Duane Allman—a name that reverberates through the hollows and hills of rock and roll, a soul whose fingers danced and spoke on the frets of life itself. Today, on November 20th, we at Grateful Dead celebrate the birthday of a man whose playing wasn't just technical mastery; it was a genuine expression of a restless, radiant spirit, a luminary who sought not the spotlight but the sweet harmony of souls communing together in music.

“Best Damn Band We’re Ever Gonna Hear.”

The ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND is celebrating indie record stores with the exclusive limited release of Syria Mosque: Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971 out today, April 22. First released in October 2022 on CD and digital via Allman Brothers Band Recording Company, Syria Mosque: Pittsburgh, PA January 17, 1971 is now available as a special numbered limited edition 2-LP package on “Pittsburgh Steel Grey” vinyl (10,000 units).

When I was in college in the early 1970s, a musician friend of mine and I went to a Cincinnati nightclub to see a band from Atlanta that wasn’t the Allman Brothers. (In fact, it was at a club where the band had actually played just a couple of years prior. So it wasn’t a new thing for Southern bands to come to the Upper Midwest along the same tour routes.)

An extraordinary piece of rock history is being celebrated with the first-ever vinyl release of the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND’s last show with founder and guitarist DUANE ALLMAN. Recorded October 17, 1971 at the Painters Mill Music Fair in Owings Mills, MD, the recording marks Duane’s last show, as he was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident 12 days later.

An extraordinary piece of rock history will finally be heard this October with the release of the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND's last show with founder and guitarist DUANE ALLMAN. Recorded October 17, 1971 at the Painters Mill Music Fair in Owings Mills, MD, the recording marks Duane's last show, as he was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident 12 days later. Recorded on a hand-held cassette machine by 18-year-old radio journalist Sam Idas, this music will be released for the first time on October 16.

The Allman Betts Band are currently on tour and they are delighting audiences in every city they play. They have their 2019 debut album Down To The River and another album in the can and ready for a summer release in 2020. The band is poised, well-rehearsed and performing amazing live shows. They are turning on legions of new fans not only to their music but also the legacy of the Allman Brothers Band.

Very early music from members of the ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND will be released on CD for the first time March 27, and vinyl that has been out of print since the late 1960's will be available as well. In all, four albums will trace three of the band member's nascent music projects including the Allman Joys, Hour Glass and 31st of February.

When Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, Jaimoe, and Gregg Allman finally coalesced in 1969 as The Allman Brothers Band, after stints in other bands and musical endeavors – some alone, some with each other – the group’s very first informal jam together was the stomping Muddy Waters song, “Trouble No More.” Almost immediately the six musicians knew they were on to something special.

“This is for you, Dad.” Devon Allman said this around 8:30 PM last Saturday night, with his face and first finger pointed up toward the sky. It’s hard to imagine what he, as well as the other two Allman Brothers relatives in The Allman Betts Band, must have felt like getting to perform to a packed crowd in the historic and legendary hall that his dad’s original band championed so many countless times over.