![]() ![]() At the intersection of Hillcrest and Bartlett Avenue, Allman slowed down and maneuvered to let a large flatbed truck carrying a crane boom make a left-hand turn in front of him. On October 29, 1971, Duane Allman, who was at the time just 24 years old, was riding on his Harley-Davidson Sportster down Hillcrest Avenue in Macon, Georgia, when a freak accident would play out. Everything appeared to be going great, but it would get bizarre indeed when death would come for Duane once again, eerily exactly 1 year later, as per the purported pact. At the time it was considered to be a miracle, and Duane went back to playing, doing sessions and working on their next studio album. ![]() Oakley pleaded with God to give Duane just one more year of life, one more year to play his music and live his dream.Īpparently someone was listening, because against all odds the guitarist’s health improved dramatically and he survived what was widely believed by surprised doctors to be a fatal overdose. It was then that Berry Oakley entered into a personal bargain with God. ![]() Fellow band member Butch Trucks would later say in an interview: He supposedly begged God to allow his friend to live one more year so that they could complete an album and allow Duane to continue doing what he loved. According to the story, it was one of these prayers that would actually work to bring Duane from the brink of death. It is said that one time the bass guitarist of The Allman Brothers band, Berry Oakley, was deep in angst at what he truly thought was Duane’s deathbed and praying heavily. The overdose was apparently pretty bad, and doctors did not think he was going to pull through, leaving only the prayers of his family, friends, and band mates to help him get past this. ![]() Although the details seem to be unclear, on this evening Duane Allman suffered a serious drug overdose while in Nashville, and he was rushed to the hospital in very grim shape. In fact, his drug based demons came calling on October 29, 1970, during the heyday of the band’s success. As with many famous musicians there was alcohol and drug abuse lurking around them, and Duane was not immune to this. There were some problems in the background. He was highly sought after, and also a contributor to albums from various other famous artists, but despite this growing fame and clout, Duane would never leave The Allman Brothers Band, which was his true labor of love. He was a regular collaborator with fellow guitar great Eric Clapton, helping to record the smash hit song Layla. Clapton and Duane became very close friends, with Clapton once saying Duane was the “musical brother I'd never had but wished I did," and he was even offered to join Clapton’s band, Derek and the Dominos. They became recognized as one of the most influential bands ever, and through all of this Duane went on to become one of the most respected guitarists of all, once hitting the number 2 spot of Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, and inspiring many others to copy his sound and way of playing. When it launched the group immediately made an impression, earning the admiration of some of the greatest musicians of the era and going on to record two studio albums, 1969’s The Allman Brothers Band and 1970’s Idlewild South, as well as a live album, the revered 1970 album At Fillmore East, largely recognized as one of the best concert recordings ever made. There was also the time that his bandmate allegedly made a deal with God to keep him alive, which was then followed by a series of mysterious deaths. Duane then quickly proved to be a guitar legend, known for his slide guitar playing and amazing ability to improvise at the drop of a hat. In 1969 he would start his own band, The Allman Brother Band, along with his brother Gregg in Jacksonville, Florida. He began with a successful stint as a session musician for Atlantic Records at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, playing alongside some of the music stars of his generation, including Clarence Carter, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Laura Nyro, Wilson Pickett, Otis Rush, Percy Sledge, Johnny Jenkins, Boz Scaggs, Delaney & Bonnie, Doris Duke. Back in the 1969, one of the hottest bands around was The Allman Brothers Band, and among them was one of the guitar greats of all time, Howard Duane Allman. ![]()
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