The Allman Brothers Band's merchandising empire: "The band realized the value of using their image on t-shirts and other merchandise.”
Bonus post for paid members of Long Live the ABB: Conversation from the Crossroads
I scored the six 8x10 images below on eBay. The seller included them with a Win, Lose, or Draw tour program.
An ad toward the back of that program details the source of the photos: the Official Allman Brothers Band Fan Club.
ABB merch
I included the facing page so you can browse the wares of the Allman Brothers’ official merchandising arm: Phil Walden’s Great Southern Company.1
The Allman Brothers were among the first bands that hipped to the value of merch. Road manager and ABB chronicler Willie Perkins says “the first authorized and commercially available t-shirt was a combination Allman Brothers Band and Grateful Dead design” for the bands’ co-headlining appearance at RFK Stadium, July 9-10, 1973.
The band, Perkins remembers, “began to realize the commercial value of using their image on t-shirts and other merchandise”—primarily for sales at concerts.
The initial plan was to “administer sales in-house with assistance from band members’ spouses. This proved unwieldy.”
The solution was the Great Southern Company, which, Perkins continues, “manufactured and licensed, with Allman Brothers Band approval, the distribution and sale of t-shirts, jerseys, hats, belt buckles, ladies’ tops, mirrors, pendants, and posters.” Great Southern paid the Allman Brothers “cash advances against a royalty percentage on gross merchandise sales.”2
Back to the fan club photos
I’ve never seen any of these images, and thought y’all might enjoy seeing them.
Here’s Gregg:
Brought to you by the paid members of the Long Live the ABB community.
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