Butch Trucks. http://butchtrucksandthefreighttrainband.com Butch Trucks died today. Butch for those who don’t know was a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band. The Allman Brothers were probably my favorite band as I grew up and probably always will be. I have seen them countless times and have a bin of film photos from old shows. I still have my size medium “Eat a Peach” t-shirt from the 1974 concert in the New Orleans super dome. This was one of the first concerts in that place. It was slammed with a crowd the size I had never seen. I was 15 years old at the time and this was the first and one of the countless times I saw the Allman Brothers perform. I once even took my mother to see them in a bar show in the 1980’s. After the second set a fight broke out in the corner and we left out a side door. This was during the heyday of disco so rock and blues was on a bit of a decline. I took my daughter not so long ago and she wore my Eat a Peach shirt to the show….everyone was commenting on her awesome “old school” t-shirt. I was lucky to see the whole band very close…but I have been there many times over the decades. I could tell stories about all the times I saw the band but I am one of a great many who have had the pleasure of sharing a lifetime with these great musicians in the world with us. I was shocked today when I saw the news. I was staring in the lunch line at work looking at my phone and I actually said “No” very loudly. I was shocked as the only thing that kept me from seeing Butch two weeks ago was a very large snowstorm. I walked off to a corner and sat down. I could barely keep the tears from flowing down my cheeks. I wiped a couple and just sat there thinking about all the music and memories…there are so many. My condolences to his musical family. I know much about this man and he has a large loving family. I can’t imagine how much they will miss him. I know I will. See ya down the road.
