Duane Allman would have turned 72 today. Hailed as one of the best guitar players ever, his presence is still felt nearly 50 years after his untimely death in 1971. Most of us have an album or song we can say changed out lives. I can truly say the ABB Fillmore album did it for me.
Our buddy Jane Porras is celebrating her 29th birthday on Sunday at The Lounge on North 7th St. Big Daddy will be playing and will most likely be joined by a cast of thousands. Stop by.
The annual harp blowout takes place on Saturday afternoon at the Rhythm Room. Lots of windy players will be on hand. Big fun!
Thanks to those of you who have suggested headliners for BB '19. We're still sorting through them and will have to come to a decision PDQ. It's getting closer.
Beautiful weather for getting out and about.
Our neighbors in California have had a hulluva time lately and it's not over. So hug somebody this week.
Make yourselves feel good and your hugee as well.
Sincerely,
Jim Crawford, PBS
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Despite the name Allman Brothers Band, the legendary Southern rock group only included two brothers - Duane Allman and Gregg Allman. After Gregg's death on Saturday, May 27 at age 69, both are gone. Duane Allman was one of the greatest guitar players to ever live, recording a mind-blowing body of work in just 24 years of life. Duane was born on November 20, 1946, just 13 months before his brother Gregg. The brothers were born to Willis Allman, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II, and Geraldine Allman. Almost exactly two years after Gregg's birth, their father was murdered. Duane died on October 29, 1971 in a motorcycle crash, just months after the Allman Brothers Band began having their own chart success with the legendary live album At Fillmore East. He was survived by two children, including Galadrielle Allman. Here is what you need to know about Duane Allman. 1. Daughter Galadrielle Wrote a Book About Her Father, Despite Having No Memory of Him In 2014, Galadrielle wrote a book about her famous father, "Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman." Born in 1969, she was only two years old when Duane died, but she learned much about his life while touring with the Allman Brothers Band and interviewing her grandmother in Daytona Beach. She went on the road for two years for research for the book. "He died just shy of his 25th birthday and he accomplished so much," Galadrielle told SFGate at her North Berkeley home. There, she has Duane's favorite Les Paul guitar and other Gibson guitars her father used. Her mother was Donna Allman, who was Duane's common-law wife. Nine months before her death, Allman forced Donna and his daughter to leave the "Big House," a communal home where the Allman Brothers Band's wives and children stayed. Donna Allman now lives in Oakland. "My closest friends knew, but being Duane Allman's daughter wasn't part of my identity at all," Galadrielle told SFGate in 2014. "I was a punk rock teenager, and I was living in a culture where that wasn't cool." Before his relationship with Donna, Duane did have a daughter with Patty Chanley. The daughter was born deaf. 2. Duane Performed the Lead Guitar on Eric Clapton's 'Layla' & Wrote the Signature Riff While "Layla" is a song most associated with Eric Clapton, it's Duane's incredible guitar playing that makes it a key part of rock history. The song appears on the album Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs by "Derek and the Dominoes," a group Clapton set up for just one album. During a break from the Allman Brothers Band, Duane played on the album as a guest musician, contributing the famous guitar parts to the title track. According to an Eric Clapton fan site, it was producer Tom Dowd who was responsible for introducing the two guitarists. Dowd got a call from Clapton's manager, Robert Stigwood, while he produced the Allmans' Idlewild South album. Clapton wanted to take Derek and the Dominoes to Miami to work with Dowd. When Clapton arrived in Miami, he saw the Allman Brothers Band perform and was stunned by Duane's playing. They jammed together all night and then he contributed to Layla. Duane made dozens of recordings outside the Allman Brothers Band. He worked with Boz Scaggs, Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, King Curtis, John P. Hammond, Otis Rush and even Aretha Franklin. When you hear Pickett's version of The Beatles' "Hey Jude," that's Duane playing the lead guitar. "The only lessons Duane had was us sitting around the house - trial and error," Gregg Allman recalled in a 1981 Guitar Player Magazine interview. "And then he had a friend named Jim Shepley, who was a couple of years older and had started a couple of years before. He's the one that turned us on to all the Jimmy Reed records. He had a bunch of those hot licks down, and I thought, 'Man, this guy is something else!' And so Duane sat with him all the time. Even before Duane quit school, they would skip classes and shoot pool and play guitars. He learned a whole lot from Shepley, and that was probably his best friend back then." 3. Gregg Wrote 'Ain't Waistin' Time No More' as a Tribute to Duane The Allman Bothers Band's Eat a Peach was the first album released after Duane's death. The record is a mix of recordings made before and after he died. One of the centerpieces to the album recorded after his death was "Ain't Waistin' No Time," Gregg's tribute to his brother. It's the opening song and was released as a single. After Duane's death, Rolling Stone published a profile of the band, looking at how they could continue without their guitarist. He truly admired his older brother, especially his rebellious streak. "Duane was sure a bastard when he was a kid," Gregg told Rolling Stone in 1973. "He quit school, I don't know how many times. Got thrown out a few times too. But he had that motorcycle and drove it until it finally just fell apart. When it did, he quit school. While I was gone, he'd grab my axe and start picking. Pretty soon we had fights over the damn thing, so when it came around to our birthdays - mine was in December and his was in November - we both got one. I got mine a little earlier than my birthday, actually. Matter of fact, I put hands on my first electric guitar November 10th, 1960, at three o'clock that Saturday afternoon. Duane's guitar got into the picture shortly after that." Incredibly, the band had to survive another tragedy almost a year to the date of Duane's death when bassist Berry Oakley died in a motorcycle crash at almost the same spot where Duane died. "I wish he was here with me," Gregg told Vh1 in 2014. "He died right before the big success hit and immediately I thought he was shortchanged." 4. Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Free Bird' Was Dedicated to Duane, But Not Written for him Although Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" was written before Duane died, it became a tribute to Allman in performances after his death. During a 1976 show in England, Ronnie Van Zant even tells pianist Billy Powell to "Play it for Duane Allman." However, contrary to popular belief, the epic song was not written for Duane. Released on the 1973 album (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), the song was written by Van Zant with Allen Collins. It was inspired by Collins' future wife Kathy, who asked him, "If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?" That became the opening line of the song. After Oakley died, Van Zant added that they are "both free birds" before the band performed it on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1975. In the years since Duane's death, there have been countless other tributes to him. For example, in 1998, the Georgia State Legislature renamed a section of highway in Macon "Duane Allman Boulevard." 5. Gregg Called the First Albums They Recorded a 'Shit Sandwich' Before the Allman Brothers Band that we all know came together, the Allman brothers were in several different outfits. Duane's first group was balled The Escorts, then the brothers created the Allman Joys. They got a record deal in 1967 as a group called "Hour Glass." They recorded two albums that sound drastically different from the Southern rock they pioneered later. The two albums were released by Liberty Records, which convinced the brothers that they would make them the next Rolling Stones, Gregg told Rolling Stone in 1973. But it wasn't their kind of music. "Together those two records form what is commonly known as a shit sandwich," Gragg told Rolling Stone. "Liberty was paying all our expenses for us until we earned enough to pay them back." They gave up on trying to make it in Los Angeles and headed back to their familiar territory. Duane later got stuck at Muscle Shoals, Alabama as a session guitarist, but his work impressed Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler. Allman eventually got tired of this and headed back to Jacksonville, Florida. By March 1969, the line-up of the Allman Brothers Band that would be successful was born. The group only recorded two studio albums - The Allman Brothers Band (1969) and Idlewild South (1970) - and the live album At Fillmore East (1971) before Duane's death. Although he never recorded a solo album during his lifetime, a compilation album called Duane Allman: An Anthology was released in 1972. It's made up of Allman Brothers Band songs, as well as records where he is a featured session musician. "He was a pretty outrageous type, man. He was a great person, though, and he had musical abilities that just were phenomenal," musician Jim Shepley said in an interview for Guitar Player Magazine in 1981. "Later on when he started to make it and he and Gregg took me down to Macon to produce an album, I was in awe of him. I had a great amount of respect for him. I could just see that he was gonna be a truly great influence on American music." |
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| Out & About Tuesday, November 20 Chuck Hall (solo), 3 p.m., Page Springs Cellars, Cornville Wednesday, November 21 Chuck Hall (solo) Corrado's, 6 p.m., Carefree Thursday, November 22 Eric Ramsey Hosts OPEN MIC, 6 p.m., Fatso's Pizza, Phoenix Hans Olson (EVERY THURSDAY), 6 p.m., Handlebar, Apache Junction Arizona Blues Project, 8 p.m., Harold's, Cave Creek Friday, November 23 Sugar Thieves, 8 p.m., Rhythm Room, Phoenix Rocket 88s, Rosie McCaffery's, Phoenix JC & The Juke Rockers, 7 p.m., Handlebar, Apache Junction Hoodoo Casters, 6 p.m., Desert Eagle Falcon Field, Mesa
Blues Review Band, 6:30 p.m., Stone & Barrel, Sun Lakes
Eric Ramsey/Robbie Roberson, 5:30 p.m., Cactus Jack's, Phoenix
Saturday, November 24 Rocket 88s Host Harmonica Blowout, 2 p.m., Rhythm Room, Phoenix Soul Power Band, 9 p.m., Rhythm Room, Phoenix Chuck Hall Band, 7:30 p.m., Janey's, Cave Creek Sugar Thieves, 3 p.m., Biltmore Fashion Park, Phoenix
Blues Review Band, 11 a.m., Desert Wind H-D, Mesa
Carvin Jones, 2 p.m., Roadhouse, Scottsdale Carvin Jones, 7:30 p.m., Rags, Youngtown Paris James, 6:30 p.m., D'Vine Wine, Chandler Sunday, November 25 Hans Olson, NOON, Fatso's, Phoenix True Flavor Blues, NOON , Copper Star, Phoenix Monday, November 26 |
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| Weekly Jams
Rocket 88s JAM, 4 p.m., Chopper John's, Phoenix
Bourbon Jack's JAM w/Kody Herring, 6 p.m., Chandler
Sir Harrison, JAM every other Sunday, The Windsock, Prescott
MONDAY
Bam Bam & Badness Open JAM, 9 p.m., Char's, Phoenix
Weatherford Hotel JAM, 6:30 p.m., Flagstaff
TUESDAY
JAM Sir Harrison, 9 p.m., Char's, Phoenix
Rocket 88s, JAM, 6 p.m., The Last Stop (Old Hideaway West), Phoenix
Gypsy's Bluesday Night JAM, 7 p.m. Pho Cao, Tempe
Tailgaters JAM, 7 p.m., Glendale
WEDNESDAY Tool Shed NEW JAM Party, 6 p.m. Gabby's, Mesa
THURSDAY Tool Shed JAM Party, 7 p.m., Steel Horse Saloon, Phoenix Jolie's Place JAM w/Adrenaline, 9 p.m., Chandler
Friday
Saturday Bumpin' Bud's JAM 2nd & 4th Saturdays JAM, 6 p.m., Marc's Sports Grill |
GOT BLUES? I f you are a Blues musician, a group, or a club that features Blues music, and would like to be listed, please send your info to [email protected] and we'll be happy to list your event in our weekly Out & About section of the newsletter |
Moved? Changed email addresses? Please let us know of any changes in your address, email, or phone number so we can keep you informed about the Blues community in Arizona. or write to: Phoenix Blues Society P.O. Box 36874 Phoenix, Arizona 85067 |
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