Tag Archives: Duane Allman

” Keep On Growin’ “–Tedeschi-Trucks Band- Florida Theatre January 16, 2015

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The happy couple onstage at the Florida Theatre. As John Hiatt says, ” it’s on the National Register ( of Historic Places) “

Concert Review- Tedeschi-Trucks Band, the Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL 1/16/15

” Back in the 1970s, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth”, as Patterson Hood says, a scrawny local kid with a ballcap visored way down his forehead stood boldly on the Florida Theatre stage as the opening act for B.B. King, wailing on slide guitar as if he belonged there. The King of the Blues later invited the kid to join him onstage, and hugged him afterward, telling the crowd: ” Imagine how good he’ll be when he gets to my age! ”

But it all seemed too much for any kid to live up to. Born on the First Coast into a musical heritage as the nephew of founding Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, named after Eric Clapton’s alter ego with soulmate Duane Allman on arguably the greatest blues-rock album ever  , cast as a prodigy on slide before he left high school…how could anyone not be crushed or sucked in by the weight of all this? By continuing to grow, yet staying true to his roots, Derek Trucks went beyond the hype, earned his peers’ respect, and now leads the best touring band in the U.S. with his powerhouse blueswailing wife Susan Tedeschi. As the First Family of the Blues, they returned to the Florida Theatre on the heels of wildly successful tours, award-winning records, and critical acclaim. The locals welcomed them home with roaring approval throughout their pulsating two hour set.

Tedeschi and Trucks

Derek is totally engaged…he just doesn’t talk about it!

Derek’s growth from sideman to bandleader has reflected his broad musical tastes, and the full ensemble band allows him to stretch in many directions. Beginning with the twin-drum lineup trademarked by the Allmans, the current TTB features keys, bass, two backup singers, and a three-piece horn section. Throw in Susan’s own formidable chops on guitar, and you have a huge sound base with a wide variety of ingredients. Derek’s willingness to let the band take solos and leads throughout the show kept things cooking, whether it was Kofi Burbridge on keys and flute, Kebbi Williams on sax, or the always scintillating Mike Mattison on vocals.

Tedeschi Trucks band

Mike Mattison reaches for that upper register!

Beginning with ” Are You Ready/Made Up Mind “, the band rolled through a veritable Best Of selections from their three CDs, spiced with a few covers, including Deadrick Malone’s ” I Pity the Fool “. Fans cheered wildly as favorites ” Do I Look Worried? “, ” Midnight Up In Harlem “, and ” Idlewind ” ( with a tasty solo by Burbridge on flute) paced the set, culminating in a rousing ” Bound For Glory “. With each song, another member of the band would be featured as soloist, often extending into short jams and interplays that no doubt serve to keep the material fresh through the many nights onstage. Susan was in fine, strong voice, and seemed to be playing notably better, often trading leads with Derek before he took off into his own stringed stratosphere. The band’s sound ventured into jazz at times, veered back toward R and B, and even swung around to traditional acoustic blues.

Through the years, Derek’s onstage demeanor has changed little. The tours alongside Eric Clapton, the years next to Warren Haynes as an Allman Brother, and the side projects with roots musicians like JJ Grey have kept Derek humble and seemingly unaffected by his great success. True to form, he said nothing onstage and merely waved to the crowd at the close of the set. Paying tribute to his namesake, Derek and Susan often include a Clapton cover in their set, from Bobby Whitlock’s Dominoes rocker ” Anyday ” all the way back to Blind Faith and ” Presence of the Lord ” during the Allmans’ show at Wanee years back. This night, they returned to ” Layla” with another Clapton/Whitlock tune, ” Keep On Growin’ “, as the encore of choice, to thunderous applause from the aging boomer crowd, many of whom likely have vinyl ” Laylas ” gathering dust in boxes in the garage.

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The view from the balcony at the Florida Theatre

 

Looking back to Riley B. King’s prognostication, it didn’t take a bluesman’s lifetime for Derek Trucks to mature into a musician’s musician and a artist of commensurate stature to the King himself. All hail the new King and Queen of Blues Rock!

 

IMAG0592A hearty welcome back and Happy New Year to our Florida correspondent, Nanker Phledge… how about showing up now and then, Nanks?  – Editors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blues Year’s Eve– Gregg Allman with JJ Grey and Mofro- The Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL 12/31/13

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Concert Review– Gregg Allman, with JJ Grey and Mofro– The Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL, 12/31/13

Gregg Allman and Band rock the Florida Theatre on New Years' 2013

Gregg Allman and Band rock the Florida Theatre on New Year’s 2013

” But I’m not gonna let ’em catch me, no; not gon’ let ’em catch the Midnight Rider “-
Gregg Allman, ” Midnight Rider ”

So who were those hellhounds on the trail of the Midnight Rider? The law? Jealous husband’s posse? Or could it have been Father Time, stalking even the most elusive of us, bearing down until every horse had fallen under our saddles, every step in flight had ground to a halt? Or could one bearded Pale Rider outrun even Time itself?

Back in the late 60s, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, the frontman for a Jacksonville based band, the Allman Joys, phoned his brother Duane to ask that he leave his rising career as a session guitarist in Muscle Shoals and L.A. and come east to start a new band. Based in Macon, GA, the Allman Brothers roared out of the South behind a two-drummer, twin lead guitar lineup playing a blues/rock hybrid that gave free rein to jammy solos and soulful vocals. Soon they headlined festivals, sold millions of records, and won fans worldwide, their career arc culminating in the 1970 release of one of the greatest live LPs ever, ” Live at the Fillmore East ” . Sadly, Brother Duane and bassist Berry Oakley died in motorcycle wrecks months apart within a few blocks of their beloved Big House headquarters and residence in Macon, and now rest peacefully in a lovely local cemetery.

Gregg shows off his guitar chops on an extended break from the keys

Gregg shows off his guitar chops on an extended break from the keys, alongside Scott Sharrard.

But the music lived on with new band members, surviving the departure of original lead  guitarist Dicky Betts and various personal triumphs and tragedies. And no one put more miles on the odometer than Gregg, with his confidante Scooter Herring puking on the band to the DEA, a head-spinning marriage to Cher Bono, tattoo-contracted Hepatitis,  and constant touring in the headwind  of musical trends from punk to disco to grunge threatening to  marginalize every genuine blues rocker into obscurity. But like the song says,  ” the road goes on forever.. and I’ve got one more silver dollar…”

Today the Allman Brothers Band features guitarists Derek Trucks ( whose uncle Butch is an original member on drums) and Warren Haynes, both named by Rolling Stone as among the 50 top axemen of all time ( both just announced this year as their last with the ABB – Ed.), and tours as a unit when Derek and wife Susan Tedeschi are not on the road with their Grammy-winning band, Haynes is on break from Government Mule, and Gregg is not touring with his own band. And as Father Time bore down on 2013 on Florida’s First Coast, the Midnight Rider took his act into the Florida Theatre before a hard-sellout crowd of ABB fans from three generations.

JJJ Grey and Mofro

JJJ Grey and Mofro serve up some home cookin’ to the locals!

The promoters could not have scored a better opener than local favorite JJ Grey and Mofro, who would ordinarily have been rocking the Freebird LIve, a Jax Beach venue owned by Ronnie Van Zandt’s widow Judy, during their annual 3-night New Year’s run that has become legend in these parts. JJ has stubbornly refused to follow any trends or commercial leads, instead hammering away at his very own blend of blues, soul, R and B, with a smattering of rock. JJ’s love for the swamps and backwaters of the undeveloped Florida woods pours out in his lyrics and music, especially tunes like ” Lochloosa “, which prompted an amazing singalong by the packed house. The number of fans who knew JJ’s material was staggering for a guy whose name is unknown nationally and never will have a ” hit “, much less care. His set was wildly received, and the humbly amiable frontman wore a shit-eating grin throughout, no doubt prompted by the show of love from the locals.

Grey led Mofro through a rousing set of favorites, including ” 99 Shades of Crazy “,” Country Ghetto”,  ” Brighter Days”,  ” Ybor City “, and a tribute and wave to his daughter in the house , ” The Sweetest Thing”. His stage banter and mid-song freestyling were alternatively poignant and hilarious, with down-home philosophizing on the beauty of Old Florida and the inanity of his childhood preference of a Big Mac over the native foods he loves today: ” I didn’t want no okra… I didn’t want no blackeyed peas… I didn’t want no Silver Queen corn fresh off the cob!” Grey’s unabashed sincerity and embrace of American roots music forms show his artistic integrity, and drive his steadfast fan loyalty and fellow musicians’ respect.

The extended ovation for Mofro was exceeded only by the roar when Gregg strode onstage, waved, and climbed behind the Hammond B3. Back off, Father Time!

Scott Sharrard steps into the limelight, effortlessly

Scott Sharrard steps into the limelight, effortlessly covering those Duane Allman and Dicky Betts solos the crowd came to hear.

With the opening lines of ” Statesboro Blues ” , the lead track from ” Live At the Fillmore East” rocking the house, the sellout crowd knew they were in the presence of Blues Rock Royalty. Following his solo ” I’m No Angel “,  Gregg chose heavily from the ABB catalog, with ” Ain’t Wastin’ Time”, ” Hot ‘Lanta “, ” Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’ ” ,  ” Whipping Post “, and yes, ” Midnight Rider ” . Gregg stepped off the Hammond B3 stool to join Scott Sharrard on guitar for several tunes, including ” Melissa”, and Jackson Browne’s ” These Days “.  Despite the years and the mileage, his voice was amazingly strong, with no apparent loss of tone or range. To the delight of the crowd, Sharrard managed to wail unerringly through the well-known Skydog and Betts solos on the ABB standards, with the rhythm section and horns keeping pace.  The band closed with Sonny Boy Williamson’s    ” One Way Out “, another ABB war horse, and the celebration ended as the New Year began.

Father Time rounded up the hellhounds and waved goodnight, as the Baby New Year cried in vain for another encore. The Midnight Rider escaped again!

Were you at the rock show?

Were you at the rock show?

Our Florida correspondent Nanker Phledge sends special thanks to the Florida Theatre security for clearing out the pinheads who constantly stand in front of the stage shooting video on tiny cameras that will never be watched by anyone. Props to you!

” Duality of the Southern Thing “- MUSCLE SHOALS documentary

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” MUSCLE SHOALS ” directed by Greg ” Freddy ” Camalier

muscle shoals” Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers, and they’ve been known to pick a song or two…” — Ronnie Van Zant/ Ed King/ Gary Rossington; Lynyrd Skynyrd- ” Sweet Home Alabama”

The Swampers at Muscle Shoals Sound

The Swampers at Muscle Shoals Sound

Just south of the Alabama/Tennessee border, about 26 miles from Mike Cooley’s  ” Zip  City “, runs a stretch of the Tennessee River where the rocks seem to make the waters sing. Native Americans believed that a woman sang to them from beneath the waves. When extraordinarily rendered to Muscogee, Oklahoma, many grieved for the loss of the songs in the water, and at least one woman trudged by foot for five years to return to Muscle Shoals.

Years later, world-class musicians would heed that siren song and make their pilgramage  to this tiny corner of North Alabama ” to record that sweet soul music, that Muscle Shoals sound ” ( Patterson Hood, DBT: ” Ronnie and Neil” ) at Rick Hall’s FAME studio, and later at Muscle Shoals Sound with Swamper/Producer/guitarist Jimmy Johnson and his cohorts bassist David Hood and drummer Roger Hawkins.

Rick Hall and Clarence Carter at FAME studios

Rick Hall and Clarence Carter at FAME studios

The amazing story of how these country white boys partnered with artists of all genres- from Clarence Carter to the Rolling Stones– to make great music is the heart of the film, but it is the personal grief and glory revealed in interviews ( brilliantly edited to answers only ) that make the story so compelling. We hear driven, hard-boiled Rick Hall recounting his brother’s horrific farmyard death, his mother’s abandonment, and his father’s clawing the soil with his nails as he was crushed under his tractor. We hear Jimmy Johnson reveal that while recording the first demo of ” Free Bird ” for then-unknown Lynyrd Skynyrd, they returned from lunch to hear the ethereal piano solo now memorialized in the song being played by then-roadie Billy Powell, who had feared that the band wouldn’t like the fact that he was a classically trained pianist. Jimmy Johnson tells of ” the beginning of Southern Rock “, when Duane Allman sold Wilson Pickett on the crazy notion of covering the Beatles’ ” Hey Jude “, and Rick Hall candidly admits completely whiffing on Duane’s prediction of the popularity of the genre. And brother Gregg tells of dropping off a bottle of Coricidin and a copy of Taj Mahal’s first LP at ailing Duane’s house, and having Duane call him hours later, loudly playing ” Statesboro Blues ” with the emptied Coricidin bottle as a slide.

Gregg Allman in MUSCLE SHOALS

Gregg Allman in MUSCLE SHOALS

Surely, the presence of willing interviewees Mick, Keith, Winwood, Aretha, and Bono will draw many to this fine film, but it is the personal vignettes, and the attempt to answer why  so much great music came out of this backwater town, that will burn the memory of this film into our cranial hard drives. Why then? Why there?  Great soul artists like Wilson Pickett, Clarence Carter, and Percy Sledge testify to the color-blind harmony in Muscle Shoals, even while Alabama Governor George Wallace was standing in the doorways of schools to keep out black children.This contradiction, so powerful that record companies would call Rick Hall to get ” that soul band of black guys ” from his studio , was part of what David Hood’s son Patterson would later call the ” duality of the Southern Thing “, wherein barely schooled poor white country boys would back up soul, R and B, and even reggae artists like Jimmy Cliff, by becoming that artist’s band for the time of the session. In one of the film’s many poignant moments, Clarence Carter notes that perhaps the success of blacks and whites working side by side  in Muscle Shoals was demonstrative evidence to the public that peaceful coexistence was not only possible, but a path to great art.

Roger Hawkins in MUSCLE SHOALS

Roger Hawkins in MUSCLE SHOALS

” Meanwhile in North Alabama, Lynyrd Skynyrd comes to town to record with Jimmy Johnson, that Muscle Shoals Sound, and they met some real fine people, not no racist piece of shit, and they wrote a song about it, and that song became a hit..”– Patterson Hood, DBT: ” Ronnie and Neil “

With a tip of the hat to SNL’s Leonard Pinth-Garnell ( Dan Akroyd), your humble correspondent, Nanker Phledge.

The Dirty Lowdown– Boz Scaggs at the Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL 5/7/13

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Boz Scaggs, definitely NOT taken at the Florida Theatre on 5/7/13. And we’re all better for it!

” I know she’s a good girl… but at that time I just didn’t understand….”                                                 –  Boz Scaggs, ” Loan Me a Dime ”   (original lyrics by Fenton Robinson)

The gravelly voice came over the squawkbox overhead the pre-show crowd milling about Forsyth Street outside the historic Florida Theatre, sounding a cautionary alarm to those about to be rocked: ” No cameras or recording of any kind will be permitted during the show”. What a concept! You mean, no incredibly annoying cell phones pointed at eye level throughout the show? No hopelessly self-absorbed patrons endlessly twitting, posting, and preening as if the show were in their pants, instead of on stage? No shameless Rudees standing to shoot low-resolution video that even they will never watch? ( Hint: some of us came to watch the artist, not take part in your streaming Reality of One). Flowers, hugs, and kisses to the pioneering new artist taking such bold strides in laying down the law against this tide of …. what’s that you say?  You mean the guy thrusting this groundbreaking shovel into the social media landfill has been around since playing with Steve Miller in 1967 ???

Striding onstage just behind his band, Boz recoiled in mock Dracula fashion as the center spotlight flooded over him. No opening act, no stage props, no laser light show, not even a banner behind the band. Or a merch table in the lobby! This would be a night focused on the music and the players, befitting a veteran singer/songwriter/guitarist never known for drawing attention to himself; a guy who basically took the 80s off and walked away from the business because the muse had left him and he refused to simply recycle the 1979 multi-platinum ” Silk Degrees” like a prison inmate stamping out license plates. ” We’re trying out some new material ” , he explained, cranking out selections from his latest CD,   ” Memphis “, recorded in the Cradle of Rock at the original Royal Studio of now-deceased Willie Mitchell, where those great Al Green records of the 70s were created. Introducing numbers with short vignettes about the songwriter or the selection of the tune to cover, Boz hit the highlights of the current release, including Willy De Ville’s ” Mixed Up Shook Up Girl “, the traditional  ” Corrina, Corrina “, and a tender version of Tony Joe White’s ” Rainy Night in Georgia “. Boz was in fine voice, able to find his upper register without strain, and his guitar playing was  tasteful and bluesy.

Yet the crowd of aging Boomers rendered only polite applause and muted approval until Boz stepped back from the mike to let ” the shy one “, the dynamic Los Angelino singer, Ms. Monet, whip the crowd to its feet with a medley of Sly Stone’s ” Thank You ( Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again) “, and Isaac Hayes and David Porter’s  Memphis classic, ” I Thank     You “. The fiesty Ms. Monet’s gospel-flavored scatting and call-and-response to Boz’ solos immediately kicked the show up a notch. Scaggs didn’t miss the momentum change,  stepping on the gas to segue into his most popular, infectious material from ” Silk Degrees”, firing off ” Georgia”, ” Lowdown”, and ” Harbor Lights” before closing with a pulsating ” Lido Shuffle ” that had the crowd yearning for the glory days of 1979, when they “could do all night what now takes all day to do”, as Billy Wirtz says. He even dropped down a mirror ball from the ceiling to create an 80s disco feel to the end of the set.

At that point, all of the AARPs in front had either stood or been helped to their feet, and the applause was deafening for the first time all night. Boz returned for a rollicking ” What Can I Say? “, and seemed sincerely amazed to be brought back for a second encore, wondering aloud, ” Tuesday night? ” No doubt knowing that the Allman Joys started here before Gregg’s fateful call to Duane, Boz noted that ” we’re in Allman Brothers territory here “, and dedicated the closer, Fenton Robinson’s ” Loan Me A Dime “, to the memory of Brother Duane, who played on the 1969 studio version of the song when Boz had the incredible good fortune to be backed on his first major release by the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. The song’s slow organ lead simmered through two verses before the tempo and volume began to build, and able guitarist Drew Zingg ripped through a credible version of Skydog’s solo crescendo to finish off the show.

As the lights came on and the band finished their bows, the patrons scrambled to whip out their IPods, Droids, IPads, and cameraphones, desperate to show proof to their followers that they had, indeed, been present. As if the moments were not enough!

—– with love from your Luddite correspondent, Nanker Phledge

Local rock star Gorgeous Jackson poses with roadie outside the Boz Scaggs show at the Florida Theatre.