Legendary Allman Brothers Band guitarist DAN TOLER passes:

This morning February 25th 2013, "Dangerous" Dan Toler lost his long battle against "ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease".  Dan passed away peacefully at he and his wife's home in Sarasota Florida. Our thoughts go out to Dan's family at this sad time. Dan Toler gave us the greatest music memories of our generation while playing with bands like Capricorn Record's "Allman Brothers Band", King Mojo Record's "TGC", the Dicky Betts band and the Gregg Allman band. Rest in peace brother.                  Dan Toler

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Done Somebody Wrong - The Allman Brothers Band w/ Lamar Williams

Unless you're a complete Allman Brothers geek like me you likely don't know about all of the changes in personnel and reasons why but this is a fairly rare configuration shortly after Berry Oakley's death (Duane died a few years earlier) where Dickey has taken over on slide, Gregg has moved to guitar (Gregg initially taught Duane to play guitar)and Chuck Leavall and Lamar Williams (later of Sea Level) were a part of the Allman Brothers band. Of course this didn't last long with new guitar players (many many) coming through and of course the core of the band remaining intact (Dickey, Gregg, Jai Johanny, Butch)and moving on until the breakup in around 1976. A distinctive difference in the band occurred during this period with the loss of Duane as the band leader and really keen on the blues and the switch to Dickey as a leader having written first Elizabeth Reed and then Ramblin Man which put the Allmans on the map as a southern rock band (as opposed to a blues band.

Lamar Williams (January 14, 1949, Gulfport, Mississippi – January 21, 1983) was an American musician, most known as the bassist for The Allman Brothers Band and Sea Level.

Influenced by players from James Jamerson to Stanley Clarke, by the 1960s Williams was playing bass in a soul music band known as Sounds of Soul with Jai Johanny Johanson, the future drummer Jaimoe with the Allman Brothers.

In 1968 Williams was drafted into the United States Army and sent into the Vietnam War. Opposed to the war and to killing in general, Williams went AWOL frequently and wandered around the jungles of South Vietnam, occasionally returning to various units. He was given an honorable discharge in 1970.

After jamming with a Biloxi group known as the Fungus Blues Band, Williams joined the Allman Brothers Band in late 1972 after the death of original bassist Berry Oakley, and played in the band at the peak of their commercial success. Williams' style was more traditional than Oakley's lead guitar-like approach, and freed the band's drummers to be more adventurous.

After the Allmans dissolved in 1976, Williams founded Sea Level with Jaimoe and Chuck Leavell of the Allmans. In Sea Level he played in a looser, more jazz-like fashion. Williams left Sea Level in 1980, shortly before that band broke up.

Williams married Marian Belina in 1974 and they had two children. One child, Lamar Williams Jr., is also a musician and currently plays with the Athens, GA based band the Revival.

Williams was found to have lung cancer in 1981, caused (his doctors believed) by exposure to Agent Orange during his stay in Vietnam. He died less than two years later, aged 34.
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What is it with all this keeping the Blues alive BS!!! - Bman's Rant

First off I have to ask what is this all about? Why does this question even exist? It is my understanding that Blues Music started in America around 1900 and that it was a derivative of native African culture. Due to the racial conditions present at the time, field hollers, spiritual music and the like was the basis for the black culture and it's music. Blues music evolved from actual feelings inside of a person rather than catchy melodies and lyrics contrived to get airplay on the radio or to sell records. It was conceived to give comfort to those that sang, played and enjoyed it. At this time it was not at all accepted as a form of entertainment outside of the group of people who had been involved with it.... mostly slaves and workmen. It wasn't until WWI that white audiences began to become exposed to this music through the likes of W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith among others.

As free blacks started to immigrate north to the larger cities in search of work, more and more white audiences were becoming exposed to this terrific music but it was still not broadly accepted. Ok. Now lets look back. It has been around a minimum of 40 years to this point with basically no audience and it survives just fine... this is where my question of "Is The Blues Dying" comes in. It's hogwash!!

It took the likes of John Mayall, Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones and other British rockers to tell America to wake up and smell the coffee. They produced an updated version of the traditional black blues and audiences were listening. It was this introduction that was the beginning of rock music as we know it. Sure there
was Elvis copying Big Mama and JLL but rock music came out of a real love for the blues. Musical sessions with Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and others caused an awakening of consciousness of this great music.

It didn't hurt that the introduction of the new Blues Music, being a deep rooted feeling music, coincided with the "album rock" explosion that occurred in the early mid sixties. Guitar players went from making 3 minute songs to expanded 8 minutes songs to play longer

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed - Allman Brothers Band

Apologies... It's really hard to find good video of Duane Allman. Yes, Duane Allman played second fiddle to Eric on Derek and the Dominos - Layla album. Now it's my humble opinion that Eric directed a great band and played some tasty licks...but Duane brought the life to the band. He is sorely missed. Duane Allman introduced me to the blues.



Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American guitarist, session musician and the primary co-founder of the southern rock group The Allman Brothers Band. He is best remembered for his brief but influential tenure in that band, his expressive slide guitar playing and improvisational skills.



A sought-after session musician both before and during his tenure with the band, Allman performed with such established stars as King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Herbie Mann. He also contributed heavily to the 1970 album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos.



In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Allman at #2 in their list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix. His tone (achieved with a Gibson Les Paul and two 50-watt bass Marshall amplifiers) was named one of the greatest guitar tones of all time by Guitar Player.



He died in October 1971 in a motorcycle accident.



He is still referred to by his nickname "Skydog," which may be a reference to his signature guitar sound and tone. Many consider "Skydog" a variant of the nickname "Skyman" given to him by Wilson Pickett during the recording of Pickett's cover of the Beatles' "Hey Jude." Jim Dickinson was quoted in Keith Richards' autobiography Life as saying he was given the name because he was high much of the time.

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Little Wing - Allman Brothers and Eric Clapton

This may be the nicest of all Jimi songs. As you probably all know, it was made more popular yet by Derek and the Dominos, a project that Eric Clapton was doing on the side when he met Duane Allman. Inside the circle it is widely known that it was Allmans guitar playing that made the recordings so outrageous. If you know the recordings, you know what I mean. If not, Layla is one of the worst songs on the cd. Check out the dueling guitars throughout and the nice finesse that the two guitar kings make together. A must have cd for any contemporary blues lover.

This is a nice tribute with heir to the slide throne, Derek Trucks. Oh, and Warren Haynes is no slouch either...more on him later.

Trouble No More

I was a huge fan of Duane Allman. When Duane Allman died, the life of the Allman Brothers died. They continued on playing tunes previously done with numerous guitar players trying to fill the bill and even with success under the direction of more country oriented Dicky Betts... but the Allman Brothers have new life with the young blood of original member Butch Trucks nephew Derek on slide. Wail on Derek. He has breathed new life into the band. Check out Allman Brothers live at the Beacon.