much as I do. He was just very kind to do that foreword for me. Very kind.
And now, Rebel Yell. What is an oral history of Southern rock? It’s the stories told by the actual people who lived them. Basically, taking direct quotes from the hundreds of interviews I have done over the years and placing them in order so that it creates a story, told by everyone from Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts to Doug Gray, Paul T. Riddle, Bonnie Bramlett, Jimmy Hall 0 all of ‘em. I had first seen an oral history called Bill Graham Presents, and I loved it. Then there was one on Skynyrd. The only dif- ference is, with mine, all the quotes are from my own interviews. Lots of times writers pull quotes from various magazine articles and books by various authors, but this is all me. Years of interviewing and transcribing, typing with two index fingers. [Laughs]
It turned out great. Thanks
Joey.That means a lot.
And you have all of those lists in the back of the book - the Top Singers of Southern Rock, Guitarists, Bassists, all of that. I have always made lists. Just one of my crazy things I do. And I did some of these when I still had my Gritzmagazine. I thought putting them in there would add to the fun of the book.
They do. So do the photos. There’s a great shot of a young Toy Caldwell I had never seen before. That was John Gellman. He’s the long time official photographer for The Outlaws, but he also shot some classic Allmans, Tucker and much more. He’s the bomb. I was happy to have his work in there, as well as all the pho- tographers, including another pro, Kirk West.
Great stuff.
Who is your most memorable inter- view? There were several. My marathon interview with producer Tom Dowd may be my favorite. We talked on the phone for four hours until my butt was numb. [Laughs] Almost every in- terview has had its own special moments. One of my interviews with Dickey Betts springs to mind. It was at night and we were talking on the phone. At the time I recorded interviews onto cassette tape. When both sides of a 90 minute tape were full, I told Dickey I was out of tape. He said “Well, my wife and my son Duane have gone to the movies (Almost Famous, which loosely based a major character on Dickey). I just poured a
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