Tom Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multi-track recording method. Dowd worked on a virtual "who's who" of recordings that encompassed blues, jazz, pop, rock and soul records.

Career[link]

Early years[link]

Born in Manhattan, Dowd grew up playing piano, tuba, violin, and string bass. His mother was an opera singer and his father was a concertmaster.

Dowd graduated from Stuyvesant High School in June, 1942 at the age of 16.^[1] He continued his musical education at City College of New York. Dowd also played in a band at New York's Columbia University, where he became a conductor. He was also employed at the physics laboratory of Columbia University.

Military work[link]

At age 18, Dowd was drafted into the military with the rank of sergeant. He continued his work in physics at Columbia University. He worked on the Manhattan Project contributing to the atomic bomb. The purpose of the work was unclear until 1945.^[2] Dowd planned to obtain a degree in nuclear physics when he completed his work on the Manhattan Project. However because his work was top secret the university did not recognize it, and Dowd decided not to continue, since the university's curriculum would not have been able to further his physics education. His research for the military was more advanced than the academia of the times.^[2]

Music[link]

Dowd took a job at a classical music recording studio until he obtained employment at Atlantic Records. His first hit was Eileen Barton's "If I Knew You Were Comin', I'd Baked a Cake." He soon became a top recording engineer there and recorded popular artists such as Ray Charles, The Drifters, The Coasters, Ruth Brown and Bobby Darin, including Darin's famous rendition of Kurt Weill/Bertolt Brecht's "Mack the Knife". He captured jazz masterpieces by John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker. It was Dowd's idea to cut Ray Charles' recording of "What'd I Say" into two parts and release them as the A-side and B-side of the same single record.

Dowd worked as an engineer and producer from the 1940s until the beginning of the 21st century. He recorded albums by many artists including Eric Clapton, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Derek and the Dominos, Rod Stewart, Wishbone Ash, Cream, Lulu, Chicago, The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Bonamassa, The J. Geils Band, Meat Loaf, Sonny & Cher, The Rascals, Willie Nelson, Diana Ross, The Eagles, Kenny Loggins, James Gang, Dusty Springfield, Eddie Harris, Charles Mingus, Herbie Mann, Booker T. and the MGs, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Joe Castro.^[3] Dowd received a Grammy Trustees Award for his lifetime achievements in February 2002.

He died of emphysema on October 27, 2002 in Florida, where he had been living and working at Criteria Studios for many years.^[4]

Legacy[link]

Tom Dowd helped to shape the artists that he worked with, and because he worked with an array of great artists on some of the world's greatest recordings, Dowd was highly influential in creating the sound of the second half of the 20th Century. It was he who encouraged Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records to install an Ampex eight-track recorder, enabling Atlantic to be the first recording company to record using multiple tracks.^[5]

Dowd is credited as the engineer who popularized the eight-track recording system for commercial music and popularized the use of stereophonic sound. Although stereo had been invented in the 1930s, Dowd was the first to use it on a record. He also pioneered the use of linear channel faders as opposed to rotary controls on audio mixers. He devised various methods for altering sound after the initial recording.^[1]

In 2003 director Mark Moormann premiered an award-winning documentary about his life entitled Tom Dowd and the Language of Music. In the 2004 biopic Ray, Tom Dowd was portrayed by actor Rick Gomez.

On December 7, 2011 Tom Dowd was named as an inductee into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2012. The ceremony took place on April 14, 2012 and Robbie Robertson gave the induction speech.

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Tom Dowd and The Language of Music
• Discography

The Allman Brothers Band
Background information
Origin	Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A.
Genres	Southern rock, blues rock, folk rock, hard rock, blues
Years active	1969–1976, 1978–1982, 1989–present
Labels	Capricorn, PolyGram, Arista, Epic, Sanctuary
Associated acts	Gov't Mule, The Dead, The Derek Trucks Band, Derek and the Dominos, Hour Glass, Great Southern, Sea Level
Website	www.allmanbrothersband.com
Members
Gregg Allman Butch Trucks Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson Warren Haynes Marc Quiñones Oteil Burbridge Derek Trucks
Past members
Duane Allman Dickey Betts Berry Oakley Chuck Leavell Lamar Williams Dan Toler David Goldflies David "Frankie" Toler Mike Lawler Allen Woody Johnny Neel Jack Pearson Jimmy Herring

The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, organ, songwriting), who were supported by Dickey Betts (lead guitar, vocals, songwriting), Berry Oakley (bass guitar), Butch Trucks (drums), and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson (drums).^[1] While the band has been called the principal architects of Southern rock,^[2] they also incorporate elements of blues, jazz, and country music, and their live shows have jam band-style improvisation and instrumental songs.

The band achieved its artistic and commercial breakthrough in 1971 with the release of At Fillmore East, featuring extended renderings of their songs "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Whipping Post" and often considered one of the best live albums ever made. George Kimball of Rolling Stone magazine hailed them as "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in the past five years."^[3] A few months later, group leader Duane Allman was killed in a motorcycle accident. The group survived that and the death of bassist Oakley in another motorcycle accident a year later; with replacement members Chuck Leavell and Lamar Williams, the Allman Brothers Band achieved its peak commercial success in 1973 with the album Brothers and Sisters and the hit single "Ramblin' Man". Internal turmoil overtook the band soon after; the group dissolved in 1976, reformed briefly at the end of the decade with additional personnel changes, and dissolved again in 1982.

In 1989, the group reformed with some new members and has been recording and touring since. A series of personnel changes in the late 1990s was capped by the departure of Betts. The group found stability during the 2000s with bassist Oteil Burbridge, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, (the nephew of their drummer), serving as its guitarists, and became renowned for their month-long string of shows in New York City each spring. The band has been awarded eleven gold and five platinum albums between 1971 and 2005^[4] and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Rolling Stone ranked them 52nd on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time in 2004.^[5]

Band history[link]

Beginnings[link]

The band was formed in Macon, GA, and consisted of Duane and Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Berry Oakley, Butch Trucks, and Jai Johanny Johanson.^[1] Brothers Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida, and had been playing music publicly since the early 1960s. They formed a garage band called the Escorts in 1963, which evolved into the Allman Joys in 1965.^[6] From there the brothers formed Hour Glass and moved to Los Angeles. The Hour Glass released two failed albums on Liberty Records in 1967 and 1968.^[1][6] They were all released from the contract except Gregg, who Liberty thought might have some commercial potential.^[6] Gregg and Duane had previously met Butch Trucks and his band The 31st of February while touring as the Allman Joys, and decided to record an album with them in September 1968, shortly after the breakup of Hour Glass. This album was eventually released as Duane & Greg Allman on the Bold Records label in 1972. Duane Allman played on Wilson Pickett's hit version of "Hey Jude" and became the primary session guitarist for FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, recording with Aretha Franklin, King Curtis, Percy Sledge, and others.^[6] Allman started jamming with Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks and Berry Oakley in Jacksonville. Eddie Hinton, with whom Duane Allman had played in Muscle Shoals, was considered to play guitar, but Hinton refused in order to join the Muscle Shoals studio band.^{[citation needed]} Duane brought in Jaimoe, a drummer he had played with in the past.

Jaimoe, percussionist

Gregg was in Los Angeles, fulfilling the Hour Glass contract with Liberty Records. He was summoned back to Jacksonville.

Duane Allman playing guitar at the Fillmore East, 1971

The Allman Brothers Band played numerous shows in the South before releasing their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band in 1969 to critical acclaim. It featured future jam standards "Whipping Post" and a 12/8 time slide guitar tour de force "Dreams". A cult following began to build.

Idlewild South was released in 1970 to critical success and improved sales. Produced by Tom Dowd it featured the upbeat "Revival" and the moody-but-resolute "Midnight Rider". After completing the Idlewild South sessions Duane Allman joined Eric Clapton and his ad hoc Derek and the Dominos to record the classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.

1971 saw the release of a live album, At Fillmore East, recorded on Friday and Saturday March 12 and March 13 of that year at the legendary rock venue the Fillmore East. The album was another huge hit. Rolling Stone listed At Fillmore East as number 49 on of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.^[7] It showcased the band's mix of jazz, classical music, hard rock, and blues, with arrangements propelled by Duane's and Betts' dual lead guitars, Oakley's long, melodic "third guitar" bass runs, the rhythm section's pervasively percussive yet dynamically flexible foundation, and Gregg Allman's gritty Ray Charles-like vocals and piano/organ play which all completed the band's wall of sound. The rendering of Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" was a straight-ahead opener, the powerful "Whipping Post" (with its famous 11/4 bass opening) became the standard for an epic jam that never lost interest, while the ethereal-to-furious "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" invited comparisons to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.^[8][9]

The Allman Brothers were the last act to play the Fillmore East before it closed in June 1971. The final shows achieved legendary status, partly due to bands literally playing all night; in 2005 Gregg Allman would relate how the jamming musicians lost track of time, not realizing it was dawn until the side doors of the Fillmore were opened and the morning light poured in.

The band continued to tour; decades later, a special-order recording of one of their final concerts in this lineup, S.U.N.Y. at Stonybrook: Stonybrook, NY 9/19/71, would be released.^[10] It reveals that Duane Allman's slide guitar playing on "Dreams" and other songs was touching the farthest reaches of both that instrument and his imagination.^[10]

Loss and triumph[link]

Dickey Betts on guitar

Duane Allman died not long after the Fillmore East album was certified gold, killed in a motorcycle accident on October 29, 1971 in Macon, Georgia, when he collided with the rear of a flatbed truck that had turned in front of him. The group decided to carry on. The album continued to gain FM radio airplay, with stations even playing 13-minute and 23-minute selections.

Dickey Betts filled Duane's former role in completing the last album Duane participated in, Eat a Peach, released in February 1972. The album was often softer ("Blue Sky", "Little Martha") and wistful in tone ("Melissa", "Ain't Wastin' Time No More"), capped by the 34-minute "Mountain Jam" reverie taken from the Fillmore East concerts. Writer Greil Marcus described parts of Eat a Peach as an "after-the-rain celebration... ageless, seamless... front-porch music stolen from the utopia of shared southern memory."

The group played some concerts as a five-man band, then decided to add Chuck Leavell, a pianist, to gain another lead instrument but without, however, directly replacing Duane. This new configuration debuted on November 2, 1972, on ABC's In Concert late-night television program.

Days later, on November 11, 1972, Berry Oakley died from head injuries he received in another motorcycle accident near Napier Avenue and Inverness Street, only three blocks from the site of Duane's accident the previous year. The common retelling that it was at exactly the same site as Duane's death is incorrect, as is the legend that the Eat a Peach album is named for what was being carried by the truck involved in Allman's accident.^[11] Both Duane and Berry were 24 years old, yet another coincidence.

Oakley was replaced by Lamar Williams at the end of 1972, in time to finish the next album, Brothers and Sisters, released in August 1973.

Dickey Betts was becoming the group's unofficial leader.^[6] Brothers and Sisters included the group's best known hits, "Ramblin' Man" and "Jessica", both written by Betts; the former reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single, while the latter was a seven-minute instrumental hit.

The Allman Brothers Band had become one of the top concert draws in the country. Probably their most celebrated performance of the era took place on July 28, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen outside Watkins Glen, New York, in a joint appearance with The Grateful Dead and The Band. An estimated 600,000 people made it to the racetrack where this massive outdoor festival took place.

In the wake of the Allman Brothers Band's success, many other Southern rock groups rose to prominence, including the Marshall Tucker Band (who played as the Allman Brothers Band's opening act for many shows on their 1973 tour) and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Another peak of the Allmans' success came on New Year's Eve, 1973, when promoter Bill Graham arranged for a nationwide radio broadcast of their concert from San Francisco's Cow Palace. New arrangements of familiar tunes such as "You Don't Love Me" went out over the airwaves, as the show stretched out over three sets, with Boz Scaggs sitting in, along with Grateful Dead members Jerry Garcia and Bill Kreutzmann (Allmans and Grateful Dead members guested at each other's shows multiple times in the early 1970s).

Turmoil and dissolution[link]

Gregg Allman, playing organ and singing

Personality conflicts started to tear the band apart, however. Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts both began solo careers, while Allman married Cher, separated quickly, reconciled, and eventually separated again, all in a storm of publicity; drug abuse took its toll on the entire band. Musically, Betts and Leavell were pulling in opposite directions, with Allman trying to mediate.

The tension resulted in the uneven Win, Lose or Draw (1975), with some members not participating on all tracks or doing so only from afar. The few stand-out tracks included a stop-start take on Muddy Waters' "Can't Lose What You Never Had", Betts' instrumental "High Falls", and Allman's Jackson Browne-influenced title song.

The band managed to limp along until 1976, when Gregg Allman was arrested on federal drug charges and agreed to testify against a friend and tour manager and bodyguard for the band, John "Scooter" Herring. Leavell, Johanson, and Williams formed Sea Level, while Betts worked on his solo career. All four swore that they would never work with Allman again.

Meanwhile, Capricorn Records released a compilation album, The Road Goes On Forever, and a poorly received live album, Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas. Neither sold very well.

The group reformed in 1978 and released the strong Enlightened Rogues (1979). It featured new members Dan Toler (guitar) and David Goldflies (bass), who replaced Leavell and Williams, both of whom concentrated on Sea Level instead. "Crazy Love" was a minor hit single, and the instrumental "Pegasus" got some airplay, but overall The Allman Brothers Band was no longer as popular as before, and financial woes plagued both the group and Capricorn Records, which collapsed in 1979. PolyGram took over the catalogue, and the Allman Brothers Band signed to Arista Records. The group released a pair of critically slammed albums, firing Jaimoe in the process, and then disbanded once again in early 1982.

Allman quickly formed the Gregg Allman Band with the Toler brothers Dan and David ("Frankie") (drums) in 1982 and began touring small venues and clubs. Betts, Leavell, Trucks and Goldflies formed the band Betts Hall Leavell Trucks (BHLT). Neither garnered attention from any record labels. BHLT would dissolve two years later.

The Allman Brothers Band reunited in 1986 for a pair of benefit concerts for promoter Bill Graham in New York and Macon. Allman, Betts, Trucks, Jaimoe, Leavell, and Dan Toler performed together but no subsequent reunion plans for the band were made. The following year, the Gregg Allman Band and the Dickey Betts Band co-headlined a theatre and club tour. After each band played a set of music, Betts, Allman and the Tolers performed a closing set of Allman Brothers music together.

In 1987, Epic Records signed both Allman and Betts to separate solo contracts. The Gregg Allman Band had a surprise FM hit single with the title track to the 1987 album I'm No Angel. Just Before the Bullets Fly quickly followed from Allman in 1988. The Dickey Betts Band, including Warren Haynes, was also formed during this time and released the album Pattern Disruptive in 1988. This series of collaboration among bandmembers and interest from a major label during the late 1980s laid the groundwork for the next era of Allman Brothers Band activity and success.

Revival[link]

Warren Haynes, vocalist and guitarist

In 1989 The Allman Brothers reunited and returned to popular consciousness of the American public, spurred by Gregg's recent FM radio success, the release of archival material by PolyGram, and the start of regular appearances on the American summer outdoor amphitheatre circuit. Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals), Johnny Neel (keyboards and harmonica), and Allen Woody (bass guitar) joined originals Allman, Betts, Jaimoe and Trucks. Leavell opted to go on tour again with the Rolling Stones, with whom he has been a touring member since 1982.

After the 20th Anniversary tour, the band signed to Epic Records and released Seven Turns (1990), which got excellent reviews. This was followed by Neel's departure and a series of moderately-selling, but critically well-received albums including Shades Of Two Worlds (1991) and Where It All Begins (1994, certified Gold by the RIAA 1998), both featuring new percussionist Marc Quiñones. Warren Haynes and Allen Woody formed their own side project Gov't Mule in 1994. In 1995, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1996 they won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for "Jessica". When Haynes and Woody decided to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997, Haynes was replaced on guitar by Jack Pearson, while Woody was replaced on bass by Oteil Burbridge. Derek Trucks, nephew of original Brother Butch Trucks, replaced Pearson in 1999.

In 2000, the band forced Dickey Betts out for "personal and professional reasons." For this tour, he was replaced by Jimmy Herring. Betts then filed a lawsuit against the other three original members and the summer separation turned into a permanent divorce. Also in 2000, former bassist Allen Woody was found dead on August 26. The band did release the live CD Peakin' at the Beacon that year which chronicled the now-annual March tradition of a many-night stand at the Beacon Theater in New York City. The band has sold out the 2900-seat Upper West Side Manhattan theatre 188 times since 1989. The tradition is known as the "Beacon Run" among fans, who travel from across the United States, Canada and Western Europe to see these annual March and April shows.

2000s onward[link]

Derek Trucks playing slide guitar, 2009

Warren Haynes began appearing with the Allmans again in 2000 and rejoined full-time in 2001, while also maintaining his active schedule with Gov't Mule. (Haynes also toured during this time and later in the decade with former members of the Grateful Dead). Haynes' return marked a new period of stability and productivity for the band after nearly four years of lineup shifts. The Haynes-produced Hittin' the Note was released in 2003 to popular and critical acclaim, as was the Live At the Beacon Theatre DVD film (2003, certified Platinum 2004). The live CD One Way Out (2004) also chronicled the Beacon concerts.

The Allman Brothers garnered back to back Grammy Award nominations in 2003 and 2004 in the category of Best Rock Instrumental for performances of "Instrumental Illness" from Hittin' The Note and One Way Out. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Duane Allman, Warren Haynes, Dickey Betts, and Derek Trucks to their list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time,^[12] with Allman coming in at #2 and Trucks being the youngest guitarist on their list.

The Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks lineup continued the band's connection with younger music fans via concert pairings with popular jam bands The String Cheese Incident, moe, and Dave Matthews Band among others. The Allman Brothers Band continue to be a major attraction at the Bonnaroo Music Festival since 2003. Since 2005, the Allmans have staged their own two day Wanee Music Festival at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida. The Allmans, Gov't Mule and The Derek Trucks Band perform on different stages along with younger roots artists including the North Mississippi Allstars, Robert Randolph and The Family Band, Medeski, Martin and Wood, Devon Allman's Honeytribe, Nickel Creek, Mofro and others.

Allman Brothers songs have been used in various advertising campaigns and television programs, with the most well-known use being that of "Jessica" used in both the 1977 and 2002 formats of the BBC television series Top Gear. "Jessica" was also used in the film Field of Dreams. It was also the opening song of a famous radio show in the State of Bavaria, Germany during the 70s known as "Club 16" (http://peterhammer.de/sound4/br/club16outro.html with an example while the show ends. )

Oteil Burbridge, bass guitarist, 2005

The band cancelled their Beacon run for 2008 due to Gregg Allman recovering from hepatitis C treatments,^[13] but they were back on the road that summer for the amphitheater circuit. On November 20, 2008, The Allman Brothers Band received the Legend Of Live Award at the 2008 Billboard Touring Awards ceremony in New York.^[14] The award recognized "a touring professional who has had a significant and lasting impact on the concert industry."^[15] At the ceremony, Gregg Allman talked about his brother Duane, saying: "It happens to be today would have been his 62nd birthday and I'm sure he's looking down on this and is really proud of us. We'll keep coming back until we can't come back no more."^[14]

The Allman Brothers Band celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2009.^[15] That year's Beacon run also marked the 20th anniversary of their appearances in that venue; and the band focused on paying tribute to Duane, inviting guest appearances from those who had played with him.^[13] The 15-night stand was considered to be the best Beacon run of all,^[16] highlighted by two nights of the first-ever stage appearance of Eric Clapton with the band and performances of numbers from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.^[16] Guests on other nights included members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, Levon Helm and his band, and represented genres from bluesman Buddy Guy to jazz great Lenny White to rap-rock-country eccentric Kid Rock.^[16] On March 26, three days after the actual anniversary of the band's 1969 forming, what's been known as the "Legendary Jacksonville Jam", the band featured no guests but performed their first two albums in their entirety.^[16]

In March 2010, The Allman Brothers Band's New York run changed venues from the Beacon Theater to the far uptown United Palace Theatre, but in March 2011, the Allman Brothers returned to the Beacon Theater, playing their 200th show there on March 26.

In 2012, the Allman Brothers Band was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Awards and recognition[link]

Guest appearances during the "Beacon Run" are common. Here Eric Clapton joins the band in March 2009 to play songs from 1970's classic Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which had featured Duane Allman.

• Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, 1996, "Jessica"
• Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 1995
• Rolling Stone Magazine's "Greatest...of All Time" lists:
  • 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004): #52^[17]
  • 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2003): #49 for At Fillmore East^[18]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2003):
    • #2 Duane Allman^[19]
    • #23 Warren Haynes^[20]
    • #58 Dickey Betts^[21]
    • #81 Derek Trucks^[22]
  • 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time (2011):
    • #9 Duane Allman^[23]
    • #16 Derek Trucks^[24]
    • #61 Dickey Betts^[25]

Discography[link]

• The Allman Brothers Band (1969)
• Idlewild South (1970)
• At Fillmore East (1971)
• Eat a Peach (1972)
• Brothers and Sisters (1973)
• Win, Lose or Draw (1975)
• Wipe the Windows, Check the Oil, Dollar Gas (1976)
• Enlightened Rogues (1979)
• Reach for the Sky (1980)
• Brothers of the Road (1981)
• Seven Turns (1990)
• Shades of Two Worlds (1991)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: First Set (1992)
• Where It All Begins (1994)
• An Evening with the Allman Brothers Band: 2nd Set (1995)
• Peakin' at the Beacon (2000)
• Hittin' the Note (2003)
• One Way Out (2004)^[26]

Lineups[link]

Original members in bold.

See also[link]

• Almost Famous
• List of rock instrumentals
• Gregg Allman Band
• Sea Level
• Gov't Mule
• The Derek Trucks Band
• The Allman Brothers Band Museum (the "Big House")
• Red Dog Long Term Roadie and supporter of the band.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Allman Brothers Band: Dreams liner notes
• Freeman, Scott. Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band, Little, Brown & Co. 1995.
• Reynolds, Dean. The Complete Allman Brothers Band Discography, 2000.
• Leavell, Chuck with J. Marshall Craig. Between Rock and a Home Place, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004.
• Perkins, Willie. No Saints, No Saviors, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2005.
• Poe, Randy. Skydog: The Duane Allman Story, Milwaukee, WI: Backbeat Books, 2006.
• Reid, Jan. Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs by Derek and the Dominos (Rock of Ages). New York: Rodale, Inc., 2006.

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Allman Brothers Band

• Official web site
• Founding Member Dickey Betts' website
• Flying Frog Records - Butch Trucks' jamband label
• Chuck Leavell's website - former keyboardist
• David Goldflies' website - former bassist
• The Allman Brothers Band at the New Georgia Encyclopedia
• The Allman Brothers Band Legends of Southern Rock at Swampland.com
• The Allman Brothers Band at RollingStone.com
• 2009 Concert Photo Gallery

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (January 2010)

Ronald Wayne "Ronnie" Van Zant (January 15, 1948^[1] – October 20, 1977) was an American lead vocalist, primary lyricist, and a founding member of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was the older brother of the founder and vocalist of 38 Special, Donnie Van Zant, and of current Lynyrd Skynyrd lead vocalist Johnny Van Zant.

Early life[link]

He was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, to Lacy (1915–2004) and Marion (1929–2000) Van Zant. Van Zant aspired to be many things before finding his love for music. Notably, Ronnie was interested in becoming a boxer (as Muhammad Ali was one of his idols) and in playing professional baseball. Ronnie also tossed around the idea of becoming a stock-car racer. In fact, he would say that he was going to be the most famous person to come out of Jacksonville since Lee Roy Yarbrough.

Lynyrd Skynyrd[link]

Van Zant formed Skynyrd late in the summer of 1964 with friends and schoolmates Allen Collins (guitar), Gary Rossington (guitar), Larry Junstrom (bass), and Bob Burns (drums). Lynyrd Skynyrd's name is a mock tribute to a gym teacher the boys had in high school, Leonard Skinner, who disapproved of male students with long hair.^[2]

The band's national exposure began in 1973 with the release of their debut album, (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd), which has a string of hits and fan favorites including: "I Ain't the One", "Tuesday's Gone", "Gimme Three Steps", "Simple Man," and their signature song, "Free Bird", which he later dedicated to the late Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band.^{[citation needed]}

Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest hit single, although "Free Bird" was a close second, was "Sweet Home Alabama" which came off the album Second Helping. "Sweet Home Alabama" was an answer (or response) song to Neil Young's "Alabama" and "Southern Man." The common belief that Van Zant and Young were rivals may be incorrect; they may have actually been fans of each other or could be considered collaborating on several occasions by using response lyrics to each others' lyrics.^{[citation needed]} Young's song "Powderfinger" on the 1979 album Rust Never Sleeps was reportedly written for Skynyrd, and Van Zant is pictured on the cover of Street Survivors wearing a T-shirt of Young's Tonight's the Night.^[3]

Personal life[link]

Van Zant married Nadine Inscoe on 2 January 1967. The couple had a daughter, Tammy (born 1968), before divorcing in 1969. He then married Judy Jenness in 1972. They remained married up until his death in 1977. This marriage produced one daughter, Melody, born in 1976.

In his spare time, Van Zant enjoyed baseball, and was a fan of the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox.

Van Zant had several run ins with the law, especially in 1975, when he was arrested for hurling a table out of a second-story hotel room.^[4]

Death[link]

On October 20, 1977, a Convair CV-300 carrying the band between shows from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, crashed outside of Gillsburg, Mississippi. The passengers had been informed about problems with one of the plane's engines and told to brace for impact.^[5] Van Zant died in the crash on impact, after the aircraft struck a tree. Bandmates Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary, and co-pilot William Gray were also killed. Remaining band members survived, although all were seriously injured.^[6] According to former bandmate Artimus Pyle and family members, Van Zant frequently discussed his mortality. Pyle recalls a moment when Lynyrd Skynyrd was in Japan: "Ronnie and I were in Tokyo, Japan, and Ronnie told me that he would never live to see thirty and that he would go out with his boots on, in other words, on the road. I said, 'Ronnie, don't talk like that,' but the man knew his destiny."^[7] Van Zant's father, Lacy, said, "He said to me many times, 'Daddy, I'll never be 30 years old.' I said, 'Why are you talking this gunk?' and he said, 'Daddy, that's my limit.'" Van Zant's father later noted that, "God was a jealous god. Taking him for reasons I don't know."^[7] Van Zant was 29 years old at the time of his death.

Van Zant's younger brother, Johnny, took over as the new lead singer when the band reunited in 1987.

Van Zant was buried in Orange Park, Florida, in 1977, but was relocated after vandals broke into bandmate Steve Gaines' and Ronnie's tombs on June 29, 2000. Van Zant's casket was pulled out and dropped on the ground. The bag containing Gaines' ashes was torn open and some scattered onto the grass.^[8] Their mausoleums at Orange Park remain as memorials for fans to visit.

According to the cemetery listing website Find-a-Grave, Van Zant was reburied at Riverside Memorial Park in Jacksonville, near the grave of his father Lacy and mother Marion. Both his current resting place and the empty mausoleum in Orange Park are listed. The following statement was made on the Find-a-Grave entry of his current resting place in Jacksonville: "Due to the June 29th, 2000 vandalization of his original grave site, his casket was moved to this new location and buried in a massive underground concrete burial vault. To open the vault would require a tractor with a lift capacity of several tons. It is also patrolled by security."^[9]

A memorial park funded by fans and family of the band was built in honor of Van Zant. The Ronnie Van Zant Memorial Park is located on Sandridge Road in Lake Asbury, Florida, nearby his hometown of Jacksonville.

References[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Anderson, R. Michael (2000-06-30). "Van Zant's tomb defaced". The Florida Times-Union. http://www.jacksonville.com/special/lynyrdskynyrd/vanzantstombdefaced.html. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Check-Six (2007-05). "The 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Crash". http://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/LynyrdSkynyrd-N55VM.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• "SKYNYRD HISTORY LESSONS - Name Changes and Ten Dollar Gigs". The Official Lynyrd Skynyrd History Website. http://www.lynyrdskynyrdhistory.com/less2.html. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Social Security Death Master Index (2007-05). "Ronald Van Zant Social Security Death Index (#73220275)". http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/zsearch.aspx?ix=ssdiall&qt=l&zfn=Ronald&zln=Van+Zant. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• Soorus (2002-09-01). "Current Find-A-Grave Record for Ronnie Van Zant". Find-A-Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Van+Zant&GSsr=41&GRid=6742069&. Retrieved 2008-07-05. 
• US National Transportation Safety Board (1978-06-19). "Aircraft Accident Report - L & J Company, Convair 240, N55VM, Gillsburg, Mississippi, October 20, 1977" (PDF). National Technical Information Service. pp. 27 pages. http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR78-06.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 

External links[link]

• NTSB Aircraft Accident Report for N55VM
• Original Find-a-Grave entry
• Current Find-a-Grave entry

Thomas is the first known Bishop of Finland. Only a few facts are known about his life. He resigned in 1245 and died in Visby three years later.

Biography[link]

The only reference to Bishop Thomas during his episcopate in Finland is a letter signed by him in Nousiainen in 1234, which granted certain lands around the parish to his chaplain Wilhelm.^[1] The lands may be related to the papal permission from Pope Gregory IX in early 1229 that authorized the church to take over all non-Christian places of worship in Finland.^[2] The letter is the first surviving letter ever written in Finland.

No further information on the bishop's activities has survived before he was granted resignation by Pope Innocent IV on 21 February 1245.^[3] According to the Pope, Thomas had admitted committing several felonies, such as torturing a man to death, and forging a papal letter.^[4] Church representatives to oversee the resignation were the Archbishop of Uppsala and the Dominican prior of the Dacian province.^[5] Thomas donated his books to the newly established Dominican convent in Sigtuna^[6] and went on to live his last years in the Dominican convent in Visby, Gotland. He died there in 1248,^[7] shortly before the Second Swedish Crusade which cemented the Swedish rule in Finland for more than 550 years.

Finland was briefly under the same papal legate as the German knights.

During Thomas' episcopate, Finland is listed among the lands under the papal legate in the Baltic region, originally the Bishop of Zemgale, Baldwin, and then William of Modena, first on 28 January 1232 and last on 15 July 1244.^[8] This was a radical realignment of the bishopric's position, since the Pope had earlier used Swedish bishops to assist the Finnish church, as evident from papal letters from 1171 (or 1172), 1221 and 1229. On 24 November 1232, the Pope even asked the Livonian Brothers of the Sword to provide forces for the unnamed Bishop of Finland to defend the country against the Novgorodian attacks.^[9]

After Thomas had resigned in 1245, there was no immediate successor to him. The diocese continued to be overseen by William at least until 5 June 1248.^[10] Finland is not listed among the Swedish dioceses in surviving documents from 1241 and 1248, but appears among them in 1253.^[11]

Even though Thomas is the first known Bishop of Finland, it is certain that he was not the first bishop overall. An unnamed Bishop of Finland is mentioned dead in a letter by Pope Innocent III already in 1209.^[12] A 15th century chronicle names bishops Henry, Rodulff and Folquinus before him, but no indisputable records survive of them.

Speculations[link]

Being the first historical figure of importance in Finland, historians have tried to attribute Thomas with more significance than what is evident from the existing sources.^[13]

Unknown bishop in the 1220s[link]

Christianization of Finland
People
Bishops: Thomas · Henry
Rodulff · Fulco · Bero
Popes: Alexander III
Innocent III · Gregory IX
Archbishops: Anders
Valerius
Others: Birger Jarl
Sergius · Lalli · King Eric
Locations
Kokemäki · Köyliö
Nousiainen · Koroinen
Turku Cathedral
Events
Finnish-Novgorodian wars
First Swedish Crusade
Second Swedish Crusade
Third Swedish Crusade

Most commonly, Thomas is speculated to have been the unnamed Bishop of Finland to whom Pope Gregory IX replied in January 1229 with several letters of great importance to the church,^[14] in the aftermath of major Finnish losses in the battle against the Republic of Novgorod. Church representatives ordered by the Pope to assist the unnamed bishop were the Bishop of Linköping and the Cistercian abbot in Gotland.^[15]

Cistercians dominated northern missionary work until early 1230s.

Thomas' identification with the bishop remains doubtful. A surviving letter by Pope Gregory IX directly to the chaplain of Nousiainen on 20 October 1232 makes the Finnish see appear vacant.^[16] The letter handled the same land dispute that Thomas himself addressed two years later. In some copies of the letter, the Bishop of Finland is also referred to as "N.",^[17] while not directly saying whether he was still in office or not.

A papal letter to an unknown Bishop of Finland was also sent already in 1221.^[18]

Uprising in Tavastia[link]

Violent anti-church clashes in Tavastia, central Finland, mentioned in a letter by Pope Gregorius IX in 1237, have been attributed to Thomas' harsh methods of Christianization, but without direct evidence for that conjecture.^[19] The letter, addressed to the Archbishop of Uppsala, does not mention the Bishop or Diocese of Finland in any way. Information about the uprising had also originated from the temporarily sidelined Archbishop, who seems to have used the occasion to remind the Pope about Uppsala's earlier contributions to the missionary work in the north. The Pope had clearly not known where Tavastia exactly was, and eloquently urged the Archbishop to send in a crusade.^{[citation needed]}

The Livonian Brothers of the Sword had been all but annihilated in the Battle of Saule in 1236. Even if there is no other evidence of their presence in Finland than the earlier papal letter from 1232, both the Archbishop and the Tavastians seem to have been on the move right after their demise. There had also been a revolt against the Germans in Estonia in 1236.

Based on the letter, some historians have tried to date the so-called Second Swedish Crusade to 1238 or 1239, listing it as Thomas' accomplishments as well.

Battle of the Neva[link]

Thomas is also speculated to have been one of the driving forces behind the Battle of the Neva, a disputed Swedish-Novgorodian conflict that took place in 1240. The speculation is based on the 14th-century Russian Primary Chronicle mention of Finns and Tavastians fighting on the Swedish side, which according to some historians would have been organized by the bishop. However, as the Chronicle also lists the very unlikely Norwegians as allies,^[20] the information is often regarded as mid-14th century propaganda, depicting Sweden as being in control of Norway, Finland and Tavastia.

See also[link]

• Diocese of Finland
• Bishop Henry
• List of Bishops of Turku

References[link]

Tito Puente
Background information
Birth name	Ernesto Antonio Puente
Also known as	Tito Puente "El Rey de los Timbales" The King of Latin Music
Born	(1923-04-20)April 20, 1923 New York City
Died	June 1, 2000(2000-06-01) (aged 77) New York City
Genres	Afro-Cuban jazz, mambo, salsa
Occupations	Musician, producer
Instruments	Timbales, Vibraphone
Years active	1946 - 2000
Labels	Fania Records, Sony Discos, RMM Records
Associated acts	La Lupe

Tito Puente, (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000)^[1], born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and salsa musician and composer. The son of native Puerto Ricans, Ernest and Ercilia Puente, living in New York City's Spanish Harlem community, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" (The King of the timbales) and "The King of Latin Music". He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz compositions that helped keep his career going for 50 years. He and his music appear in many films such as The Mambo Kings and Fernando Trueba's Calle 54. He guest starred on several television shows including Sesame Street, The Cosby Show and The Simpsons.

Early life[link]

Tito Puente was born on April 23, 1923, at Harlem Hospital Center in New York City.^[2][3] His family moved frequently, but he spent the majority of his childhood in the Spanish Harlem area of the city.^[2] Puente's father was the foreman at a razorblade factory.^[4]

As a child, he was described as hyperactive, and after neighbors complained of hearing seven-year-old Puente drumming on pots and window frames, his mother sent him to 25 cent piano lessons.^[4] By age 10, he switched to percussion, drawing influence from jazz drummer Gene Krupa.^[4] He later created a song-and-dance duo with his sister Anna in the 1930s and intended to become a dancer, but an ankle tendon injury prevented him pursuing dance as a career.^[4][3] When the drummer in Machito's band was drafted to the army, Puente subsequently took his place.^[4]

Career[link]

Tito Puente Sr. served in the Navy for three years during World War II after being drafted in 1942. He was discharged with a Presidential Unit Citation for serving in nine battles on the escort carrier USS Santee (CVE-29). The GI Bill allowed him to study music at Juilliard School of Music, where he completed a formal education in conducting, orchestration and theory. In 1969, he received the key to the City of New York from former Mayor John Lindsay. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Congressional Record, and in 1993 he received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian.^[5]

During the 1950s, Puente was at the height of his popularity, and helped to bring Afro-Cuban and Caribbean sounds, like mambo, son, and cha-cha-cha, to mainstream audiences (he was so successful playing popular Afro-Cuban rhythms that many people mistakenly identify him as Cuban). Dance Mania, possibly Puente's most well known album was released in 1958.^[6] Later, he moved into more diverse sounds, including pop music, bossa nova and others, eventually settling down with a fusion of Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz genres that became known as "salsa" (a term that he disliked). In 1979, Puente won the first of five Grammy Awards for the albums A Tribute to Benny Moré, On Broadway, Mambo Diablo, and Goza Mi Timbal. In 1990, Puente was awarded the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal. He was also awarded a Grammy at the first Latin Grammy Awards, winning Best Traditional Tropical Album for Mambo Birdland. In 1995, he appeared as himself on the Simpsons episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" In early 2000, he shot the music documentary Calle 54, wearing an all-white outfit with his band.^[7] After a show in Puerto Rico on May 31, he suffered a massive heart attack and was flown to New York City for surgery to repair a heart valve, but complications developed and he died during the night of May 31 – June 1, 2000.^[8] He was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Tito Puente's name is often mentioned in a television production called La Epoca, a film about the Palladium era in New York, Afro-Cuban music and rhythms, Mambo and Salsa as dances and music and much more. The film discusses many of Tito Puente's as well as Arsenio Rodriguez's contributions, and features interviews with some of the musicians Puente recorded with such as Alfonso "El Panameno" Joseph, Luis Mangual, Julian Lianos and others.

Puente's youngest son, Tito Puente, Jr., has continued his father's legacy by presenting many of the same songs in his performances and recordings, while daughter Audrey Puente is a television meteorologist for WNYW and WWOR-TV in New York City.

Awards and recognition[link]

• During the presidency of Sen. Roberto Rexach Benítez, Tito Puente received the unique honor of having both a special session of the Senate of Puerto Rico dedicated to him, and being allowed to perform in his unique style on the floor of the Senate while it was in session.
• On September 10, 2007, a United States Post Office in Spanish Harlem was named after him at a ceremony presided by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. José Serrano (D-NY).
• An amphitheatre was named in his honor at Luis Muñoz Marín Park, next to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Puente performed at the closing ceremonies at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The timbales he used there are on display at the National Museum of American History in Washington D.C.
• In 1997, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.^[9]
• In 1990 he received a Star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. (ref Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce)
• In 1984 he received an honorary Decree from the Los Angeles City Council.
• On June 5, 2005, Puente was honored by Union City, New Jersey with a star on the Walk of Fame at Union City's Celia Cruz Park.^[10]

Discography[link]

As leader[link]

• Puente In Percussion (1956)
• Dance Mania (1958)
• El Rey: Bravo (1963)
• El Rey: Tito Puente & His Latin Ensemble (1984)
• Percussion's King (1997)
• Selection of Mambo & Cha Cha Cha (1997)
• 50 Years of Swing (1997)
• Tito Meets Machito: Mambo Kings (1997)
• Cha Cha Cha Rumba Beguine (1998)
• Dance Mania '98: Live at Birdland (1998)
• The Very Best of Tito Puente (1998)
• Timbalero Tropical (1998)
• Yambeque (1998)
• Absolute Best (1999)
• Carnival (1999)
• Colección original (1999)
• Golden Latin Jazz All Stars: In Session (1999)
• Latin Flight (1999)
• Latin Kings (1999)
• Lo mejor de lo mejor (1999)
• Mambo Birdland (1999)
• Special Delivery featuring Maynard Ferguson (1999)
• Rey (2000)
• His Vibes & Orchestra (2000)
• Cha Cha Cha for Lovers (2000)
• Homenaje a Beny Moré. Vol. 3 (2000)
• Dos ídolos. Su música (2000)
• Tito Puente y su Orquesta Mambo (2000)
• The Complete RCA Recordings. Vol. 1 (2000)
• The Best of the Concord Years (2000)
• Por fin (Finally) (2000)
• Party with Puente! (2000)
• Obra maestra (2000)
• Mambo Mambo (2000)
• Mambo King Meets the Queen of Salsa (2000)
• Latin Abstract (2000)
• Kings of Mambo (2000)
• Cha Cha Cha for Lovers (2000)
• The Legends Collection: Tito Puente & Celia Cruz (2001)
• The Complete RCA Recordings, Vol. 2 (2001)
• RCA Recordings (2001)
• Puente caliente (2001)
• The Best of... (2001)
• King of Mambo (2001)
• El Rey: Pa'lante! Straight! (2001)
• Cocktail Hour (2001)
• Selection. King of Mambo (2001)
• Herman Meets Puente (2001)
• Undisputed (2001)
• Fiesta (2002)
• Colección Diamante (2002)
• Tito Puente y Celia Cruz (2002)
• Live at the Playboy Jazz Festival (2002)
• King of Kings: The Very Best of Tito Puente (2002)
• Hot Timbales! (2002)
• Dr. Feelgood (2002)
• Carnaval de éxitos (2002)
• Caravan Mambo (2002)
• We Love Salsa (2006)

As sideman[link]

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Rhythmstick (1990)

Filmography[link]

Selected Feature Films[link]

• Armed and Dangerous (1986)
• Radio Days (1987)

Documentaries[link]

• Tito Puente: The King of Latin Music (2000)^[11]
• PROFILES featuring Tito Puente Jr. (2007)
• Latin Knights (2005)
• Calle 54 (2000)^[12]

Concert films[link]

• Tito Puente - Live in Montreal (Montreal Jazz Festival) (1983) (2003)

Quotation[link]

^[13]

References[link]