When Duane Allman died following a motorcycle crash in October 1971, it nearly became an even greater tragedy for the Allman family.
According to the new documentary Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul, Gregg Allman nearly died from a heroin overdose on the same night his brother was killed.
At the time, the Allman Brothers Band was on the verge of a breakthrough. Their landmark live album, At Fillmore East, had established the group as one of America’s premier rock acts, while Duane had further raised his profile through his celebrated electric guitar work with Eric Clapton on Derek and the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
Then, on October 29, everything changed.
Riding his Harley-Davidson Sportster in Macon, Georgia, Duane swerved to avoid a flatbed truck that turned in front of him and lost control of his motorcycle. Though he survived the initial crash, the severity of his internal injuries wasn’t immediately apparent. He died later that evening at the age of 24.
As Gregg’s friend Chank Middleton recalls in the documentary, he and Gregg had been waiting at the hospital when a doctor assured them Duane would survive. Believing the worst was over, they left.
Hours later, Allman Brothers Band roadie Joseph “Red Dog” Campbell arrived at Gregg’s home with devastating news.
“When I opened the door, I could look at Red Dog’s face and tell that Duane had died,” Middleton says in the film. “And I just told Red Dog, ‘Man, don’t tell him now.’ When I said that, I could hear Gregg’s voice coming out the bedroom from behind me. I could hear his voice saying, ‘Don’t tell me what?’”
What happened next nearly turned one loss into two.
According to Devon Allman, Gregg and Middleton had bought heroin after leaving the hospital.
“They copped some heroin. They got high. And my dad OD’d,” Devon says. “And Chank was like… He literally thought for a second, he thought he lost them both. And they revived my dad, but there for a minute he thought, ‘They just both died tonight.’”
Gregg, who died on May 27, 2017, also reflects on Duane’s death in the documentary and how his perspective on the loss changed over time.
“For a long time, I’d get drunk and rave and rant about, ‘He was short-changed,’” Gregg says. “Then I grew up. He didn’t get short-changed, he had a blast. He had a good ol’ time.”
Directed by James Keach, Gregg Allman: The Music of My Soul traces the singer’s life from birth to death through his music, friendships and seven marriages, including his highly publicized marriage to Cher.
The film also chronicles his decades-long battle with addiction. Over the years, Gregg entered rehab 14 times before ultimately overcoming dependencies on cocaine, heroin, alcohol and cigarettes. He remained sober until his death from liver cancer in 2017.
