Southern Rock Royalty Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Duane and Gregg Allman were born in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1946 and 1947 respectively. They were used to living in different places, as their father was in the Army; however, his death in 1949 brought a huge change in their lives. Their mother, now the sole provider of the family, sent the boys to military school so she could receive additional job training. By 1957 the family moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, but the boys typically spent summers in Nashville with their family. It was during this time that they were introduced to music, attending concerts and learning how to play guitar.

Duane (1946-1971) was the first leader of the Allman Brothers Band. He was fourteen years old when he bought his first guitar, and a year later he started performing in public. His famous slide guitar sound was added to performances in 1968 after his brother left him a birthday present. The present was an album by Taj Mahal that featured a slide guitar. Just by happenstance, his brother also left a bottle of cold pills, and the empty bottle worked out perfectly for Duane to use as a slide. Duane died of injuries received while riding his motorcycle in 1971, however, he is still widely respected in the music world. In 2023 he was ranked 10th on "Rolling Stones" list of '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time'.

Duane's little brother Gregg (1947-2017) really had planned to become a dentist, but once said that school eventually became less of an importance, taking a backseat to women and music. Originally he played guitar; when he was younger he had worked as a paperboy in order to be able to purchase a Silvertone guitar. Apparently it caused some rivalry with his brother, who wanted to play it too! By 1965 Gregg learned to play keyboards. He eventually became the band's primary songwriter with hits like "Melissa" and "Midnight Rider", and in 2008 was ranked 70th on the "Rolling Stone" list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

Dickey Betts (1943-2024) and Duane met because they both ran around in the same circles in Florida. He had already formed his own band when Duane convinced him to join his. Admittedly not the best of friends when they first met, the two successfully shared the lead guitar spot. Duane once commented that while he was the most famous guitar player in the group, Betts was the best. A successful song writer, Betts penned the band's hit and sang lead on "Ramblin' Man" (1973), and wrote an instrumental hit, "Jessica", in 1973. Although the song had limited success on the music charts, in 1996 a live version of the song received a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental Performance; it had been included on a new album of live Allman Brothers Band performances in 1995.

Berry Oakley (1948-1972) was actually playing in the same band as Betts when Duane convinced them both to join the Allman Brothers Band. His bass sound is often described as being melodic and instinctive, complementing to the lead guitars of the band. He was ranked number 46 on "Bass Player" magazine's "The 100 Greatest Bass Players of All Time" in 2020. In 1972, while riding his motorcycle three blocks from Duane's accident, Oakley was involved in an accident from which he got up and walked away. Later that day, however, he was rushed to the hospital, where he died of cerebral swelling.

Butch Trucks (1947-2017) had his own band that had already released an album in 1968 when Duane and Gregg Allman, who were performing as the Allman Joys in venues around Florida, persuaded him to join their band. His first attempt at studying math in college had failed; however, thinking that his music career was finished, he had been planning to return to school. Instead, he became the drummer in the Allman Brothers Band - the one who played a conventional beat. Dickey Betts once said, "When Butch came along, he had that freight train, meat-and-potatoes kind of thing that set Jaimoe up perfectly".

John Lee Johnson (born 1944), professionally known as Jaimoe, perhaps had the most impressive resume of any of the founding members of the group before officially joining the Allman Brothers Band. He was working as a session drummer and was touring with acts like Otis Redding and Sam & Dave when he met Duane Allman; in fact, one source said that he was the first member to join Duane's new group as it formed.

After the release of two albums, "The Allman Brothers Band" (1969) and "Idlewild South" (1970), it seemed that the band on was its way to nowhere fast. Finally - a breakthrough came with "At Fillmore East" in 1971. It was the group's first live album and featured their jamming style in a huge way - a double set, it had just seven songs.

"Eat A Peach", released by the Allman Brothers Band in 1972, was the group's fourth album, and the first released after Duane's death. It featured both live and studio performances, with and without Duane's guitar. The band had already gained some acclaim for their live performances, and, in particular, their jam sessions of songs "Melissa" and "Blue Sky" were big hits from the album, which reached number four on "US Billboard 200" chart in 1972.

New band members had to be recruited before the release of "Brothers and Sisters" in 1973. By that time Dickey Betts had become the leader of the band, and his featured song, "Ramblin' Man", became the Allman Brothers Band's only top ten hit single. Betts also wrote the well-known instrumental "Jessica", which appeared on the album as well.

The month-long Beacon residencies of the Allman Brothers Band each year in March is the stuff of which legends are made. Some say that it was a type of March Madness that had nothing to do with college basketball! According to the Beacon Theatre Facebook page, the band played over 230 shows there and one source said they played 237 consecutive sold out shows! Their final show can still be enjoyed, as it was recorded in the album, "Final Concert 10-28-14".

The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and was recognized in 2012 with the Grammy Award for lifetime achievement.