Revised and expanded, with a new afterword by the author, this is the definitive biography of Duane Allman, one of the most revered guitarists of his generation. Skydog reveals the complete story of the legendary guitarist: his childhood and musical awakening; his struggling first bands; his hard-won mastery of the slide guitar; his emergence as a successful session musician; his creation of the Allman Brothers Band; his tragic death at age 24; and his thriving musical legacy.

Skydog reveals the true story of legendary guitarist Duane Allman: his childhood and musical awakening; his struggling first bands; his hard-won mastery of the slide guitar; his emergence as an A-list studio musician; his creation of the Allman Brothers Band; his tragic death at age 24, and his thriving musical legacy. Author Randy Poe taps the people who knew Duane best — along the way chronicling the tumultuous era that shaped Allman and his music, and that he in turn transformed. Featuring a foreword by ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons, Skydog includes a comprehensive discography of Duane Allman’s work with his own bands and on other artists’ recordings, a meticulously researched roundup of his studio and stage instruments, and a look at the continuing lives and careers of Allman’s friends and band mates.

A deeply personal, revealing, and lyrical portrait of Duane Allman, founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, written by his daughter “Duane Allman was my big brother, my partner, my best friend. I thought I knew everything there was to know about him, but Galadrielle’s deep and insightful book came as a revelation to me, as it will to everyone who reads it.”—Gregg Allman Galadrielle Allman went to her first concert as an infant in diapers, held in her teenage mother’s arms. Playing was her father—Duane Allman, who would become one of the most influential and sought-after musicians of his time. Just a few short years into his remarkable career, he was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty-four. His daughter was two years old. Galadrielle was raised in the shadow of his loss and his fame. Her mother sought solace in a bohemian life. Friends and family found it too painful to talk about Duane. Galadrielle listened intently to his music, read articles about him, steeped herself in the mythic stories, and yet the spotlight rendered him too simple and too perfect to know. She felt a strange kinship to the fans who longed for him, but she needed to know more. It took her many years to accept that his life and his legacy were hers, and when she did, she began to ask for stories—from family, fellow musicians, friends—and they began to flow. Galadrielle Allman’s memoir is at once a rapturous, riveting, and intimate account of one of the greatest guitar prodigies of all time, the story of the birth of a band that redefined the American musical landscape, and a tender inquiry of a daughter searching for her father in the memories of others. Praise for Please Be with Me “Poignant and illuminating . . . brings Duane Allman to life in a way that no other biography will ever be able to do.”—BookPage “Galadrielle Allman offers a moving and poetic portrait of her late father.”—Rolling Stone “[Allman’s] descriptions and scenes are vivid, even cinematic. . . . The pleasure of reading Please Be With Me lies as much in its lyrical prose as in its insider anecdotes.”—Newsweek “An elegantly written, heartfelt account.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “Evokes a wistful, elegiac atmosphere; fans of the ’70s music scene may find it indispensable.”—San Jose Mercury News “A compelling and intimate portrait of Duane.”—The Hollywood Reporter “Illuminating.”—Kirkus Reviews “Frequently touching . . . Readers will come away feeling more connected to the man and his music.”—Publishers Weekly

A portrait of the legendary American rock-and-roll band draws on exclusive interviews to track their career from 1969 to the present and is complemented by previously unpublished photographs and memorabilia.

(Book). Revised and expanded, with a new afterword by the author, this is the definitive biography of Duane Allman, one of the most revered guitarists of his generation. Skydog reveals the complete story of the legendary guitarist: his childhood and musical awakening; his struggling first bands; his hard-won mastery of the slide guitar; his emergence as a successful session musician; his creation of the Allman Brothers Band; his tragic death at age 24; and his thriving musical legacy.

For the first time, rock music icon Gregg Allman, one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band, tells the full story of his life and career in My Cross to Bear. No subject is taboo, as one of the true giants of rock ’n’ roll opens up about his Georgia youth, his long struggle with substance abuse, his string of bad marriages (including his brief union with superstar Cher), the tragic death of brother Duane Allman, and life on the road in one of rock’s most legendary bands.

Willie Perkins left the staid, conservative world of commercial bank auditing to jump headlong into the burgeoning beginnings of The Allman Brothers Band and follows their meteoric and sometimes tragic rise, fall, and revival. Perkins's interest in the business of music and his association with an interesting pair of friends led him to the opportunity to go to work with the Allmans at the earliest stage of their career. For the first time we learn from a true insider what it was like to live the nomadic life on the road with the Allmans from their earliest low buck club tours through the triumphant million dollar months of outdoor stadium dates in the mid-seventies. Perkins vividly describes living in the band's "Big House," and what it was like to room on the road with the legendary Duane Allman and what a truly amazing person he was. The author tells of all the band and crew members, and shares how they all dealt with the bumpy road to rock stardom. The fast life of touring, performing, and recording, with its huge rewards and triumphs is seen with literary clarity in these pages. Perkins's memory of the sorrow and grief suffered from the untimely deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley is paralleled by the band's dogged determination not to give up. The reader is not spared the details of the destructiveness of drug and alcohol abuse, and will learn the true facts behind the drug trial of John "Scooter" Herring. Read how the band and its crew dealt with family life, girlfriends, and groupies. Also, you will learn about the making of the legendary "Live At Fillmore East" album, the band's generous charitable contributions, and their relationship with Jimmy Carter. No book on TheAllman Brothers band would be complete without an account of Gregg Allman's solo comeback of the eighties and the twentieth anniversary reunion tour of The Allman Brothers Band. "No Saints, No Saviors" is a story of triumphs and heartbreaks, but ultimately it is a story about how the music of The Allman Brothers Band, indeed, may well live forever.

Buck 'Em! The Autobiography of Buck Owens is the life story of a country music legend. Born in Texas and raised in Arizona, Buck eventually found his way to Bakersfield, California. Unlike the vast majority of country singers, songwriters, and musicians who made their fortunes working and living in Nashville, the often rebellious and always independent Owens chose to create his own brand of country music some 2 000 miles away from Music City – racking up a remarkable twenty-one number one hits along the way. In the process he helped give birth to a new country sound and did more than any other individual to establish Bakersfield as a country music center. In the latter half of the 1990s, Buck began working on his autobiography. Over the next few years, he talked into the microphone of a cassette tape machine for nearly one hundred hours, recording the story of his life. With his near-photographic memory, Buck recalled everything from his early days wearing hand-me-down clothes in Texas to his glory years as the biggest country star of the 1960s; from his legendary Carnegie Hall concert to his multiple failed marriages; from his hilarious exploits on the road to the tragic loss of his musical partner and best friend, Don Rich; from his days as the host of a local TV show in Tacoma, Washington, to his co-hosting the network television show Hee Haw; and from his comeback hit, “Streets of Bakersfield ” to his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In these pages, Buck also shows his astute business acumen, having been among the first country artists to create his own music publishing company. He also tells of negotiating the return of all of his Capitol master recordings, his acquisition of numerous radio stations, and of his conceiving and building the Crystal Palace, one of the most venerated musical venues in the country. Buck 'Em! is the fascinating story of the life of country superstar Buck Owens – from the back roads of Texas to the streets of Bakersfield.

In this riveting tale of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll, Freeman brings to life the turbulent career of the original Southern rock band. This history includes the band's blues roots, their wild early days on the road and their recent resurgence.

"Mark Ribowsky has written one king hell of a book about one king hell of a band. Buy that man a drink!" —Mick Wall, author of When Giants Walked the Earth This book tells the intimate story of how a band of lost souls and self-destructive misfits clawed their way to the very top of the rock'n'roll peak, writing and performing as if beneficiaries of a deal with the devil—a deal fulfilled by a tragic fall from the sky. The rudderless genius behind their ascent was a man named Ronnie Van Zant, who guided their five-year run and evolved not just a new country/rock idiom but a new Confederacy. Whiskey Bottles and Brand-New Cars is based on interviews with surviving band members and others who watched them. It gives a new perspective to a history of stage fights, motel-room destructions, cunning business deals, and brilliant studio productions, offering a greater appreciation for a band that, in the aftermath of its last plane ride, has sadly descended into self-caricature as the sort of lowbrow guns-'n'-God cliché that Ronnie Van Zant wanted to chuck from around his neck. No other book on Southern rock has ever captured the "Free Bird"–like sweep and significance of Lynyrd Skynyrd. Mark Ribowsky has written twelve books, including widely praised biographies of Tom Landry, Howard Cosell, Phil Spector, and Satchel Paige. He has also contributed extensively to magazines including Playboy, Penthouse, and High Times. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida.