One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band (53 page)

Duane had the vision from the start, because Duane could see stuff like he had a crystal ball as big as the earth. It didn’t have to be music, either. He understood what was going on with people, and he knew who he was.

Anything worthwhile takes work and everything goes up and down. If you don’t really understand those two things, you’ll do a million things in life and never find the right thing. You’ll always say, “There’s no market for this.” You have to create something so great that you create a market that didn’t exist. Suddenly something no one ever thought of before seems obvious. This is what we did with the Allman Brothers Band.

I used to sit in the music room in high school reading
Downbeat
magazine about guys who had been in Duke Ellington’s band for thirty years and thinking, “How in the hell is that possible?” Now I’ve been in this band for forty-five years.

One thing I’ve learned in life is hindsight ain’t always 20/20. History is complicated and everyone sees it differently, understands it in his or her own way. The Allman Brothers Band history involves a lot of people and there are as many versions of what happened as there are people involved in making it happen. That’s why this book gets the history as right as possible; Alan Paul spoke to everyone he could, let them have their say—tell their version of the truth—and then laid it out. You can’t try to escape the shit you did in life.

Things just happen in ways you never could plan out and then you accept them and react to them. One indisputable fact is that whatever has happened to, and with, the Allman Brothers Band, we’ve persevered.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to everyone whose words form the core of this book. I very literally couldn’t have done this without your time and cooperation and your interest in making sure I got the story right. Very special thanks to the current and former members of the Allman Brothers Band with whom I spoke, often repeatedly: Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, Marc Quiñones, Allen Woody, Chuck Leavell, Jack Pearson, Johnny Neel, Jimmy Herring, David Goldflies, and Mike Lawler. Thank you Butch and Jaimoe, for your editorial contributions, and Warren, for always answering the call.

Major thanks to everyone else who took the time to speak with me and share their thoughts and memories of the Allman Brothers Band: Bert Holman, Jonny Podell, Kim Payne, Linda Oakley, Phil Walden, Tom Dowd, John Hammond Jr., Reese Wynans, Johnny Sandlin, Scott Boyer, Mama Louise Hudson—and thanks for the vittles—Stephen Paley, Jon Landau, W. David Powell, Gary Rossington, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Col. Bruce Hampton, David Grissom, Dick Wooley, Kirk West, Red Dog, Bunky Odom, Willie Perkins, Bob Weir, Steve Parish, Dr. John, Mike Callahan, Rick Hall, John McEuen, Zakk Wylde, Danny Goldberg, Don Law, Skoots, A. J. and John Lyndon, Michael Caplan, John Scher, Jon Landau, Richard Price, Les Dudek, Matt Abts, Jackie Avery, Sidney Smith, and Thom “Ace” Doucette.

Thank you to all the photographers whose work graces these pages, and to Tore Claesson for the portrait.

In loving memory of Duane Allman, Berry Oakley, Allen Woody, Tom Dowd, Phil Walden, Lamar Williams, Red Dog, Twiggs Lyndon, Mike Callahan, Joe Dan Petty, Dan Toler, Frankie Toler, and any other deceased member of the extended Allman Brothers family.

Managers Bert Holman, Michael Lehman, Stefani Scarmado, Blake Budney, David Spero, and C. J. Strock have been incredibly supportive and helpful in setting up interviews and providing insight and information—in some cases for several decades. Thank you all.

I’m thankful to Kirk West, my brother in all things Brothers, for decades of friendship, support, and serious music raps. He also served as a superb photo editor, and he conducted the interviews with Red Dog and Mike Callahan, the only conversations included in this book that did not involve me.

Kirk and his wife, Kirsten, who have also provided me a home away from home in Macon, did yeoman’s work setting up the fabulous Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House, which would not exist if they hadn’t brought the property back into the family fold. E. J. Devokaitis has stepped into their shoes in admirable fashion as curator and director. The place is a pleasure to visit and a treasure trove for fans of the band. The Big House Archives provided this book with a tremendous amount of depth and insight. I urge all Allman Brothers fans to visit and support the Big House and I thank E. J. and the museum for their assistance and support in writing
One Way Out.

John Lynskey and Joe Bell of
Hittin’ the Note
have been great supporters, and their passion for the ABB continues to amaze and inspire. Thank you to John, A.J., and Skoots Lyndon for helping bring their brother Twiggs to life and for their overall support and assistance. Linda Oakley was also a special source of information and insight, and a true pleasure to get to know.

My agent, David Dunton, believed in this book immediately and pushed me to think big in all regards. Marc Resnick at St. Martin’s has been an enthusiastic, insightful editor from the moment he heard about the idea for
One Way Out
. Thank you both for your belief and support in making this happen.

Guitar World
’s Brad Tolinski was a major inspiration in the creation of
One Way Out
, which began as a
GW
cover story. Brad has been a friend and mentor for a very long time. He and Jeff Kitts have continued to assign me great stories about the Allmans and others for two decades. Andy Aledort is a great friend and a brilliant guitarist. We have spent countless hours talking about the music of the Allman Brothers. Dickey Betts is lucky to have him. Thank you, to Sam Enriquez, for giving this manuscript a thorough, helpful read, and to Jack Weston, for guidance on art and memorabilia

My wife, Becky, has been a source of inspiration, support, and love forever, or so it seems, and she has never once asked why I was going to another Allman Brothers show. Watching my son Jacob develop a love and respect for the Allman Brothers, and so much other great music, has been a pleasure, and nothing makes me happier than attending a show with him. He, Eli, and Anna are my greatest creations by far.

Thank you to my brother David for turning me on to
Eat a Peach
and so much other great music, and for letting me hang out with the big kids. Thanks to my parents, Dixie Doc, and Suzi, Laura, and Jon Kessler, and my extended family for their unending support. It takes a village to raise children—mine at least—and I appreciate every ounce of help. Aunt Joan is also a crackerjack proofreader.

Thanks to my bandmates in both Woodie Alan (Beijing) and Big in China (Maplewood, New Jersey). Support live music!

Thank you for buying and reading this book.

APPENDIX

A Highly Opinionated ABB Discography

There is an endless array of compilations available, several of which feature liner note essays by me. Most of them will do the job if you want a little taste of the Allman Brothers Band—but you need more than that if you’ve read this far. I left them all out, in favor of collections that were originally released as albums and official archival live releases. Albums are listed in chronological order of release.

THE PEACHES—THE BEST OF THE BEST

On their second album,
Idlewild South
(1970, ****), the Allman Brothers Band really began to come into its own. Includes “Midnight Rider,” the aching “Please Call Home,” and the first version of Betts’s masterful instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” which sounds one-dimensional compared with the live majesty that was soon to come. The entire album is essential listening.

At Fillmore East
(1971, *****) captured the band’s instrumental glory and improvisatory magic in peak form. Arguably rock’s greatest record, the double album holds only seven very long songs—and nary a wasted note.

Eat a Peach
(1972, ****
) includes more tunes from the Fillmore, including the 33-minute “Mountain Jam”—which back in the days of vinyl consumed two sides—as well as great new tunes like “Melissa” and “Blue Sky.” I usually start ABB neophytes here, because the album highlights every side of the band. “Mountain Jam” lacks the urgency of the Fillmore cuts, costing this half a star. Everything else is perfect, including the glorious guitar break on “Blue Sky,” the song that could end all world conflict.

Brothers and Sisters
(1973, ****), the Brothers’ first post-Duane album, includes the band’s biggest hits—“Ramblin’ Man,” “Jessica,” and “Southbound.” You can hear directions changing. Lacks the focused intensity of everything that has come before, but still a great album—and mostly Dickey’s album. The 2013 deluxe version, including outtakes and a great live show, is a worthy upgrade.

An Evening with … Second Set
(1995, ****) provides a good overview of what the band sounded like at the height of their 1990s reunion, when Warren Haynes and Allen Woody helped resurrect the institution. Betts’s majestic “Where It All Begins” and the overall slightly stronger collection of then-current songs gives it an edge over the also-strong
First Set.

FURTHER LISTENING

Sooner or later, you have to own
Dreams
(1989, ****
), a four-disc collection that does everything a boxed set should.

WORTH SEARCHING FOR

An Acoustic Evening with the Allman Brothers Band & the Indigo Girls
(1992, ****) captures the Brothers’ acoustic performance at a record biz convention. They hit seven tracks out of the park, from an impromptu “Liz Reed,” which later appeared on
Second Set
, to “Seven Turns.” The band inexplicably missed out on the early ’90s
Unplugged
craze despite being one of the first bands to appear on the MTV show, and one of the few to really shine in an acoustic setting.

WHAT TO AVOID

The Allmans’ worst albums,
Brothers of the Road
(**) and
Reach for the Sky
(*
) were replaced by
Hell and High Water
(1994, **
;), which, while still weak, includes some pretty good material and eliminate the worst offenders. Still, there’s no good reason for anyone but completists to purchase this album.