Mushroom Magic

Serendipity: “the phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for”

Kismet: “fate, destiny”

Mushroom Magic: “kismet + serendipity + the Allman Brothers Band”

I spent Friday in an intensive, day-long interview for a college faculty job.¹

Whether or not I get the gig remains to be seen, but I damn sure encountered a whole bunch of Mushroom Magic on the visit.

There was so much of it that I simply HAD to share it with y’all.

It started with this photograph of Dickey and Charlie Daniels from sometime in the mid-1970s

The image is completely new-to-me and bad-ass.

It was part of an exhibition curated by Tennessee State Historian Dr. Van West at the Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.

Louis Kyriakoudes, director of the Gore Center, pointed me to this oral history of Jaimoe he’d been involved with securing.

• Mississippi Moments #525: Jaimoe Johanson

Mushroom Magic: the gift that keeps on giving

At the Center for Popular Music² with director Greg Reish and assistant director Rachel Morris, I encountered a large table with well-organized stacks of music publications beginning with “H.”³

I immediately spot two with Allman Brothers-related names—both from Atlanta.

1. Hot ‘Lanta Lines

2. Hittin’ the Note

Hot ‘Lanta Lines

I doubt the rag is named for the song as this is issue 2, dated January 25, 1970, 18 months before the ABB released “Hot ‘Lanta” on At Fillmore East.

Perhaps this is where the band got the name for the song?

Hittin’ the Note

No, not the magazine that launched in 1992 for the Allman Brothers fan club.

This is a separate publication altogether dated as early as July 1976.

No offense to the artist, but this is the WORST rendering of Gram Parsons I’ve ever seen.

I’m going to see what I can figure out

“Hittin’ the note” is a phrase that’s unique to the Allman Brothers Band.

I have never before seen any reference to it outside of the ABB context, and rarely outside of the original band.

And the “Hot ‘Lanta” connection is too obvious to be coincidental.

I’ve already been back in touch with the Center.

But wait. There’s more!

That issue of Hittin’ the Note with the gawdawful Gram Parsons caricature⁴ carried:

1. a review of a July 1976 Sea Level show

2. an awesome photo of Dickey Betts sitting in with Marshall Tucker Band from June. (Below)

The review lauded Sea Level for “hittin’ the note”⁵ and Butch Trucks for his sit-in—“sizzling, versatile percussion which always made him an ABB favorite with audiences.”⁶

Hot ‘Lanta Lines also had a tangential ABB connection—a brief feature on singer Tommy Roe, whose band Berry joined when he left Chicago.

It’s what brought Berry to the South for good in 1966.⁷

By 1967/8, he and Dickey joined forces in the Blues Messengers. That band became the Second Coming, which begat the Allman Brothers Band in March 1969.

Excuse me while I eat this pie⁸

Academic interviews end with a dinner.

Ours was at a “meat and three.”⁹

This amazing poster was in the men’s room. Jimi was my first guitar hero, going way back to 1983.¹⁰

Lagniappes

🍄 My video diary from the Dickey Betts tribute show in Macon

🍄 Magic of Macon/In Memory of Dickey Betts, a partnership with artist Psychodelik Pete. Pete’s allowed me to put his poster on t-shirts.

We’re giving a minimum of 25% of proceeds to scholarship fund in Dickey’s honor.

etsy.longlivetheabb.com

Order shirt at etsy.longlivetheabb.com

🍄 “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” at that tribute show was simply OUTSTANDING. It was the only time the four Allman Brothers members played together onstage: Chuck Leavell, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, and Oteil Burbridge. Check it out: I queued it up to the start of the song for y’all.

🍄 “Ponyboy” with Derek and Susan was also pretty doggone special. Queued that one up as well.

Mushroom magic is real y’all

Or at least it seems like it to me.

Enjoying Long Live the ABB but don’t want a subscription? Put a little in the tip jar:

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Thanks for reading.

Until next time.

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1. A gauntlet that began at 815am and ended about 515pm with scant breaks.

2. I studied for a time under Reish; he also hosted my first book talk on campus. That video has nearly 40,000 views on Youtube:

3. I won’t even get into how random the collection they were going through was—because the fact they were on “H” yielded enough magic.

4. Looks more like Styx’s James “JY” DeYoung circa Pieces of Eight.

5. There’s that phrase again.

6. I was yesterday years old when I learned Butch once sat in with Sea Level.

7. Here’s Berry with Roe’s backing band the Roemans in 1966:

8. In the spirit of full disclosure, I didn’t get pie for dessert. I just couldn’t resist the pun.

9. One meat, three sides AKA soul food.

10. Also why I’ve had a Strat since 1984.

Meet Starla, named after the great Smashing Pumpkins jam.