Annual Jam for Duane coming to Gadsden Oct. 26-27

By Scott Wright

GADSDEN — During regular business hours, Randy Stephens is a successful financial advisor. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Stephens spends his time trading and deal-making in his office just off Rainbow Drive. On Wednesdays after work, he'll usually stop by his favorite local hangout and share a drink or two with friends. One of his buddies will often ask for advice on playing the stock market.

“The Dow was down today, way down. And then it came back up late,” he tells a friend who stops to say hello at his table at Chesnut Station. “The market's scary right now.”

When Stephens talks about money and the market, people listen. But finance isn't the only topic on his mind these days. And if there is anything Stephens knows more about than the New York Stock Exchange it's probably the history of a couple of brothers from Daytona Beach, Fla. named Duane and Gregg Allman.

This week, he's talking a lot about one of them, too.

“The Jam for Duane is the national celebration of the life and legacy of Duane Allman,” Stephens says. “The event began in 1976 in Pensacola, Fla., the creation of Brent Sibley. The event followed Sibley to Shreveport, La. and Oneonta, and came to Gadsden in 2003.”

The Jam for Duane consists of professional and amateur musicians and fans from around the nation getting together “to celebrate the music that evolved from the way Duane Allman chose to live his life.”

Behind the music

Duane Allman and his brother Gregg began their careers in music in the early 1960s, around the time the Beatles came to the United States. It wasn't long afterwards that musicians from all across the country began forming their own bands, hoping to find fortune and fame.

“That actually happened to Duane's band, a group called the Hour Glass,” Stephens says. “They were seen in St. Louis and moved to Los Angeles. Then everything broke for them. They had limousines. They lived the high life.”

Stephens says the Allman brothers were highly motivated to make a living with their music, since they didn't have much of anything else. Their father died when Duane was four, and their mother made a living as a waitress at Daytona restaurant. A high-dollar record contract seemed like the road to Easy Street. Before long, though, record company executives began insisting that Duane and Gregg set aside their heartfelt motivations in favor of the almighty dollar.

“When they did sign the big record contract, they were told what to wear, where to go, what to play -- everything was strictly controlled by the record company. So, in 1968, Duane walked away from all of it,” Stephens says. “He left the money, moved to a cabin in north Alabama, and drove an old milk truck.”

Stephens said Duane Allman soon began hanging out at the world-famous music studios in Muscle Shoals, playing guitar on other people's recordings. In 1969, Duane summoned his brother from California, where he was still under contract, and the brothers began putting their own act together.

They soon created a new band and an entirely new style of music.

“From that decision to walk away from the good life, the entire jam band genre of music evolved,” Stephens says. “It was a form of free-form, improvisational music that was primarily jazz-based, although it was heavily blues influenced, as well. And it was all played on rock instruments. You can see the direct lineage from that decision by Duane Allman straight down to the modern jam bands.”

Over the next few years, the Allmans' style led to the formation of many musical groups fans are familiar with today, including the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Charlie Daniels Band. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has called the Allman Brothers Band “the principal architects of southern rock.” In a list of the greatest 100 guitar players of all time, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Duane Allman No. 2 behind Jimmy Hendrix.

“And the article said Duane would have still been ranked No. 2 if there had never been an Allman Brothers Band, because of the work he did in the studio in Muscle Shoals,” Stephens says. Among Allman's best-known accompaniments is the guitar work he performed on the Eric Clapton album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.”

Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident 1971, shortly after the band's first live album, “At Fillmore East,” went gold. The band went through several upheavals in the mid-1970s and finally broke apart in 1982. Following some solo success, Gregg Allman and several original members reformed the Allman Brothers Band in 1989.

They're still touring today, but they won't be in Gadsden this weekend. The Jam for Duane is dedicated to the fans and musicians who have kept the Allmans' music alive in the 36 years since Duane swerved to miss a flatbed loaded with lumber.
 

Headed into town

Stephens speaks with passion and emotion about the fans who come to Gadsden from across the nation to celebrate Duane Allman's life and music. He shares stories of lost friendships renewed and even marriage vows exchanged as a result of chance meetings at Jam for Duane events.

“There's been a bond over the years among fans who chose this type of music as their own taste because it is not mainstream at all,” he says. “It's not pop, it's not Top 40, and it's not on the radio a lot. But huge crowds come to see this music despite the lack of exposure because they 'get it.' They understand this music when they hear it and there's a bond among the fans that creates great friendships, personal relationships and camaraderie.”

Stephens says people in the music industry are well aware of the special hold Allman's music has on generations of fans willing to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to hear it performed live and in person. He says he expects groups from as far away as Canada and California to attend this year's two-day event, which begins with a paid concert on Friday night that helps fund the free show on Saturday. This year, the Friday lineup includes several musicians who later traveled the unique creative path first laid out by Allman.

“This year's Friday night event features people who have been influenced by Duane Allman, along with friends and associates of his and former band members. Lefty Collins and the No Mercy Band from Chicago will be here -- they're the longtime house band for the Chicago House of Blues.”

Other acts scheduled to perform on Friday include Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance and the Capricorn Rhythm Section.

“Col. Bruce is widely known on the jam band scene from music festivals such as Bonnaroo, and he plays in the jam style that was popularized by Duane,” Stephens explains. “The Capricorn Rhythm Section consists of personal friends and former band mates of Duane's.”

Before the Jam for Duane, Stephens says, there was no venue where fans could intermingle with the musicians who kept Duane Allman's style of music alive. And there was certainly no gathering that allowed fans to actively participate.

“Unlike other festivals where the Allman Brothers Band plays, at the Jam for Duane it is not uncommon for professional musicians and rank amateurs to share the stage at the same time,” Stephens says. “The Jam for Duane is free. There's no admission and the performers aren't getting paid, so everyone is there simply to celebrate the impact Duane Allman had on their life from whatever position in life they come. It's a very unique event.”

A longtime fan

Stephens said his passion for the Allmans began as a freshman at the University of Alabama in the 1960s when he heard an early release from the brothers called “Spoonful.” He became even more interested in the Allmans after he saw them perform live in 1966 as the Allman Joys. He continued to admire the band as their reputation grew following Duane's decision to walk away from the California record deal.

“There was the aspect of being a white male from the South in the late 1960s, and the condescending view the rest of the nation had towards people like me, people like Duane Allman,” Stephens says. “People like me looked at Duane and said 'he's like me and he's good and he's done as well as anyone else.' It was similar to the feelings so many of us had for coach Bear Bryant -- he was one of us, and he was successful.”

“That's what drew me to him, along with the music.”

Stephens, who has volunteered his time to help organize and publicize the event since it relocated to Gadsden, says it wasn't until the advent of the Internet in the mid-1990s that fans in the South realized there was more than a regional admiration for Duane Allman and his unique blend of southern rock.

“A couple of computer geek fans created www.allmanbrothersband.com and that became a home for people who loved the music,” Stephens says. “Through that website we've communicated with each other, we've met each other, people have leaned on each other in good and bad times, and we've traveled with each other to see these shows around the United States that feature this music we all care so much about.”

“It's been a tremendous bond,” he says. “Gadsden is now one of the major stops, along with New York City and Macon, Ga., where people try to get together annually to celebrate the music of Duane Allman and enjoy time spent with each other. It's taken on a life of its own that is hard to explain to someone who's not involved in it.”

If you'd like to get involved in this weekend's Jam for Duane, call 256-546-9444 for tickets to the Friday night show at the Glosser Amphitheater. Tickets are $30 and gates open at 5 p.m. The show starts at 6 p.m. The Jam for Duane begins Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at the Gadsden Convention Center and ends at 11:30 p.m. Admission is free.

Snacks, souvenirs and CD's will be available at the concession stand. Guests will be allowed to bring their own beverages to the event.