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One fine day, 6 guys met in a villa to play together. After playing for three hours and having gone "the full round of all the emotions one can feel," one of them positioned himself in front of the house's door and said the exact words: "Okay, anyone present who doesn't want to play in my band will have to fight their way out."
The day was March 23, 1969, the guy at the door was Duane Allman, and the band in question was not 'Mindless Self Indulgence', no, it was the Allman Brothers. Hence, "The Allman Brothers Band" were: Butch Trucks, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johnson, Berry Oakley, Dickey Betts, Gregg and Duane Allman. Duane was three years older than Gregg and was his brother/father since Mr. Allman was killed by someone who wanted to rob him when Gregg was less than a year old.
One day in 1960, the young Duane and Gregg were at a concert featuring BB King and Otis Redding. At a certain point, Duane turned to his brother and said "Holy Christ, Gregory, what is this stuff? We need to do this too!" So they formed their little Rhythm & Blues group with some black guys and started playing in venues for blacks only (something not well received by both whites and blacks down in Montgomery, Alabama). Anyway, those were also the years of Vietnam, and to avoid being sent to Vietnam, believe me, son, you needed a good reason. Duane was the firstborn of a widowed mother and managed to avoid it. Gregg decided to shoot himself in the foot. He organized a little party for the occasion, and when he thought he’d reached the right level of disarray, he took aim.. "no, it's a stupid idea", "but how, we came here specifically for this.. and you’re chickening out?", "...Wait... another sip..", "Come on, go.. shoot! shoot! shoot!.. COOOOOo-co-co-co-co-co-co..." BANG! When the ambulance arrived, the stretcher bearers clearly noticed the target drawn in marker on Gregg's shoe, but apparently didn’t pay it any heed.
Meanwhile, Duane was becoming really good, and in '68 he went to the Muscle Shoals studios on a contract with Atlantic. He recorded with Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and King Curtis, and was welcomed by the session men with "everything's fine folks, Duane's here!" However, Duane had the idea in his head to form his own band. At the time, James Brown was using two drummers for live performances, and Duane thought it was a great idea. After organizing the band, producing the first album, and recording a live album of Jesus Christ, in '71 the Allman Bros began working on the album in question. Duane really liked "Kind Of Blue" and understood the greatness of people like Coltrane. And you can hear it here.
The sound boldly stretches out its branches to improvisation and experimentation, with roots firmly grounded. Music that is clearly the result of long and meticulous work but doesn’t sound artificial. Perhaps a little lazy in certain areas, but who was rushing them? But.. can an idyll last forever? Unfortunately, to play in a certain way, Duane also needed to live in a certain way.. Which led him to a lifestyle.. not very calm.
On October 29, 1971, a truck was turning off the main road to enter a side street when Duane’s motorcycle appeared. He went straight on to bypass it from behind, but the truck suddenly braked, and Duane couldn’t avoid the rear bumper. The record was released a few months later. Duane's Allman Brothers, pardon my French, were brains and balls. Some use only balls out of fear of using their brains, and some use only brains because they've lost their balls.
The quest for the right balance between brains and balls. Isn't this what makes a man a Man, Mr. Lebowski?
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