Clearing Up Misconceptions About the Allman Brothers

“Whipping Post,” “Midnight Rider,” ‘Blue Sky,” and other memorable southern rock classics are the works of the Allman Brothers Band (Greg and Duane Allman) along with Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, Jai Johanny Johanson.

There are many misconceptions about the Allman Brothers Band; we’re there to clear them up.

No, Duane did not hit a peach truck, which has been the popular urban legend surrounding his death. Duane swerved out of the way of a flatbed truck carrying a lumber crain that crossed an intersection in which Duane was driving his cycle on October 29, 1971.

Berry crashed his motorcycle into the side of a bus (three blocks from Duane’s accident site), refusing medical treatment. Later that night he suffered from swelling of the brain and died. Both are buried next to each other in Macon, GA.

The Allman Brothers Band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995, and not earlier as many fans believe.

Duane and Greg were born in Nashville, though the band was formed in Jacksonville, FL. Most people think the band hails from Macon, GA where they chose to live.

Yes, motorcycles took the lives of both Duane (1971) and bassist Berry Oakley (1972).


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