The Big House, A Visit To The Allman Brothers Museum

Since I was ten years old growing up in North Carolina, I have been listening to Rock and Roll music and all it's various forms. I had pictures of The Rolling Stones, The Doors and many other groups taped to the walls in my room and I sat for hours with my headphones on listening to every bit of music I could get my hands on. Of course, I had to use my headphones to listen because if I didn't my Dad would yell at me to "turn that racket down!" Musically, the best part about growing up in this era was that Rock and Roll was a new form of music and the talent of this era was astonishing. Although many of the biggest bands, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, all were British bands, they were all influenced by that most American of all music....The Blues.

But in America, especially the South, musicians were coming up with their own brand of music. Some started calling it Southern Rock, but it wasn't that simple. The Marshall Tucker Band took their influence from both Jazz and Country, Lynyrd Skynyrd took their influence from...well, no one really. They just wrote about life in the South and then plugged in three guitars to make it like no other sound. Charlie Daniels was basically playing Country music, but with amplifiers. One group was in a class all their own, The Allman Brothers Band, and they did it by taking the Blues, adding a little Country and some Jazz notes and then of course having one of the best guitar players ever to throw a strap over his shoulder, Duane Allman.

At the time The Allman Brothers Band were formed, Duane was fast becoming one of the most sought after studio musicians in the industry. He played on studio tracks for many established industry stars including Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin and Percy Sledge. The Allman Brothers Band was formed in 1969 in Jacksonville, Florida, when Duane Allman, Dickey Betts, Jamoie Johanson and Butch Trucks started playing together and then put in a call to Duane's brother Greg Allman to come join them. Greg was in California writing songs for a publishing company. Once they were all together they moved to Macon, Georgia which would be their home for several years to come. From 1969 to 1972 The Allman Brothers built almost a cult following. Their live shows became legendary with impromptu jam sessions that could go on for an hour and shows that lasted all night long. The late great Bill Graham of Filmore East/West fame once said, "...I've never heard the kind of music this group plays, the finest contemporary music." In an article published in Rolling Stone magazine by George Kimball in the early 70's, the Allman Brothers were called, "the best damn rock and roll band this country has produced in five years." Considering all the bands that had been formed since the 60's those are mighty strong words.

But, on October 29, 1971 the first of two tragedies struck the band. Founder and legendary musician Duane was killed in a motorcycle accident while riding in Macon. Although Duane was the biggest force within the band, they decided to carry on with Dickey Betts as the lead guitar and largest influence within the band, while sharing song writing with Greg. But, bad times for the band were not yet over. A year later on November 11, bassist Berry Oakley was killed three blocks from where Duane was killed and he too was riding a motorcycle. For years popular belief was that Berry was killed when he ran into a truck carrying peaches, which is where the band got it's name for the next album, 'Eat A Peach.' This was just an urban myth. Both Duane and Berry were only 24 years old.  But once again the band continued and for the next forty years would continue to create music that was unique, southern and purely it's own. The band has had many different musicians step in and out over the years, but it's always stayed strong within it's roots and the vision that Duane created for the band.

When the band moved to Macon, Georgia in 1970, Berry Oakley and his wife rented a house on Vineville Avenue and shortly all of the band members were either living there or spending most of their time there. They stared calling their new band hangout "The Big House." The house was also located close to the offices of Capricorn Records, the company who first signed them to a contract. The band not only spent much of their time there, but they also used it for rehearsals and jam sessions. Many of the songs written by the Allman Brothers were written in this house including Dickey Betts' 'Blue Sky' and 'Rambling Man' and Greg Allman's 'Ain't Wastin' Time Here No More' and 'Midnight Rider.' After Berry's death his wife was evicted from the house in January 1973.  In 1993 the house was bought with the intentions of turning it into a Bed and Breakfast, but renovations would have been too costly. So the house was left in the hands of the Big House Foundation, a non-profit organization established to turn the Big House into an interactive museum. The foundation renovated The Big House and turned it into that museum, in order to "identify and preserve the history of The Allman Brothers Band."  In November of 2009 The Big House-The Allman Brothers Museum was opened.

So, now that you have a not so brief history of the band, last weekend I rode my Road King down to Macon to see what the museum had to offer. On first glimpse one can see why this place was once destined to be a Bed and Breakfast. the outside is a classic southern home and in no way looks like where you would find a museum for a bunch of "hippy musicians."  I'm sure it looked a little different when the 'Brothers' were staying there.

Inside you will find exactly what you would expect and maybe a few things that would surprise you. There are original instruments from the band, from the early days with Duane and Berry to the contemporary band members such as Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. Original posters and prints from concerts that they played, as well as many still images from over the years hang on the walls.

                             
 There are all sorts of personal items, from shirts worn by band members...

               
 ... to hand written song sheets and even a few paychecks the band wrote to it's members.

One the thing that particularly drew my interest was this contract signed by Bill Graham and Duane Allman for one of their many shows at the famed Filmore venues in New York and California.

Another display that I spent much of my time going over was this one with Duane's famous Goldtop Gibson Les Paul, which was lost for many years but the museum was able to find and put on display. Beside it is Berry Oakley's bass guitar along with other items that were used by the two guitarists and band founders, like slides, straps and picks.

Two rooms in The Big House have been furnished much the way it looked when the band members were staying there. This room was called the Casbah Lounge and the band members would spend much of their time here chillin' and just hanging out. Even the record collection in this room is very much the same collection that Berry had at this time and shows what music the band was listening to while they were writing their own music.

This room is where Duane lived before his death. Items in this room which may draw your attention are books that Duane read while living here and one of his leather jackets hangs in the closet. For any fan of The Allman Brothers, whether young or old, this museum takes you back to a time when Rock and Roll was in it's infancy and before commercial interests would take it in a direction that left behind the soul and passion that made this such an important time in music history. The Allman Brothers Band is one of the greatest American Bands of all time and this museum pays tribute to them with thought and foresight that only a true fan could do.

This sign in the parking lot that shows the only way to leave and gives one last tribute to the music of The Allman Brothers Band.

*The black and white images of The Allman Brothers Band and the Rock and Roll collage are not images of mine and I hold no claim to them.