HEY YA'LL!
The editor of the Allman Brothers Chronology at http://www.abbdiscography.com/index1.html , Ingemar Pynenburg of Arnhem, The Netherlands, has responded to a query Randy Poe sent Johnny Wyker back in the summer. Ingemar brings up some areas of controversy and his description of Duane's work in '68 reminded me that Bill Connell is not mentioned on the Allman Brothers family tree at Allman Brothers Discography..... Whaz up wid dat, Ingemar?
Below is an excerpt from a wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwyker interview with Gritz Magazine where he mentions Tuscaloosa's Bill Connell.
Below this interview you will find Poe's note to wwwwwwwwyker and Ingemar's response.
Happy New Year and take a moment and drop me a line...
best,
roberto http://robertoreg.blogspot.com
Didn't you say you knew them when they were the Allman Joys?
I used to hire The Allman Joys to open our shows when I had The Rubber Band - .we were big stars to Duane and Gregg....we had a hit single that was on Columbia Records called "Let Love Come Between Us"; it also hit with James and Bobby Purify and Delbert McClinton and Mavis Staples also did great cover versions - .and The Rubber Band's version went to Number One in all the major cities of the Southeast or what Billboard called Area 6. -
We did not need an opening act, but Duane and Gregg and the other Allman Joys had become good and fast friends ...and they needed the money and the exposure - .so I used to hire them to open for us - . Duane would eat his guitar and play it behind his back and get down on the floor and do flips while he played and Gregg would be behind a little Vox organ on chrome legs..and Bill Connell pounding the drums....I thought they were pretty good...but the crowds gave them a hard time and gave a few boos from time to time...
Also, did you ever know about Bill Connell, the most excellent drummer for the Allman Joys ?
I recommended him to Doowang and Gregg and they hired him the night he graduated form Tuscaloosa High School and they all took off that night to go play at Trudy Heller's Club in Greenwich Village in New York City.....I know Connell must have gotten a crash course in Rock n' Roll in the fast lane after he left his hometown to hit the road with Allman Joys ! Years later, I hired Connell to go on the road with Sailcat in the summer of '72 when we did American Bandstand and Carnegie Hall (but that's a whole 'nuther chapter). Connell also toured with Bobby Whitlock a few years later - . http://www.gritz.net/inner_views/john_wyker.html
From:
"ingemar pijnenburg"
To:
bongorandy
CC:
robertoreg2003@yahoo.com, info@www.abbdiscography.com
Date:
Sat, 01 Jan 2005 18:30:02 +0000
Hi Randy, Happy New Year !
This is an email from you to Johnny Wyker that Roberto Register posted
on his weblog in september which I have read some time ago.
Quote :
Randy Poe is writing a definitive biography of Duane Allman. Here's an
email he sent Johnny Wyker [Magnificent 7, Rubber Band, Sailcat] last night.
Thought you cats might like to see how well the wheels of progress are
turning:
Dear Wyker,
Okay, this one's for you. I'm working on the section of the book
where Duane's now started doing sessions at FAME . According to Rodney Hall,
the dates on the tape boxes show that Duane came to town and played on
sessions with Clarence Carter (Road of Love,Harper Valley PTA, etc.)
prior to playing on the Pickett session that included "Hey Jude." (Most people
seem to recall "Hey Jude" being the first thing Duane played on at FAME, but
the tape box dates and Rick Hall both dispute that. I'm conjecturing
that some people think that was the first thing Duane played on because that was
the session that caused Rick to call Wexler and play him Duane's guitar
solo at the end of "Hey Jude" over the phone.) I've found a quote from Duane
where he says that after the Pickett session, Rick convinced him to move up to
the Shoals. It would appear that prior to moving to Muscle Shoals, Duane was
commuting from Jacksonville (where he was living with Berry Oakley)when
he played on the Clarence Carter and Wilson Pickett sessions (and maybe
even the Arthur Conley session that took place about a week after the
Pickett session). I read in an interview you did for Gritz that at one point you and Eddie Hinton and Duane were roommates. Was that when he first moved up to Alabama in what would have been late '68 or early '69? Or was it sometime prior to
that? If it was prior to that,do you recall if he was already playing on
sessions at FAME? The earliest things I can find that he played on for Rick as a
session player at FAME were Carter,Pickett, Conley and Willie Walker,
all of which would have been in late '68. The Hour Glass demos were done at
FAME on April11, 1968, so Duane was already familiar with the studio by the time
he ended up there playing on the Clarence Carter sessions that started in
October of'68 (after the Hour Glass broke up). I'm still trying to figure out how he ended up there in October of '68.Rick says he just showed up,
looking for work afterthe demise of the Hour Glass. Unfortunately, Duane's not around to say how or why he was there, and Gregg was out of the picture at that
time since he had runback to LA to cut a bunch of pretty bad solo records to
fulfill the Hour Glass's contractual obligations to Liberty Records.
Anyway, I know Duane eventually lived in the Stokes Cottage cabin on Wilson
Lake, but I'm assuming that's after you and Eddie and he were roommates. Does that
make sense?
Thanks.
Randy
Unquote.
[HERE'S INGEMAR'S RESPONSE TO RANDY]
If you do not mind I would like to comment on some statements.
You suggest that Harper Valley PTA was recorded on the third of October
1968 because this was the Clarence Carter recording session prior to the Wilson Pickett recording session on the 27th of November 1968.
Harper Valley PTA by Ben Colder entered the Cash Box Top 100 on the
19th of October in 1968 (
http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/randypny/cashbox/19681019.html ) so it was
probably recorded by Clarence Carter inspired by this on a later date.
I believe it was the second of December in 1968. I did not check that but
I know that I'd Rather Go Blind was recorded by Clarence Carter on
December 2nd so probably more songs were recorded on that date. I think that you
have to check the dates when the masters were assigned ( the same method
that Harry Young uses - see his liner notes for the Cher 3614 Jackson Highway
album ). Someone at Atlantic or Warner Brothers could check their
archives for those dates. The Clarence Carter recording session on the second of December 1968 was produced by Rick Hall but the second Wilson Pickett
recording session that Duane plays on on the third of December 1968 was
produced by Tom Dowd.
Duane's guitar sound on December 3rd 1968 differs
from his guitar sound on November 27th. The guitar sound on Born To Be Wild
and Hey Jude are alike but different from the guitar sound on Toe Hold and
My Own Style Of Loving. The time between the two recording sessions was
probably used by Duane to relocate from Jacksonville, FL. to Muscle
Shoals, AL. On A Man And A half the guitar players are Jimmy Johnson and Bobby Womack and this was recorded on September the 19th of 1968. This
recording session was also produced by Rick Hall. Another song recorded during
this September 1968 session was Save Me but I believe that Bobby Womack's
guitar part was transferred from the right channel to the left channel ( the
same channel on which Jimmy Johnson's rhythm guitar appears ) on the third
of December of 1968 by Tom Dowd and by doing so giving Duane room to play
on the right channel. Hence an overdub. The heavily fuzzed slide guitar
solo by Duane on The Road Of Love was also an overdub. The Road Of Love was
recorded on July the 26th of 1967. Duane did not play on this one which was
released as a 45 on FAME ( #1016 ) and was also included on the Soul Deep album
( Edsel, 1984 ) to which Scott Freeman refers on page 326 of his book
Midnight Riders.
He states that Duane's solo was edited out but he is wrong.
Duane's solo was overdubbed on the 45 version master tape ( probably on the 2nd
of December of 1968 ) and this new version was released on The Dynamic
Clarence Carter album in April of 1969.
After the Wilson Pickett December 3rd 1968 recording session Tom Dowd continued recording in the FAME studios. His next project was the
Arthur Conley recording session of which the masters were assigned on the 6th
of December of 1968 according to Harry Young.
You mention April 11 of 1968 as the recording date of the Hour Glass
demos but Johnny Sandlin mentioned April 22 of 1968 as the recording date
according to the Duane Allman An Anthology booklet.
Obviously you believe and so does Stuart Winkles ( Goldmine magazine,
April 11th of 1986 ) that Duane Allman played as a session player during
recording sessions at FAME before the Wilson Pickett recording session of November 1968.
On all the songs mentioned by Stuart Winkles which are recorded
before the Wilson Pickett recording session of November of 1968 I think that the guitar parts do not sound like Duane's !
To me even the guitar parts on Harper Valley PTA and especially I'd Rather Go Blind do not sound like Duane's !
Could it be possible to retrieve the original telegram from Rick Hall
to Duane from the Western Union archives ?
Yours truly,
Ingemar Pynenburg,
Arnhem, The Netherlands
editor of http://www.abbdiscography.com/chronology.htm
