Butch Trucks
Butch Trucks | |
---|---|
jam, Southern rock | |
Occupations | Musician |
Instruments | Drums |
Years active | 1964–2017 |
Labels | Flying Frog |
Claude Hudson "Butch" Trucks (May 11, 1947 – January 24, 2017) was an American drummer. He was best known as a founding member of The Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. Trucks was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida.
Prior to joining the Allman Brothers, Trucks played in various groups before forming the 31st of February as a student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, in the mid-1960s. He joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1969. Their 1971 live release, At Fillmore East, represented an artistic and commercial breakthrough. The group became one of the most popular bands of the era on the strength of their live performances and several successful albums. Though the band broke up and re-formed various times, Trucks remained a constant in their 45-year career. Trucks died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on January 24, 2017.
Early life
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
Trucks was born on May 11, 1947, in
During this time, Trucks formed a band, the Bitter Ind., with two high school friends. The group played covers of
Music career
Tired of his then-middling music career, Trucks pondered going back to school to study mathematics.
From 1982 to 1984, during one of the periods in which the Allmans were broken up, Trucks was part of the group Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks.[9]
Along with Allman Brothers band members Johanson, Betts and Gregg Allman, Trucks was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against UMG Recordings. The suit, initiated in 2008, sought $10 million over royalties from compact disc sales and digital download services such as Apple's iTunes. Trucks saw the license given to users for downloads as legally unsound.[10] Trucks embraced Internet technology for the group and planned to use Moogis.com (now defunct) to make the Web a "real venue" for the Allman Brothers and other jam bands.[10][11] In the Brothers' later years, he helped connect them to the extended jam band scene.[12] In 2013, he formed the Roots Rock Revival master camp experience.[13]
In 2015, Trucks performed at two festivals with a band billed as Butch Trucks & Very Special Friends. This band evolved into a band called Les Brers which was led by Trucks and also featured other former Allman Brothers band members including his longtime drumming partner Johanson.[14] He also performed with a band called Butch Trucks & The Freight Train Band.[15]
Trucks had a long interest in philosophy and literature. In 2005,
Personal life
Trucks was married for 25 years to Melinda Trucks, with whom he had two children.[17] He also had two children from a previous marriage and four grandchildren.[18]
Trucks
Death
On January 24, 2017, Trucks died of suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in West Palm Beach, Florida, at the age of 69 "reportedly after years of financial strife," according to Rolling Stone magazine's coverage of his death.[3][19][17]
References
- ^ Poe 2008, p. 25.
- ^ Poe 2008, p. 26.
- ^ a b Grow, Kory (January 25, 2017). "Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers Band Drummer and Co-Founder, Dead at 69". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
- ^ a b Paul 2014, p. xix.
- ^ Paul 2014, p. xx.
- ^ Poe 2008, p. 110.
- ^ "Dickey Betts remembers Duane Allman". Dickeybetts.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ Bruce Eder. "The Allman Brothers Band – All Music Guide". AllMusic. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ISBN 0-86554-975-3. For the ending year, see Tunis, Walter (April 21, 1991). "David Goldflies' jazz vision". Lexington Herald-Leader. pp. C1, C7 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "2010 interview on Outsight Radio Hours". Retrieved October 29, 2011.
- ^ Wright, Jeb (2009). "The Moogis Industry: An Exclusive Interview with Butch Trucks". Classicrockrevisited.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
- ^ Greenhaus, Mike https://jambands.com/features/2011/03/07/butch-trucks-talks-zappa-moogis-the-fillmore-and-the-beacon/ Jambands.com
- ^ Greenhaus, Mike https://jambands.com/features/2013/02/20/butch-trucks-beacon-bound/2/ Jambands.com
- ^ "Home - Les Brers". Lesbrersband.com. June 20, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
- ^ "The Official Site". Butch Trucks and The Freight Train Band. Retrieved January 25, 2017.
- ^ Trucks, Butch (May 8, 2005). "'Whipping Post'!". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
- ^ a b Lambiet, Jose (January 26, 2017). "Police: Allman Brothers Drummer's Death Was a Suicide". www.miamiherald.com. Miami Herald. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
- ^ Marshall, Barbara (January 25, 2017). "Butch Trucks: Allman Bros. drummer on rock, drugs and getting sober". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
- ^ "Police say Allman Brothers drummer Trucks killed himself - News, Sports, Jobs - Altoona Mirror".
- Sources
- Paul, Alan (2014). One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-1250040497.
- Poe, Randy (2008). Skydog: The Duane Allman Story. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-939-8.
Further reading
- Freeman, Scott. Midnight Riders: The Story of the Allman Brothers Band, Little, Brown & Co. 1995.
- https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/derek-trucks-remembers-butch-trucks-he-left-an-impression-at-all-times-113703/