One of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band, drummer Butch Trucks died last week, at the age of 69. The cause of death was suicide according to The Miami Herald.
Gregg Allman stated about the loss: “I’m heartbroken, I’ve lost another brother and it hurts beyond words. Butch and I knew each other since we were teenagers and we were bandmates for over 45 years. He was a great man and a great drummer and I’m going to miss him forever. Rest In Peace Brother Butch.”
The Allman Brothers Band guitarist Warren Haynes stated: “Today we lost a Brother and the music world lost a great, innovative drummer and part of rock history, I am truly honored to have played music and shared life with Butch for over 25 years. It is a sad day indeed.“
The 31st Of February was Trucks’ first official band along with Scott Boyer & David Brown, releasing two albums, the eponymous debut in 1968 and ‘Duane & Greg Allman‘ in 1972.
Southern rock, jam, country, jazz and blues is fine the ‘amalgam’ sound of The Allman Brothers Band; the veteran musician’s main legacy. Forming in 1969, it was not until 1971, when their 3rd live album saw the light of the day (‘At Filmore East‘) that gave them the artistic and commercial breakthrough.
‘Ramblin’ Man‘ from 1973’s ‘Brothers And Sisters‘ was a major hit single for the band, making them one of the leading 1970’s groups. The rest is music history and we better leave it to the music historian…
Active til the very end, Les Brers was one of the last ‘babies’ from Butch, a rock band formed by former members of The Allman Brothers Band in 2015, and initially led by the suicide victim.
Butch Trucks And The Freight Train Band was the last Trucks (live) super-group joined by the renowned blues guitar singer Damon Fowler, keyboard master Bruce Katz, Florida based percussionist Garrett Dawson, of The Dickey Betts Band, renowned blues hall of famer Chris Vitarello (guitar) and Matt Walker on Fender Bass.
This is what the legendary stated in his last interview, merely days before his tragic death: “I’m just loving playing with these people. Everybody is loose, everybody just lets go,” said Trucks. “And like I say, we have a good time. There’s not a lot of tension and there’s no a lot of egos flying around. It’s just really fun to do. And there’s nothing — nothing — like the magic of playing music. I’m 69 years old now, and I’ll get up on stage so damned tired I feel like I can’t move. And about halfway through the first song, I’m a 25-year-old Superman.”
Rest in peace…”Super-Butch”!
Christos Doukakis