BROTHER TO BROTHER

OF THE MANY legends FAME has nurtured, none has inspired more adulation than Duane Allman. Astounding virtuosity and unfulfilled promise hastened his enshrinement. Now, Duane’s legend resembles that of a knight-errant, replete with quests, triumphs, tragedy and even a holy grail — his 1957 goldtop Gibson Les Paul. Each formative recording has acquired mythic undertones, including those he hasn’t played on.

Bassist David Hood, FAME perennial and cofounder of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, frequently dispels such conjecture. “People want to know everything he’s on, and they want him to have played on everything,” he says. “I’ve checked my daily diaries. There aren’t any more tracks he played on that aren’t already noted on album covers, liner notes and so on.” Regardless, Duane completists continually list dubious recordings and questionable sessions.

Hood witnessed his friend’s emergence at FAME in the months after he and brother Gregg attempted to record as Hour Glass with Liberty Records in Los Angeles. “He and Gregg were in California with other Macon, Georgia–area musicians, trying to start a group,” he recalls. “It wasn’t going anywhere. The people paying them in California fired them, keeping Gregg until his contract