Thanks to everyone who tuned into the Live video interview today with Long Live the ABB! But don’t fret none if you missed it, we’ve got the full video right here.
So kick your feet up and let these fellas tell you a Front Porch Story about the Allman Brothers Band — you’re in for a real treat!
We’re so thankful to Bob, Long Live the ABB, for taking the time to speak with us today! And we look forward to more Conversations Across the South.
We talked writing, we talked about the South, and, of course, we talked music. A LOT OF IT.
Rick took me down all kinds of Allman Brothers rabbit holes, and I got to do a real plug for Tedeschi Trucks Band as a quintessential Southern band, something few people ever seem to mention about them. -Bob Beatty
Talking Allman Brothers with Bob Beatty: Our First Southern Writers Livestream
There were seven of us. You might recognize us from some of my prior posts. We called ourselves the Root Crowd. Half the football team, nearly all the basketball team, of my small Appalachian high school. And, most importantly, a band. A really bad band. But we were enthusiastic. For the high school talent show, we played Will the Circle Be Unbroken on a washboard, a tub, and a kazoo. I kid you not.
What really bound us? Southern rock. Especially the Allman Brothers Band. I came to them through delta blues and straight-up country. When I first heard Live at the Fillmore East, I was blown away. Lightnin’ Hopkins, Willie McTell, Taj Mahal, John Mayall—I immediately recognized that DNA in the Allmans.
I’m left-handed and tried to play guitar like Paul McCartney—backwards. Didn’t work. So I flipped it and watched a couple older kids who actually played. I don’t remember the first time I heard Little Martha, but I do remember thinking: I want to play that. It’s beautiful. It’s complicated. One of my mentors laughed: “Not so hard if you tune your guitar right.” And just like that, the fretboard opened up. (Someday, I’ll tell you how I learned about capos.)
Music has been a huge part of my life ever since. So has the South. Being a Southerner shaped me more than I can say. The South speaks through music, and through food. Mama taught me to cook and play a little piano. The rest I had to figure out for myself.
Eventually, I learned to write. Writing is now a big part of my life, too. With my colleagues Gray and MJ Polk, I co-founded the Southern Writers Group. We’re brand new, and tomorrow—Tuesday, January 27th at 2:00 p.m. Eastern—we’re hosting our very first livestream interview. And it couldn’t have a more perfect start.
Our guest is Bob Beatty, author of Play All Night, the definitive book on the Allman Brothers Band. Bob is a fellow musician, fellow Southerner, and encyclopedic about southern rock. We’ll talk about the band, Southern music, the modern South, and maybe even a little about writing.
