time constraints? WP Well number one, everybody loved what they were doing and loved the band. It was just one of those magic things that probably doesn't happen that often and as far as they're concerned will probably never happen again. Basically it was what we all lived for. It was really a family and a communal thing. It was based on a love for the music and a love for each other. That's what made it work. It was ass-busting work though.
always say " All I wants to do is play man! " So again we just took it as a challenge. But it was just physically debilitating. I can remem- ber getting to a gig and feeling just exhausted and then taking a nap on a concrete floor while the band was playing.
Willie Perkins and Gregg Allman.
JW What did you think of Phil Walden's grueling tour schedule to promote albums? WP Other than the fact that sometimes the New York agents gave us some hellacious routing, we just took it as a challenge. Basi- cally the constant touring is what broke the band. We were doing extended tours to try to build up demand to get a ready made audi- ence that would buy albums like the Fillmore album when it was released. The first two al- bums didn't sell that well. It was only after the At Fillmore East album was released that it brought together on record what the band was all about which was the ability to deliver an amazing live performance. After the Fill- more album came out and was successful, then the other two previously released al- bums were repackaged as Beginnings and had good sales numbers. As far as the tour- ing, the band loved to play. Like Berry would
JW Did that give the notion of having to get a second wind a whole new meaning? WP Yeah! You know, originally we didn't have any specific drivers for the Winnebago other than Red Dog. Basically the crew would work all day, tear down and then drive all night. Then get a little sleep maybe in a hotel and then set up for the next gig. And then later as things got bigger we got a driver named David Philips. Tuffy was his nickname. Toward the first breakup, lots and lots of extra people were hired with bigger crews. I can't even re- member all of the guys that were working back then. We had drivers and friends all around. I would say that I needed somebody to help and then Dickey would get one of his friends to help out and then Gregg had assis- tants, and then of course Scooter was in- volved. We really got to the point where we had just too many people on the road.
JW Describe Hewell Middleton's (Chank) relationship with the band and Gregg. WP Well he was a good friend of Gregg's. Ba- sically he came out on the road and worked as a personal assistant to Gregg. He was a good guy. There was never anybody that came on board that didn't work out.
JW It sounds like most of the people the band hired to work on the road were usually friends of the band be- forehand. Does that explain why these friendships turned into good working relationships out on the road after they joined the band? WP Yeah. Now, there was one point when
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92
