Are you pleased with the Herbie Mann
sessions?
Hell, yeah. Herbie Mann’s a really talented
guy. I felt real good when he asked me to
play with him. These sessions are goin’ good
because everybody’s free. Any session is as
creative as you make it. You’ve got to feel
free to introduce your own ideas. Like, when
I worked on the Wilson Pickett sessions in
Muscle Shoals, I suggested he cut “Hey
Jude.” It ended up that he used my
arrangement and it worked out just fine.
Everybody was happy.
You worked for Rick Hall in Muscle Shoals
for quite a while. Were those sessions freer
than, say, the L.A. sessions you did?
Yeah, they probably were. But that was
really more because of the artists we worked
with. We did mostly R&B stuff and those cats
were real loose. They just wanted everybody
on the session to play their ass off; they
never told you what to play. I guess they
did tell you what not to play sometimes.
What do you think of the live At Fillmore
East album?
I dig the shit out of it. The whole band
does. It's as close as we've been able to
come to a real portrayal of what we are. It
really sounds like the Brothers.
Seems like Bill Graham never told you what
not to play. In fact, he gave the Allman
Brothers more freedom than any other band he
booked, didn’t he?
Yeah. Bill loved us. But we loved him just
as much. I think Bill Graham is the best;
he’s number one with me. I have more respect
for that guy than just about anyone. Folks
are always bitching about the way he treats
them. I’ll tell you somethin’. He treats a
band exactly the way a band treats him. You
show up on time; you do a professional sound
check; you don’t hassle him for bread – man,
he’ll treat you like a prince. That’s the
way he treats us and that’s the way we treat
him. Anybody don’t respect Bill Graham got
their head messed around.
When Graham closed the Fillmores,
everyone said that rock was dead. What do
you think?
Rock has never died and it ain’t never gonna
die. This sayin’ it’s dead is nothin’ new.
People been saying that since it started.
And I’ll tell ya: as long as there’s someone
who wants to go there, I’ll be there to play
it for them.
Don’t you think you might someday get
tired of it?
Hell, no. Music’s what keeps me together.
It’s the thing that keeps us all goin’. I’d
never stop playin’. God, I got no idea what
I’d do if I wasn’t playin’. I don’t know
what would happen.
You’re finally seeing some success here,
probably due to a sound that’s all your own.
Would you say there have been any specific
influences on either you or the band as a
whole?
I don’t know how much other musicians have
influenced the sound of the band, but
probably not very much. I think the guys in
the band have influenced each other a lot. I
know I have been by other cats. Miles Davis,
Roland Kirk, Muddy Waters, B.B. King. Those
cats had a lot of influence on my music and
on a lot of the music I know. J. Geils is
our favorite band, but I can’t say that
they’ve influenced us; they’re into a
different thing from us.
Your music doesn’t sound like those
people you’ve named at all.
Yeah thanks. It shouldn’t. Being influenced
shouldn’t mean soundin’ like or copying
anyone else. You gotta strive to play a pure
form of music; a kind of music that’s honest
to yourself. If you got that attitude and
feelin’ about what you play, you’ll be a lot
better off. That’s the kind of attitude that
makes a great performing band. Ya know, a
great record is easy to make. I ain’t
impressed by great records. But a great
performance ain’t so easy. That’s why we
like J. Geils so much. They know how to
perform their stuff—they don’t need studio
gimmicks.
How has the band managed to stay together
without the usual ego hassles that destroy
so much music?
These six guys have always worked for one
sound, one direction. But everyone plays
like he wants to play. He just keeps that
goal in mind. If you know what you can do
and you’re satisfied in your heart that
you’re doin’ it, you ain’t gonna have no
problems.
You speak as though the band has no real
leader. Is that true?
Not really. When we need a leader, I’m it.
Everybody understands that. It’s just that
we don’t usually need a leader because we
got that goal, that attitude I told you
about. But there is one thing. You were
talkin’ about bands breaking up. Drugs is
one thing that will do it and do it quick. I
don’t allow no shootin’ up in this band. One
time, I walked into the bathroom and saw set
of works in one of the roadie’s shaving
kits. I went and grabbed him; I took those
works and smashed ‘em under my heel. And I
told him, “If I ever see that sh*t again,
man, you’re out of a job.” And that goes for
anyone in the band. I ain’t puttin’ up with
none of that sh*t. I’m not gonna sit back
and watch this whole thing go down the
tubes. I don’t hold drugs against no one; I
just ain’t having no one shootin’ up in this
band.
When someone mentions the Allman
Brothers, people always think of Duane
first. Does that bother you?
Folks that ain’t musicians can’t be expected
to understand what does into putting one
sound out. They may think it’s my guitar
that’s doin’ it. It ain’t, but it don’t
bother me that folks think that ‘cause
there’s nothing I can do about it.
Do you think other guitar players are
jealous of you?
I know they are. There’s all these guitar
banditos out there tryin’ to outshoot me. I
know I’ve got my stuff together, so I see no
sense in trying to fight against them. I’m
with the other guitarists, not against them.
I know there’s always gonna be somebody
better anyway, so why fight that?
Do you think the other Allman Brothers
get jealous of the attention directed toward
you?
Hell, no. There’s no petty sh*t in this
band. We are allies, working together.
There’s a mutual love we share. We was
hungry together for a long time. We may be
makin’ plenty of bread now, but it really
don’t make that much difference to anybody.
That shows in the way the band dresses at
concerts.
Right. A cat comes to my band to pick, not
to show off his fancy clothes. We want to
share out music with the audience. But,
there ain’t no stage show. This ain’t no
ballet. We want people to listen with their
eyes closed, to just let the music come
inside them and forget their worldly cares.
We just want to make music that makes people
feel it’s easier to go on than they did
before they heard us.
It sounds like you’re saying there’s no
reason to go and see the band.
There’s not. There’s nothing to see. Nobody
is going to get dressed up real fine to
satisfy someone’s vicarious need to be a
rock star. We just want to make music that
makes it easier for people to go on than it
was before they heard us.
So far, you’ve done very little writing. Do
you plan to do more?
My writing’s in the formative stages right
now. I’ve been writin’ some music but no
words. I gotta feelin’ it’s all been said
already.
By whom?
Dylan, Jimmy Webb, Stills, those three
mostly.
What about Neil Young?
I don’t like that cat’s stuff, especially
his guitar playing. He should stick to
rhythm work. Maybe it’s the guitar playing
that makes me not like the songs. Seems like
he just uses the guitar as a vehicle for his
songs. It’s just a craft. For me it’s an
art.
What advice would you give a guitarist
trying to make it today?
I’d tell him to remember that you can’t
never play just like anyone else so you
ought not to try. You gotta utilize what’s
inside you to create what you want to
create. You gotta sort yourself out and sort
the music you hear out. Then find something
to hang your notes on. You hang your notes
on your attitude and on yourself. If it
don’t come out pure, it don’t come out good.
I never took no lessons, but I got that
attitude.