Allman Brothers Band, the

▪ American rock group

Introduction

      American rock band whose bluesy, jam-oriented sound helped spark the Southern rock movement of the 1970s and set the stage for several generations of roots-oriented improvisational rock bands. The members were Duane Allman (in full Howard Duane Allman; b. Nov. 20, 1946, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.—d. Oct. 29, 1971, Macon, Ga.), Gregg Allman (in full Gregory Lenoir Allman; b. Dec. 8, 1947, Nashville), Berry Oakley (in full Raymond Berry Oakley III; b. April 4, 1948, Chicago, Ill.—d. Nov. 11, 1972, Macon), Dickey Betts (in full Forrest Richard Betts; b. Dec. 12, 1943, West Palm Beach, Fla.), Jaimoe (byname of Jai Johanny Johanson, original name John Lee Johnson; b. July 8, 1944, Ocean Springs, Miss.), and Butch Trucks (original name Claude Hudson Trucks, Jr.; , b. Jacksonville, Fla.).

      From 1960 guitarist Duane and keyboardist Gregg Allman worked together in a number of Florida-based bands. In 1968 Duane began working as a session guitarist at Fame Studios in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama, area, where he contributed to recordings by Wilson Pickett (Pickett, Wilson) and Aretha Franklin (Franklin, Aretha). At the urging of Capricorn Records chief Phil Walden, Duane formed the Allman Brothers Band.

      Although their eponymous debut album (1969) had little success outside the South, the group attracted wider attention when Eric Clapton (Clapton, Eric) asked Duane to record with Derek and the Dominos in 1970. The jam-oriented At Fillmore East (1971) established the Allman Brothers as master improvisers, working within the blues- rock vocabulary but augmenting it with elements of jazz, country (country music), and Latin music. Because of the band's strong Southern roots, its success inspired a host of regional rockers, which in turn led to the notion of a Southern rock boom. Before the band could capitalize on its growing fame, however, Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971.

      Although guitarist Betts assumed leadership of the band, friction with Gregg led to its dissolution in 1976. The band reunited in 1978, but the event took on the air of a soap opera in light of Gregg's marriage to the singer and actress Cher. The Allmans splintered again in 1981. Reuniting yet again in 1989, the Allmans placed an even greater emphasis on blues-based improvisation, a sound that in part served as the template for such 1990s jam bands as the Black Crowes and Blues Traveler. The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

J. D. Considine

Representative Works

● The Allman Brothers Band (1969)

● At Fillmore East (1971)

● Eat a Peach (1972)

● Brothers and Sisters (1973)

Additional Reading

Scott Freeman, Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band (1995), is a biography.

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