I've had the honor of sitting in with the Allmans at their Beacon shows a couple of times, and it just doesn't get better than that.
If there's anybody who knew how to play in a studio, it was Duane Allman.
I've been a huge Gregg Allman fan since first hearing the Brothers' live 'Fillmore' album.
Nobody is playing music like this, like the Allman Brothers, and there's still a lot of fans out there, so that's what we're doing with Les Brers.
Duane Allman was the best guitar player I ever heard who didn't read a note.
The Allman Brothers were definitely the group that opened up the door for the Southern groups.
Tom Petty was one of my guitar students; I knew Duane, and Stephen and I had a band. When he left, Bernie Leadon moved to Gainesville. His father was a nuclear physicist who was sent to the University of Florida to start their nuclear research facility, so he and I became friends.
I was always the Doubting Thomas of the bunch, and I don't think I was convinced about the Allman Brothers until 'Fillmore East' hit - that one removed all doubt!
When we started the Allman Brothers, it was all about the music.
The thing with Berry and Duane and the rest of us in the original Allman Brothers seemed to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing. When Duane was killed, we knew we lost a great part of that, but we still managed to play some great music.
I grew up in Georgia, so I grew up listening to the Allman Brothers.
Duane Allman might be my favorite guitar player ever. I'd say I'm influenced by the Allman Brothers more than any other band. When I taught guitar lessons for a living, the students that were interested in soloing had to learn the intro to 'It's Not My Cross to Bear' first thing.
I have so many great memories of the Allman Brothers early days. It was an incredible time.
With The Allman Brothers, we made two studio records that were OK, but the first really great album was the live one, 'At Fillmore East.' We were a live band, and it's one of the reasons we were able to stick around for 45 years.
