Friday May 6, 2022 “Trouble No More” Duane Allman (Lead Guitar)
So many choices on lead guitar for our fantasy band and I suspect that Duane Allman might not have been your obvious first pick but not only was he a great guitarist and singer/songwriter but he was an ensemble player who knew when a song required an explosion or simply quiet and melodic direction.
The story goes that Wilson Pickett was recording “Mustang Sally” and “In The Midnight Hour” at the Muscle Shoals recording studio where Duane Allman was doing the guitar work. Pickett was reluctant to record “Hey Jude” because he didn’t feel it was in ‘his style’ until Duane Allman goaded him by saying “What’s wrong, you don’t got the balls to sing it?” Wilson took the bait and recorded a version that almost eclipses the original, including some stunning guitar work by Allman on the song's outro.
When Eric Clapton heard Allman’s work on Pickett’s tune he had to know who it was playing guitar and upon introduction that became the beginning of some of the most amazing duel guitar work ever on the Derek & The Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs featuring great slide guitar by Duane Allman on the album’s title track.
Allman’s complete body of work is with his own band the Allman Brothers but like our rhythm guitarist he would leave us too soon, at the early age of 24, the result of a motorcycle accident.
Stay safe and well…and in 2003, Duane Allman was ranked number 2 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix.