One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band (50 page)

BUTCH TRUCKS:
I still have no idea what Derek is going to do. Every time he plays something it’s a surprise and it’s astounding what that says about his musical depth. He just blows me away. I’ve played with a lot of really great guitar players, and after a while you start to know what they’re going to do; they get predictable. Derek is still not predictable.

Family Matters: Derek Trucks and Butch Trucks.

ALLMAN:
I still really like to play acoustic guitar, though me and electric guitars have parted ways. It’s like having a dragon on a leash. Those things scare me. You can’t make up for talent and chops with volume, I will guarantee you that. I understand about tone and all that, and I understand that a really good guitar player adds a hell of a lot to a group. It’s just that guitar players are so crazy, man.

CHAPTER

29

The Road Goes on Forever

I
N
2008,
THE
band skipped their annual Beacon run as Gregg Allman underwent twenty-four weeks of Interferon treatment for hepatitis C. The band played their Wanee Festival in April without him, with a host of guests helping round out the “Wanee Family Band.” Allman returned to the stage in August for an abbreviated summer tour.

The following year, the band turned their fifteen Beacon appearances into a celebration of their fortieth anniversary. Every night except one—March 26, the actual anniversary of the band’s first rehearsal—featured special guests, including Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Scott Boyer, Levon Helm, Taj Mahal, Boz Scaggs, Buddy Guy, the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, Phish’s Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell, Jimmy Herring, Johnny Winter, and Sheryl Crow. Dickey Betts was invited to return for three songs one night and seriously considered the offer, but never actually responded. The run took the band’s growing habit of welcoming special guests to the Beacon stage to its logical conclusion.

HAYNES:
I think the tradition of having series of guests at the Beacon just happened organically. Since I lived in New York, I probably knew more people and that played a part in who came. In the beginning, there were only certain people that we felt comfortable bringing on stage and then the band grew more and more open to having other people join us. We’ve all been of the mind-set that there’s a certain type of musician that can come up and add to rather than subtract from the Allman Brothers sound. There has to be a trust factor that things will elevate—or at least stay the same. Everyone would be very wary of making the wrong decision.

As that became easier to do and we began to have more and more people sit in, then of course the task became “If so and so is going to play, what is the song that they would add the most to?”

I enjoy the challenge of figuring out who’s going to play what and I think I’ve gotten better at it through the years as that opportunity has been presented to me, and I think it’s a way of presenting music that not only the audience might never see or hear again, but also creating music that goes to another dimension that it couldn’t have gone to without that happening. All that takes place only if you have a stage full of open-minded musicians who have no qualms about going into uncharted territory. Gregg has become more and more open to having guests and I think I’ve earned his trust about who I might invite. At first I think it pushed him out of his comfort zone a little bit.

ALLMAN:
We love the Beacon and have always had fun there, but that [2009 run] was the most fun I’ve ever had in that building. It was a combination of the great New York crowd and all the incredible guests. At first, part of me doubted that we would find enough worthy people to guest every night, but it was fantastic. We planned on just having people my brother played with, but it’s been a while now and that list was getting thin, so we expanded it.

DOUCETTE:
That whole thing was amazing, because it was exactly what Duane wanted. He and I talked years ago about how cool it would be to play an extended run in one place and have guests come join the band. That was premature, of course, because the band was just jumping off, but he just loved playing with people. If Duane was here, he would have absolutely eaten this up. He would have loved the idea of people like Eric Clapton and Billy Gibbons coming to play with his band. Unfortunately, Duane died just on the downstroke of the diving board, as the band was about to launch.

HAYNES:
It was some of the most fun any of us have ever had playing music. The whole run felt surreal, and even stopping to think about it never burst the bubble and allowed the music to deflate, which can happen. There was something really incredible happening that had to do with the right combination of the audience and the band creating something that neither on its own can create. Plus, we had the incentive of what we were trying to do: pay homage to Duane and the fact that the band had survived so long and hopefully lived up to his initial vision. Everyone connected on that thought process and no one’s ego interrupted it. Everyone stayed part of this tapestry and it was just incredible.

ALLMAN:
The whole thing was one of the highlights of our career. Usually we’re running out of steam by the end of the Beacon runs, which can be pretty grueling. This time, we were getting sad as the end approached. We wanted it to keep going.

BILLY GIBBONS,
ZZ Top guitarist:
One thing that struck me when I joined the Brothers at the Beacon was a need to commend Warren’s skill as a bandleader. He holds down the front line as kind of the musical director, keeping a keen eye on arrangements and on maintaining a good balance. He’s looked up to with respect by all of the Brothers. Warren is studious and serious about the music but he doesn’t let that get in the way of having a good time.

HAMMOND:
It was tremendously fun to be there and play with those guys and it made me pause and appreciate how amazing it is that they have held this thing together for so many years and come out the other side sounding this good. There were several times I thought the whole thing would fall apart, including when they let Dickey Betts go—I couldn’t imagine the band without him, but there they are. Derek and Warren are so strong in their own ways that it just works. And being on stage with them as your backing band is just phenomenal.

BUDDY GUY
,
blues guitarist
: Those guys were a lot of fun to play with. Gregg’s one of them guys who’ve been keeping the blues alive and in the spotlight all along.

ALLMAN:
I called Mr. Dixon “Willie.” I met Muddy Waters and called him “Mr. Morganfield” and he said, “Call me Muddy.” How much is that worth? It’s an honor beyond anything. I am so grateful for that. I met Jimmy Reed, and the great Albert Collins played one of his last gigs ever with the Allman Brothers. That guy looked like he’d kill you in a minute but he was the sweetest man in the world. Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Johnny and Edgar Winter, KoKo Taylor, Bo Diddley, Bobby Bland: I look up to every one of them and always will. And don’t forget John Lee Hooker, who called me every birthday to say happy birthday and that he loves me. I loved that old man.

Gregg Allman and B. B. King at the Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York City.

GUY:
Nobody told me that they had three drummers, in addition to the two guitarists. I didn’t even know what to do so I just sang and waited for my solo. Those guys were holding it down.

ALLMAN:
The one guy who of course my brother had a real thing with and had never played with the Brothers was Clapton, and it was just real good to have him there. That was a long time coming and really fun and meaningful.

Derek Trucks, who spent a year touring the world with Clapton in 2006–07, facilitated the British guitarist’s appearance.

DEREK TRUCKS:
I had mentioned it to him a few times, but the band wrote a letter—it was really important that it come from them—and I just made sure it got delivered. It was a group effort that basically said, “This is the Allman Brothers Band and we are paying tribute to Duane to celebrate our fortieth anniversary. Please join us.”

BUTCH TRUCKS:
We’ve been trying to jam with Eric for years but have never been in the same place at the same time. Eric is a big fan of the Allman Brothers, and when Duane died, probably his three best friends outside of our band were Eric Clapton, John Hammond, and Delaney Bramlett. Eric and John were at the Beacon and Delaney had sadly died a few months earlier. That’s why it was so important to us to have Eric there.

HAYNES:
It was a really big deal to the Allman Brothers Band because that had never happened, which is pretty incredible given the history between Duane and Eric. We were so honored to have him there and the fact it turned into seven or eight songs, going well beyond what we originally agreed upon, was icing on the cake. He was great to work with, he played great, and everyone was on his best behavior because we all knew what a special moment it was.

We were all very impressed with Eric’s desire to learn Allman Brothers songs rather than just get up and jam and not just choose ones that would make it easy on everybody. We were hoping for the opportunity to play some of the centerpieces, like “Dreams” and “Liz Reed,” and Eric was more than game. “Little Wing” was an afterthought and the coolest part of the rehearsal. Everything went very smoothly and when we had basically played through all the songs we agreed upon, Eric looked around and said, “Is there anything else we should think about? What about ‘Little Wing’?” Our group reaction was, “Well, we’ve never played it, but sure.” We started working it up from scratch and I thought it was one of the highlights.

Clapton’s “Little Wing” suggestion was particularly profound since it was Duane Allman’s idea to record it on
Layla.
Clapton and Haynes sang harmony vocals on the song. On Thursday, March 19, 2009, Clapton joined the band for six songs: “Key to the Highway,” trading vocal verses with Gregg, “Dreams,” “Little Wing,” and a trio of Derek and the Dominos’ songs: “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”, “Anyday,” and “Layla.” The next night, he also played on “Stormy Monday” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.”

Eric Clapton with the Allman Brothers Band, March 19, 2009, Beacon Theater, New York City.

ALLMAN:
He took a private jet in from New Zealand or someplace to be with us and then took it back to resume his tour. When he was here with us, he just gave it all. That was special, man.

DEREK TRUCKS:
I knew he would come prepared but I was still a little taken aback by how much energy he had put into it. He had only hung with Gregg once or twice and obviously Duane was very important to him. He told me that the time he went and saw the Allman Brothers in Miami he was blown away by them—what they looked like, how they sounded. It was a part of his life that he had never put away and he came loaded for bear.

HAYNES:
Eric Clapton was my first guitar influence, along with Johnny Winter and Jimi Hendrix, so it was a very big personal moment for me as well. I sometimes forget how much I learned from him in my formative years, but it certainly came back those nights! And on top of that I sang a duet with him on “Little Wing.” I was just emotionally ecstatic.