A finely crafted portrait of the southern rock group that created
some of the 1970s' most appealing and inventive music.
Georgia-based journalist Freeman shows great command of both
history and southern context in explicating the richly diverse
musical sources of the band's sound. He plays it straight and from
the top, beginning with the fatherless, troubled Allman brothers in
Tennessee and their youthful discovery of black music - Jackie
Wilson gave Gregg goosebumps he thought "were permanent" - then
moving on to describe guitarist Duane's developing mastery, Gregg's
bluesy voice, and the brothers' adoption of Macon, Ga., as the
unlikely site of their musical stand. (As their fame grew, it
became the mecca of southern rock.) The Allman Brothers Band
changed personnel often, and Freeman tracks a big, biracial cast of
hardserabble, drug-scarfing outlaws who tangled with the Dixie
Mafia and even murder when road manager Lydon Twiggs stabbed a club
owner who refused to pay them. He focuses primarily on edge-dweller
Duane, who soon became one of rock's legendary guitarists ("I took
speed every night for three years and practiced") but died in a
motorcycle accident in 1971; enigmatic but feckless Gregg, unable
to overcome drug addiction or deal responsibly with women; and
mercurial Dickey Betts, the sweet-playing slide guitarist who grew
into stardom after Duane's death. Freeman's determination to cover
it all - including the dollar value of every contract and
child-support judgment - encumbers his story. But for the most part
he tells this yarn well, giving the music itself proper pride of
place. Though not shy about criticizing the band's bad middle- and
late-period recordings, Freeman does a fine a job of making their
best music sing for readers. This book will further stimulate the
revived interest in the Allmans, who were a surprise hit at
Woodstock II. (Kirkus Reviews)
In this riveting tale of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, Freeman brings
to life the turbulent career of the original Southern rock band.
This history includes the band's blues roots, their wild early days
on the road and their recent resurgence.
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