>

Duane - one of the driving forces of The Allman Brothers Band -was arguably the best slide guitarist of his era. He was born in Nashville and learned to play guitar by the age of 13 -playing gigs at the local YMCA with his brother Gregg. In 1965 the brothers formed The Allman Joys in Florida, playingblues standards. The next year they moved to Los Angeles and formed Hourglass and received a record contract from Liberty Records. Duane soon returned to Florida were he eventually became a session guitarist for the Muscle Shoals' Fame Studio. Over the next year Duane would record with : Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin, King Curtis Percy Sledge Clarance Carter and Arther Conley. In 1969 Duane was signed by Atlantic Records and assembled a band which included his brother Gregg In 1970 Duane appeared with Eric Clapton on Derek and the Dominos' "Layla" Lp. In March of 1971 a show at New Yorks Fillmore East was recorded and realeased as a live double LP in July and the Allman Brother's Band had a rep that continued to grow..this LP would reach the top ten. "My brother was a real pistol," says Gregg. "He was a hell of a musician, but he was a hell of a person, too. People forget that sometimes, but he was a firecracker." Duane died after a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia. In 1972 the band released there next album Eat a Peach which contained three songs that the band had recorded before his death and was filled out by the remaining material from the Fillmore show. The LP entered the charts in the Top Ten and rose to #4. Duane's session work was collectivly released on Anthology Volumes 1 & 2. Duane is buried in Rose Hill Cemetary in Macon, Georgia. I have been there once - years ago. As cemetaries go, it is pretty and peaceful - very old.