Song of the South: Duane Allman and the Birth of the Allman Brothers Band (2013 Video) User Reviews

Superb documentary & great music

[WildBullWriter · 9/10 · 23 February 2023]

I grew up in the South, graduated high school in 1970, so I was listening to the Allman Brothers right when they began touring and recording. They were an amazing group, truly phenomenal artists. Growing up in a small town, my friends and I spent evenings and nights gathered under the oak trees down by the river with the Allman Brothers cranked up as loud as could get away with. We were focused on the entire band, not just Duane, who is the focus of this documentary. Gregg's voice seemed as powerful and moving to us as Duane's guitar. But when Duane died, we knew the group would never be the same again (though Gregg and Butch Trucks and Betts sure put out some great music in the decades afterward). It was an incredible journey for those fellas, and this documentary tells the story well. Good job. I'll watch it again.

A long overdue documentary!

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 10/10 · 20 August 2020]

I can't believe no one has reviewed this documentary, it is one to cherish. Despite not being authorized or officially sanctioned by the band or their management, this is a highly informative and detailed look at the life and career of Duane Allman. The various interviewees are people who worked with the Allman Brothers Band during the early days, along with a couple of childhood friends. From the outset, I got the impression that Duane Allman was an assertive, determined, ambitious individual who knew what he wanted to achieve in music. I really enjoyed the section that covered his time with the Derek and the Dominos band. The song "Layla" wouldn't be half as effective without Duane composing the opening guitar riff! Despite his career lasting only three years (including the time spent in Muscle Shoals), the guitarist left quite a body of work. The documentary describes how Duane became fascinated with blending different styles of music - such as rock and soul with jazz etc. He was always looking for inspiration and fresh ideas for songs. A couple of sound engineers from the early Allman Brothers albums, state how Duane was rarely without a guitar in his possession and that he would be strumming away by himself in creating new riffs. That says a lot about the man's work ethic, in my opinion. Unavoidably, the documentary finishes on a tragic note. The music world was robbed of a fine musician on that fateful day in late October 1971. The band's roadie is clearly finding it hard to talk about what happened, even after all this time. Thanks to this feature length tribute and a couple of recent biographies, Duane Allman is finally getting the credit he deserves for his being one of the leading guitarists of the past 50 years.