RIP Butch Trucks, Allman Bro's Drummer

[Porch Dweller]

He apparently committed suicide on Tuesday. RIP, and thanks for the music.

[The Poet]

Sad sad story for a band with a sad sad history. Butch was a great drummer for one of America's greatest bands, until it wasn't anymore. I need to listen to his and Jai's "solo" from Mountain Jam today, then stay tuned for Duane's greatest guitar solo ever . . . and I don't mean Duane's, I mean ANYBODY'S greatest guitar solo ever.

Rest in peace, Butch.

[Nazgul]

Dave Schools from Widespread Panic wrote a heartfelt sentiment for Butch on their facebook page:

I’m not really sure when I met Butch Trucks for the first time. Most of the Allman Brothers guys were floating loose around Macon, GA and Florida as Widespread Panic forged our band chops all over the South, and we’d run into them on occasion in all kinds of places.
But I can say this about Butch: He was one hell of a real human being and everything an artist should be: opinionated, fierce, angry, and loud, but he was always sweet and kind to us greenhorns.
When he wasn’t berating us for signing with the Allman’s old label, Capricorn Records, he was seeking me out to talk about various things in our lives that usually had absolutely nothing to do with music.
He was one of the first people to contact me after the death of Michael Houser saying that he empathized with us having lost a fellow band member himself.
He never struck me as an architect of classic Southern Rock.
But he was.
When it came to powerful and soulful drumming the team of him and Jaimoe was about as bad assed as it gets.
Watching the ABB rebuild themselves throughout the 90’s was a joy to behold and I will treasure the times I sat in with them on classic tunes like Dreams and Southbound. It didn’t matter that Butch would always try to **** with my head by counting in the intro to Dreams in 7. It was fun. He sounded of joy and the very stuff of life when he played…but when that locomotive locked in you better get off those tracks because there was no stopping that train.
To say that Butch was family goes without saying.
And it hurts to lose a family member.
One suddenly realizes there’s now a hole that can’t be filled. Certainly my association with his nephews Derek and Duane are well documented, but I’ve recently grown to consider all of the Trucks clan my family. My heart aches for each of them.
Every single one of the ABB guys have been a part of the history of Widespread Panic in so many ways that it would be impossible to explain.
I must also confess that I learned my first blues licks trying to play along with Barry Oakley’s bass lines on the Fillmore East LP. The Oakley-Jaimoe-Trucks rhythm section was relentless. As a young player it was devastating. But I learned. And I learned so much every time I played with the ABB. I often had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming when I’d turn around and there was Butch: grinning at me like the Cheshire Cat.
When Widespread Panic accompanied ABB on their 40th Anniversary Tour there was a night in Birmingham Alabama where they simply SLAYED Mountain Jam. I was watching from stage left and after the dust settled bassist Oteil Burbridge turned around to Butch and with a look of utter joy exclaimed, “That was great!”
Butch took his drink (which he rightly deserved) and toasted Oteil saying, “Here’s to us…we’re ****ing great!”
No argument here Butch: you were ****ing great and you stomped heavily on the terra leaving a mark of sound and rhythm that will resonate forever.
Thank you for being a real human and showing me so much love and so much about the power of rhythm.
Godspeed Brother Butch.
das

[CigarNut]

May He Rest In Peace.

[Remo]

RIP Midnight Rider

[icehog3]

R.I.P., Mr. Trucks. Thank you for the music.

[The Poet]

It took most of the day, but I finally got around to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuNz2idDtY

Drum duo begins right at 13 minutes. Berry Oakley's bass solo follows, and if you listen closely at the 22 minute mark you'll hear someone (I'd guess Gregg) count in "One-Two-Three-Four!" before Dickey and Duane rip it up. Betts is up front for the first minute, then Duane just goes . . . goes somewhere cosmic.

First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there is.