Allman Brothers Caricature

Allman Brothers Caricature, shown here in July, 1971 in Macon, Georgia with Gregg, age 23 and Duane, age 24.

The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson (drums). The band incorporated elements of Southern rock, blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows featured jam band-style improvisation and instrumentals.

After their first two albums stalled, their 1971 live release, At Fillmore East, was a commercial breakthrough and is considered one of the best live albums ever made.

In late 1970, producer Tom Dowd put Duane Allman in contact with guitarist Eric Clapton, who invited him to contribute to his new project, Derek and the Dominos. Duane played lead guitar during the session recordings of that now famous Clapton album, “Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs”.

On October 29, 1971, while the band was on a break from touring and recording, Duane Allman was riding his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle at high speed on Hillcrest Avenue, in the western part of Macon. As he approached Bartlett Street, a flatbed truck carrying a lumber crane stopped suddenly in the intersection, forcing him to swerve sharply. He struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the lumber crane and was thrown from the motorcycle, which landed on top of him and skidded another 90 feet with him pinned underneath it, crushing his internal organs. He was alive when he was taken to a hospital, but despite immediate medical treatment, he died several hours later from massive internal injuries.

Allman Brothers famous hit tunes: “In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed”, “You Don’t Love Me”, “Whipping Post”, “Midnight Rider”, “Melissa”, “Blue Sky”, “Ramblin Man”, “Jessica”, “No One To Run With”, “Statesboro Blues” and “One Way Out” to name a few.

On November 11, 1972, slightly inebriated and overjoyed at the prospect of leading a jam session later that night, Berry Oakley crashed his motorcycle into the side of a bus, just three blocks from where Duane had been killed; he died the following day of cerebral swelling caused by a fractured skull.

Butch Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head on January 24, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 69 “reportedly after years of financial strife”. His nephew, guitarist Derek Trucks, is one of the co-founders of the Tedeschi Trucks Band and joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1999.

Gregg Allman died at his home in Richmond Hill, Georgia, on May 27, 2017, due to complications from liver cancer at the age of 69.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.