Musings from the Crossroads

Greetings and welcome to Long Live the ABB: Conversation from the Crossroads of Southern music, history, and culture.

I just returned from a whirlwind trip exploring the crossroads at ground zero: Maconga and then up to Hot’Lanta to see Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Fox Theatre.

The jaunt included a moonlight wander through Rose Hill Cemetery, an impromptu jam the next day as a freight train chugged along¹, and a MASSIVE jam with three of the Roots Rock Revival² crew: Andy, Danny, and Hub.

I’ll get some photos up later.

In the meantime, here’s video from the site of this Stephen Paley image from the back cover of the band’s debut album.

The angel is directly above where these photos were taken.

Jamming with Andy at the Bond tomb at Rose Hill.

Thanks for subscribing

I’m proud to say this little ol’ blog/newsletter has recently topped 3,500 subscribers. Thanks y’all for being here.

And thank you for my PAID subscribers, who appreciate what I’m doing enough to invest in it.

THANK YOU.

I mean it.

THANK YOU.

I am truly grateful and promise to continue to pay it forward with others who are hoofing it in the creative space.

New subscribers

Substack tells me I’ve picked up a number of subscribers from my friend

Kevin M. Levin

’s Civil War Memory.

Kevin is a historian and educator with a keen understanding of the intersections of history and memory whose work has shaped my navigation of the Crossroads of Southern music, history, and culture.

We’re definitely a mutual admiration society and I’m sure you’ll find lots to like here as well. Our research converges on commemoration, specifically monuments and memorials.³ And, of course, Kevin blurbed Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East⁴

“Play All Night! is more than just a history book. It is a love song to a musician and a band that have brought great joy to generations of diehard fans. An entertaining and illuminating exploration of the music of Duane Allman, the Allman Brothers Band, and the story behind the recording of one of the most iconic concerts in rock history. This book was a pleasure to read.”

For readers who’ve migrated from Civil War Memory, here are some of pieces Kevin has directly influenced.

📖My annual post on America’s Civic Season www.longlivetheabb.com/p/americas-civic-season-2023

🎥Byington Lecture on the Contemporary South (Mercer University, 2023) https://youtu.be/_dtwZK2pBC4

📖 Django Reinhardt and Germany’s commemorative landscape www.longlivetheabb.com/p/dickey-instrumentals-part-2

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What’s new?

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Allison Willey, one of my former graduate students, in her role with Arapahoe Libraries in Colorado. It was a virtual presentation that I captured and put on Youtube for y’all.

Allison asked me some really great questions that allowed me to get into some areas I’d yet to discuss in this format.

Enjoy!

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Duane’s Guitars

Dylan Adams, whose slide work blows me away⁵, has put together an outstanding video of the history of Duane Allman’s guitars.

The level of detail is incredible.

And I agree with Dylan’s conclusion that the reason so many of us associate Duane with the ‘61 SG and tobacco burst ‘58 or ‘59 Les Paul. He’d started playing them exclusively in June 1971, which is about the time the band really took off and lots of professional rock photographers covered them.

Great stuff, WELL worth your time.

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My take: Duane’s SG

I wrote about one of those guitars, a 1961 Gibson Les Paul/SG, which I believe is the only guitar that both Dickey and Duane played for an extended period of time—Dickey throughout 1970, Duane from June-October 1971.

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Random Notes

🍄 Warren & Derek reunite

Derek Trucks guested on three tracks on Warren’s latest record Million Voices Whisper: “These Changes” “Real Real Love” and “Hall of Future Saints.” All of them are highlights of a really great album from Reverend Brother Haynes. Their chemistry is undeniable.

“Real Real Love” ABBsolutely sounds like Gregg. Warren really channeled his spirit.

🍑 RELIX This Life as We Know It: Warren Haynes Completes Gregg Allman Tune, Reconnects with Derek Trucks on ‘Million Voices Whisper’

“The catalyst for Derek being part of this record was the song ‘Real, Real Love,’ which Gregg had started but never finished. I ended up finishing it and after I did, I called Derek and said, ‘Hey, I just finished this tune that Gregg had started, and I would love for you to be part of the recording process.’

I went down to Derek’s place near Macon, and we spent three days there writing songs. That’s all we were doing.

‘These Changes’ and ‘Hall of Future Saints’ were two of the songs that we wrote during that time period.

🍄 GUITAR PLAYER (

Alan Paul

interview) “We left that in because it captures what people want to hear from us. It felt so good to be playing together.” Warren Haynes talks recording with Derek Trucks for the first time in over 20 years on Gregg Allman's lost gem

“We're able to communicate in a way that is really easy, natural and organic,” says Haynes. “A lot of that is unspoken communication that happens while we're playing because we trust each other's instincts. Even a lot of the arrangements were done on the floor in the moment — things like who’s going to solo where, what changes the solos are going to be across and if we're going to trade back and forth. It was all quick and natural.”

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🍑Final Concert 10-28-14

The Allman Brothers Band has officially released the group’s final performance, from the Beacon Theatre, October 28, 2014. It was an epic final performance with a particularly poignant “Trouble No More” encore, the first song they ever played together.

Here’s me riffing on the latter—“Jesus Christ, what a band!”

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Langiappes

🍄 Serendipity brought Noah Lipton’s ABB blog to my attention. Some of y’all might dig it as much as I have. His latest post is on the ABB in 1994.

🎥 Rose Hill video from footage I took in February 2021.

📷 Elizabeth Jones Reed Napier gravesite 1997

Took this shot on my first-ever visit to Macon: May 1997. Just happened to have black & white film in the camera.

The urn has been gone for many, many years.

Thanks for reading y’all.

If you dig it, please tell others.

My brick at Big House. Long Live the ABB shroom commissioned from a local artist.

1. You can’t make this shit up, I’m telling you. It’s #mushroommagic in action.

2. Roots is one of Butch’s greatest ideas (in a career of them) and may be his most enduring legacy after being in the Allman Brothers Band. A true gift to the next generation.

3. My most recent publication in this arena is “No Sooner Was It Over, than the Memory Made It Nobler,” in David B. Allison, Controversial Controversial Monuments and Memorials: A Guide for Community Leaders, 2nd edition (2023).

4. Please hit that link, or this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/0813069505, to tickle that Amazon algorithm and tell them about Play All Night. Thanks y’all.

5. Here’s Dylan’s slide guitar course: https://dylanadamsguitarcourses.learnworlds.com/course/standard-tuning-slide.