1 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:12,600 At the dawn of the 1970s, a new sound emerged from the American Deep South. 2 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,680 It was unique, we didn't sound like everybody else that was putting out music. 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:19,920 There's certainly got to be an element of blues, 4 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,200 an element of country, a lot of respect for the music. 5 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:28,640 And a lot of drinking, a lot of anticipation of drinking. 6 00:00:28,640 --> 00:00:33,320 I had the greatest time, I'm not even going to lie. 7 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:38,440 But it was pretty tough being a rock musician in the South. 8 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,640 "Now, that's some hippy, that's some hippy that walked in." 9 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,560 Back in those days you, kind of, stuck together for safety. 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:50,080 You could get killed in the South with long hair, if it was over your ears. 11 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,920 Risking everything, this generation of bands would transform America. 12 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:59,200 After a long, long period where people didn't want to be southern, 13 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:02,080 suddenly all of America wants to be a redneck. 14 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,800 For a brief moment, southern politicians and musicians broke down old prejudices 15 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,200 and put the south back on the map. 16 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,040 I think people saw freedom in the music. 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,120 We could do no wrong in those years, 18 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:20,760 everything we did was right, 19 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,080 even if it was bad, you know. 20 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:39,920 GUNSHOT FIRES 21 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:46,960 RADIO: 'We have information King has been shot...' 22 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,600 'We have information that King has been shot at the Lorraine.' 23 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:55,480 # Man lay dying in the street 24 00:01:55,480 --> 00:02:00,200 # A thousand people fell down on their knees... # 25 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:03,560 In April 1968, 26 00:02:03,560 --> 00:02:07,200 Martin Luther King was killed by a white man in the city of Memphis. 27 00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:14,280 It was the South's darkest hour in the Civil Rights struggle. 28 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:19,400 'In the name of the greatest people that have ever crossed this Earth,' 29 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:24,720 I draw the line in the dust, and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, 30 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,000 and I say, segregation now, segregation tomorrow, 31 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:31,360 and segregation for ever. 32 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,800 #..Blood came pouring from his head 33 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,480 # Women and children falling down... 34 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,640 # Crying 35 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:50,320 # For the man they love so well. # 36 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:56,200 Days after King's death, the 20-year-old Gregg Allman wrote 37 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:57,720 "God Rest His Soul". 38 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:02,480 # But Lord knows I can't change what I saw 39 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,480 # I say God rest his soul. # 40 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:12,440 That's the kind of song that, kind of writes you. 41 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,000 I mean, you've got no choice, you know... 42 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,320 The song just wells up in your head and, bang. 43 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:28,800 I remember I sat there watching the news and a tear dried up, 44 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:34,160 I was just appalled at the whole thing. 45 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,320 I mean, I thought, "What is this world coming to?" 46 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:41,480 Gregg was part of a new generation of white southerner 47 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,440 who was challenging the Old South's prejudices. 48 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,960 I think Martin Luther King made the whole world, 49 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:51,960 but especially the south, 50 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,160 especially us, 51 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:59,080 realise the injustice of what was going on. 52 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:04,120 MUSIC: "I Can't Turn You Loose" by Otis Redding 53 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,720 In the '60s, one of the few places where black and white 54 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,720 did mix in the South was in the recording studios. 55 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,720 # ..I'm in love now with this pretty thing... # 56 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,720 But after King's assassination, 57 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,800 white people soon discovered they were less and less welcome in soul music. 58 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,280 Brothers Phil and Alan Walden from Macon, Georgia, 59 00:04:33,280 --> 00:04:36,680 had successfully managed Otis Redding and other soul acts. 60 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,960 The true decision to leave R and B music 61 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:44,320 and go in to white rock and roll, 62 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,840 we didn't know it was southern rock, we were just going into rock and roll. 63 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:56,000 And the main decision was the African American gangsters 64 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:59,800 decided they were going to take over the black music. 65 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:01,880 All of a sudden they're telling people, 66 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,960 "You don't want to mess with us, you know, we'll fuck you up." 67 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:11,520 Towards the end of the decade, there was an explosion of counter culture rock music 68 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,040 on the east and west coast of America. 69 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,080 # ..Whistlin' and singin' she's a-carrying on 70 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,280 # Laughing in her eyes dancing in her feet 71 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:22,920 # She's a neon-light diamond and she can live on the street 72 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,280 # Hey hey hey... # 73 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,840 This new rock music wasn't happening anywhere down South. 74 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:37,400 But the Walden brothers would soon discover a number of southern bands 75 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,440 that would transform the region, 76 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,600 propelling a fresh sound into the American mainstream. 77 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,160 Gregg and Duane Allman were born in Nashville in the late '40s. 78 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:00,600 Raised by a single mother after their father was murdered, 79 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,640 by 1960 they were living in Florida 80 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:06,040 and in love with Black American music. 81 00:06:07,160 --> 00:06:12,160 Oh, listen, man, we wouldn't sleep, eat, we'd be on the guitars, man. 82 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,160 Older brother Duane was an idealistic teenager, 83 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:19,240 with a vision of what he wanted to be. 84 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,160 First thing he did was quit school, he was in, like, tenth grade, 85 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,520 he said, "Man, you ought to quit too, 86 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,240 "you know what we're going to do for the rest of our lives." 87 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:31,320 I said, "Wait a minute, don't jump the gun." 88 00:06:31,320 --> 00:06:34,880 I said, "You know there's a lot of competition out there," 89 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:37,160 "the Beatles have come out, 90 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,640 "and, Jesus, no pun, but everybody and their brother has a band, you know." 91 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:46,680 First time I saw Duane and Gregg, they were really striking looking, 92 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:48,320 I mean, just the visual thing, 93 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:50,680 these guys had shoulder length blonde hair, 94 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:55,640 and Duane was just the most alive person I ever saw. 95 00:06:57,840 --> 00:07:04,960 He lived 100 miles an hour, and he carried his music that way too. 96 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,760 He was in full-tilt boogie at all time, 97 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,280 you had to have a lot of energy to be around Duane, 98 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:16,240 and you'll find yourself getting lost, if you don't step up. 99 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,480 Duane and Gregg's fledgling blues-beat combo, the Allman Joys, 100 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,120 played a gig in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1966. 101 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:33,800 Here, they bumped into a gang of teenage toughs. 102 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,280 We'd heard that they were really good, we'd never seen them, 103 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,880 and we went in there and they had long hair. 104 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:40,560 The crowd was a bunch of rednecks, 105 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,560 and anyone that had long hair was a sissy. 106 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:46,400 The Allmans played a song, and then one redneck hollered, 107 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:48,120 "Sounds pretty, Mary Jane!" 108 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:52,320 and then a whole bunch of them started going over to the stage. 109 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,560 We got in the middle of it too. 110 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,640 Gregg and Duane said, "Man, we appreciate you guys. 111 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:58,960 "Man, you guys are really cool." 112 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,200 We said, "Well, we got a band too, you know." 113 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:06,200 # Baby bad dressed in black... # 114 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:11,880 Larry had gone to the show with his friend and future Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate Ronnie Van Zant. 115 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:15,120 They both came from the mean streets of Jacksonville. 116 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:19,480 We used to call it the kill or be killed neighbourhood. 117 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:24,640 There was always fights, if you didn't fight, you didn't survive. 118 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:27,760 Larry had recently joined Ronnie's local band. 119 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,880 They wanted to be the greatest rock and roll band in the world. 120 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,680 They wanted to go out there and kick the Rolling Stones' ass. 121 00:08:34,680 --> 00:08:39,880 Ronnie was working hard when he was a teenager, 122 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:43,280 and just wanted it really bad, really, you know. 123 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:46,720 When you come from such poor surroundings, 124 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:49,720 you just want to get out of there. 125 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:51,520 And music was his way. 126 00:09:00,120 --> 00:09:04,160 # The power of love can move a mountain... # 127 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:07,800 After Gregg and Duane Allman's Jacksonville gig, 128 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:11,280 they went on to form the Hourglass with Paul Hornsby in 1967. 129 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,760 Following a lucky break, they were signed to Liberty Records 130 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,080 who made the band move to Los Angeles. 131 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,560 # I know it's true 132 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:24,520 # There's nothing love can't do 133 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:28,600 # Talking about the power of love... # 134 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:32,640 But their time in this city was deeply frustrating. 135 00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:36,280 Liberty Records primped and prodded these blues-loving southerners, 136 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,840 hoping they could transform them 137 00:09:38,840 --> 00:09:41,320 into a derivative West Coast pop band. 138 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,080 You know, we weren't seasoned studio players, 139 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:47,320 but Duane knew where he was going, he had a mission, 140 00:09:47,320 --> 00:09:50,600 and he didn't want anybody telling him what to do and what not to do. 141 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,360 I remember one time him saying, "I feel I'm pretty close to the top of my field, 142 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:58,560 "and I've got some clowns here still trying to learn how to be producers and engineers, 143 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:00,840 "trying to tell me what to do." 144 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,000 # Hey Jude, don't make it bad 145 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:12,000 # Take a sad song 146 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,880 # Make it better... # 147 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,400 Duane left California in disgust. 148 00:10:18,400 --> 00:10:21,640 He returned to the South, getting a job at Fame, 149 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:25,240 one of the few studios where black and white still played together. 150 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:29,240 #..to make it better, ohhhh! # 151 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,960 Duane's very first recording was on Wilson Pickett's Hey Jude. 152 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,640 # ..Oh, oh, oh, hey, Jude... # 153 00:10:41,520 --> 00:10:44,080 And on the end of this record, 154 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:47,640 you probably notice this long, great guitar solo 155 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,040 which no rhythm and blues song had ever done, 156 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:54,680 but Duane convinced Wilson Pickett to do that. 157 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,960 # It's going to be all right Jude 158 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:07,680 # Yeah yeah 159 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,800 # Na na na na na na 160 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:12,560 # Hey Jude. # 161 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:15,040 When Phil Walden heard Duane's guitar solo 162 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:20,240 he finally knew he'd found the white rock artist he was looking for. 163 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:23,240 Phil signed Duane to his new label, Capricorn, 164 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:29,440 which he'd set up with his brother Alan, and Frank Fenter from Atlantic Records. 165 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:36,520 Duane was now finally able to create his radical southern rock band, 166 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,560 integrating psychedelic blues-rock with soul. 167 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:45,480 One day, I asked Duane, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 168 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:49,360 I said, "Why do you want to have two drummers, man?" 169 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:53,200 He said, "Because Otis Redding and James Brown had two drummers." 170 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:54,600 I never asked him again. 171 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:56,440 LAUGHS 172 00:11:56,440 --> 00:11:59,920 Berry Oakley was added as bass player, 173 00:11:59,920 --> 00:12:02,920 while Dickey Betts was the second lead guitarist 174 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,240 and Butch Trucks the other drummer in the band. 175 00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:10,440 It was almost complete, but they still needed a vocalist. 176 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:16,800 Duane used to tell me, he said, "All the things that my brother is..." 177 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:21,000 He thought that he was a womaniser, and this and that and the other, 178 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:25,240 and some more things. He said, "But my brother is the only person 179 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,320 "that can sing in this band, that I hear in my head." 180 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:32,200 He was absolutely right. 181 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,000 With Gregg and Duane reunited, 182 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:47,640 the Allman Brothers Band moved to the quiet, conservative town of Macon, Georgia, 183 00:12:47,640 --> 00:12:50,080 the southern home of Capricorn Records. 184 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,440 MUSIC: "Every Hungry Woman" by the Allman Brothers 185 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:07,920 When the longhairs came to town, that was a major crisis. 186 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:11,760 They had never seen anything like that, you know. 187 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,400 Only the Beatles on TV at that point. 188 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:19,040 It was just about looking the way you want to, 189 00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:24,040 but I was more into music, make music and love, 190 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:26,000 you know, peace, not war. 191 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:33,040 # Went up on the mountain 192 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:34,880 # To see what I could see... # 193 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:40,040 The Allman Brothers' debut 194 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,920 was released at the very end of the 1960s. 195 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:47,960 Their spacious, soul-drenched, acid blues sound 196 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,440 brilliantly evoked the turmoil of the age. 197 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:56,080 # ..on dreams I'll never see. # 198 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:58,720 So, I laid Dreams on them, 199 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,200 and I mean, it sounded good, 200 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,440 and when it was over all of us looked round at each other... 201 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,680 and said, "Oh, man, we've got something strong here." 202 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:14,720 # Climb down off the hilltop, baby 203 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,680 # And get on back in the race 204 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,360 # Cos I'm hung up on 205 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:28,520 # Dreams I'll never see... # 206 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:46,960 To think that somebody could do that, somebody could play that, 207 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:50,280 somebody could put a band together that was that tight 208 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,080 and that all played together 209 00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,240 and all did that good, blues-based music 210 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:56,800 that hit you right here every time you heard it. 211 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,360 GUITAR SOLO: "Dreams" by The Allman Brothers Band 212 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:22,440 By 1970, Ronnie Van Zant's roughneck band from Jacksonville 213 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,640 was now called Lynyrd Skynyrd. 214 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,000 That year, Alan Walden left Capricorn 215 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,800 after the Allman Brothers debut failed to explode 216 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,560 and struck out on his own. 217 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,320 I had to audition 187 bands, 218 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:46,000 and went back to band number 13, 219 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,080 who just happened to be Lynyrd Skynyrd, 220 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,480 and uh, the reason why I went back to band number 13 221 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,920 was because I heard a song called Free Bird. 222 00:15:54,920 --> 00:16:00,280 # I'm as free as a bird now... # 223 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,720 I was also impressed with their leader, 224 00:16:06,720 --> 00:16:08,520 Ronnie Van Zant, as a person. 225 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,440 Alan Walden signed Lynyrd Skynyrd to his new management company 226 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:19,080 as the young band hit the southern circuit, 227 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,880 playing to the juke joint crowds. 228 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:43,160 # Well Billy Joe told me, said, everything's looking fine... # 229 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,960 We were following the Allman Brothers, 230 00:16:45,960 --> 00:16:50,560 which is almost the kiss of death on a southern rock band, 231 00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:54,120 because people immediately compare you to the Allman Brothers. 232 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,880 Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn't sound like the Allman Brothers. 233 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,680 You know, Lynyrd Skynyrd's a juking band, we're jukers, 234 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:04,000 you know, juking music is drinking music. 235 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:09,280 Juking music is what you hear in a juke joint, it's popping, 236 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:11,160 it's hopping, it's burning, it's soaring, 237 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,000 it's mean and it's green, 238 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,200 it's that music that you just love to hear... 239 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:21,360 when you want to really get moving. 240 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,920 Lynyrd Skynyrd was just about boogie, you know, 241 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:30,440 let's turn up the guitars and drink the Jack Daniels 242 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:31,800 and fly the freak flags, 243 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:34,880 they just didn't care about trying to make a better world, 244 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,360 they were just trying to, you know, party. 245 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,400 Ronnie was a bad ass. 246 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:42,240 I mean, he used to say, 247 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:46,960 "I'm going to rule this band like Stalin ruled Russia, 248 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,600 "you know, with an iron fist." 249 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,360 And they'd go over the same two or three songs, 250 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,760 I mean, again, that's part of the reason why 251 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,200 I think they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen, 252 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,960 because they'd just rehearse so much, you know, they had it down. 253 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,920 They were tight as Dick's hat band, you know, it was amazing. 254 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,760 He wanted it right, and when it wasn't right, 255 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,240 he could get a little violent with some of them, you know. 256 00:18:19,120 --> 00:18:24,080 Atlantic, CBS, Warner Brothers, A&M, 257 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,680 all of them turned Skynyrd down, cold. 258 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:28,840 I'm talking about cold turned down, 259 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:30,600 I'm not talking about one where, 260 00:18:30,600 --> 00:18:34,760 "We like you guys but think you need stronger material," not anything that nice. 261 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,400 "We don't want you." 262 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,840 Not even Capricorn Records were interested. 263 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,280 My own brother, Phil, turned down Lynyrd Skynyrd. 264 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:49,120 He said, "Your lead singer's too cocky, he can't sing, 265 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,440 "and they sound too much like the Allman Brothers." 266 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,200 The reason I left the band was, 267 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:58,880 I was just literally starving to death. 268 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:02,800 We weren't making no money, we were just playing little gigs here and there. 269 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:14,800 # People can you feel it? 270 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,840 # Love is everywhere. # 271 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,360 After the commercial failure of their debut, 272 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:25,600 the Allman Brothers went back to the drawing board. 273 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,120 They hit the road, building a new fanbase of students 274 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:30,040 and longhairs from the ground up. 275 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,960 We played everywhere... twice. 276 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,000 # Love is everywhere 277 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:57,280 # People can you feel it? 278 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,120 # Love is everywhere. # 279 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,880 They set up and played wherever they could find a wall plug to plug into. 280 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,200 They did a lot of playing here at the local park in Macon 281 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,320 and the parks in Atlanta. 282 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:14,280 They'd set up on a Sunday afternoon and play all day. 283 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:15,880 All the hippies came out. 284 00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:24,920 1970, we worked 306 nights and we were gone a whole year. 285 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:35,640 I had more energy than a damn freight train. 286 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:43,600 The Allman Brothers were sort of like the sperm of southern rock. 287 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:49,560 They were the swimmers. 288 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:53,800 Look at Georgia and Florida and Tennessee as this little womb. 289 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,640 They went to their womb and out came southern rock. 290 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,640 As the counter-culture infiltrated the region, 291 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,040 the number of southern longhairs multiplied 292 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,280 and the band was invited to play the festivals 293 00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:28,040 sprouting up in the south in response to Woodstock. 294 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:39,720 The Allman's were becoming a people's band. 295 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:41,760 Duane Allman once said, 296 00:21:41,760 --> 00:21:45,080 "This is a religion we're spreading." 297 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,360 The Allmans' concerts were like revival shows, 298 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,680 where people would just get all in a frenzy and go crazy. 299 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,440 When he talked about the Allman Brothers 300 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:54,720 being a religion that is spreading, 301 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,720 he was tapping into the mood of what was going on at their concerts 302 00:21:58,720 --> 00:22:02,200 and the feel of what was going on in the south at the time. 303 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:06,680 We believe so hard into it, we really did. 304 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:08,480 and... 305 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:11,240 I'm guessing it came out in the music. 306 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:23,560 Doug Gray was a budding young singer from South Carolina 307 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,960 when he saw the Allman Brothers play in 1970. 308 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:31,040 One, two, three... 309 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,440 # Dum da tum da tum... # 310 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,480 It was rhythm and blues and soul and gospel 311 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,480 and everything all mixed together 312 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,040 and some guy coming in on that slide. 313 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:43,040 It was very amazing. 314 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,120 # Called up Judy on the telephone 315 00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:56,120 # Sent her a letter in the mail... # 316 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,960 Another musician inspired by the Allmans was Charlie Daniels from North Carolina. 317 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:07,680 My dad was a timber guy. 318 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,640 If you were to go down through the band, 319 00:23:10,640 --> 00:23:14,680 you'd find a lot of these blue collar type of people. 320 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:18,320 We were raised very much in working families. 321 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,080 They got up early in the morning and went to work 322 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:22,920 and never knew anything else but that. 323 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,040 After working as a session musician in Nashville, 324 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,840 he formed the Charlie Daniels Band. 325 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,120 We'd start our rehearsals in the morning 326 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:32,760 and go till we get out of gas. 327 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,960 The whole band, just sitting in a room, 328 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,200 just going at it and if it wasn't perfect 329 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,880 and we had to change the whole thing, we'd go back and do it. 330 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:41,920 It was that work ethic, 331 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,200 that blue-collar work ethic that I think bleeds over into the music. 332 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:50,920 # Kept a big fat fancy townhouse in Dallas 333 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,840 # And a hotel suite in New Orleans. # 334 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,880 Everybody had to be affected by the Allman Brothers. 335 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:00,840 They were the forerunners, the pioneers. 336 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:15,200 A British guitar hero noticed the talents of Duane Allman in 1970. 337 00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:19,640 He invited Duane to join him on a track he was cutting in Miami. 338 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:22,080 Eric Clapton is a shy guy. 339 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,240 Believe it or not, Duane Allman, 340 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:30,360 as aggressive and gregarious and everything, is a shy guy as well. 341 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:33,760 When they play their instruments together, 342 00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,760 they're both humbled by one another 343 00:24:36,760 --> 00:24:40,720 and in that humility, there's just absolute genius. 344 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:45,080 # Layla you got me on my knees 345 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:46,920 # Layla 346 00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:49,360 # I'm begging darling please 347 00:24:49,360 --> 00:24:52,200 # Layla 348 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,640 # Darling won't you ease my worried mind 349 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,160 # I try to give you consolation 350 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,040 # When your old man had let you down 351 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:10,040 # Like a fool I fell in love with you 352 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:13,120 # Turned my whole world upside down 353 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:15,840 # Layla 354 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,800 # You got me on my knees. # 355 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,440 The Allman Brothers' first two albums didn't capture 356 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:25,800 the live brilliance of their wide-angle, cosmic blues blasts. 357 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,640 So in 1971, the band decided to cut their third record, 358 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,800 in concert, in New York City. 359 00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:41,200 # I've been run down 360 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,640 # I've been lied to 361 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,120 # And I don't know 362 00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:49,640 # Why I let that mean woman make me out a fool 363 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,640 # She took all my money 364 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,440 # Wrecks my new car 365 00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:01,120 # Now she's with one of my good time buddies 366 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,880 # They're drinking in some cross town bar 367 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,160 # Sometimes I feel 368 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:14,080 # Sometimes I feel tied to the whipping post 369 00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:22,120 # Tied to the whipping post 370 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,480 # Lord - I feel like I'm dying. # 371 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:30,720 The Allman Brothers embraced that fusion jazz 372 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:36,360 and married it in the blues - in raw whipping post blues. 373 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:41,840 Then they'd go on with it forever and it was just mesmerising. 374 00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:54,680 There wasn't a whole lot to look at. 375 00:26:54,680 --> 00:26:57,640 They dressed in bell-bottoms, denim shirts and T-shirts 376 00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:58,880 and whatever they had. 377 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,960 It was purely being so deeply into the music. 378 00:27:02,960 --> 00:27:05,440 They were living it, they were feeling it, 379 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:08,120 it was all they were, all they did and all they cared about. 380 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:22,120 I think people saw freedom in the music. 381 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:34,680 It was an unbelievable sound and genius licks, that one night, 382 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:39,560 Duane and Dickey and all the guys were playing hard together. 383 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:41,800 It was like a heartbeat. 384 00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:43,960 Like everybody's heart was beating together 385 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:46,240 and that was what touched everybody. 386 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:54,080 This song Dickey Betts wrote in memory of Elizabeth Reed. 387 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,760 That was a very important piece, 388 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,040 saying, yes, you can stay where you're from 389 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:24,640 and not downplay your accent. 390 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:29,320 Be proud of your heritage but still open to the realities 391 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,920 of integration and what's happening right here in this moment. 392 00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:37,000 I knew goddamn well that it would influence 393 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,800 and put a hell of a lot of tiger into white musicians 394 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,240 that didn't have it. 395 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:48,200 With Fillmore East, the Allmans had finally broken out of the South 396 00:28:48,200 --> 00:28:51,920 and onto FM radio with a huge hit album. 397 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:06,880 On the 29th October, 1971, 398 00:29:06,880 --> 00:29:11,720 Duane Allman was riding his Harley Davidson down a Macon street, 399 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:13,800 when he hit a truck crossing a junction. 400 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:24,960 The young prince of southern rock died in hospital just hours later. 401 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,080 We were so bummed out, about him being short changed 402 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,320 and I was more than anybody 403 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:58,520 because I'd seen just about everything he'd been through. 404 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:06,200 One year later, the band had to cope with another death. 405 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,480 Their bassist, Berry Oakley, devastated by the loss of Duane, 406 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:14,160 was killed on his motorbike three blocks from where Duane had died. 407 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:20,240 Now, at this point, I'm going, 408 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:24,080 "hey, man, what the hell is going on here?" 409 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:26,600 "I'm going to be next!" 410 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,200 Believe me, those thoughts did go through my mind, that I was going to be next. 411 00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:37,240 We lost the golden goose. 412 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,360 We didn't know if the whole thing would fall down. 413 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,280 The Allman Brothers band was obviously the flagship, 414 00:30:43,280 --> 00:30:46,840 for Capricorn, and here was Duane gone 415 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,400 and everybody was scared that there might not be any more 416 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:51,920 Allman Brothers Band. 417 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:56,320 We came to the conclusion that if we didn't keep the band going, 418 00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,480 then none of us were going to amount to shit. 419 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:06,000 Maybe dealers, maybe jail, or maybe crazy. 420 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,760 I said we got to keep going if for not us, for him. 421 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:13,360 This was his baby. 422 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:18,760 # Last Sunday morning the sunshine felt like rain 423 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:24,280 # A week before they all seemed the same 424 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,320 # With the help of God a true friend... # 425 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,880 I'll get going here in a minute. 426 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:35,920 Let's play some rock and roll for you. 427 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,680 In 1972, Lynyrd Skynyrd were still unsigned 428 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,800 and still playing the southern club circuit. 429 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,000 We go to this club every night and the second week, 430 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,080 this other band that we hadn't heard came in. 431 00:32:05,080 --> 00:32:09,640 #..That's what I am 432 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,840 # Women, whiskey and miles of travelling 433 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,120 # That's all I understand. # 434 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:20,320 I went, "Whoa, this is good." 435 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,040 Al Kooper had played on Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone 436 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,480 and established Blood, Sweat & Tears. 437 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,680 This northerner was visiting the southern city of Atlanta, 438 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:33,160 checking out the music scene. 439 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:38,760 Al Kooper, he was starting a label called Silence of the South 440 00:32:38,760 --> 00:32:42,080 and they asked the band if they'd be interested 441 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:43,760 in signing with the label. 442 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,000 Al Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album, Pronounced, 443 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,080 which included the classics Tuesday's Gone, Free Bird 444 00:32:58,080 --> 00:32:59,840 and Gimme Three Steps. 445 00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,400 Ronnie's lyrics vividly caught the rough and tumble 446 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:09,520 of white American blue-collar life in the South. 447 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:12,760 # I was cutting the rug in a place called The Jug 448 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:16,560 # With a girl named Linda Lu 449 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,680 # When in walked a man with a gun in his hand 450 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:23,480 # And he was looking for you know who 451 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:28,000 # He said hey there fellow with the hair coloured yellow 452 00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:30,600 # What you trying to prove? 453 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,960 # Cos that's my woman there and I'm a man who cares 454 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,160 # And this might be all for you. # 455 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:44,920 I think he was singing for the working man. 456 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,440 That's what he was. 457 00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,280 A plain-spoken guy, you know? 458 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,480 Truth is the truth and a lie is a lie. 459 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:57,160 Ronnie used to always say, 460 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,400 "Men like me because I speak my mind 461 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,040 "and women like me because I take my time." 462 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:09,360 Ronnie was a brilliant man, and amazing poet, 463 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:14,000 right on par with other southern luminaries in literature. 464 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:19,560 Unfortunately, isn't viewed as such because of his image. 465 00:34:19,560 --> 00:34:23,120 He was short, rotund and performed barefoot. 466 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:26,120 He wasn't very glamorous or flamboyant. 467 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,080 In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic debut album 468 00:34:31,080 --> 00:34:34,560 climbed to number 27 on the American charts. 469 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:36,320 It was something to be proud of, 470 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:39,520 especially when you saw that this music became popular. 471 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:42,080 See, we've got some good stuff going on down here 472 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:43,480 that you don't know about. 473 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:48,800 As Lynyrd Skynyrd helped focus America's eyes and ears 474 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:50,400 on the South, 475 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:53,480 the Allman Brothers were now ready to return to the action. 476 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:03,240 # Lord I was born a rambling man... # 477 00:35:05,880 --> 00:35:10,920 They headlined the largest festival of the era, Watkins Glen, in New York State, 478 00:35:10,920 --> 00:35:14,320 and were building a huge community of fans. 479 00:35:14,320 --> 00:35:19,360 The band proved they could remain faithful to Duane Allman's dream. 480 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:24,080 I think a lot of his energy stayed with the band. 481 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:30,360 # ..He'd wound up on the wrong end of a gun 482 00:35:30,360 --> 00:35:35,600 # And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus 483 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,760 # Rolling down Highway 41. # 484 00:35:39,760 --> 00:35:43,000 Their album, Brothers & Sisters, hit the number one spot 485 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,840 and made them one of the most popular bands in and beyond America. 486 00:35:51,560 --> 00:35:53,600 The Allman's international success 487 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,840 focused media attention on their hometown. 488 00:35:56,840 --> 00:36:00,720 Hello, I'm Gregg Allman, welcome to Macon, Georgia. 489 00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:05,840 The Brothers have made Macon what it is right now. 490 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,600 Give Macon five more years and it's going to be the music capital. 491 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,920 If it wasn't for the Brothers, you wouldn't have all these freaks 492 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:15,280 cos when the Brothers came here, in '69, there were very few freaks. 493 00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,720 Macon is just one big family, man. 494 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:20,560 Everybody that makes music is family. 495 00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:22,520 We all know each other, one way or another. 496 00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,280 Capricorn snapped up a number of southern rock bands, 497 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,680 including Cowboy, Wet Willie and the Marshall Tucker Band. 498 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:35,840 Capricorn Records allowed us to have a lighthouse, 499 00:36:35,840 --> 00:36:38,520 it's like, out in the middle of the ocean. 500 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,320 Seeing that lighthouse over there, 501 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:42,920 because southern bands didn't have the place to go to. 502 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:44,680 We just did not. 503 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:48,840 Capricorn was always open door, because they listened to everybody. 504 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:54,760 # Meet some people travelling around 505 00:36:54,760 --> 00:37:00,360 # But home's always been the best place to go 506 00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:06,120 # And it's a lonesome feeling in my mind 507 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:11,160 # A feeling I can't seem to leave behind... # 508 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:16,880 Southern rock is a mixture of gospel music, southern loud guitar, 509 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:18,920 rowdy rock and roll music. 510 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:25,000 It's about the history, the land, and being connected 511 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:27,240 to where you came from and where the music came from. 512 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,120 It was the people that you felt like you knew, 513 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:36,960 that you'd grown up around, 514 00:37:36,960 --> 00:37:39,560 the guys next door, the people that lived down the street, 515 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:42,760 the people you went to school with, went to church with. 516 00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,360 Southern musicians play hard, they put more into it, 517 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,720 they feel it more, they drive it more. 518 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:02,560 The southern rock sound was moving beyond the Deep South 519 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:05,440 and across the sun belt. 520 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:09,760 How to describe southern rock boogie. 521 00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,120 Going to have to show you. 522 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:15,560 Just can't tell you about it, just going to have to show you. 523 00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:19,600 ZZ Top from Texas, Black Oak Arkansas, 524 00:38:19,600 --> 00:38:23,320 the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, 525 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:25,160 were spreading the gospel. 526 00:38:25,160 --> 00:38:30,400 It was a time period of southern musicians loving southern musicians. 527 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:34,560 Um, because they all supported each other in those years, 528 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,200 they were all in it together. 529 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:40,640 It was a big movement, a solid plan to take over the world with a certain sound. 530 00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:45,800 But first, southern rock needed a unifying, down-home anthem. 531 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:51,960 # Sweet home Alabama 532 00:38:51,960 --> 00:38:55,400 # Lord I'm coming home to you... # 533 00:38:57,480 --> 00:39:02,520 1974's Sweet Home Alabama was a huge hit single for Lynyrd Skynyrd, 534 00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:05,120 breaking them internationally. 535 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:08,160 It was also Ronnie Van Zant's combative riposte 536 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,120 to Neil Young's Southern Man, 537 00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,240 which reduced the South down to its troubled past. 538 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:20,240 They just said to talk about Neil Young, but I don't like to talk about the gentleman. 539 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:24,600 It's definitely got this in it. 540 00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,880 # Sweet home Alabama... # 541 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:35,360 A lot of people were putting southern people down. 542 00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:37,800 He made it to where they didn't do it any more 543 00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,040 and he made it specific with Neil Young. 544 00:39:41,040 --> 00:39:46,120 # Now Watergate does not bother me 545 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:50,360 # Does your conscience bother you? # 546 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,360 That line where he says, "Does your conscience bother you?" 547 00:39:53,360 --> 00:39:56,920 It says more than a million protest songs. 548 00:39:56,920 --> 00:39:58,560 It says, wait a minute, 549 00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:01,600 who are you to be pointing the finger? 550 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:06,400 He turns the mirror around and lets the Neil Youngs of the world 551 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,320 look at themselves. 552 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:12,760 But Ronnie's response wasn't just a southern counterattack. 553 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:16,040 He appeared to be supporting the old reactionary ways of the south, 554 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:19,080 in particular the prejudiced George Wallace. 555 00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:23,360 I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow 556 00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:26,000 and segregation forever. 557 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,320 I tend not to think 558 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:34,000 that Ronnie Van Zant was supporting segregation with this song, 559 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:37,600 but liked this aspect of Wallace's demeanour 560 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:41,840 in telling off Northerners and other elites 561 00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:45,840 that you have no right to come down here and tell us how to be. 562 00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:49,320 # In Birmingham they love the governor 563 00:40:49,320 --> 00:40:50,760 # Boo, boo, boo 564 00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:53,600 # Now we all did what we could do... # 565 00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:02,120 I'll never know if Ronnie liked George Wallace 566 00:41:02,120 --> 00:41:06,080 because the lyric could go either way. 567 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:08,600 "In Birmingham they love the governor, 568 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:10,600 "now we all did what we could do." 569 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:17,240 What does that mean? Did we try and get rid of the governor? 570 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:19,720 Or did we support the governor? 571 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:22,480 You don't know what that lyric means. 572 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:28,080 # Sweet home Alabama 573 00:41:28,080 --> 00:41:31,520 # Lord, I'm coming home to you. # 574 00:41:31,520 --> 00:41:35,680 There's something enduring to the myth and the spirit 575 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:38,880 and the funk of Sweet Home Alabama 576 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:42,560 that transcends national and international boundaries 577 00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:45,480 and everybody, no matter where they're from, 578 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:50,840 can identify with this longing for home and the beauty of home. 579 00:41:50,840 --> 00:41:54,960 # Sweet home Alabama 580 00:41:54,960 --> 00:42:00,920 # Lord, I'm coming home to you 581 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:03,240 # Sweet home Alabama. # 582 00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:10,360 Sweet Home Alabama, was a game-changer for the band 583 00:42:10,360 --> 00:42:12,480 and southern rock. 584 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:17,040 The movement was now about to take centre stage in American life. 585 00:42:17,040 --> 00:42:20,520 # I never seen such a beautiful day 586 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:25,200 # Looked like everything is coming my way 587 00:42:25,200 --> 00:42:29,440 # Feel like a bird just leaving a cage 588 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:33,560 # Looked like my luck is getting ready to change. # 589 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:37,240 The annual Capricorn Picnic was the high point of the year in Macon. 590 00:42:37,240 --> 00:42:40,600 It celebrated the triumphs of Phil Walden and Frank Fenter's 591 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,800 Southern Rock label. 592 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:46,120 Me going there as a 17, 18-year-old kid, felt very special. 593 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:48,200 I felt pretty privileged to be there. 594 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,800 I saw and heard a good many things for the first time 595 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:53,280 at those Capricorn Picnics. 596 00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:58,680 A bunch of beautiful people in a southern redneck town. 597 00:42:58,680 --> 00:43:00,560 OK? It was great. 598 00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:05,880 Food everywhere. Meat. Lots of barbecuing. 599 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:09,920 Dancing, drinking, partying down. 600 00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,040 The party'd go on for two or three days, 601 00:43:18,040 --> 00:43:20,080 and the headaches would go on for weeks. 602 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,560 It was the party of a lifetime, each year. 603 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,680 You'd go to these things and you'd say, 604 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,000 "Is that Andy Warhol over there?" 605 00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,520 "My God, there's Jimmy Carter over here." 606 00:43:32,520 --> 00:43:34,680 And so it was far-reaching, 607 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:37,560 the influence Capricorn had on the world. 608 00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:43,000 Jimmy Carter announced he was running for president 609 00:43:43,000 --> 00:43:45,520 at a Capricorn Picnic. 610 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:49,000 He represented a brand-new kind of southern politician. 611 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:51,120 He was not racist, he was liberal. 612 00:43:51,120 --> 00:43:54,160 As far as musical taste is concerned, how could he help it? 613 00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:56,200 That's where he was raised, 614 00:43:56,200 --> 00:43:57,840 that's where he came from, you know? 615 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,280 He had to like Allman Brothers Band, he had to like Marshall Tucker Band. 616 00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,360 he had no choice. It was part of his heritage. 617 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,720 The Allman Brothers and others have expressed in clear terms 618 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:12,000 to the young people a basic philosophy, I think, 619 00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:13,880 of enlightenment, the search for peace, 620 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:16,760 it's had a profound effect on the consciousness 621 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:19,560 not only of young people but of old people like me. 622 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:27,480 We raised a lot of money to help Jimmy Carter get elected. 623 00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:29,800 But at the same time it was helping two-fold. 624 00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:31,560 It was helping Jimmy Carter to do it, 625 00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:35,760 it was letting people know that the southern bands really weren't 626 00:44:35,760 --> 00:44:39,400 a bunch of redneck, "cut ya and shoot ya" kind of guys. 627 00:44:44,720 --> 00:44:47,320 For his 1976 campaign anthem, 628 00:44:47,320 --> 00:44:50,000 Jimmy Carter chose Charlie Daniels' hit single, 629 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:52,640 The South's Going To Do It Again. 630 00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:01,280 The South, there we go again. 631 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:05,360 It's like, we been kind of looked down on 632 00:45:05,360 --> 00:45:07,520 the last many years, 633 00:45:07,520 --> 00:45:09,640 but look at us now. 634 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:14,640 # South's going to do it again and again... # 635 00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:18,480 As Carter hit the campaign trail, southern rock 636 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:22,120 and the new South were becoming positively fashionable. 637 00:45:22,120 --> 00:45:25,440 You had people on Long Island dressing in cowboy hats, 638 00:45:25,440 --> 00:45:29,240 going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd with bandanas around their neck, wanting to be southern. 639 00:45:29,240 --> 00:45:31,680 After a long, long period where people didn't want 640 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:35,280 to acknowledge that, you know, the South had anything to offer 641 00:45:35,280 --> 00:45:37,480 other than racists and rednecks, you know. 642 00:45:37,480 --> 00:45:40,920 Suddenly, all of America wants to be a redneck. 643 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:43,800 Hollywood, too, was now popularising the Deep South. 644 00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:50,800 'From Georgia to Texas and back, in 28 hours flat. 645 00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:53,400 'Now who would do a thing like that?' 646 00:45:53,400 --> 00:45:54,440 Ha! 647 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,800 Lynyrd Skynyrd were now the huge international rock band 648 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:06,600 they'd dreamed of becoming as teenagers in Jacksonville - 649 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:09,440 living the high life and jetting from show to show. 650 00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:14,760 # Well, I've heard lots of people say they're going to settle down 651 00:46:14,760 --> 00:46:18,440 # You don't see their faces and they don't come around 652 00:46:18,440 --> 00:46:22,480 # Well, I'm not that way I got to move along 653 00:46:24,680 --> 00:46:28,560 # I like a drink and to dance all night... # 654 00:46:28,560 --> 00:46:32,400 I can't tell you how many millions of people looked up to Ronnie. 655 00:46:32,400 --> 00:46:35,200 I mean, there were millions of people, not just in the South, 656 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:38,240 but in the north as well. 657 00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:42,240 He represented that street guy. The street guy that had to fight. 658 00:46:42,240 --> 00:46:44,800 Street guy that knew the tough part of life. 659 00:46:47,040 --> 00:46:51,560 A track from their first album had now become a southern rock classic. 660 00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:58,720 There are songs, once in a while, that come along, 661 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:04,520 that just transcend generations, just hits everybody right here. 662 00:47:04,520 --> 00:47:08,640 It just hits everybody in their music-loving heart. 663 00:47:08,640 --> 00:47:13,680 # If I leave here tomorrow 664 00:47:17,920 --> 00:47:21,840 # Would you still remember me? # 665 00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:27,640 Then when they hit that part, that instrumental part, 666 00:47:27,640 --> 00:47:29,240 you watch people. 667 00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:31,880 Unless you're catatonic, you can't stand still 668 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:36,400 and listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd play the instrumental part of Free Bird. 669 00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:42,600 I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear 670 00:48:42,600 --> 00:48:45,920 that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States. 671 00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:48,120 With the support of southern rock bands, 672 00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:51,360 Jimmy Carter won the presidential election - 673 00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:53,800 the first man from the Deep South to do this 674 00:48:53,800 --> 00:48:57,160 since before the 19th century American Civil War. 675 00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,040 It was the pinnacle of the new South. 676 00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:02,920 We are one, we are united, we are family. 677 00:49:02,920 --> 00:49:07,200 And this is the spirit we want to see in the White House, 678 00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:12,920 and it's what will help heal all of these rifts that have been 679 00:49:12,920 --> 00:49:15,200 happening in the post-war period. 680 00:49:17,040 --> 00:49:21,000 But the southern rock fraternity wasn't so healthy. 681 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:23,560 The Allman Brothers were splintering. 682 00:49:23,560 --> 00:49:27,160 The new freedoms as well as the pain of losing two band members 683 00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:28,520 played their part. 684 00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:38,400 Too much personal things going on. 685 00:49:38,400 --> 00:49:40,920 Too much drugs. 686 00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,120 And the whole bit. 687 00:49:43,120 --> 00:49:44,960 I mean, you see it every day. 688 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:48,640 It happened before us, and it still happens. 689 00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:51,240 It'll be happening when we're gone. 690 00:49:51,240 --> 00:49:56,280 All the pressures of what goes on in your life. 691 00:49:56,280 --> 00:49:58,200 Stress, and all the rest of it. 692 00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:08,720 The blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad. 693 00:50:14,960 --> 00:50:17,120 All God's children got the blues. 694 00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:29,040 The Allman Brothers Band broke up in 1976. 695 00:50:37,160 --> 00:50:40,960 Lynyrd Skynyrd embarked on a major series of concerts in 1977 696 00:50:40,960 --> 00:50:42,840 to support the release of their new album. 697 00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:47,840 On the 20th October, 698 00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:51,800 the band's tour plane flew from South Carolina to Louisiana. 699 00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:54,120 MUSIC: "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd 700 00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:57,760 They knew that the plane had engine problems, 701 00:50:57,760 --> 00:50:59,640 and yet they continued to fly. 702 00:50:59,640 --> 00:51:03,200 What I understand is, they fired the two experienced pilots 703 00:51:03,200 --> 00:51:06,800 and hired two young guys, and the young guys, 704 00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:10,160 when they realised they were running low on fuel, 705 00:51:10,160 --> 00:51:12,560 he went to swap to the reserve tank, 706 00:51:12,560 --> 00:51:16,080 and he hit the wrong lever and he flushed the gas tank. 707 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:18,720 And so they gave out of gas on a damn airplane. 708 00:51:18,720 --> 00:51:23,880 # Listen closely to what I say 709 00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:33,200 # And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day... # 710 00:51:33,200 --> 00:51:38,720 I actually sat on the couch with Donnie and his mom and dad 711 00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:40,960 when the call came. 712 00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:42,720 I remember looking at my family, 713 00:51:42,720 --> 00:51:44,360 and, um... 714 00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:47,920 and I didn't even have to say a word to them. 715 00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:50,160 They knew by the look on my face. That it was bad. 716 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:53,240 And, uh, that was... 717 00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:56,800 ..that was tough. 718 00:52:00,560 --> 00:52:06,560 # Troubles will come and they will pass... # 719 00:52:06,560 --> 00:52:10,400 Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in the crash. 720 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:15,280 "Say it loud and let it ring that we're all part of everything 721 00:52:15,280 --> 00:52:17,400 "Present, future and the past 722 00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:20,160 "Fly on, proud bird you're free at last." 723 00:52:20,160 --> 00:52:22,120 And that was it. After I'd got that done, 724 00:52:22,120 --> 00:52:25,360 it was kind of a catharsis for me, I felt like I've done all I can do. 725 00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:26,720 Couldn't do anything else. 726 00:52:26,720 --> 00:52:29,760 And I took it and I read it at Ronnie's funeral. 727 00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:34,800 # Oh, be something 728 00:52:34,800 --> 00:52:37,840 # You love and understand 729 00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:42,080 # Baby, be a simple 730 00:52:42,080 --> 00:52:44,320 # Kind of man... # 731 00:52:47,360 --> 00:52:52,080 The southern gothic tale had, it had reached epic proportions. 732 00:52:52,080 --> 00:52:55,800 It seemed that nothing else could happen. 733 00:52:55,800 --> 00:52:59,200 And indeed, you know, it kind of began to die. It went corporate. 734 00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:03,000 Everything kind of changed after 1977. 735 00:53:03,000 --> 00:53:07,160 As a result, Donnie Van Zant and Larry Junstrom decided their band, 736 00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:11,880 38 Special, should embrace a more mainstream, less southern sound. 737 00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:15,880 We started writing with outside songwriters, not just ourselves. 738 00:53:15,880 --> 00:53:18,440 You know, and started really paying attention 739 00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:21,120 to what was happening with radio, you know. 740 00:53:21,120 --> 00:53:23,720 And then we put Rockin' Into The Night out 741 00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:27,880 and we had a top 40 single with Rockin' Into The Night, 742 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:30,360 which opened the door completely out for 38 Special. 743 00:53:33,040 --> 00:53:34,800 By the late '70s, 744 00:53:34,800 --> 00:53:39,080 Phil Walden's mighty Capricorn Records was in serious trouble. 745 00:53:40,640 --> 00:53:43,240 They signed with Polydor, 746 00:53:43,240 --> 00:53:46,880 who made it too easy for Phil to get a lot of money. 747 00:53:46,880 --> 00:53:49,160 It's like, call up the record company, 748 00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:51,400 request a million dollars and you get it. 749 00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:55,040 At this particular time my brother was doing a lot of cocaine, 750 00:53:55,040 --> 00:53:59,240 and it became, "Let's get another million dollars!" 751 00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:01,160 And the next thing you know, 752 00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:04,360 he owes Polydor $14 million or something like that. 753 00:54:04,360 --> 00:54:07,560 They probably said they wanted some of their money, 754 00:54:07,560 --> 00:54:11,720 because it was becoming a routine that he was calling, asking for more money. 755 00:54:11,720 --> 00:54:14,680 And they went to put him out of business for it. 756 00:54:16,360 --> 00:54:19,000 Capricorn Records folded in 1979. 757 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,800 When the doors were closing, 758 00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,960 it felt as if it was the nicest club that you've ever been to 759 00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:30,760 every night of your life and had the coldest beer, 760 00:54:30,760 --> 00:54:33,280 and the nicest looking women, 761 00:54:33,280 --> 00:54:36,680 and that door closed, and you'd never be able to go back there again. 762 00:54:39,320 --> 00:54:42,800 MUSIC "Please Be With Me" by Allman Brothers Band 763 00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:46,240 # So won't you please read my signs be a gypsy 764 00:54:46,240 --> 00:54:52,120 # Tell me what I hope to find deep within me 765 00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:59,000 # And because you can't find my mind 766 00:54:59,000 --> 00:55:01,560 # Please be with me... # 767 00:55:01,560 --> 00:55:04,680 The golden age of southern rock died 768 00:55:04,680 --> 00:55:06,960 with the fading Carter administration. 769 00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:13,280 That whole political thing is just, I mean, 770 00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:17,080 there doesn't seem to be any truth in there at all. 771 00:55:17,080 --> 00:55:18,680 Start to finish. 772 00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:23,240 I mean, it's all, you know, 773 00:55:23,240 --> 00:55:27,680 "I'll kiss your ass until I get elected, then you can kiss mine." 774 00:55:27,680 --> 00:55:33,120 In 1980, Ronald Reagan beat Carter by a huge majority. 775 00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:38,440 MUSIC: "Statesboro Blues" by Allman Brothers Band 776 00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:49,240 Southern rock made the South 777 00:55:49,240 --> 00:55:53,400 vibrant and alive after the darkness of the Civil Rights era. 778 00:55:53,400 --> 00:55:55,680 Lynyrd Skynyrd and others that followed 779 00:55:55,680 --> 00:55:57,920 took the sounds of the South to the world. 780 00:55:59,960 --> 00:56:04,280 It all began with the energy and vision of Duane Allman and his band. 781 00:56:06,320 --> 00:56:09,800 I don't care what colour you are or what creed you are, 782 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:14,800 if you hear Duane Allman play the opening bars on Statesboro Blues... 783 00:56:14,800 --> 00:56:18,640 And maybe that's not your music, maybe you like Beethoven. 784 00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:22,480 I like Beethoven, you know. But if you listen to that, 785 00:56:22,480 --> 00:56:26,360 and that don't move you, you don't need to be listening to music. 786 00:56:26,360 --> 00:56:29,200 You know, you need to be doing something else. 787 00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:30,720 Go play golf or something. 788 00:56:30,720 --> 00:56:34,520 If that don't touch you, there's something wrong with your heart. 789 00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:40,880 # I woke up this morning I had them Statesboro blues 790 00:56:44,760 --> 00:56:49,880 # I woke up this morning I had them Statesboro blues 791 00:56:51,960 --> 00:56:55,120 # Well, I looked over in the corner, baby 792 00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:56,960 # And Grandpa seemed to have them too... # 793 00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:05,920 # Well, now, you want me to be your only man 794 00:57:05,920 --> 00:57:08,520 # Said, listen up, Mama teach you all I can 795 00:57:08,520 --> 00:57:10,880 # Do right, baby, by your man 796 00:57:10,880 --> 00:57:13,760 # Don't worry, Mama teach you all I can 797 00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:15,840 # Say I know a little 798 00:57:15,840 --> 00:57:18,200 # Lord, I know a little 'bout it 799 00:57:18,200 --> 00:57:20,480 # I know a little 800 00:57:20,480 --> 00:57:22,200 # I know a little 'bout it 801 00:57:23,320 --> 00:57:25,800 # I know a little 'bout love 802 00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:28,840 # Baby, I can guess the rest. #