BUTCH TRUCKS

CO-FOUNDER OF ROOTS ROCK REVIVAL

One of Butch Trucks’ first bands was local Jacksonville band The Vikings, who made one 7-inch record in 1964. Another early band was The 31st of February which formed and broke up in 1968.

This group’s lineup eventually included both Duane Allman and Gregg Allman. They recorded a cover of “Morning Dew”, by 1960s folk singer Bonnie Dobson.

Trucks then helped form The Allman Brothers Band in 1969, along with Duane Allman (guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals and organ), Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and fellow drummer Jaimoe.

Together, the two drummers developed a rhythmic drive that would prove crucial to the band. Trucks laid down a powerful conventional beat while the jazz-influenced Jaimoe added a second laminate of percussion and adlibitum cymbal flourishes, seamlessly melded into one syncopated sound.

He had a long interest in philosophy, politics, and literature; in 2005 he published a letter in the New York Times Book Review criticizing a review of a decades-old article about the band. When not touring or recording with the band, he spent his time at his restored 15th century farmhouse in Sauve, France writing his memoirs, tending to his vineyard and stretching canvases for his wife Melinda, a painter.

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