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One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band Paperback – February 24, 2015
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A New York Times Best seller!
One Way Out is the powerful biography of The Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long.
For twenty-five years, Alan Paul has covered and written about The Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows. He has interviewed every living band member for this book as well as managers, roadies, and contemporaries, including: Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, the late Allen Woody, Jimmy Herring, Eric Clapton, Bob Weir, and many others.
Tracking the band's career from their 1969 formation to today, One Way Out is filled with musical and cultural insights, riveting tales of sometimes violent personality conflicts and betrayals, drug and alcohol use, murder allegations and exoneration, tragic early deaths, road stories, and much more, including the most in-depth look at the acrimonious 2000 parting with founding guitarist Dickey Betts and behind-the-scenes information on the recording of At Fillmore East, Layla, Eat A Peach, Brothers and Sisters, and other classic albums.
- Print length528 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt. Martin's Griffin
- Publication dateFebruary 24, 2015
- Dimensions5.4 x 1.4 x 8.15 inches
- ISBN-101250040507
- ISBN-13978-1250040503
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“This pot-stirring oral history reads like a backstory of how musical lightning comes to be. All of the surviving band members get to have their say.” ―Rolling Stone
“Alan has a way with narrative that just draws you in without using the single-level storyline used by other writers who have attempted telling the Allman Brothers Band’s story. He gets right to the hows and whys that give his narrative real substance. Enjoy and become enlightened.” ―Butch Trucks, the Allman Brothers Band (From the Foreword)
“No journalist knows the ins and outs of the Allman Brothers Band better than Alan Paul.” ―Warren Haynes, the Allman Brothers Band
“I learned so much reading One Way Out. If you want to know the real deal, read Alan Paul.” ―Oteil Burbridge, the Allman Brothers Band
“Allman Brothers, unvarnished . . . [Alan Paul]'s vast trove of interviews allows the band to tell its own story.” ―Atlanta Journal Constitution
“Alan Paul is one of America's foremost experts on the Allman Brothers Band. For the past twenty years, he has written informative, comprehensive articles on the band, and he truly understands the essence of their significance. It's great to see him release this chronicle.” ―E.J. Devokaitis, Curator / Archivist, Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House
“Alan Paul's One Way Out is a brilliantly detailed all-access pass to the Allman Brothers Band. Using his numerous personal interviews with the band members themselves--both past and present--as well as an almost endless entourage of friends, family members, roadies, managers, promoters, booking agents, record label executives, and fellow musicians, Alan Paul has successfully created the definitive ABB biography.” ―Randy Poe, author of Skydog: The Duane Allman Story
“One Way Out is perhaps the most in-depth look at one of America's most beloved, but thoroughly dysfunctional ensembles. Engrossing reading . . . Alan Paul has written about the Allmans for the last 25 years, and his depth of knowledge shows. The stories are salty, unfiltered, and straight from the horse's mouth. The word 'definitive' gets tossed around so often it has lost some of its meaning, but this 400-page journey into the heart of rock and roll darkness deserves the accolade.” ―Guitar World Magazine
“No matter what you think you know about the Allman Brothers Band, One Way Out is bound to be revelatory on many levels . . . This is essential reading that strips away the myth to expose all the moving parts in vivid detail.” ―Seattle PI
“Music writer Paul catches up with the legendary band in this entertaining, compulsively readable oral history of the Allman Brothers. Duane's ghost haunts the book.” ―Publishers Weekly
“Perhaps no music journalist has written as extensively about the Allman Brothers Band as Paul, who has tracked the rock group's career for 25 years. And his deep familiarity with the band and its music shows everywhere in this fluid account. Augmented by photos and fascinating sidebars, this candid oral history has appeal beyond the Allman Brothers Band's loyal fan base.” ―Booklist, starred review
“With this fine work, Alan Paul accomplishes the admirable feat of delving the depths of the Allman Brothers, a great aggregation of talent and artistry. He puts together the sweeping picture of how these gifted individuals with their special Southern stylishness created something utterly unique to the world. Rock on.” ―Billy F Gibbons, ZZ Top
“Open this book to any page, start reading, and I dare you to stop. Alan Paul captures all the momentum and energy of the Allman Brothers' long, wild ride, which continues at a breakneck pace. One Way Out? There's no way out of this rollicking narrative until, with regret, you reach the end.” ―Anthony DeCurtis, Contributing Editor, Rolling Stone
“I was struck by the similarities between the Doors and Allman Brothers, especially in our origins--the Eureka moment of certainty amidst a jam. Alan lets the people who were actually there tell the story, and I couldn't put it down. Great read!” ―Robby Krieger, The Doors
“Like a master bandleader, Alan Paul orchestrates a bluesy, jazzy, rocking chorale of voices telling the tale of a brotherhood under stress and a band who got what they hardly realized they wanted, lost what they had and fought a decades-long struggle to get it back.” ―Charles Shaar Murray, author of Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop and Boogie Man: The Adventures of John Lee Hooker
“Paul's One Way Out is a fresh, intelligently arranged, and satisfyingly complete telling of the lengthy (and unlikely) history of the group that almost singlehandedly brought rock up to a level of jazz-like sophistication and virtuosity, introducing it as a medium worthy of the soloist's art. Oral histories can be tricky things: either penetrating, delivering information and backstories that get to the heart of how timeless music was made. Or too often, they lie flat on the page, a random retelling of repeated facts and reheated yarns. I'm happy to say that Paul's is in that first category.” ―Ashley Kahn, author of A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album
“Paul's book presents the most complete and detailed telling of the band's still-unfolding saga to date. Elizabeth Reed, Melissa and Jessica would also probably agree.” ―Houston Press
“Though enough tomes have been published about the Allmans' troubled history to deforest half of Brazil, only Paul's book gets all the principal figures assessing and confessing. However open and moving Gregg Allman's autobio from 2012 may have been, Paul's book gives a much fuller picture of the dynamics that drive every member -- including why guitarist Dickey Betts remains so vexing.” ―New York Daily News
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
One Way Out
The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band
By Alan PaulSt. Martin's Press
Copyright © 2014 Alan PaulAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-250-04050-3
Contents
Title Page,Copyright Notice,
Dedication,
Author's Note,
Cast of Characters,
FOREWORD BY BUTCH TRUCKS,
PROLOGUE,
1. BEGINNINGS,
2. PLAYINSG IN THE BAND,
3. GEORGIA ON A FAST TRAIN,
4. DREAMS,
5. ONE MORE TRY,
6. KEEP ON GROWING,
7. LIVING ON THE OPEN ROAD,
8. LIVE ALIVE,
9. PUSH PUSH,
10. SWEET LULLABY,
11. MEAN OLD WORLD,
12. WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN?,
13. AIN'T WASTING TIME NO MORE,
14. DRUNKEN HEARTED BOY,
15. GOIN' DOWN THE ROAD FEELING BAD,
16. DEMONS,
17. MOUNTAIN JAM,
18. SHINE IT ON,
19. END OF THE LINE,
20. CAN'T SPEND WHAT YOU AIN'T GOT,
21. IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY,
22. REVIVAL,
23. SECOND SET,
24. STAND BACK,
25. LAY YOUR BURDEN DOWN,
26. WALK ON GILDED SPLINTERS,
27. ONE MORE RIDE,
28. HITTIN' THE NOTE,
29. THE ROAD GOES ON FOREVER,
30. THE FINAL CHAPTER,
AFTERWORD BY JAIMOE,
Acknowledgments,
APPENDIX: A HIGHLY OPINIONATED ABB DISCOGRAPHY,
Index,
Photo Credits,
About the Author,
Praise for One Way Out,
Copyright,
CHAPTER 1
Beginnings
Phil Walden intended Duane's new band to be the centerpiece artists on his new Atlantic-distributed label, Capricorn Records. He also signed Allman to a management contract. Duane now had a record label and a manager wrapped up in one charismatic figure.
The first member of his new band was the drummer born in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, as Johnie Lee Johnson, then calling himself Jai Johanny Johanson and soon to be known by a single name: Jaimoe.
JAIMOE: I had been playing with rhythm and blues artists like Clarence Carter, Percy Sledge, and Arthur Conley and I was done with that whole scene. The people who became stars treated their musicians just like they were treated—like dogs. I decided that if I'm going to starve to death, at least I'm going to do it playing what I love: jazz music. I was moving to New York City.
I had played on a songwriting demo of songs written by my friend Jackie Avery, and he got them to Duane to consider, having heard he had signed with Phil and was putting together a band.
JACKIE AVERY JR.,songwriter: I went to Muscle Shoals during a Wilson Pickett session and Duane was sitting in Studio B playing a dobro, with his legs crossed, one leg way up on the other kneecap, wearing big cowboy boots. I was struck by how different he was; he was a free spirit who just didn't give a damn. I played him this demo, with Johnny Jenkins singing "Voodoo in You" and two other songs.
He listened to the whole thing, then spit in a cup—I think he had some snuff—and all he asked was, "Who's the drummer?"
I went back to Georgia and Jai was playing at some roadhouse in the woods with [blues guitarist] Eddie Kirkwood and I told him that I thought he should get over to Muscle Shoals, that I thought this guy was going to be something.
JAIMOE: Avery said, "I ain't never heard nobody play guitar the way Duane does" and he had seen Guitar Slim and many other great ones, so that convinced me to go talk to Duane before going to New York and starving to death.
AVERY: Jaimoe packed up his drums and he and I scraped together $28 for a bus ticket and put those drums on a bus and off he went.
JAIMOE: I got to Muscle Shoals and rattling around my head was something my friend Honeyboy Otis had told me: "If you want to make some money, go play with those white boys. They'll pay you." I saw the guys getting ready to go to work. I knew them all from being there with Percy Sledge and I asked, "Hey, where's Skyman?"
"Oh, he's in Studio B getting ready to do a session."
I walk in and see this skinny little white boy hippie with long straight hair, and I said, "Excuse me, you must be the guy they call Skyman." He looked at me and said, "Yep, and you're Jai Johanny Johanson," and we shook hands. He went to do a session and I set up my drums in a little studio, playing along to albums on headphones. When Duane was free he rolled that [Fender] Twin in, cranked that bad boy up, and that was it, man. As soon as we played together I forgot all about moving to New York City. I moved into Duane's place on the Tennessee River and we just played constantly. Then Berry came and joined us.
Berry Oakley was the bassist in the popular Jacksonville band Second Coming, with a unique, melodic style; his wife-to-be Linda had introduced Berry and Duane in a Jacksonville club. The pair quickly became fast friends and musical admirers of each other. Allman invited Oakley to Muscle Shoals to jam with him and Jaimoe and test the chemistry of his potential rhythm section.
JAIMOE: I was excited when I started playing with Duane and more so when Berry joined us. As soon as the three of us played together, it was just, "Shit. This is all over with." It was like I had found the bass player I had been searching for since my friend Lamar [Williams] had joined the Army. We were playing some wild stuff.
JOHN HAMMOND JR.,guitarist/singer: I asked Duane how he got so good and he said, "I took speed every day for three years and played every night all night." I think this was partly true and partly apocryphal but he really couldn't get enough. He was just phenomenal.
JAIMOE: Honestly, at the time, there were only a few white people I thought could play music: guys like Stan Getz and Buddy Rich. The biggest problem white musicians had was they were trying to imitate this or that person instead of letting themselves come out. Berry and Duane were themselves and they had strong voices.
It's been said that Duane was at first going to put together a power trio like Jimi Hendrix or Cream, but I would never have been the right guy for that—I was never a power drummer, and that's not what Duane was thinking. Duane had the idea for a different band right away. He was talking about two guitars and two drummers from the start. It was about finding the right guys. Berry was going back and forth between Muscle Shoals and Jacksonville.
SANDLIN: I didn't understand the two-drummer thing and I didn't want to do it. Jaimoe was there when we recorded those original sides for Rick, but I was playing, probably just because Duane and I had the history together and it was easier at that point to do things quickly, but Duane was talking about Jaimoe being in his band and me possibly as well.
JAIMOE: I was there when Duane cut those solo sides, and the reason Johnny played instead of me was simple: he knew how to make a record and I didn't. Johnny didn't really improvise; he learned parts and songs and he played them really well. I could not keep a straight beat and could not play a song exactly the same multiple times in a row.
One day, Duane said to me, "We're leaving. I'm sick of this. Pack up your stuff." We went to St. Louis for a few days so he could see his girlfriend. [Donna Roosmann, who was soon to be the mother of Duane's daughter, Galadrielle.] Then we made a beeline to Jacksonville. Duane drove straight through. We got there at two or three in the morning and Duane went around waking people up. People just had to hear that Duane was in town and they started coming around like termites in the spring.
CHAPTER 2Playing in the Band
Duane's vision quickly began to be realized after he and Jaimoe arrived in Jacksonville during the first week of March 1969. The next two additions to his band were guitarist Dickey Betts, who played with Oakley in Second Coming, and Butch Trucks, the drummer whose group Duane and Gregg had recorded demos with less than a year earlier. With Gregg still in Los Angeles, the Second Coming's Reese Wynans, who would eventually join Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble, played keyboards. Duane, Oakley, and Betts handled most of the vocals.
JAIMOE: Duane had been telling me about a lot of people he knew and thought would be good for the band and most of them were there, except Gregory. The whole thing was just about playing music—no agenda, no egos—and it was good.
DICKEY BETTS: It was fun and exciting, and the band just sort of happened. It was supposed to be a three-piece with Duane, Berry, and Jaimoe. Duane had no idea that he would end up with this very different thing, but he was open to seeing what happened. I was playing with Berry, and Duane and Jaimoe kept coming and sitting in with us and exciting stuff started happening really quickly and naturally. We all felt like we had discovered the very thing that we'd been looking for, even if we didn't know it beforehand. We all knew that something very, very good was happening.
REESE WYNANS,Second Coming keyboardist: I had never heard anything like Duane Allman and his slide guitar. He played it like a violin or saxophone. It was just the weirdest instrument and most unbelievable sound and his phrasing was impeccable and his ideas were over the top. When he sat in with us it lifted the whole thing up and I had an immediate, extremely positive reaction, as did everyone else.
JAIMOE: He was always on and up and pulling everyone along.
WYNANS: Sometimes when someone comes and sits in and they're hot shit, they get an attitude. Duane didn't have any of that; there was none of that diva attitude. He was one of us immediately. It became obvious in the jam sessions that something special was going on. We would play for hours and it was incredible. He was a really positive guy—outgoing, giving, and always handing out a lot of really positive thoughts and comments. Just hanging around him was exciting.
HALL: Duane always was an upper. He never had anything but praise for everybody. He was totally confident, but he also always had that little boy, down-home modesty about him. He was a good, good guy, which is why in time the musicians down here all fell in love with him, despite being leery at first.
HAMMOND: Duane was a phenomenal player, but the opposite of a headcutter. He wanted to include everyone and make him sound better. He had supreme confidence but he loved the music more than anything and was not on any kind of ego trip.
THOM DOUCETTE,harmonica player, Duane confidant, and unofficial member of the ABB: Duane had his arms wide open, and he was so fucking magnetic. This was a connected guy—connected to the higher order of the world. Just incredibly tuned in, and with absolute self-confidence but no ego. None. It was never about "me." That combination of total self-confidence and lack of ego with that kind of talent and fire is unheard of.
JAIMOE: The day after we got to Jacksonville, Duane took me over to meet Butch and said, "Butch, this is my new drummer, Jai Johanny Johanson. We're gonna jam tonight. Anyone who can be here, be there."
BUTCH TRUCKS: Duane called me when he came back to Jacksonville and was jamming with lots of different people. We played and it just worked and Jaimoe told Duane I was the guy they needed, because he wanted two drummers like James Brown had.
JAIMOE: I asked Duane why he wanted two drummers and he said, "Because Otis Redding and James Brown have two," and I never asked again.
BETTS: Jaimoe was a real good drummer, but more of a pocket guy, and once we all got in there, it was bigger and he wasn't really able to handle the power. It just wasn't his style and the drummer from Second Coming wasn't right. His name was "Nasty Lord John" [Meeks] and he played like Ginger Baker, hardly ever playing a straight beat. We needed Butch, who had that drive and strength, freight train, meat-and-potatoes thing. It set Jaimoe up perfectly.
RICHARD PRICE,Florida bassist; played with Betts and Oakley and was there for the Jacksonville jams that birthed the Allman Brothers Band: Jaimoe was always a great drummer in Duane's mind and that was clear from the minute they arrived together in Jacksonville. Butch was well known as a strong in-the-pocket player, while Jaimoe was more of an embellisher. He had great stick control and jazz chops and could do outside-the-box tempos up against the pocket.
AVERY: Duane loved Jai and Jai loved Duane. They were brothers first and more than anyone else.
PRICE: We had these big jams with a lot of drummers coming and going, but things started happening with Jaimoe and Butch as soon as they played together. Butch was doing the really strong foot/snare thing driving the beat and Jaimoe would do all these strange swells and fills in the open spaces that Butch left. They're not that similar and they could hear where to complement one another, which is what made them a great rhythm section. Right out of the box they listened really close to each other and tried to stay out of each other's way. They formed this strange symbiotic thing and melded into a terrific unit. Over a series of nights you could see something very substantial developing there.
BETTS: All of a sudden the trio had five pieces. We all were smart enough to say, "This guy's special" about one another.
AVERY: I'm agnostic, so I don't think I can call it the hand of God, but these people were meant to be together. I don't know how that all happened, but it had to happen.
DOUCETTE: You take any one of the guys out and the whole thing doesn't exist.
TRUCKS: I don't think Duane wanted me in the band. I fit musically but I was a bundle of insecurity and he didn't want that. He was such a strong person—very confident and totally sure of himself—and that's the kind of people he wanted around him.
BETTS: It says a lot that Duane's hero was Muhammad Ali. He had Ali's type of supreme confidence. If you weren't involved in what he thought was the big picture, he didn't have time for you. A lot of people really didn't like him for that. It's not that he was aggressive; it was more a super-positive, straight-ahead, I've-got-work-to-do kind of thing. If you didn't get it, see you later. He always seemed like he was charging ahead and it took a lot of energy to be with him.
DOUCETTE: I couldn't get enough of that Duane energy. If Duane put out his hand, you had a hand. There was no bullshit about him at all. None.
GREGG ALLMAN: My brother was a real pistol. He was a hell of a person ... a firecracker. He knew how to push people's buttons and bring out the best.
SANDLIN: He was a personality you only see once in a lifetime. He could inspire you and challenge you, with eye contact, smiles ... little things. It would just make you better and I think anyone who ever played with him would tell you the same thing. You knew he had your back, and that was the best feeling in the world.
TRUCKS: One day we were jamming on a shuffle going nowhere so I started pulling back and Duane whipped around, looked me in the eyes, and played this lick way up the neck like a challenge. My first reaction was to back up, but he kept doing it, which had everyone looking at me like the whole flaccid nature of this jam was my fault. The third time I got really angry and started pounding the drums like I was hitting him upside his head and the jam took off and I forgot about being self-conscious and started playing music, and he smiled at me, as if to say, "Now that's more like it."
It was like he reached inside me and flipped a switch and I've never been insecure about my drumming again. It was an absolute epiphany; it hit me like a ton of bricks. I swear if that moment had not happened I would probably have spent the past thirty years as a teacher. Duane was capable of reaching inside people and pulling out the best. He made us all realize that music will never be great if everyone doesn't give it all they have, and we all took on that attitude: Why bother to play if you're not going all in?
WYNANS: Dickey was the hottest guitar player in the area, the guy that everyone looked up to and wanted to emulate. Then Duane came and started sitting in with us and he was more mature and more fully formed, with total confidence, an incredible tone and that unearthly slide playing. But he and Dickey complemented each other—they didn't try to outgun one another—and the chemistry was obvious right away. It was just amazing that the two best lead guitarists around were teaming up. They were both willing to take chances rather than returning to parts they knew they could nail, and everything they tried worked.
PRICE: Dickey was already considered one of the hottest guitar players in the state of Florida. He was smoking in the Second Coming and always had a great ability to arrange.
WYNANS: I remember one time Duane came up to me with this sense of wonder and said, "Reese, I just learned how to play the highest note in the world. You put the slide on the harmonic and slide it up and all of a sudden it's birds chirping." And, of course, that became his famous "bird call." He was always playing and pushing and sharing his ideas and passions.
JAIMOE: Duane had talked about a lot of guitar players and when I heard some of them I said, "That dude can't tote your guitar case" and he was surprised. He loved jamming with everyone.
(Continues...)Excerpted from One Way Out by Alan Paul. Copyright © 2014 Alan Paul. Excerpted by permission of St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- Publisher : St. Martin's Griffin; Reissue edition (February 24, 2015)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 528 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250040507
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250040503
- Item Weight : 1.1 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.4 x 1.4 x 8.15 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #45,722 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #95 in Rock Music (Books)
- #110 in Rock Band Biographies
- #3,314 in Humor & Entertainment (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Alan Paul's last three books have been instant New York Times bestsellers: Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the '70s, Texas Flood: the Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. Texas Flood has been optioned and is being developed for both documentary and feature films. His first book, Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues, and Becoming a Star in Beijing, is about his experiences raising an American family, forming a band and becoming an unlikely rock star in Beijing.
He also founded Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the music of the Allman Brothers Band, featuring members of the Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Gregg Allman bands. He is a regular guest on radio shows and a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, Guitar World, and other publications. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Rebecca Blumenstein. They have three children.
Please visit www.alanpaul.net or www.facebook.com/alanpaulauthor.
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By Bob Gelms
In this issue, dedicated to music appreciation, we have Jerry Lee Lewis, The Allman Brothers, and Joe Perry from Aerosmith. It’s time to rock on.
Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story is a mind-bending, wide-eyed, and slack-jawed appreciation of one of, if not THE originator of Rock & Roll. You can say what you want about Elvis Presley but if there was no Jerry Lee Lewis we would not have Rock & Roll as an art form today. What we would have would be safe for Mom and Pop and fathers of teen age girls. What Jerry Lee is, is most emphatically not safe. He and his music were and are dangerous. It has not lost its power over the years like Elvis has. Jerry Lee says this about his music, “I think my music is like a rattlesnake. It warns you, ‘Listen to this. You better listen to this.’” Then it strikes and the ecstatic liquor cascades through your body drowning every atom in a savage mixture of beat, emotion, and sex.
This book traces the beginnings of Jerry Lee and his music from the mud of the Mississippi River to the capitals of the world in venues with screaming girls ready to give up anything for The Killer – always the girls. Along with the girls were, of course, the drugs: the drugs to get you high, low, and everyplace in between. The book shies away from neither topic. It is Jerry Lee Lewis warts and all. It’s also a riveting story of a cultural icon who, by the way, is still with us. If I could give the book 10 stars I would. It is that good. Jerry Lee is an amazing man and by consequence this book will amaze you.
One Way Out: The Inside Story of the Allman Brothers Band is a story of fulfilled promise of one of the most successful bands in the history of Rock & Roll. Recently they passed two very significant milestones. One is the 42nd anniversary of Duane Allman’s death. His influence has waned not a bit in the 42 years since he died. You could go see The Allman Brothers play today and hear Duane’s slide guitar tearing through the songs, that is, if they were playing anywhere, which brings us to the second significant event. The band has hung it up. They played their last show at the Beacon Theatre in New York on October 28th and it looks as though they might not come out of retirement.
It’s all in the book which is done with the cooperation of the band. And, yes, there were girls and a veritable pharmacopeia of recreational drugs Ingested in super human quantities. It is nothing short of a miracle they didn’t have any OD’s. They had deaths though. Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident just prior to the release of the greatest live album ever recorded, At Fillmore East, and their bass player, Barry Oakley, was killed a short time later in another motorcycle accident very near the spot where Duane was killed.
Their music is timeless since it is based on the blues, a prime chunk of what goes into the very best Rock & Roll. It is not an idle coincidence that the very first song The Allman Brothers played at that very first rehearsal in Florida so many years ago was also the last song they played at The Beacon a few weeks ago, Trouble No More by Muddy Waters. I love The Allman Brothers and I loved this Book. It’s number one with a bullet in the Gelms’ household.
Another great American blues-based rock band is Aerosmith. Their lead guitarist, Joe Perry, has written an autobiography called Rocks. They rock hard and Joe Perry is the reason why. I like my Rock & Roll spiced with blazing guitars and blues riffs and Aerosmith does not disappoint. I never warmed up to their lead singer Steven Tyler. There was always something about his personality that rubbed me the wrong way. Well folks, read Rocks and you’ll find out why Steven Tyler rubs everybody the wrong way. I’m not sure why Tyler doesn’t have a perennial broken nose or a couple of black eyes. He is a compulsive liar and one of the worst egomaniacs in the business. He, more than anything else, was responsible for the breakup of the band. That, and a little arrogance on the part of Mr. Perry. Joe Perry is, however, mostly responsible for the band coming back together for their second wind.
It is interesting to note that Aerosmith has passed these forty-some odd years with the band lineup unchanged. I don’t think any band can top that. While Perry gives a mostly unvarnished view of the trials and tribulations of being in a drug satiated pressure cooker like a Rock & Roll band, it is evident he sees himself through rose colored glasses. Steven Tyler comes off very badly any way you snort it.
It’s a lot of fun hearing from the horse’s mouth where all those riffs came from. Rocks is a very enjoyable read and you don’t have to resort to counter culture party items to have a good time.
As someone who grew up in Macon when the band was starting up, it brought back many memories of the past
Good read
The Allman Brothers fuzzed rock, country, blues, and jazz for a sound that was revolutionary and completely new in 1971, and still is today.
This book tells the story of the band through interviews with band member, roadies (got to love Red Dog), other musicians, lawyers, wives, girlfriends,children, and other people who knew the Brothers through the years.
I love the way Paul takes interviews and puts them in easy to read blocks of prose.
Butch and Jaimoe were able to play off each other because they listen to one another. Butch was the driving force as a drummer and usually laid down the freight- train type beat; and Jaimoe, a jazz player, filled in the holes Butch left; together they were an unequaled dual force that hasn't been matched yet..
Greg is one of the best blues singers, player, that's ever played. (Black or white.) And his Hammond B3 playing was the gravy and dash of sat snd pepper on the remarkable sound of this band.
Duane's vision for his new band consisted of two drummers, two guitar players, a bass, and a organ player and a singer. As a slide player there's never been an equal to Duane's playing. (I mean the dude can make the guitar sing like a bird!) Listen to him do it on Mountain Jam.
He first met Barry Oakley, then Jaimoe and Butch Trucks.They began Jamming for free in the local parks and rehearsal halls in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969. They auditioned many players until Duane said after a lengthy jam session: "This is it . . . anyone who doesn't want to be in this band is gonna have to fight me to get out of this room.
There was only one ingredient missing: A lead singer. Duane called his 'baby brother' Greg who was out in California and told him he'd found the band he was looking for, and he (Greg) needed to get his ass down to Florida.
Greg Allman heeded his brother's call and the Allman Brother became a band in March of 1969.
Duane, who cared about the music more than he ever cared about the money or fame, did not want it called the Duane Allman Band.They tried out several names, and Duane finally relented, and the band was named the Allman Brothers Band.
When Duane died, the heart and leadership of the band was torn out of the group, but some how, they decided to keep going. And then Barry died in about the same way Duane did just about a year later.
Butch said that Duane had given them the religion, and they vowed to keep it going. And from 1971 to 2014 they did.
There was a lot of pain,drugs, new members, and great music that flowed under the bridge.
Bill Graham called them the finest players and music around, and rounded off the last set ever played at Fillmore East with the 'best band of them all--the Allman Brothers!'
I first heard them on my return from Vietnam in the early spring of 1970, and they changed me forever as a listener and a musician.
My biggest hope and desire is that younger folk listen to them and hear what inspired me for all these years.
I recommend this book because it brings a great understanding to this unbelievable band.
Pick up "At Fillmore East" and listen to a sound that was new and fresh when it first was released, and still is to this day. . . .
Play on forever, Brothers!.