The Economies of the Allman Brothers Band.
It's interesting but not sure if it's accurate. Seems to be.
When Gregg died in 2017 Celebrity Net Worth listed Gregg Allman worth $18 million dollars. Dickey was on the site as worth $40 million, Jaimoe at $2 million and Butch Trucks in the negative.
And the point of this is exactly what? You’ve tirelessly posted this same information, in one form or another, again and again. I really don’t think anyone other than you probably gives a damn.
"There is no mechanical problem so difficult that it cannot be solved by brute force and ignorance"
I do. Fascinating. Thanks for that. The songwriter makes the money even if the performance makes the tune. Where would Elizabeth Reed be without Duane's earth shattering solo.
Always enjoy your posts, Robertdee Us old geezers can get a get grouchy once in awhile.
@oldcoot hey ollcoot!! Stop reading my posts. I'm not going to stop posting information about my favorite band which interests me. When you see my name skip right on by.
And I didn't have anything to do with Dickey being worth more money than the other band members combined. Jaimoe is the only one left anyway. This band doesn't even exist now and never will again. It's all memories for both of us.
And if I get kicked off for posting Allman Brothers Band information on an Allman Brothers Band site I'll follow in the footsteps of brother Dickey and sue!!
@tenorsfan That is right about the song writer. That is were the money can be if you are good at it and lucky.
The estates of Willie McTell, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson and Willie Cobbs cashed in good via the Allman Brothers Band with the band covering some songs they wrote on At Fillmore East, Eat A Peach and the 1969-1979 A Decade of Hits complilation released in 1991. All three sold over a million copies. $$$$$$$.
You're right about the live Elizabeth Reed on At Fillmore East. It's probably the hottest guitar solo on any Allman Brothers Band album. And it's structured very well from start to finish. It's amazing Duane was just 24 years old and playing on that level!!
I give a damn about this type of info.
Not to keep score and see who's the richest, but because it's important to know they didn't die broke and could leave something for legacy like Devon and Duane to build off of.
Have to imagine those two and others have benefitted in some fashion ( who here DIDN'T get help from their folks at some point? ) and has been an important factor in them keeping this music alive ( and make their own too ).
Duane and his wife also just established a charitable foundation called Horseshoe to benefit live festivals, which hire local acts and give emerging artists a shot.
THAT is why I care about numbers like these
@islalala: Unfortunately, Butch Trucks DID die broke, and we all know the rest of that sordid tale, which I won't go into. And that's why I think Duane was mistaken when he only gave songwriting credit to the person who had the original idea for the song. Think of a complex instrumental like In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed. Is it really fair to say that Butch Trucks didn't have ANY input in the development of that song, especially the live version? I think if Duane had a crystal ball and could have looked way into the future, things would have been handled differently.
Keep an eye on your Fax machine, lol. We love you Robert.............And if I get kicked off for posting Allman Brothers Band information on an Allman Brothers Band site I'll follow in the footsteps of brother Dickey and sue!!
But Duane did give a group writing credit to Hot L'anta and Mountain Jam. Perhaps somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
@robslob This became public in the mid 1990's on Butch's blog. The company which owned the Capricorn albums decided to release "1969-1979 A Decade of Hits" which was a compilation album ( that is what they call greatest hits albums) featuring tracks from six of the band's Capricorn albums.
The release sold over 2 million copies and it was a big windfall for Gregg and Dickey plus the estates of Willie McTell, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson and even Duane himself as Little Martha is on it.
The band got nothing. Apparently the Allman Brothers Band at least in 1991 was shut out from making any money from the Phil Walden era via record sales. Only the song writers earned a royalty.
Butch discussed this on his blog and was very irritated. Butch stated Dickey did write the melody and some cord changes but the entire band worked on In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed shaping it into the piece it became. Butch then stated he wrote the part of the song where he takes a drum solo then Jaimoe joins in. Butch felt he should of had a writing credit on that song plus Butch came up with a different time signature for Whipping Post working off of the famous bass intro which Berry Oakley wrote. Butch said when Gregg showed Whipping Post to the band it was a slow ballad.
Butch was expecting a writing credit on Elizabeth Reed but Dickey said NO it's my song.
I remember asking Butch on his blog why he didn't go to Duane as Dickey and Butch both acknowledged they all knew it was Duane's show, Duane's band even tho Duane wanted it to be kinda a democracy. But Butch said there were times we all knew Duane was in charge. Butch responded by saying he did go to Duane about In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Duane wouldn't back him or the changes he and Berry Oakley made to Whipping Post. Duane said even though the band works the song and arrangement up, the song belongs to the band member who brought it to the band and created the original idea. Duane saw the working up the song as arrangement but Butch disagreed about parts that became intrical passages of the song. Oakley's bass opening on Whipping Post is probably the most famous part of the song and Berry Oakley not Gregg Allman wrote it.
I see Butch's point. And if they had put Hot Lanta on that album Butch would have made some money. I can understand Butch being irritated when Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts made, according to Butch, over a million dollars on that release and Butch got NOTHING because of how the Phil Walden/Capricorn bankruptcy and contracts played out.
It has sold about 2 million 600 thousand copies at more than 10 dollars per copy and Dickey has Ramblin' Man, Revival, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Southbound, Jessica, Blue Sky and Crazy Love ( seven tracks) and Gregg has Whipping Post, Dreams, Midnight Rider, Ain't Waisting Time No More, Melissa, Wasted Words ( six tracks ). Duane has Little Martha ( one track ).
So soon Butch said he was going to find ways he too can make some money with the band in addition to being a musician in the band.
My guess is those business ventures is how Butch got into very deep trouble with the Internal Revenue Service. Like they did Red Fox and Willie Nelson, the IRS took all Butch had which was a few million dollar estate.
It's scary and I hated that happened to Butch. He and Gregg were the only two band members who were there in 1969 and still there through all lineups when they quit at the Beacon. Remember Jaimoe was voted out in 1980 and replaced by David Toler.
@robertdee: Thanks for all the info. You just verified everything I said about Butch getting some writing credit. And yeah, Hot 'Lanta and Mountain Jam were not on A Decade Of Hits, so Butch missed that boat. Yes, Butch's demise is the saddest tale in the history of ABB, other than the two motorcycle accidents, of course.
Now I am wondering if Butch had a writing credit on Instrumental Illness or anything on the Frogwings - Croakin At Toad's CD
In Greggs book he says he brought the framework of Hot 'Lanta to the band and that he put everyone's name on it for credits because it was an instrumental and all the solos were improvised. There had been rumblings about writing credits and he thought it was only fair. That was the only instrumental that I know of that Gregg played occasionally with his solo bands.But Duane did give a group writing credit to Hot L'anta and Mountain Jam. Perhaps somewhere in the middle lies the truth.
@kcjimmy Gregg once said he came up with the riff at a studio and Dickey eventually ran in the room and voiced a melody line in his ear and they realized they had a song developing so they invited the other four to add something and Hot 'Lana was born. Gregg wanted all six to get a writing credit.
On Butch's blog in 2001 he said they were dumping Dickey's material eventually and coming up with new instrumentals where everyone gets a writing credit.
I always bought Allman Brothers Band new albums starting with Idlewild South the day they hit the stores. So I get home with Hitting The Note expecting Butch to have a writing credit and he didn't!!!! Instrumental Illness is credited to Warren Haynes and Otiel Burbridge. It's a good piece of music but not as good as some of Dickey's instrumentals which now are classics.
Of course Butch and Gregg didn't care for Dickey's last instrumental he brought to the band J. J's Alley. They didn't care for any of the songs Dickey wrote and put into the sets on his own regardless if the others wanted to play them after 1995.
Butch said the reason Dickey was worth much more money than the others is because he horded the song writing on their Epic albums so he could make royalty money and the songs with a few exceptions were not good. Butch complained that Dickey blew his stack when Butch wanted Warren's Rocking Horse on Where It All Begins rather than Dickey's Mean Woman Blues. Butch had to cave and agree to Mean Woman Blues to get the album finished. Dickey was ready to walk.
Where It All Begins and Change My Way Of Living are real good songs from Dickey I think.
Well it's a shame they had those fights as it's all over now. Jaimoe is the only one still living and I still don't like to think about Butch shooting himself. It's so damn sad.
If Duane and Berry had lived the ABB would have been a huge band for decades like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones we used to say. They got that big with Brothers and Sisters but it didn't last. But then again if Duane and Berry had lived they could have broken up for good in 1975!! You never know. The original band was living dangerously it seems.