I love the Brothers and Duane but my favorite band is the Stones and favorite guitarist has always been Hendrix.

Interesting reply. ABB with Duane is my favorite band and Duane my favorite player. But Al Demeola is a better guitarist, Steely Dan has my favorite 2 songs.

Derek Trucks

if we're saying that Derek could not have existed without Duane, then I'll say Henrdrix

Favorite Band - the Beatles

Johnny Winter..... and favorite band would be Sabbath!

Rory's a close second to Johnny.

David Lindley

Little Feat

B.B. King, SRV, Clapton for me. what would layla have sounded like?

Okay, the ABB are my all time favorite band (duh!) but my all time favorite musician is Rory Gallagher so Rory it is!

Interesting reply. ABB with Duane is my favorite band and Duane my favorite player. But Al Demeola is a better guitarist, Steely Dan has my favorite 2 songs.

No offense intended, but if you're going to glorify Al DiMeola you might want to learn how to spell his name.

You're opening an interesting can of worms by saying that Al DiMeola is a better guitar player than Duane Allman was. Better in what sense? Ability to play a thousand notes a minute?

I've seen DiMeola a bunch of times, and yes, he is phenomenal. The Return To Forever reunion tour seven years ago was just WAY off the hook. But DiMeola just played a few miles from my place a month ago and I couldn't bring myself to go. Why? Because I wasn't interested in hearing someone play incredibly fast and technical. Not to knock DiMeola in any way, but Duane Allman MOVED me more than Al DiMeola ever has. I think there's more to being a musician than pure technical skill; DiMeola would win THAT contest every time.

Clapton.

The Band.

Interesting, Layla is far and away my favorite album. But without Duane? Who knows how those sessions would've ended up.

Hendrix.

The Doors.

The Doors were my favorite until the Allman Brothers finally clicked for me.

Garcia
The Dead.

Hendrix was/is my favorite guitarist, but he never got the chance to form a group equal to his talent. Wish he had hooked up with Miles Davis and found his way to some wider creative horizons, rather than the dead end of pop music.

That said, he did have Mitch Mitchell, without whose flexible improv genius he could not have begun to express the outer limits of his style. But the Experience was a flash in the pan, doomed to a bright flash and rapid fadeaway... better to have called it the Jimi Hendrix Explosion.

[Edited on 6/6/2015 by BrerRabbit]

SRV
Clapton
Rory
Gary Moore
Warren
Derek
Can't leave Dickey out.......

If there was no ABB....... I'd be lost.....

I don't even know what I would do without the Allman Brothers. They were a gateway to so much amazing other music that I love (the Duane Allman Anthology was an epiphany for me), especially bands that came after them. I guess The Band and Traffic would be next on my list, but neither has 45 years of music that I could obsess over in the quite the same way.

Better in what sense? Ability to play a thousand notes a minute?

I never thought ranking musicians carried much water. Every musician plays their own style and can do things that another guitarist either didn't think to do, or doesn't necessarily want to do (Jerry Douglass isn't going to plug in a Fender Strat anytime soon, but he's still pretty freakin' good at what he does).

For instance, one of my favorite guitarists is Willie Nelson - he's not melting your face with solos, but his jazz sensibility in country/folk music is so sweet to me. I love it, totally underrated.

On the other hand, Derek Trucks is also one of my favorite guitarists, but the way he and Willie play couldn't be further apart. Each found a style that is built on a foundation of what they themselves like to listen to. Some guitarists may be more versatile (as a session man, Duane could do just about anything), but it's not a competition, everyone brings something different to the table with a ton of talent to back it up.

For instance, one of my favorite guitarists is Willie Nelson - he's not melting your face with solos, but his jazz sensibility in country/folk music is so sweet to me. I love it, totally underrated.

Willie gets about zero credit for his guitar work, but that's a real shame. I too really enjoy his playing.

good ol' Grateful Dead would be the band while Jeff Beck would still be my favorite guitarist...

Black Sabbath...Mr.Iommi

my favorite band has always been the rolling stones and favorite guitar player for the last decade or so has been jeff beck

Favorite band probably would be the Stones. Favorite guitar player is hard. Clapton, SRV, Rory, BB, Jimi and Gary Moore... especially the Gary Moore Jimi Hendrix salute from 2007 with Mitch on drums... and Duane, Dickey, Warren and Derek are on many of my top guitar songs especially live. Best overall guitar song would be a tie between Jimi's All Along the Watchtower and One Way Out from Eat A Peach.

Now that I've mentioned Eat A Peach and with all due respect to the various versions of the ABB, the original lineup with Duane, Dickey and Oakley is just a little better than any others. If you want an Allman Brothers experience where the rubber really meets the road, then Fillmore or Eat A Peach (live and studio tracks) is where to go.

All versions of the ABB after Duane were trying to re-create the magic of the original line up and like so many other things in life, the power and magic of the original only happened one time.

Now be honest with me. Can you really imagine Warren, Derek and Otiel or Warren, Dickey and Allen or Dickey, Dan and Rook or Dickey, Chuck and Lamar playing Liz Reed, Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, One Way Out, Trouble No More etc etc better than Duane, Dickey and Oakley did on those original albums?

If there are versions of the songs on Fillmore and Eat A Peach which top the original by latter versions of the ABB, I've never heard them. The Play All Night release from the Beacon Warren put together from those 1992 shows is close. Real close but never better. Same with One Way Out where it's Warren and Derek at the Beacon. Close but never better. Now I know there are those who feel Otiel was more advanced than Oakley and Derek more than Duane and Warren could out duel Dickey most nights but where is a version of Liz Reed that tops Fillmore? Or One Way Out that tops Eat A Peach?

I think it was because the playing styles of those six originals just meshed and complimented each other so well without being planned. It just fell into place. As if some cosmic hand was behind it. I'm not sure it could have happened if Duane and/or Phil Walden had actually hand picked all the members. Walden got the idea to buy Duane's contract from Atlantic and have him put a trio together. He introduced Duane to Jaimoe and when they jammed, it felt good so Jaimoe was in. Duane had his eye on Oakley because of the wonderful vibe he got from Oakley's playing and spirit and Oakley realised Duane was magical and coming from somewhere else so they bonded. Oakley was playing with Dickey and began to tell Duane the real magic was happening when Dickey played with him. So the tiro became four men and Dickey was in. Then Dickey and Oakley felt they needed a more powerful drummer as Jaimoe had a soft/jazz touch but lets add someone not replace and have two like the Grateful Dead and Duane knew Butch Trucks so Butch came and JUST BY LUCK Butch and Jaimoe's styles blended together perfectly and fit perfectly with Duane, Dickey and Oakley. When Duane finally told the guys they would have to fight their way out if they don't want to be in his band, Reese was playing organ so he must have been a good fit too but I'm sure his organ playing was busier and more technical than Gregg so it would be fun to hear a tape. I'm telling you that being more advanced doesn't mean it's the best fit for a particular band. But they all said we don't have anyone that sings as good as we sound. And finally Gregg was ask to join as the main singer and to put icing on the cake with his organ playing and that fit was just right too. The styles and influences of those six men was a blend which would be next to impossible to assemble by audition or assemble with replacement players and all six of them was the Allman Brothers. It took all six to be what we know as the Allman Brothers sound. I think everybody can agree with that. All six of the originals styles and influences blended together without really being planned and that formed the Allman Brothers sound. It wasn't Duane by himself at all. It was all six! That kind of band just happens and not that often either.

Good luck was with the ABB when they had to find replacements too because of the awful bad luck with Duane and Oakley. Chuck, Lamar, Warren, Allen, Derek and Otiel had the right chops and styles to be in the ABB and with Warren, Allen and Derek, the time in being big ABB fans and heavily influenced in their own playing by the original was huge in them fitting in...so we had some later versions that came darn close to the original but where and when was the original ever topped?? I can't see it. I like to listen to later versions of the band for different approaches and arrangements and solos but I've never heard the original band being surpassed by any later version. They are the "holy grail" for an ABB fan.

So what if there was no Duane Allman. Hence no ABB. Who would be you favorite guitar player and who would be your favorite band?

Hard to say, but we must also remember the other musicians who Duane loved and was influenced by, were also influenced by him. BB would have still been there, playing his blues, but who would have brought him mainstream, Clapton might have. Clapton was doing his own thing and would have still continued, he was doing the Layla album anyway, he had just invited Duane to join him, but if Duane had not been there, the record would have still come out.

All the southern musicians who were influenced and emulated some of the stuff Duane did, still had their own music in them, would Dickey have created the dual guitar sound with someone else and been in some other band?

Garcia was iconic, he would have still been there musically and created his own legacy.

Johnny and Edgar Winter both created their own things. Johnny was a phenomenal player, he did not go all allman-esqe when the dual guitar sound was created, he still did his own thing, and would have even if Duane was never born.

As for Derek, he would have still been a musician, influenced by all the other people he has been influenced by, I don't think his goal in life was to be in the Allman Brothers Band, which is why he felt the need to go out on his own after having achieved and accomplished all that he did while he was in the band. That was just a place for him to get his exposure and access to other musicians, (I'm NOT saying he used the band for that reason) that is what the universe gave him.

As to Warren, he would have still developed as a musician and ended up with Mule.

Dickey is the real question. If Duane had not been there, would HE have created the dual guitar sound with someone else? Whose idea was it Duane's or His? I think he would have still been a musician. Taj Mahal is the one who lit the fire under under Duane.

No doubt about it, the music coming from the musicians in the band would have been somewhat different, they would have played with different people and did different things, but LIFE and musicianship would have went on for ALL of them even if there had not been a Duane. Gregg's life and music of course would have been dramatically impacted, but he loved the blues and somehow would have still went into music. Remember HE is the one who worked all summer cutting lawns because HE wanted to get a guitar and then he was 95 cents short of the money he needed when he went to Sears to get one. HE IS THE ONE WHO STARTED IT ALL. It was only after hearing GREGG play that Duane wanted to try that guitar.

[Edited on 6/7/2015 by gina]

Clapton

Dead

Now be honest with me. Can you really imagine Warren, Derek and Otiel or Warren, Dickey and Allen or Dickey, Dan and Rook or Dickey, Chuck and Lamar playing Liz Reed, Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, One Way Out, Trouble No More etc etc better than Duane, Dickey and Oakley did on those original albums?

God knows, they tried to often enough...

Carlos Santana

Little Feat

Probably Mike Bloomfield and the Paul Butterfield Blues band during Mikes reign East/West Album

David Lindley

Little Feat

Option #2

Derek Trucks

Steely Dan

Now be honest with me. Can you really imagine Warren, Derek and Otiel or Warren, Dickey and Allen or Dickey, Dan and Rook or Dickey, Chuck and Lamar playing Liz Reed, Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, One Way Out, Trouble No More etc etc better than Duane, Dickey and Oakley did on those original albums?

God knows, they tried to often enough...

Now be honest with me. Can you really imagine Warren, Derek and Otiel or Warren, Dickey and Allen or Dickey, Dan and Rook or Dickey, Chuck and Lamar playing Liz Reed, Statesboro Blues, Done Somebody Wrong, One Way Out, Trouble No More etc better than Duane, Dickey and Oakley did on those original albums?

I think there are two questions in the thread, one being what if there was no ABB because there was no Duane, and one if what if there was a band with Gregg and possibly the others but no Duane hence no dual guitar sound.

If there was never an ABB, I believe the other southern musicians would still have risen to prominence. What Lynyrd Skynyrd brought cannot be denied. If there had been no ABB and Dickey went with Skynyrd, Gary and Dickey would have blown the roof off any place they played and Ronnie would have been very pleased with both of 'em. Aside from Skynyrd's players, you had 38, Blackfoot, the Outlaws all from Florida, you had Tucker in Carolina with their own sound, Charlie who never sounded like any other band, all the other musicians, Wet Willie, Atlanta Rhythm Section, all the people who ended up in Muscle Shoals getting session work, everybody from Memphis and Nashville. If there had been no ABB, Jack Pearson would probably have been a very successful studio musician, Dan Toler would have ended up somewhere bringing his talents, Texas has their own share of musicians, more than just ZZ Top.

Aerosmith, Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Little Feat, Deep Purple, Bob Seger, Springsteen, Bon Jovi, every incredible musician would have still evolved if there was no Duane.

I also say even if Gregg had been an only child, he was so steeped in the blues, being raised in Daytona, he would have still met Floyd Miles, music would have happened, if ABB was formed with the others and not with Duane in it, it would have been different, but it would have still been authentic. Perhaps not iconic. If Duane had not been there and it had just been Dickey and Danny as it was in Central Park, was the music any less awe inspiring? I can tell you the music they put together during DB & GS prior to that reunion show WAS to the level of what Dickey created with Duane. Some nights it was surreal what they did onstage.

If there was never any ABB, all the other musicians would have did other things. I think Dickey would have risen to greatness with whoever he played with. I grew up on Beatles music, but my Father liked Chet Atkins and Les Paul, my brother liked jazz, so I heard that too. I liked all different types of music from James Taylor to Grand Funk Railroad and lots of stuff in between. I did not really like the Woodstock people much. I liked Clapton a lot, Doobie Bros., some country music, some classical too (Chopin and Tchaivkovsky).

If there was no ABB, we would have just listened listened to everybody else, but your soul would not have been stroked the way Duane did that. Would you have been better off without that level of empathic (open e tuning) intimacy? Would you have gotten thru your miseries on that 'boulevard of broken dreams' that was/is your life?

Duane gave many a sojourn to survival. I don't think other bands or musicians could have touched so many so deeply as he did. That's the magic of the music he brought.

 

B.B. King, SRV, Clapton for me. what would layla have sounded like?

What would Layla have sounded like?, Who knows, but it's so simple a child could play it!

Johnny Winter

Little Feat

Jerry Garcia.

Derek Trucks.

Or possibly Trey, late 1980s to very early 00s.

VERY nice fretsman……he is a rare animal for sure….never mind his virtuosity, i have met Derek a few times, he is genuine, listens and embraces the fans. a true southern gentleman. not an ounce of "rock star" in that blood…warren haynes is right there with him from my experiences.