October 29, 1971 – Duane “Skydog” Allman was born November 20th 1946 in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1960, Duane was motivated to take up the guitar by the example of his younger brother, Gregg. In the twelve years that followed until his sadly untimely passing, he left a great body of work and a legacy as one of the best rock guitar players ever.
He and his brother Gregg played in several bands while in school before forming the Escorts which eventually became the Allman Joys. In 1965, the Allman Joys went on the road, performing throughout the Southeast and eventually based themselves in Nashville and St. Louis.
After a short stint with The Hour Glass, he was hired by FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, in 1966 when he was just 19. Later he was to play on what would become Wilson Pickett’s Hey Jude album. Here is the story:
Wilson Pickett was at the Muscle Shoals Studio to record an album. Duane was playing on the album. He convinced Pickett to record the Beatle song  Hey Jude and as the story goes, they stayed in the studio at night when the rest of the crew went out, because colored people and long haired guys were frowned upon. During the recordings Duane discovered his genius and put out licks that were mind-blowing, and according to the recording staff and producers the very start of ‘Southern Rock’.
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