Today we remember,Skydogon the date of his birth back in 1949.Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American guitarist, session musician, and the co-founder and primary leader of the The Allman Brothers Band until his death in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at the age of 24.The Allman Brothers Band was formed in 1969 and based in the Southeastern United States. In the early 1970s, the band was hugely successful. Allman is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in the band and in particular for his expressive slide guitar playing and inventive improvisational skills.In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Allman at #2 in their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix and in 2011 he was ranked #9. His tone (achieved with a Gibson Les Paul and two 50-watt bass Marshall amplifiers) was named one of the greatest guitar tones of all time by Guitar Player. A sought-after session musician both before and during his tenure with the band, Duane Allman performed with such established stars as King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Herbie Mann. He also contributed heavily to the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos. Duane Allman’s skills as a guitarist were complemented by personal qualities such as his intensity, drive and ability to draw the best out of others in making music. He is still referred to by his nickname Skydog. Notes: Tom Dowd is responsible for introducing Duane Allman and Eric Clapton. In 1970, Dowd was in the middle of recording the Allman Brothers second album, Idlewild South , when Erics manager (Robert Stigwood) called to tell Tom that Eric would like to bring his new band, Derek and the Dominos, to Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida to record with him. Tom later recounted the phone call that began it all. Now when the call came I was in the studio with Duane. I said, Hey, thats a hot one, kid! That was Eric Claptons management talking about him coming here to record. Allman looks at me and goes You mean the guy from Cream? Do you think hed mind if I just came to watch. I told him, no problem. Eric and the rest of the Dominos arrived at Criteria Studios in late August. During the first week, most of the studio time was spent jamming and piecing together new songs. (Taken from whereseric).Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident only months after the release and initial success of At Fillmore East. On October 29, 1971, in the western part of Macon, Georgia, during a band break from touring and recording, Allman was riding his motorcycle at a high speed at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Bartlett Street as a flatbed truck carrying a lumber crane approached. The flatbed truck stopped suddenly in the intersection, forcing Allman to swerve his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle sharply to the left to avoid a collision. As he was doing so, he struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the lumber crane and was immediately thrown from the motorcycle. The motorcycle bounced into the air, landed on Allman and skidded another 90 feet with Allman pinned underneath, crushing his internal organs. Though he was alive when he arrived at the hospital, despite immediate emergency surgery, he died several hours later from massive internal injuries.After Allmans funeral and some weeks of mourning, the five surviving members of the Allman Brothers Band carried on, resuming live performances and finishing the recording work interrupted by Allmans death. They named their next album Eat a Peach for Allmans response to an interviewers question: How are you helping the revolution? Allman replied: There aint no revolution, only evolution, but every time Im in Georgia I eat a peach for peace. Released in February, 1972, this double album contains a side of live and studio tracks with Allman, two sides of Mountain Jam, recorded with Allman at the same At Fillmore East stand in March, and a side of tracks by the surviving five member band. Bass guitarist Berry Oakley died less than 13 months later in a similar motorcycle crash with a city bus, three blocks from the site of Duane Allmans fatal accident. Oakleys remains were laid to rest beside Duane Allmans in Macon, Georgias Rose Hill Cemetery.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:36:07 +0000
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