe grew up
listening to Jazz.

Before he met Duane Allman his
plan was to move to New York

and join a Jazz band.

Duane and Gregg grew up
steeped in the Blues,

but they had really
no exposure to Jazz,

none of them did, really.

Jaimoe turned everyone on to
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis,

to Coltrane and Duane
especially was just

fascinated by that.

- [Duane] This is John Coltrane
probably one of the finest,

most accomplished, tenor
players and took his music

farther than anybody I
believe I ever heard.

I wanna play one of his
records before we go.

And, it's a little bit
farther out than the Miles

we just played, but I
believe anyone that will just

sit and listen will
really enjoy it,

it's a magnificent work.

This is, "My Favorite Things".

["My Favorite Things"
by John Coltrane]

- The Jazz that the Allman
Brothers were playing

was very primative, but
became very complicated

very fast because one of
the things about Duane

was he was an incredibly
quick learner.

If he got fascinated
by something he
learned how to do it

and he learned how to do it
fast, slide guitar perhaps

being the most obvious,
but yeah Jaimoe had

a record collection.

And, you know, when you're
a teenager, early 20s

you want to see everybody's
record collection if it's 1969,

or whatever.

That's what you had, you
had your record collection.

And so, Duane would have been
flipping through these records

seeing all these artists
he's never heard of before

in his life and saying, "I
gotta hear this, I gotta see

"what this is about."

And, once he did hear
Miles and Coltrane

and these other artists it
was obviously going to be

interpolated into
what he was doing

because he was fascinated by it.

["Call It Anything"
by Miles Davis]

I believe it was in 1969
that Miles Davis brought

his Bitches Brew band
into the Fillmore East.

["Call It Anything"
by Miles Davis]

- The exotic nature of
Miles' band on stage

at the FIllmore given
that context was like

it was like music
from another planet.

There were also at, you know,
at the very other extreme

there were horn bands,
forgotten ones like

Pacific Gas and Electric,
and Chicago Transit Authority

to a certain extent, that
were bringing elements of Jazz

into this Rock framework.

That stuff seemed as
safe as Miles seemed

wild and crazy.

The Allmans slid into
this area between those

two extremes.

It was easy to like them live.

And, that was really what
did it for the Allmans,

especially in New York.

I mean, they broke out
in New York, really.

- [Voiceover] The band's
popularity on the east coast

was hard won.

Although they had been
playing in both New York

and Boston since July 1969
their elongated musical

odysseys initially met with
resistance from promoters

and booking agents.

- I can remember one
time in Boston we went to

a presentation where
bands would come play

for all the college
buyers and they said,

"You got fifteen minutes."

And I said, "Well, you
know, we don't get one song

"done in 15 minutes."

So, that was what
we were up against.

It was definitely not a band
that made three minute singles.

- The decisive
factor in their east coast

success was Bill Graham,
the charismatic promoter

who operated the Fillmore
West in San Francisco

and the Fillmore East
in New York City.

He had been crucial in
establishing counterculture

artists such as The
Grateful Dead, Big Brother

and The Holding Company,
and the Jefferson Airplane.

Having already booked the
Hour Glass for shows in 1967

Graham was well aware of
Duane and Gregg's talent

and by 1970 The Allman
Brothers Band became regulars

at his clubs.

- He was quite a personality
and he was an actor by trade.

So, he was very theatrical
in his business dealings,

but always top drawer.

He was an early and ardent
supporter of the band

both on the east
and west coasts,

so that was a big, big help.

- For a while Bill
Graham was all they had.

And, there weren't a lot of
other concert facilities.

There was the Warehouse
in New Orleans,

Tea Party in Boston.

Bill Graham exposed
them to the audiences

that counted in San
Francisco and New York City.

The Allman Brothers were
so exotic, so different

and their music was so
warm and so inviting

that people just
fell in love with it

because no concert was ever
like the one before it.

It was always different,
something new always happened.

- While developing
an ardent live following

the band had also begun work
on their sophmore album.

Where their debut had seen
them uprooted to New York

to record, this time they
remained in the South

and travelled to Criteria
studios in Miami.

Here they were
paired with Tom Dowd,

a producer who had
made his name recording

many of their influences
including Ray Charles

and John Coltrane, and the
Criteria House Engineers,

the Albert Brothers.

- We were doing a lot
of R&B at the time.

We were doing Aretha
Franklin, we were doing

James Brown, Brook
Benton, you know,

those kind of acts.

So, when those kind of southern,
well the Allman Brothers

were the first really southern
band that came into town,

we were kind of like
scratching our heads.

We weren't sure what
that was, you know,

'cause we were used
to tight drum sounds

and tight bass sounds
and they were kind of

a loose band, more or less,
especially with two drummers

and a percussion player.

It was different than
we were used to hearing.

- The Allmans were the
totally most unique thing

that we'd ever come across.

Not because they
had a black dummer,

but because they
had two drummers,

not because they had the
greatest guitar player

in opinion in Duane Allman,
they had two guitar players.

Dickie Betts was as important
a player as Duane was

in the band.

And, now you've got Berry
Oakley who plays this amazing

melodic bass, but is just
locked into the rhythm section

with Butch Trucks and Jaimoe.

All the pieces began to
add up to this phenomenon

and then suddenly
you're implanting a B3,

which at that point I don't
think we've ever heard

a B3 sound in Rock and Roll.

And, you've got Gregg
Allman is this blue-eyed,

blond haired Soul singer
who was just an incredible

vocalist in front of this
band, but hiding behind the B3.

Who could ever imagine
a group like this?

It was really unique.

["Revival" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- And although
Duane was the band's leader

and guiding force, when
Idlewild South released

in September 1970

these other band members,
shone just as brightly.

As song writers Gregg
Allman and Dickie Betts

in particular developed
both the band's repertoire

of more accessible material
with the lengthy excursions

that served them so well live.

- Duane had a lot of
attention because he was doing

other things besides just
being one of the guitar players

in the Allman Brothers.

He was playing sessions
with Aretha Franklin,

with Wilson Pickett.

There was more attention
put towards Duane

and rightfully so because he
was such a phenomenal player

but that should not in
any way, shape, or form,

in my opinion, take
anything away from

Dickie or Gregg because

without Dickie and Gregg
there was no Allman Brothers.

It's not just Duane.

In that environment
everyone has their

particular place in time.

I can remember when
we did Midnight Rider,

Gregg came in the studio one
day, it was a little earlier

in the day, maybe 12, 1
o'clock in the afternoon,

none of the other
guys were there yet

and Tom Dowd wasn't there yet,

and Gregg was in a working
mode, he wanted to work.

So, he said, you know,
"Let's do something."

I said, "Okay, what
do you want to do?"

He goes, "I wanna
sing something."

I said, "Okay, what
do you wanna sing?"

He says, "I don't
know, pick something."

So, I walked in the
control room and I took out

the tape box and I put up
tape and scrolled it back

and it was Midnight Rider
that we were gonna work on,

so Gregg goes out in the
studio, puts his head down

and sings Midnight Rider.

And, at the end of the
song he picks his head up

he goes, "How was that?"

And, I looked to my left,
and I looked to my right

and there was no one in
the control room except me

and I was pushing talkback
button, I said, "Sounded great."

That's the vocal,
that's Midnight Rider,

one take, nobody
there, just Gregg.

♪Well, I've got to run

♪To keep from hidin'

♪And I'm bound

♪To keep on ridin'

♪And I've got one more

♪Silver dollar

♪But I'm not gonna
let 'em catch me, no

♪Not gonna let 'em catch
the Midnight Rider♪

That magic that he
possessed should never go,

you know, overlooked.

He's just an incredible
singer, an incredible talent,

but happened to be blessed
to have this magnificent

brother's abilities so
it was a balancing act.

["Midnight Rider" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

♪and I don't own the
clothes I'm wearin'

♪And the road goes on forever

♪And I've got one
more silver dollar

♪But I'm not gonna
let 'em catch, no

♪Not gonna let 'em catch
the Midnight Rider♪

- Midnight Rider has
sort of become synonymous

with The Allman
Brothers, hasn't it?

Probably because, you know,
the lyrics became true.

"I've got to run to
keep from hidin'"

and "the road goes on
forever," it certainly has.

You know, it's a classic
Southern Gothic song,

it has all that darkness
and intrigue and mystery.

- It's probably Gregg's
most well crafted song.

And, it's got that Country
feel underneath it,

but it also has that
swampy, ominous undertone.

And, it just came to
define the part of

The Allman Brothers Band
that's separate from the jams

and, you know, that's a song
and they've never really

varied from the
original arrangement,

they don't add long solos.

They're playing a song.

- As important
as Criteria Studios was for

the recording of the
band's second album,

it was also the location of
an even more celebrated work

featuring Duane Allman.

Before the release of
Idlewild South Eric Clapton

had arrived with his new
ensemble, Derek and the Dominos.

A massive influence
on Duane, particularly

with his band Cream, whose
elongated Blues based

instrumental jams had
prefigured the work of

The Allman Brothers Band.

Clapton was at the time
desperate to back out

of the spotlight.

Tired of his guitar god status,
he'd stolen his latest group

from husband and wife band
leaders Delaney and Bonnie.

And, they had come to
Miami to begin work

with Tom Dowd on a record.

Yet, by chance Duane became a
key part of the proceedings.

- The Allman Brothers
were playing in Miami,

playing a live show at
the High Life [mumbles].

When Tom Dowd told Eric
Clapton that the Allmans

were in town, or coming to
town we were at the studio

working on the Derek
and the Dominos album.

We left the studio to go see
the show, and after the show

we all caravaned
back to the studio.

- We had a show
in Miami and Duane

had spoken to Tom Dowd about,

"Is there anyway
I can meet Eric."

And then, I think at the
same time Eric was saying,

"Oh, that's the guy
that played Hey Jude

"with Wilson Pickett, is there
anyway we can get together?"

So, we were playing at outdoor
show there in North Miami

and there was like
a photographers pit

in front of the stage and
all of a sudden everybody

looked down and there's
Tom Dowd and Eric

and Bobby Whitlock,
and Duane actually

stopped playing, you know.

And, it was like,
"Wow, they're here."

And then afterwards, we went to

Criteria.

- Eric and Duane were so
incredibly magically connected

that there was no
way to separate them.

When they started
playing together

they weren't gonna stop,
nothing was gonna stop them.

- We actually left Duane
there and went and played

maybe three or four shows
in the Midwest without him

'cause he said, you
know, "I wanna do this,

"I'll only miss one show."

And then he called and
said, "Well, I'm gonna miss

"a couple more."

So, we covered for him.

He wasn't doing it
as a career move,

he was doing it because they
hit a musical note together

and a personal note.

And, he was just proud
to be a part of it.

I'm sure he was hopeful
of being introduced

to a wider audience as well.

- Allman had joined
the sessions early enough

to make a real difference
to the material.

And, with Clapton looking
to retreat from the kind of

lead guitar virtuosity
that had made him so famous

he allowed Duane
ample room to shine.

- It was only a short period
of time, I don't think

we recorded more than
maybe a week or ten days

prior to The Allman
Brothers' concert in Miami

that was kind of the catalyst
that put all that together.

My recollection is that
we recorded three songs

for Derek and the
Dominos without Duane,

only three songs.

So, Duane was a huge
part of that record.

It wasn't an after fact,
although he wasn't part of

the plan, it soon became
that when Duane is now

part of the band, or at
least sitting in the studio

with them.

Everything was recorded live.

So, they were very affected,
they meaning the band,

was very affected
bu Duane's presence.

The uniqueness of having
two guitar players

made that environment
exciting for everyone.

- [Duane] Eric Clapton
man, let's talk about him.

He's a gas, he's a real fine cat

and I considered it a privilege,
you know, and an honor

to play on his Derek
and Dominos album.

- [Voiceover] He has nice
things to say about you

in the issue of Rolling
Stone last year.

- [Duane] Man, it just tickles
me to death to hear him

say anything about me ever, man.

He wrote the book,
man, you know?

Just Contemporary White Blues
Guitar, Volume One, you know.

But, it's his style and
his technique is what's

really amazing.

He's got a lot to say, too,
but man, the way he says it

it just knocks me out,
man, it does so well, man.

- Here you got Duane Allman
who's respected and idolized

by Eric Clapton.

And, you've got Eric Clapton
who's idolized and respected

by Duane Allman.

Duane's gonna make Eric
more excited and better,

bring out the best in Eric.

Eric's gonna make Duane
excited and bring out

the best in Duane.

You got Bobby Whitlock
who's a phenomenal singer,

making Eric vocally
that much better,

because they're excited about
performing with each other.

The success or the failure
of the record is somewhat

negligible at that point,
nobody really cares.

Everybody thinks when
they're in the studio

that they're making a hit.

But, when you're making the
performance in the studio,

it isn't about selling records,
it's about having a great

opportunity to make
this great performance.

If it sells, it sells,
if it doesn't it's still

a great performance.

["Any Day" by Derek
and the Dominos]

- [Voiceover] Released in
November 1970 despite a positive

critical reception the album
Layla and Other Assorted

Love Songs was not the instant
hit that many predicted.

Yet, it slowly grew in
stature with its title track

in particular becoming
a Rock standard.

And, over time the lyrical
inspiration for the song

and Duane Allman's
prominent contribution to it

became known.

- Layla started out as a ballad.

It was written for Pattie
Harrison who was married

to George Harrison.

And, Clapton was madly
in love with her.

And, Layla was sort of his
outpouring of love for Pattie.

Duane heard it and thought
they should speed it up

and he's like,
"What about this?"

And, he played a
little intro lick.

It was based on
Albert King's song,

As the Years Go Passing By.

["As the Years Go Passing
By" by Albert King]

♪There is nothing I can do

♪If you leave me here to cry

♪There is nothing I can do

♪If you leave me here to cry

- That became Layla, that
became one of the classic guitar

intros to any rock song.

["Layla" by Derek
and the Dominos]

- The entrance of Duane
into Clapton's world

I think was huge.

He'd already been opened
up by Delaney Bramlett

to American Roots music, but
he hadn't, up to that point

encountered a peer, someone
who could duke it out with him,

all night long.

And, that record

is just a sensational

document of this summit meeting.

♪Layla

♪You've got me on my knees

♪Layla

♪I'm beggin' darlin' please

♪Layla

♪Darlin' won't you
ease my worried mind♪

At that point Clapton was
as inspired by the presence

of this other extraordinarily
talented guitar player

as he was by any of the
backstory that we know about

Pattie Harrison.

Yeah, that language feeds
into the writing of songs

and perhaps the vocals,
but there's something else

going on altogether
on that record

that's even more compelling,

it's in a purely musical sense.

["Layla" by Derek
and the Dominos]

- Layla's a great
record now, and

without Duane Allman
it simply would not be.

The real reason the record
is great is that there's two

great guitar players there
and you can hear them dueling

and supporting each other.

That's the fantastic
thing about the record.

And, it doesn't happen in
The Allman Brothers Band

because Betts isn't Clapton.

It's very, very unusual.

Has there ever been a record
on which two guitar players

of that magnitude duet?

It's beloved and it deserves
to be beloved, it's a monument.

It's really a tremendous record.

- Returning to
the band that bore his name

after his brief
stint with Clapton,

Duane Allman was immediately
thrown into an extensive tour.

With Idlewild South released
but under performing

commercially, The Allman
Brothers Band took to the road

with an unforgiving schedule
that saw them play dates

across the country.

- When you look at the
Allmans as a unit, you know,

and you remember how
difficult it must have been

even for them just to
be transported from
spot A to spot B,

I mean, you know, two
drummers, two guitar players,

a bass player, a keyboard
player, all that equipment,

a B3, Leslies, you know,
just going to a restaurant,

everything becomes an issue
because everybody can't

fit into the car and go,
"Let's run down the street."

So, you know, nothing
was easy for those guys.

They worked hard
and they deserved
everything that they got.

- The work ethic was very
strong, I mean we literally

went up and down the highway.

I mean, going to New
York was like going to

the corner grocery to
get a loaf of bread.

We were ready to go,
and we stayed out.

I think we were on the
road like in 1970 maybe

counting the travel over
300 days out of 365.

So, we stayed working.

- The
constant touring did take

its toll, however.

Behind the scenes the band
had gone from dabbling

in hallucinogens to fully
developed heroine addictions.

With Duane himself
almost fatally overdosing

in October 1970.

Yet, despite these struggles
on stage he was winning over

audiences across the country.

And, in an age of rockstar
excess was redefining

the very idea of
a guitar virtuoso.

- Duane Allman was
never a showman.

That was of very
little interest to him.

He was about making music,

and that was it.

He used to talk about how,

"We don't wear costumes
and we don't wiggle

"our asses on stage, we're
not into any of that.

"If you want to come hear
us make music then come.

"If you want the other
stuff, don't come."

["In Memory of Elizabeth Reed"
by The Allman Brothers Band]

- I think Duane was
the anti-guitar guy.

It's almost as if it's
a kind of an intimacy

that the audience is
allowed to particpate in

rather than, you know,
the other extreme,

you know, Led Zepplin
expansiveness,

where it's the show,

it's putting it out there.

And, that's great, too.

["Bring It On Home"
by Led Zepplin]

♪Try to tell you baby

♪What you tryin' to do

♪You're tryin' to love me baby

♪Love another man, too

♪Bring it on home

♪Sweetest little--

- But it's different,
and there's more show

in rock, or there was at that
time, probably always will be,

than there is this illumination

of an artist

in the process of making art.

Without being flashy
he was mesmerizing.

There was this look
of ecstasy on his face

when he was getting really
into it that was palpable

that he sort of became the
only thing in the room.

And, no amount of showmanship

can really compare to,

you know, to witnessing
this moment of ecstasy

on the part of an
extraordinary virtuoso.

- [Voiceover] And, it was this
spontaneity and improvised

fluidity that the group
decided to capture

on their next album.

After the commercial
disappointments of
the first two LPs

in March 1971 The Allman
Brothers Band were recorded

across two nights at Bill
Graham's Fillmore East

in New York.

Upon its release the resultant
double album finally achieved

sales to match the
band's critical acclaim

and it broke into
the U.S. top twenty.

- I remember early on there
was like a sales thermometer

for the first album,
you know a big guy.

And, the mercury never
[laughs] never got up,

it was all still in the bottom.

And, you know, we
kept saying, "Wow."

And then, you know, the second
album, a little bit better,

but again the faith
and the wherewithal

and the knowledge to go ahead
and do that Fillmore album,

that took a lot of insight
on everybody's part.

- It's quite frankly
very unusual for a band

of that statue, in terms of
existence, they'd only done

two albums, to do a
live album at that point

was somewhat interesting.

I'm not sure that anyone
would have looked back on it

and said, "Okay, now's the
time to drop a live album."

'Cause, quite frankly they
didn't have that many songs yet.

Again, a double album, you know,

none of it made any
sense, but it worked.

["Hot 'Lanta" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- Neither the first album,
nor the second album

really got across what
they're capable of live,

which is these long
improvisations, and you know,

you have to remember
the Grateful Dead

was huge at this time, too.

So, you had people wanting
this live extended jams.

It's not like it was in
a vacuum or anything.

You had a lot of hippies
wanting to listen to

these long extended jams.

And, the Allman Brothers
were great at that.

Those first two albums
did not get that across.

So, I think it was
hugely important for them

to go ahead and get
a live album out.

And, of course, the
Fillmore album became like

one of the greatest live
albums ever recorded.

["Hot 'Lanta" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- No one had ever put out
a double live album before.

That was a gamble, that
was almost wreckless.

Two sides of the album
each had one song.

Who does that?

But, you know, they
all knew, Phil Walden

that they came alive when
they were on concert stage.

And, the best way to
turn people on to what

the Allman Brothers were about
was releasing a live album.

It captured a brilliant
Rock and Roll band

on a very brilliant
two night stand.

I don't know if they ever
sounded that good after that,

but that night they soared.

That's the album
that turned it around

for the Allman Brothers.

It was their first top
twenty album and it really

set the stage for
everything that came after.

- A decade
after forming the Uniques

back in Daytona Beach Duane
Allman had finally reached

a mass audience.

While the Fillmore East
album rose up the charts

and pushed The Allman Brothers
Band into the mainstream

the group themselves continued
with their relentless

touring schedule.

In August, 1971 Duane took a
short break joining the band

Cowboy who he introduced
to Capricorn Records

the year before in Muscle
Shoals sound studios

for sessions for
their second LP.

He also attended the
funeral of King Curtis,

the saxophone virtuoso
who he had recorded with

and befriended in Muscle Shoals.

By September however, he
was back in the studio

with the band for the
recording of a new album

and with a hit record behind
them things had changed.

- After the success of
the Fillmore East album

for The Allmans the
pressure was on.

They were no longer a "Southern
Band" or "Boogie Band"

or whatever, they were
now a top shelf act,

hugely successful,

having to go back to the studio

and create another record.

The pressure's on.

- This time
the band split their

recording duties with
continued touring

and despite being present
for a number of the sessions

Duane Allman would
never complete his
work on the new album.

Having relentlessly pursued
his singular musical vision

for the best part of a decade
through different projects,

venues, and studios across
America, his band was finally

achieving recognition both in
the U.S. and internationally.

And, his guitar technique
and his musical sensibility

were continuing to develop.

Yet, on October the 29th,
1971 a life of passion

and inspiration came
to a sudden end.

- There had been a break
in touring because the band

members went into rehab

to clean up the heroin use,

and Duane had come
out of that clean,

as far as heroin,
and in good spirits.

Had been in New York, we were
on just a little hiatus there,

the band said, "Willie, you
and your wife take a trip

"to the Bahamas for a few days."

Great.

Got on the plane,
checked in to the hotel

right around dinner time.

Seven o'clock got a
call from Bunky Odom,

one of the employees
at Walden's management

and said, "There's been a
terrible accident with Duane

"and we don't know
the outcome now."

- I was at the studio when
I got the news and the news

came in the way that was not,
it wasn't a fatal accident

at that point,
they weren't sure.

The information was sketchy.

They weren't sure how serious
of an accident it was,

but we knew that
there was an accident,

a motorcycle accident.

And we all just, you know,
basically just held our breath

and hoped for the best.

- It was big Linda's birthday,
she was Berry's wife.

Duane was driving over to West
Macon on his Harley Davidson

Sportster, behind him
was Candice Oakley,

who was Berry's sister
and Duane's girlfriend
was in the car

with her.

Coming in the other
direction was a flat bed

construction truck and it
had a crane on the back

for lumber.

Duane's driving, truck
turns in front of him.

No sweat, because by the
time Duane gets there

the truck's gonna be gone,

except there was a big pot
hole at the intersection.

Truck stops, blocking
Duane's path.

By that time he'd either
had to lay the bike down

or hope he could
somehow swing around it.

There was a big iron ball
on the bottom of the crane,

apparently that hit either
Duane or the motorcycle.

Duane flies off the motorcycle,

motorcycle flies up in the
air and it slams into Duane,

and he passed away
just a few hours later.

- Phil Walden and his
wife had been in Bimini

for a little vacation
so he and I met

at the Miami airport,

flew back we were in Macon
by midday on Saturday.

And, of course, put the
funeral plans in motion,

but what a shock, what a shock.

- On November
the 1st, 1971 Duane Allman

was buried in Rose
Hills Cemetery in Macon,

so often the location of his
group's night time diversions.

Only 24 years old when
he died the hole he left

in The Allman Brothers Band
was potentially unfillable.

And, many speculated that
without their leader the group

wouldn't be able to continue.

- It was like, "What
are we gonna do now?"

I think at the funeral
when the band played

I said, "We're
gonna be all right."

I mean, it's not
gonna be the same

but we're gonna go forward.

My fear was gone at the
funeral when they played,

boy what a moving
thing that was.

And, pretty quickly they had to,

we were, you know,

back on the road.

But, not with the idea
we gotta go, you know,

we gotta go grab the money.

It was just like we gotta
keep this thing going.

- [Voiceover] In
February, 1972 the final

Allman Brothers Band album LP

to feature its founding
member was released,

Eat a Peach.

With Duane absent on
only three tracks across

the double album this
collection of live

and studio material provided
listeners with some of

the guitarists most
impressive work and it became

the band's first album to
break the U.S. top ten.

- Duane's death probably
had some sort of effect

on the success of Eat a Peach.

There's always going
to be that element

that, you know, Jimi
Hendrix is dead,

let's run out and
buy all his records,

but at the same time that was

an amazing, amazing work
that they had put together.

The thing that sold
everybody on that record

was Mountain Jam, because
that was a monumental

piece of work.

It was quite a hell of
a swan song for Duane.

["Mountain Jam" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- Mountain Jam which goes
on for what, 25, 30 minutes?

Duane's solo in
that is phenomenal.

It's just like
listening to Coltrane.

It's like listening to Miles.

He starts and ends up
here and goes to a lot

of interesting
places in between.

- Although Duane's
performances on the live

recordings captured the best
of improvisational techniques

the album was perhaps most
notable in that it contained

his only original composition.

The melody of the track
Little Martha came to Duane

in a dream in which
it was played to him

by the recently
deceased Jimi Hendrix.

And, the resultant
guitar duet aptly brought

Eat a Peach to a close.

The name of it was sort of a

bringing together two
things in his life.

At Rose Hills cemetary there's
a statue of a little girl

named Martha Ellis who died
when she was around eleven,

and everyone called
her Little Martha,

but also Duane's girlfriend,
he nicknamed her Little Martha.

That's the only song he's
credited with writing.

I mean, he helped
with arangements,

but that the only song he wrote.

And, it's just a
beautiful, sweet,

loving song.

["Little Martha" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- I think it's incredibly
fortunate for the rest of

those guys that Duane
had cut Little Martha

because its a poem.

It's obviously rendered

even more poignant by
virtue of the reality,

but it just a sublime

little piece that not only shows

his dextrousness,

I mean everything he played
did, but showed a gentle,

really touching part of
him that you don't get

in the cranked up stuff.

So, to be able to just open
a curtain before you close it

for the last time and
have this revealed?

That's a sensational
moment, you know.

["Little Martha" by The
Allman Brothers Band]

- It's fitting that it
closes the studio side of

Eat a Peach.

And, because it is just

the perfect

way of saying goodbye.

- The success of
the album established the band

as one of America's
premier Rock acts.

Through 1972 both the venues
and the audiences increased

and Dickie Betts in
particular began to shine

bother as a lead
guitartist and song writer.

Yet, behind the scenes
the band members

had in no way recovered
from Duane's death.

And without his leadership
and passion they were lost.

- To me that's, even
though the money days

and the record sales were
gonna be astronomical

from that point on
you could almost feel

that, you know, it's
gonna be down hill.

We're gonna go on, but there
was no replacing Duane.

he was a natural leader and
nobody really blossomed.

Nobody really blossomed.

He was irreplacable,
the band went on,

the band was different,
the music was different,

but he was just
irreplaceable and nobody

could fill his shoes.

So, that, again, even though
there was much financial

success after that
it was basically
downhill from there on.

- And, no one
was going downhill faster

than bassist Berry Oakley.

Having been the reason for
Duane's trip to Jacksonville

that had resulted in the band
forming in the first place

Oakley was Allman's closest
friend in the ensemble

and after the guitarist's
death he was thrown into

a position of responsibility
that he could never live up to.

- The sad thing
about Berry was that

when he lost Duane
he lost himself.

A lot of things happened.

He was pressured into, "Nobody
else wants to lead this thing

"and you were closest to
him, so you be the leader.

"You're the one that's
been organizing stuff

"at the big house and when
we have the big dinners

"and stuff that you, and when
we wanna have jam sessions

"you're the one that
puts them all together.

"You're the organized
guy, you be in charge."

And, it was something
that he couldn't handle.

And, the loss of
Duane was something

that he couldn't handle.

And so, he began to do as
you do alcohol and drugs

began to take their toll
on him to such an extent

that that was one of those you
could almost see in advance.

- Berry Oakley died
on November the 11th, 1972.

Killed in a motorcycle
accident that occurred

less than a mile fom the one
that had taken Duane Allman

just a year beforehand.

Despite this second loss,
again the band persevered.

Yet, their musical vitality
would begin to slowly diminish.

But, in the wake of these
two deaths an entire scene

began to blossom both
through groups signed

to Phil Walden's Capricorn
Records and acts emerging

on other labels.

The inspiration and
the example set by

The Allman Brother's
Band, and in particular

Duane Allman himself
developed into a significant

new musical movement,
Southern Rock.

- We're gonna try to play
one as best as we can for

Duane Allman and Berry Oakley
from The Allman Brothers.

They were free birds, people.

[cheers]

["Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynard]

- Duane Allman was
absolutely an essential

in like setting
that template for

the Southern Rock guitarist.

Everybody wanted to
be like Duane Allman.

Everybody who formed a band
after that whether, you know,

whether it was Charlie
Daniels who'd been in music

for a long time, but formed
the Charlie Daniels Band,

or the Marshall Tucker Band,
or the guys in Lynard Skynard

they all had guitarists
that dueled with each other

and that, you know,
brought out the bottle neck

every once in a while and
jammed like the Allman Brothers,

and specifically
like Duane Allman.

Ed King, the guitar player
for Lynyrd Skynyrd, actually

the only non southerner
he was in a band called

Strawberry Alarm Clock,
a psychedelic Pop band

in California.

He saw Duane Allman play
at the Roxy or the Whiskey

and came to the South and
decided I don't wanna be

incense and peppermints
anymore, I wanna be

like Duane Allman.

That's how massively
important Duane Allman is,

and he ended up writing the,
you know, Sweet Home Alabama

So, you know, yeah he
was hugely important.

["Sweet Home Alabama"
by Lynyrd Skynyrd]

- [Voiceover] By the mid 1970s
the movement was at its peak.

With Macon successfully
transformed into one of the most

vital musical
centers in America.

The Allman Brothers Band
and other acts became key

supporters in former Georgian
Governor Jimmy Carter's

successful 1976
Presidential campaign.

And, the South had
finally re-emerged

from its musical exile.

- The Allman Brothers
Band were the flagship

of the Capricorn Records.

They took off first and
that's what Phil focused on.

Duane was the first one,
he latched onto Duane

and Duane built it into what
it is, the world is embracing

what they're doing
and with their success

all the other bands
started moving to town.

And, you could come to Macon
at one time just to hook up.

The South had had so much
negative press forever,

since the Civil War, but here
was something kind of positive

that southern people
embraced the kind of music

we were putting out.

And, again that was the
word, it was positive,

a positive face was on it.

- And although,
this wave of activity died down

by the 1980s as new movements
and musical trends emerged.

Duane Allman's
achievements remain intact.

He only left behind a relatively
small number of recordings

captured across a brief career,
yet his position as one of

the creative and genuinely
original guitarists in rock

continues to grow as he's
rediscovered by new generations

of listeners.

- A lot of people who never
heard him play have gone back

and listened and
they say, "Wow."

You know, I mean you hear
people that maybe were

just barely born at the time,
but now that they've heard

his music they recognize
what a musical genius he was.

And, he is getting
his recognition now.

- Let's face the facts,

Duane was 24 years
old when he died.

He had an effective
career of 3, 4, 5 years.

He'd only played the
guitar for maybe 10 years.

He'd only picked up the
slide guitar last three years

of his life.

And, despite all that
look at his body of work.

Does he belong in the same
breath as Hendrix, and Clapton,

and Jimmy Page?

Hell yeah.

I'd be willing to argue
with anyone, Duane Allman's

the greatest guitar
player that ever lived.