Allman Brothers Band: The Motown Influence

The Allman Brothers Band was one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century, and their sound was heavily influenced by Motown. In this blog post, we explore how the Allman Brothers incorporated Motown into their own unique style.

The Allman Brothers and Motown

The Allman Brothers Band were a southern rock group who were highly influential in the development of the genre. The band was formed in 1969 in Jacksonville, Florida, and they released their debut album, The Allman Brothers Band, in 1971. The group was heavily influenced by the sounds of Motown, and they incorporated this influence into their own music. The Allman Brothers and Motown both had a major impact on the development of rock music, and they continue to be highly respected and influential in the music industry today.

The Allman Brothers and Berry Gordy

The Allman Brothers Band enjoyed a long and successful career, blending together a variety of musical genres including rock, blues, jazz, and country. One of the band’s biggest influences was Motown founder Berry Gordy.

Gordy was born in Detroit in 1929, the same year as Duane Allman. Both men would go on to have successful careers in music: Gordy as the founder of one of the most successful record labels of all time, and Allman as a highly respected guitarist and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.

The Allman Brothers were admirers of Gordy and his work with Motown. They were particularly impressed by how Gordy was able to create hits for a wide range of artists, from the Supremes to Marvin Gaye to Stevie Wonder. The Allman Brothers’ own music often featured elements of soul and R&B, thanks in part to Duane Allman’s skills on the guitar.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1971, Duane Allman said of Berry Gordy: “He’s probably one of the most underrated people in music… I mean, he really knows how to put a song together.”

The Allman Brothers were not the only rock band to be influenced by Motown; other groups such as the Grateful Dead and Santana also drew inspiration from Gordy’s label. The popularity of Motown among rock bands helped to break down barriers between different musical genres and paved the way for the success of many other crossover artists.

The Allman Brothers and Smokey Robinson

The Allman Brothers Band was one of the most influential groups of the late 20th century, and their music continues to be popular today. One of the things that made them so innovative was their willingness to experiment with different genres, including incorporating elements of Motown into their sound.

Smokey Robinson is one of the most iconic figures in Motown history, and his impact on the Allman Brothers Band is undeniable. His work with the Miracles was a major inspiration for the band, and they covered several of his songs over the years. In particular, their version of “I’m a Man” from the album Eat a Peach is particularly noteworthy.

The Allman Brothers were also inspired by other Motown artists like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. Their incorporation of soul and R&B elements into their music helped to create a unique sound that was hugely influential in the development of southern rock.

The Allman Brothers and Motown’s The Funk Brothers

The Allman Brothers Band was heavily influenced by Motown and the Funk Brothers. In an interview, Gregg Allman stated that he was “blown away” by the Funk Brothers’ playing. The Allman Brothers’ sound is a combination of blues, jazz, and rock, with a heavy emphasis on improvisation.

The Allman Brothers and James Jamerson

The Allman Brothers were always one of the tightest, most groove-oriented bands in rock, and that had a lot to do with the fact that they were such huge fans of Motown – particularly the work of bassist James Jamerson, who played on virtually every hit the label released in the 1960s.

In an interview with Bass Player magazine shortly before his death in 1983, Duane Allman said that he and his brother Gregg used to sit around and try to learn every James Jamerson bass line they could get their hands on. “We’d just listen over and over to those [Motown] records,” he said. “They had such a solid bottom.”

The Allmans were also fans of other Motown bassists, including Bob Babbitt and Andrew Smith, but it was Jamerson’s playing that really made an impression on them. “He was just so far ahead of everybody else,” Gregg Allman told Rolling Stone in 2000. “He played with such soul.”

The Allman Brothers and Bob Babbitt

The Allman Brothers and Motown’s The Funk Brothers are two of the most influential and important American rock bands of all time. Both groups have had a major impact on popular music, and both have been hugely influential in the development of the American rock sound. The Allman Brothers are perhaps best known for their pioneering work in the genre of southern rock, while The Funk Brothers are widely recognized as the architects of the Motown sound.

The Allman Brothers were formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969, by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman. The band’s lineup also included bassist Berry Oakley, drummer Butch Trucks, and guitarist Dickey Betts. The group’s debut album, Live at Fillmore East, was released in 1971 and is widely considered to be one of the greatest live albums ever made. The Allman Brothers were at their peak in the early 1970s, when they released a string of highly acclaimed studio albums including Eat a Peach (1972), Brothersis (1973), and Win, Lose or Draw (1975).

The band’s career was tragically cut short by the untimely deaths of Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, but The Allman Brothers Band continued to record and perform after their deaths. The group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed on many of the biggest hits from Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group was led by bassist James Jamerson and included such iconic musicians as drummer Earl Palmer, keyboardist Joe Hunter, guitarist Eddie Willis, and percussionist Jack Ashford.

The Funk Brothers were an integral part of Motown’s success during its golden era; they appeared on more than 170 charting singles between 1959 and 1972. Some of their most famous recordings include Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968), Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ “The Tears of a Clown” (1970), and Diana Ross & The Supremes’ “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (1970).

The Funk Brothers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

The Allman Brothers and Motown’s The Funk Brothers’ Influence on Their Music

The Allman Brothers Band was one of the most influential rock bands of the 20th century. They were a major force in the development of Southern rock and their music was a blend of blues, country, and rock. The band’s sound was also shaped by the Motown sound of the 1960s. The Allman Brothers were able to fuse the sounds of the blues, country, and rock to create their own unique sound.

The Allman Brothers and “I’m a Midnight Mover”

The Allman Brothers Band was always proud of their Southern roots. They made no secret of the fact that they were huge fans of Motown music, and they even recorded a cover of Motown’s “I’m a Midnight Mover” in 1969. The original version of the song was written and recorded by Motown’s The Funk Brothers, and it was a huge hit for them. The Allman Brothers’ version didn’t achieve the same level of success, but it did help to solidify their reputation as a band that could play any type of music.

The Allman Brothers and “Melissa”

The Allman Brothers and Motown’s The Funk Brothers were two very different bands, but they had one big thing in common: they were both hugely influential on the music of the Allman Brothers Band.

The Allman Brothers were a southern rock band that formed in the late 1960s, while The Funk Brothers were a Motown house band that played on countless hits from the 1960s and 1970s. Both bands had a profound impact on the Allman Brothers’ sound.

The Allman Brothers’ hit song “Melissa” is a perfect example of how these two bands influenced the group. The song features a catchy hook that is reminiscent of Motown, while the lyrics are based on a real-life experience that happened to guitarist Duane Allman.

The story goes that Duane Allman was given a box of flowers by a woman named Melissa while he was staying at the Fillmore East in New York City. He was so moved by the gesture that he wrote a song about it. The song became one of the band’s signature tunes and is still beloved by fans today.

While The Funk Brothers provided the Motown sound that helped to make “Melissa” so catchy, it was Duane Allman’s personal story that gave the song its heart. This perfect blend of influences is what made the Allman Brothers one of the most unique and influential bands of all time.