The Allman Brothers Band, formed in 1969 in Macon, Georgia blended strains of Southern Rock music - Blues, R&B, Country, Jazz, and Gospel - into a flexible, jam-oriented style of Rock and Roll that reflected the emergence of the “New South” and set the style for Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band, and countless other Southern rockers. Oddly - or eerily, some would say - the band’s unusual string of untimely deaths has been repeated in other Southern-rock bands. Through personal tragedy and turmoil, the Allman Brothers Band has endured and, though lacking the commercial clout of its early-’70s heyday, it remains highly respected and well received by legions of fans. Lead guitarist and band leader Duane Allman has been recognized as one of the greatest blues/rock guitarists in history, according to numerous polls.

Brothers Gregg Allman and Duane Allman were living in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1960, and played in various bands until 1964, when they formed the Escorts, which became the Allman Joys in 1965. After their version of Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” failed as a single, the two brothers and three other band members went to L.A., where they signed with Liberty Records as the Hourglass. They recorded two albums of outside material (Hourglass, 1967, and Power of Love, 1968) before heading to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to record at Fame Studios. Liberty rejected the resulting tapes, and Duane and Gregg returned to Florida.