37 Facts About Duane Allman

Howard Duane Allman was an American rock and blues guitarist and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Duane Allman formed the Allman Brothers Band with his brother Gregg in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969.

Duane Allman is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in the band and in particular for his expressive slide guitar playing and inventive improvisational skills.

Duane Allman contributed greatly to the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, by Derek and the Dominos.

Duane Allman died following a motorcycle crash on October 29,1971, at the age of 24, just three weeks before his 25th birthday.

Duane Allman was born on November 20,1946, in Nashville, Tennessee.

Duane Allman was the elder son of Willis Allman who, at the time of his death, was a second lieutenant on active duty in the United States Army, having served as an Army non-commissioned officer during World War II; and Geraldine Allman.

Duane Allman's brother, Gregg, was born on December 8,1947.

In 1960, he had saved enough money to buy his first guitar, a Japanese-made Teisco Silvertone, while Duane Allman acquired a Harley 165 motorbike.

Duane Allman began to take an interest in the guitar, and the boys would sometimes fight over it, until Duane Allman wrecked the motorbike and traded it for a Silvertone of his own.

Around this time, Duane Allman left school to focus on his guitar playing.

The Duane Allman Joys became Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles in early 1967.

Gregg returned to California to fulfill Hour Glass obligations, while Duane Allman jammed around Florida for months but did not get another band going.

Duane Allman began to learn to play slide guitar on his birthday in 1968.

Duane Allman was recovering from an injury to his left elbow, suffered in a fall from a horse.

Duane Allman left them on the front porch and rang the bell, as Duane was angry with him about the injury.

Duane Allman hired Allman to play on several sides, as he wanted a more rock sound.

At the time, The Duane Allman Joys were the house band at The Briar Patch in Nashville.

Duane Allman's playing on the two Hour Glass albums and an Hour Glass session in early 1968 at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, caught the ear of Rick Hall, owner of FAME.

Duane Allman had an earlier relationship with Patti Chandlee which resulted in the birth of a daughter who was born deaf.

Duane Allman participated in the recording of most of the album's tracks, contributing some of his best-known work.

Duane Allman never left the Allman Brothers Band, though, despite being offered a permanent position with Clapton.

Duane Allman never toured with Derek and the Dominos, but he did make at least two appearances with them, on December 1,1970, at the Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa, and on the following day at Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York.

Duane Allman continued by nonchalantly noting that the Fender had a sparklier sound, while the Gibson produced more of a "full-tilt screech".

The Duane Allman Brothers went on to record At Fillmore East in March 1971.

Meanwhile, Duane Allman continued contributing session work to other artists' albums whenever he could.

Duane Allman received cash payments but no recording credits, making it virtually impossible to compile a complete discography of his works.

Duane Allman was well known for his melodic, extended and attention-holding guitar solos.

Duane Allman said that he had listened intently to Davis's Kind of Blue for two years.

Duane Allman had a daughter, Galadrielle Duane Allman, with Donna Roosman in 1969.

In 2014, Galadrielle Duane Allman published a reflection on her father, mother, family, and the culture of the 1960s, called Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father.

Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle crash shortly after the release and initial success of At Fillmore East.

On October 29,1971, while the band was on a break from touring and recording, Duane Allman was riding his Harley-Davidson Sportster motorcycle at high speed on Hillcrest Avenue, in the western part of Macon.

Duane Allman struck either the back of the truck or the ball on the crane and was thrown from the motorcycle, which landed on top of him and skidded another 90 feet with him pinned underneath it, crushing his internal organs.

Duane Allman was alive when he was taken to a hospital, but despite immediate medical treatment, he died several hours later from massive internal injuries.

Oakley was buried beside Duane Allman in Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, Georgia.

Duane Allman was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995 as a member of the Allman Brothers Band.