The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars (27 page)

Vincent made his final return to the USA in the autumn of 1971, a shadow of the coolly sullen waif who had set rock ‘n’ roll so firmly on course over a decade before. When his concerned parents visited the singer at his California home, Vincent was still suffering the after-effects of a three-day drinking binge combined with a ‘diet’ of little more than the tomato juice that made up his larder; clearly distressed, he turned to allow them into his home and tripped, falling and bursting his chronic stomach ulcers. Vomiting blood, Gene Vincent was admitted to the Newhall Community Hospital where he died within an hour. Vincent’s mother, Mary Craddock, later stated: ‘He wore the sweetest smile – he wanted to die. He was glad to think he was getting out of the mess he was in.’

Gene Vincent was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (while still alive), and was finally inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. He is, of course, recalled in one of the finest tribute songs of all time: Ian Dury & The Blockheads’ ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ (1978).

See also
Cliff Gallup (
October 1988); Max Lipscomb (
March 1991); Willie Williams (
August 1999); Paul Peek (
April 2001). Other Blue Caps Grady Owen (1999), Jerry Lee Merritt (2001), Juvenal Gomez (2002) and founding bass-man Jumpin’ Jack Neal (2012) have also since died. Later Vincent collaborator, bassist Tony Dangerfield, passed away in 2007.

Friday 29

Duane Allman

(Howard Duane Allman - Nashville, Tennessee, 20 November 1946)

The Allman Brothers Band

(The Hour Glass)

(Various acts)

The phenomenon of Southern rock – a rolling fusion of blues, rock and country – emerged in the early seventies; in Tennessee, Duane Allman and his brother Gregg formed the band most fondly remembered of the genre. To overcome the loss of their father in the Korean War one Christmas when they were small, the brothers immersed themselves in the classic sounds of the blues and contemporary acts like The Beatles and Otis Redding, bored with the beach pop that soundtracked their Daytona upbringing. Though he was taught to play by his younger brother, it was Duane Allman who really had ‘natural fire’, his slide-guitar style unlike anything heard before, making him Muscle Shoals’ top session man. By hanging with black musicians, the Allmans had broken the taboos of the era (as The Hour Glass); Duane Allman enforced this by playing behind various soul acts, not least Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett. He, of course, trademarked the early Allman Brothers sound, which fully came together when the band – the brothers (various instruments), Berry Oakley (bass), Dick Betts (guitar/vocals), Butch Trucks and ‘Jaimoe’ Johanny Johanson (both drums) – made its way to Macon, Georgia. Promoting a ‘brotherhood’ ethic, the Allmans insisted each member tattoo a mushroom on his ankle, and the hallucinogenic reference soon became very evident in the music, while much of the first album was composed in a local graveyard. Their eponymous debut was eventually cut in New York to rapturous acclaim, and promoter Bill Graham installed the band at his Fillmore venues, their extraordinary, snaking jams making up a series of early live albums. Somehow, Duane Allman found time to record with others, including Eric Clapton – it is his slide work that adorns Derek & The Dominoes’ ‘Layla’ (1971).

For the guitarist, though, it was an all-too-short session under the spotlight. During the recording of what is widely considered The Allman Brothers’ artistic high,
Eat a Peach
(1972), the band took a break to celebrate the birthday of Oakley’s wife. At 5.30 pm on 29 October 1971, Allman took off on his Harley Davidson to pick up a birthday cake and gifts from his house, followed in cars by girlfriend Dixie, plus Oakley and his sister. Allman was speeding as he headed west from Macon, when the appearance of a flat-bed pipe truck caused him to swerve, skidding ninety feet across the intersection to avoid collision. Losing his helmet and falling under his bike, Allman incurred massive internal injuries, possibly exacerbated by the frantic intervention of truck-driver Charles Wertz. The musician was rushed to Macon Medical Center where, although revived twice, he died in surgery three hours after the incident.

The Allman Brothers Band played at their leader’s funeral three days later, deciding to continue in his memory. Just over a year later, Oakley – who had become the band’s unofficial new frontman – met an eerily similar fate just one mile from the site of Allman’s crash
(
November 19722);
legal disputes having kept Allman’s body in storage since his death, it was decided to bury the two friends side by side at the Rose Hill Military Cemetery in Macon.

See also
Lamar Williams (
January 1983); Allen Woody (
August 2000). Occasional Allman Brothers collaborator Terry ‘Topper’ Price died in 2007.

The Allman Brothers Band - Trucks, Oakley, Johanson, Allman G, Allman D and Betts: Already in deep water