Duane brought out the best in him. He made him play.

Part 12 of an annotated read of Tom Nolan's 1976 Allman Brothers Band biography

Returning to my marginalia series for paid subscribers.

An annotated read of the Allman Brothers Band: A Biography.

This is Part 12: Layla

Here’s Parts 1-11

🍄As you read, remember two things:

1. The book’s text is in this font

2. My commentary (marginalia) is in this font.

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Previously on Dr. B’s Marginalia: Idlewild South

The music is more textured; sections of delicate picking lit logically into a strong blues-rock framework. This album unveils the subtle side of the ABB much as their debut record laid out their powerhouse force. The unique synthesis of these two aspects remains still in the future, but Idlewild South makes half-good on the promise.

This was the takeaway of most reviewers in real-time as well. What they couldn’t foresee was the unique synthesis of these two poles on At Fillmore East.

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Nolan detours to the other album Duane recorded in 1970: Layla¹

Another album occupying a special place in Duane Allman’s personal musical history was 1970: Layla, by Eric Clapton’s group, Derek and the Dominos.

Jerry Wexler recalls, “Tom Dowd was producing the session at Criteria Studios in Florida. Eric asked Tom to get ahold of Duane. At the same time, Duane, knowing Eric was recording, asked me if I thought Eric would mind if he hung around the session. They were just in tune, that way. They’d never met each other.”

Wexler is close,² but the story Tom Dowd told is that Duane lit up when the producer stopped an ABB session to field a call from Clapton.

He learned of Eric’s mutual admiration when Duane called while recording Clapton in Miami and asked if he could attend the Dominos sessions.

Clapton loved Duane’s playing as well. “I remember hearing ‘Hey Jude’ by Wilson Pickett and calling [Atlantic] and saying, ‘Who’s that guitar player?’ To this day, I’ve never heard better rock guitar playing on an R&B record.”³

Dowd took the Dominos to see the Allman Brothers Band August 27, 1970 in Miami. Following the show, the two groups headed to Criteria and jammed until the wee hours of the morning. Tom Dowd left the tapes rolling and captured this jam of five of the six Allman Brothers (all but Jaimoe⁴) with the Dominos.

Duane stuck around for the rest of the session.

Bobby Whitlock, keyboard player with the Dominos, hints that the band had virtually broken up by the time of the sessions: that it was Duane’s involvement that made the project anything other than a routine exercise.

“He was the real spark, you know, of that thing. He brought it to life. This country boy come in serious about playing. Clapton’s good in his own right but man Duane could play. Right?

He was an innovator, a creator, and he really brought it down.