You guys ever hear the theory in Hollywood circles that every actor is less than six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon? I bet I could find six degrees or less of separation from 90% of the artists in this thread to Duane Allman. Just one for-instance:
David Allen Coe hired Warren Haynes as his recording and touring guitarist in 1980. Coe shared the bill with The Dickey Betts Band and jammed together several times over the next 7 years or so, and Haynes appeared on the DBB album "Pattern Disruptive" and joined the band in '88. In '89, the Allman Brothers reunited and Betts brought Haynes with him to play slide and stand on-stage where Duane always did, right next to his Baby Bro, Gregg on the Hammond B-3.
So that's Coe > Haynes > Betts > Duane Allman and/or ABB = three degrees of separation from Duane Allman. LOL
I could do it with several of the other players in this thread too, but instead, I'm going to post a video where all the players on stage are separated by only one degree from Duane, as well as more artists from about '61 to present than even one of them could ever remember if his life depended on it (that's what he told me personally the night this video was shot).
This video is from an event that my best friend and I put on every year here in Alabama called "The Jam For Duane." It's nothin' but a party that started in 2000 with about 50 people, maybe half-and-half players/listeners, that mushroomed into a minor tourist attraction for Gadsden, AL within about four or five years after that. By the time we did the 2007 Jam, friends of Duane's who had played with him back in the day were calling wanting to join in in his honor. Most folks probably don't know that Duane was kind of an "Honorary Swamper" who played with the Fame Studios rhythm section in Muscle Shoals between about '67 and '69 with everyone from Wilson Pickett to Aretha Franklin to Boz Scaggs to Percy Sledge and way, way beyond, before leaving to form the ABB. The Swampers have always considered themselves part of the ABB legacy, as did Duane consider himself a part of the Fame Studios family. This video includes one of the original Swampers from the '07 Jam, David Hood on bass. The singer/harp player is Jimmy Hall, front-man extraordinaire for "Wet Willie" in the 60's/70's, and Capricorn Records stable-mates of the ABB. The drummer is Bill Stewart, original member of "Cowboy" along with both of the guitar players on stage, Scott Boyer and Tommy Talton. Cowboy was likewise a Capricorn stable-mate of the ABB and all three of these guys have toured with Gregg Allman's solo endeavors separately and together. The keyboard player is Paul Hornsby, a highly sought-after session player ever since Duane and Gregg left him and Johnny Sandlin holding the ball when they dissolved their only other band that made a dent in the industry, "The Hour Glass." Gregg stayed in LA and wrote with Jackson Browne and Duane headed to Bama and set up a tent in the Fame Studios' grass parking lot until the founder, Rick Hall, finally relented and let him plug in and jam with the Swampers. The rest, as they say, is musical history of Biblical proportions.
So the song is "Rendezvous With the Blues," written and performed by Jimmy Hall, and backed up by (at the time) the newly-formed "Capricorn Rhythm Section." As it turns out, the guy on stage that had the most personal recording experience with Duane Allman, David Hood on bass, never worked for Capricorn, never recorded on one of Duane's solo records or with the ABB, never toured with Duane in any band, never wrote a song that anyone's ever heard of and has spent his entire career right up the road a piece in Muscle Shoals and Sheffield, AL. He was filling in for the CRS's regular bass player this night. His name is Johnny Sandlin, Duane's best friend and recording engineer/2nd producer (behind Tom Dowd) for the ABB. He joined the Capricorn Rhythm Section at the Jam the following two years. Anyway, sorry for the history lesson, now enjoy!
[video=youtube_share;0AYoDwTTlnA]http://youtu.be/0AYoDwTTlnA[/video]
