0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:11At the dawn of the 1970s, a new sound emerged from the American Deep South.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16It was unique, we didn't sound like everybody else that was putting out music.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19There's certainly got to be an element of blues,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22an element of country, a lot of respect for the music.
0:00:22 > 0:00:28And a lot of drinking, a lot of anticipation of drinking.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32I had the greatest time, I'm not even going to lie.
0:00:32 > 0:00:37But it was pretty tough being a rock musician in the South.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42"Now, that's some hippy, that's some hippy that walked in."
0:00:42 > 0:00:44Back in those days you, kind of, stuck together for safety.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49You could get killed in the South with long hair, if it was over your ears.
0:00:49 > 0:00:54Risking everything, this generation of bands would transform America.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58After a long, long period where people didn't want to be southern,
0:00:58 > 0:01:01suddenly all of America wants to be a redneck.
0:01:01 > 0:01:07For a brief moment, southern politicians and musicians broke down old prejudices
0:01:07 > 0:01:09and put the south back on the map.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12I think people saw freedom in the music.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18We could do no wrong in those years,
0:01:18 > 0:01:20everything we did was right,
0:01:20 > 0:01:22even if it was bad, you know.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39GUNSHOT FIRES
0:01:40 > 0:01:46RADIO: 'We have information King has been shot...'
0:01:46 > 0:01:50'We have information that King has been shot at the Lorraine.'
0:01:50 > 0:01:54# Man lay dying in the street
0:01:54 > 0:01:59# A thousand people fell down on their knees... #
0:02:00 > 0:02:03In April 1968,
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Martin Luther King was killed by a white man in the city of Memphis.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13It was the South's darkest hour in the Civil Rights struggle.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18'In the name of the greatest people that have ever crossed this Earth,'
0:02:18 > 0:02:24I draw the line in the dust, and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28and I say, segregation now, segregation tomorrow,
0:02:28 > 0:02:30and segregation for ever.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35#..Blood came pouring from his head
0:02:37 > 0:02:41# Women and children falling down...
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# Crying
0:02:45 > 0:02:49# For the man they love so well. #
0:02:52 > 0:02:55Days after King's death, the 20-year-old Gregg Allman wrote
0:02:55 > 0:02:57"God Rest His Soul".
0:02:58 > 0:03:02# But Lord knows I can't change what I saw
0:03:02 > 0:03:06# I say God rest his soul. #
0:03:08 > 0:03:11That's the kind of song that, kind of writes you.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14I mean, you've got no choice, you know...
0:03:17 > 0:03:20The song just wells up in your head and, bang.
0:03:22 > 0:03:28I remember I sat there watching the news and a tear dried up,
0:03:28 > 0:03:33I was just appalled at the whole thing.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37I mean, I thought, "What is this world coming to?"
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Gregg was part of a new generation of white southerner
0:03:40 > 0:03:43who was challenging the Old South's prejudices.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49I think Martin Luther King made the whole world,
0:03:49 > 0:03:51but especially the south,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53especially us,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58realise the injustice of what was going on.
0:03:58 > 0:04:03MUSIC: "I Can't Turn You Loose" by Otis Redding
0:04:09 > 0:04:13In the '60s, one of the few places where black and white
0:04:13 > 0:04:16did mix in the South was in the recording studios.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21# ..I'm in love now with this pretty thing... #
0:04:21 > 0:04:23But after King's assassination,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27white people soon discovered they were less and less welcome in soul music.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32Brothers Phil and Alan Walden from Macon, Georgia,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36had successfully managed Otis Redding and other soul acts.
0:04:36 > 0:04:41The true decision to leave R and B music
0:04:41 > 0:04:43and go in to white rock and roll,
0:04:43 > 0:04:48we didn't know it was southern rock, we were just going into rock and roll.
0:04:48 > 0:04:55And the main decision was the African American gangsters
0:04:55 > 0:04:59decided they were going to take over the black music.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01All of a sudden they're telling people,
0:05:01 > 0:05:05"You don't want to mess with us, you know, we'll fuck you up."
0:05:05 > 0:05:10Towards the end of the decade, there was an explosion of counter culture rock music
0:05:10 > 0:05:13on the east and west coast of America.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16# ..Whistlin' and singin' she's a-carrying on
0:05:16 > 0:05:18# Laughing in her eyes dancing in her feet
0:05:18 > 0:05:22# She's a neon-light diamond and she can live on the street
0:05:22 > 0:05:24# Hey hey hey... #
0:05:29 > 0:05:33This new rock music wasn't happening anywhere down South.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36But the Walden brothers would soon discover a number of southern bands
0:05:36 > 0:05:38that would transform the region,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42propelling a fresh sound into the American mainstream.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56Gregg and Duane Allman were born in Nashville in the late '40s.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00Raised by a single mother after their father was murdered,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03by 1960 they were living in Florida
0:06:03 > 0:06:05and in love with Black American music.
0:06:06 > 0:06:11Oh, listen, man, we wouldn't sleep, eat, we'd be on the guitars, man.
0:06:13 > 0:06:15Older brother Duane was an idealistic teenager,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18with a vision of what he wanted to be.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22First thing he did was quit school, he was in, like, tenth grade,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24he said, "Man, you ought to quit too,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27"you know what we're going to do for the rest of our lives."
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I said, "Wait a minute, don't jump the gun."
0:06:30 > 0:06:34I said, "You know there's a lot of competition out there,"
0:06:34 > 0:06:36"the Beatles have come out,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41"and, Jesus, no pun, but everybody and their brother has a band, you know."
0:06:41 > 0:06:46First time I saw Duane and Gregg, they were really striking looking,
0:06:46 > 0:06:47I mean, just the visual thing,
0:06:47 > 0:06:50these guys had shoulder length blonde hair,
0:06:50 > 0:06:55and Duane was just the most alive person I ever saw.
0:06:57 > 0:07:04He lived 100 miles an hour, and he carried his music that way too.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07He was in full-tilt boogie at all time,
0:07:07 > 0:07:10you had to have a lot of energy to be around Duane,
0:07:10 > 0:07:15and you'll find yourself getting lost, if you don't step up.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Duane and Gregg's fledgling blues-beat combo, the Allman Joys,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28played a gig in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1966.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Here, they bumped into a gang of teenage toughs.
0:07:33 > 0:07:35We'd heard that they were really good, we'd never seen them,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38and we went in there and they had long hair.
0:07:38 > 0:07:40The crowd was a bunch of rednecks,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43and anyone that had long hair was a sissy.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45The Allmans played a song, and then one redneck hollered,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47"Sounds pretty, Mary Jane!"
0:07:47 > 0:07:51and then a whole bunch of them started going over to the stage.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53We got in the middle of it too.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56Gregg and Duane said, "Man, we appreciate you guys.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58"Man, you guys are really cool."
0:07:58 > 0:08:00We said, "Well, we got a band too, you know."
0:08:02 > 0:08:05# Baby bad dressed in black... #
0:08:05 > 0:08:11Larry had gone to the show with his friend and future Lynyrd Skynyrd bandmate Ronnie Van Zant.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14They both came from the mean streets of Jacksonville.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18We used to call it the kill or be killed neighbourhood.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24There was always fights, if you didn't fight, you didn't survive.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Larry had recently joined Ronnie's local band.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31They wanted to be the greatest rock and roll band in the world.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34They wanted to go out there and kick the Rolling Stones' ass.
0:08:34 > 0:08:39Ronnie was working hard when he was a teenager,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42and just wanted it really bad, really, you know.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46When you come from such poor surroundings,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49you just want to get out of there.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51And music was his way.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03# The power of love can move a mountain... #
0:09:03 > 0:09:07After Gregg and Duane Allman's Jacksonville gig,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10they went on to form the Hourglass with Paul Hornsby in 1967.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Following a lucky break, they were signed to Liberty Records
0:09:14 > 0:09:16who made the band move to Los Angeles.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19# I know it's true
0:09:19 > 0:09:24# There's nothing love can't do
0:09:24 > 0:09:28# Talking about the power of love... #
0:09:28 > 0:09:32But their time in this city was deeply frustrating.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Liberty Records primped and prodded these blues-loving southerners,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38hoping they could transform them
0:09:38 > 0:09:40into a derivative West Coast pop band.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43You know, we weren't seasoned studio players,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46but Duane knew where he was going, he had a mission,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49and he didn't want anybody telling him what to do and what not to do.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53I remember one time him saying, "I feel I'm pretty close to the top of my field,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58"and I've got some clowns here still trying to learn how to be producers and engineers,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00"trying to tell me what to do."
0:10:04 > 0:10:08# Hey Jude, don't make it bad
0:10:08 > 0:10:11# Take a sad song
0:10:11 > 0:10:14# Make it better... #
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Duane left California in disgust.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21He returned to the South, getting a job at Fame,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24one of the few studios where black and white still played together.
0:10:24 > 0:10:28#..to make it better, ohhhh! #
0:10:28 > 0:10:33Duane's very first recording was on Wilson Pickett's Hey Jude.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38# ..Oh, oh, oh, hey, Jude... #
0:10:41 > 0:10:43And on the end of this record,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47you probably notice this long, great guitar solo
0:10:47 > 0:10:50which no rhythm and blues song had ever done,
0:10:50 > 0:10:54but Duane convinced Wilson Pickett to do that.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05# It's going to be all right Jude
0:11:05 > 0:11:07# Yeah yeah
0:11:07 > 0:11:10# Na na na na na na
0:11:10 > 0:11:12# Hey Jude. #
0:11:12 > 0:11:14When Phil Walden heard Duane's guitar solo
0:11:14 > 0:11:19he finally knew he'd found the white rock artist he was looking for.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Phil signed Duane to his new label, Capricorn,
0:11:22 > 0:11:29which he'd set up with his brother Alan, and Frank Fenter from Atlantic Records.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Duane was now finally able to create his radical southern rock band,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39integrating psychedelic blues-rock with soul.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44One day, I asked Duane, in Muscle Shoals, Alabama,
0:11:44 > 0:11:48I said, "Why do you want to have two drummers, man?"
0:11:48 > 0:11:52He said, "Because Otis Redding and James Brown had two drummers."
0:11:52 > 0:11:54I never asked him again.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55LAUGHS
0:11:55 > 0:11:59Berry Oakley was added as bass player,
0:11:59 > 0:12:02while Dickey Betts was the second lead guitarist
0:12:02 > 0:12:05and Butch Trucks the other drummer in the band.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09It was almost complete, but they still needed a vocalist.
0:12:09 > 0:12:16Duane used to tell me, he said, "All the things that my brother is..."
0:12:16 > 0:12:20He thought that he was a womaniser, and this and that and the other,
0:12:20 > 0:12:24and some more things. He said, "But my brother is the only person
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"that can sing in this band, that I hear in my head."
0:12:29 > 0:12:31He was absolutely right.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42With Gregg and Duane reunited,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47the Allman Brothers Band moved to the quiet, conservative town of Macon, Georgia,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49the southern home of Capricorn Records.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53MUSIC: "Every Hungry Woman" by the Allman Brothers
0:13:01 > 0:13:07When the longhairs came to town, that was a major crisis.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11They had never seen anything like that, you know.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Only the Beatles on TV at that point.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18It was just about looking the way you want to,
0:13:18 > 0:13:23but I was more into music, make music and love,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25you know, peace, not war.
0:13:27 > 0:13:32# Went up on the mountain
0:13:32 > 0:13:34# To see what I could see... #
0:13:37 > 0:13:39The Allman Brothers' debut
0:13:39 > 0:13:42was released at the very end of the 1960s.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47Their spacious, soul-drenched, acid blues sound
0:13:47 > 0:13:49brilliantly evoked the turmoil of the age.
0:13:49 > 0:13:55# ..on dreams I'll never see. #
0:13:55 > 0:13:58So, I laid Dreams on them,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and I mean, it sounded good,
0:14:00 > 0:14:04and when it was over all of us looked round at each other...
0:14:04 > 0:14:09and said, "Oh, man, we've got something strong here."
0:14:11 > 0:14:14# Climb down off the hilltop, baby
0:14:16 > 0:14:20# And get on back in the race
0:14:20 > 0:14:22# Cos I'm hung up on
0:14:22 > 0:14:28# Dreams I'll never see... #
0:14:42 > 0:14:46To think that somebody could do that, somebody could play that,
0:14:46 > 0:14:49somebody could put a band together that was that tight
0:14:49 > 0:14:51and that all played together
0:14:51 > 0:14:53and all did that good, blues-based music
0:14:53 > 0:14:56that hit you right here every time you heard it.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05GUITAR SOLO: "Dreams" by The Allman Brothers Band
0:15:17 > 0:15:21By 1970, Ronnie Van Zant's roughneck band from Jacksonville
0:15:21 > 0:15:24was now called Lynyrd Skynyrd.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33That year, Alan Walden left Capricorn
0:15:33 > 0:15:36after the Allman Brothers debut failed to explode
0:15:36 > 0:15:39and struck out on his own.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41I had to audition 187 bands,
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and went back to band number 13,
0:15:45 > 0:15:47who just happened to be Lynyrd Skynyrd,
0:15:47 > 0:15:50and uh, the reason why I went back to band number 13
0:15:50 > 0:15:54was because I heard a song called Free Bird.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59# I'm as free as a bird now... #
0:16:02 > 0:16:06I was also impressed with their leader,
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Ronnie Van Zant, as a person.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15Alan Walden signed Lynyrd Skynyrd to his new management company
0:16:15 > 0:16:18as the young band hit the southern circuit,
0:16:18 > 0:16:22playing to the juke joint crowds.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42# Well Billy Joe told me, said, everything's looking fine... #
0:16:42 > 0:16:45We were following the Allman Brothers,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49which is almost the kiss of death on a southern rock band,
0:16:49 > 0:16:53because people immediately compare you to the Allman Brothers.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Lynyrd Skynyrd doesn't sound like the Allman Brothers.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01You know, Lynyrd Skynyrd's a juking band, we're jukers,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03you know, juking music is drinking music.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08Juking music is what you hear in a juke joint, it's popping,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10it's hopping, it's burning, it's soaring,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12it's mean and it's green,
0:17:12 > 0:17:17it's that music that you just love to hear...
0:17:17 > 0:17:20when you want to really get moving.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27Lynyrd Skynyrd was just about boogie, you know,
0:17:27 > 0:17:29let's turn up the guitars and drink the Jack Daniels
0:17:29 > 0:17:31and fly the freak flags,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34they just didn't care about trying to make a better world,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36they were just trying to, you know, party.
0:17:38 > 0:17:39Ronnie was a bad ass.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41I mean, he used to say,
0:17:41 > 0:17:46"I'm going to rule this band like Stalin ruled Russia,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49"you know, with an iron fist."
0:17:49 > 0:17:51And they'd go over the same two or three songs,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55I mean, again, that's part of the reason why
0:17:55 > 0:17:58I think they were one of the best live bands I've ever seen,
0:17:58 > 0:18:02because they'd just rehearse so much, you know, they had it down.
0:18:02 > 0:18:07They were tight as Dick's hat band, you know, it was amazing.
0:18:07 > 0:18:10He wanted it right, and when it wasn't right,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13he could get a little violent with some of them, you know.
0:18:18 > 0:18:23Atlantic, CBS, Warner Brothers, A&M,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26all of them turned Skynyrd down, cold.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28I'm talking about cold turned down,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30I'm not talking about one where,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34"We like you guys but think you need stronger material," not anything that nice.
0:18:34 > 0:18:35"We don't want you."
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Not even Capricorn Records were interested.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43My own brother, Phil, turned down Lynyrd Skynyrd.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48He said, "Your lead singer's too cocky, he can't sing,
0:18:48 > 0:18:51"and they sound too much like the Allman Brothers."
0:18:51 > 0:18:54The reason I left the band was,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58I was just literally starving to death.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02We weren't making no money, we were just playing little gigs here and there.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14# People can you feel it?
0:19:14 > 0:19:17# Love is everywhere. #
0:19:17 > 0:19:20After the commercial failure of their debut,
0:19:20 > 0:19:25the Allman Brothers went back to the drawing board.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27They hit the road, building a new fanbase of students
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and longhairs from the ground up.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50We played everywhere... twice.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54# Love is everywhere
0:19:54 > 0:19:56# People can you feel it?
0:19:56 > 0:19:58# Love is everywhere. #
0:19:58 > 0:20:02They set up and played wherever they could find a wall plug to plug into.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06They did a lot of playing here at the local park in Macon
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and the parks in Atlanta.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13They'd set up on a Sunday afternoon and play all day.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15All the hippies came out.
0:20:17 > 0:20:241970, we worked 306 nights and we were gone a whole year.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35I had more energy than a damn freight train.
0:20:38 > 0:20:43The Allman Brothers were sort of like the sperm of southern rock.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49They were the swimmers.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53Look at Georgia and Florida and Tennessee as this little womb.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57They went to their womb and out came southern rock.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19As the counter-culture infiltrated the region,
0:21:19 > 0:21:21the number of southern longhairs multiplied
0:21:21 > 0:21:23and the band was invited to play the festivals
0:21:23 > 0:21:27sprouting up in the south in response to Woodstock.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39The Allman's were becoming a people's band.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41Duane Allman once said,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44"This is a religion we're spreading."
0:21:44 > 0:21:46The Allmans' concerts were like revival shows,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50where people would just get all in a frenzy and go crazy.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52When he talked about the Allman Brothers
0:21:52 > 0:21:54being a religion that is spreading,
0:21:54 > 0:21:58he was tapping into the mood of what was going on at their concerts
0:21:58 > 0:22:01and the feel of what was going on in the south at the time.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06We believe so hard into it, we really did.
0:22:06 > 0:22:07and...
0:22:07 > 0:22:10I'm guessing it came out in the music.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23Doug Gray was a budding young singer from South Carolina
0:22:23 > 0:22:27when he saw the Allman Brothers play in 1970.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30One, two, three...
0:22:30 > 0:22:32# Dum da tum da tum... #
0:22:32 > 0:22:36It was rhythm and blues and soul and gospel
0:22:36 > 0:22:37and everything all mixed together
0:22:37 > 0:22:40and some guy coming in on that slide.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42It was very amazing.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51# Called up Judy on the telephone
0:22:51 > 0:22:55# Sent her a letter in the mail... #
0:23:00 > 0:23:04Another musician inspired by the Allmans was Charlie Daniels from North Carolina.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07My dad was a timber guy.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10If you were to go down through the band,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14you'd find a lot of these blue collar type of people.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17We were raised very much in working families.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20They got up early in the morning and went to work
0:23:20 > 0:23:22and never knew anything else but that.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25After working as a session musician in Nashville,
0:23:25 > 0:23:28he formed the Charlie Daniels Band.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30We'd start our rehearsals in the morning
0:23:30 > 0:23:32and go till we get out of gas.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34The whole band, just sitting in a room,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36just going at it and if it wasn't perfect
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and we had to change the whole thing, we'd go back and do it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41It was that work ethic,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44that blue-collar work ethic that I think bleeds over into the music.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50# Kept a big fat fancy townhouse in Dallas
0:23:50 > 0:23:53# And a hotel suite in New Orleans. #
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Everybody had to be affected by the Allman Brothers.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00They were the forerunners, the pioneers.
0:24:09 > 0:24:14A British guitar hero noticed the talents of Duane Allman in 1970.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19He invited Duane to join him on a track he was cutting in Miami.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Eric Clapton is a shy guy.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24Believe it or not, Duane Allman,
0:24:24 > 0:24:29as aggressive and gregarious and everything, is a shy guy as well.
0:24:29 > 0:24:33When they play their instruments together,
0:24:33 > 0:24:36they're both humbled by one another
0:24:36 > 0:24:40and in that humility, there's just absolute genius.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44# Layla you got me on my knees
0:24:44 > 0:24:46# Layla
0:24:46 > 0:24:48# I'm begging darling please
0:24:48 > 0:24:51# Layla
0:24:51 > 0:24:56# Darling won't you ease my worried mind
0:24:57 > 0:25:01# I try to give you consolation
0:25:01 > 0:25:05# When your old man had let you down
0:25:05 > 0:25:09# Like a fool I fell in love with you
0:25:09 > 0:25:12# Turned my whole world upside down
0:25:12 > 0:25:15# Layla
0:25:15 > 0:25:18# You got me on my knees. #
0:25:18 > 0:25:20The Allman Brothers' first two albums didn't capture
0:25:20 > 0:25:25the live brilliance of their wide-angle, cosmic blues blasts.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29So in 1971, the band decided to cut their third record,
0:25:29 > 0:25:31in concert, in New York City.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40# I've been run down
0:25:40 > 0:25:43# I've been lied to
0:25:43 > 0:25:45# And I don't know
0:25:45 > 0:25:49# Why I let that mean woman make me out a fool
0:25:49 > 0:25:53# She took all my money
0:25:53 > 0:25:56# Wrecks my new car
0:25:56 > 0:26:00# Now she's with one of my good time buddies
0:26:00 > 0:26:03# They're drinking in some cross town bar
0:26:03 > 0:26:06# Sometimes I feel
0:26:08 > 0:26:13# Sometimes I feel tied to the whipping post
0:26:13 > 0:26:17# Tied to the whipping post
0:26:17 > 0:26:21# Tied to the whipping post
0:26:21 > 0:26:24# Lord - I feel like I'm dying. #
0:26:24 > 0:26:30The Allman Brothers embraced that fusion jazz
0:26:30 > 0:26:35and married it in the blues - in raw whipping post blues.
0:26:35 > 0:26:41Then they'd go on with it forever and it was just mesmerising.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54There wasn't a whole lot to look at.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57They dressed in bell-bottoms, denim shirts and T-shirts
0:26:57 > 0:26:58and whatever they had.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02It was purely being so deeply into the music.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04They were living it, they were feeling it,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07it was all they were, all they did and all they cared about.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21I think people saw freedom in the music.
0:27:29 > 0:27:34It was an unbelievable sound and genius licks, that one night,
0:27:34 > 0:27:39Duane and Dickey and all the guys were playing hard together.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41It was like a heartbeat.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Like everybody's heart was beating together
0:27:43 > 0:27:45and that was what touched everybody.
0:27:50 > 0:27:53This song Dickey Betts wrote in memory of Elizabeth Reed.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17That was a very important piece,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19saying, yes, you can stay where you're from
0:28:19 > 0:28:24and not downplay your accent.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Be proud of your heritage but still open to the realities
0:28:28 > 0:28:32of integration and what's happening right here in this moment.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36I knew goddamn well that it would influence
0:28:36 > 0:28:41and put a hell of a lot of tiger into white musicians
0:28:41 > 0:28:43that didn't have it.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47With Fillmore East, the Allmans had finally broken out of the South
0:28:47 > 0:28:51and onto FM radio with a huge hit album.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06On the 29th October, 1971,
0:29:06 > 0:29:11Duane Allman was riding his Harley Davidson down a Macon street,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13when he hit a truck crossing a junction.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24The young prince of southern rock died in hospital just hours later.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47We were so bummed out, about him being short changed
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and I was more than anybody
0:29:50 > 0:29:58because I'd seen just about everything he'd been through.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05One year later, the band had to cope with another death.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09Their bassist, Berry Oakley, devastated by the loss of Duane,
0:30:09 > 0:30:13was killed on his motorbike three blocks from where Duane had died.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19Now, at this point, I'm going,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23"hey, man, what the hell is going on here?"
0:30:23 > 0:30:25"I'm going to be next!"
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Believe me, those thoughts did go through my mind, that I was going to be next.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36We lost the golden goose.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39We didn't know if the whole thing would fall down.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42The Allman Brothers band was obviously the flagship,
0:30:42 > 0:30:46for Capricorn, and here was Duane gone
0:30:46 > 0:30:49and everybody was scared that there might not be any more
0:30:49 > 0:30:51Allman Brothers Band.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55We came to the conclusion that if we didn't keep the band going,
0:30:55 > 0:30:59then none of us were going to amount to shit.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05Maybe dealers, maybe jail, or maybe crazy.
0:31:05 > 0:31:11I said we got to keep going if for not us, for him.
0:31:11 > 0:31:12This was his baby.
0:31:12 > 0:31:18# Last Sunday morning the sunshine felt like rain
0:31:19 > 0:31:23# A week before they all seemed the same
0:31:23 > 0:31:26# With the help of God a true friend... #
0:31:30 > 0:31:33I'll get going here in a minute.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Let's play some rock and roll for you.
0:31:37 > 0:31:41In 1972, Lynyrd Skynyrd were still unsigned
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and still playing the southern club circuit.
0:31:55 > 0:31:59We go to this club every night and the second week,
0:31:59 > 0:32:04this other band that we hadn't heard came in.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09#..That's what I am
0:32:09 > 0:32:12# Women, whiskey and miles of travelling
0:32:12 > 0:32:15# That's all I understand. #
0:32:15 > 0:32:19I went, "Whoa, this is good."
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Al Kooper had played on Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone
0:32:25 > 0:32:27and established Blood, Sweat & Tears.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31This northerner was visiting the southern city of Atlanta,
0:32:31 > 0:32:32checking out the music scene.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38Al Kooper, he was starting a label called Silence of the South
0:32:38 > 0:32:41and they asked the band if they'd be interested
0:32:41 > 0:32:43in signing with the label.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53Al Kooper produced Lynyrd Skynyrd's debut album, Pronounced,
0:32:53 > 0:32:57which included the classics Tuesday's Gone, Free Bird
0:32:57 > 0:32:59and Gimme Three Steps.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05Ronnie's lyrics vividly caught the rough and tumble
0:33:05 > 0:33:09of white American blue-collar life in the South.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12# I was cutting the rug in a place called The Jug
0:33:12 > 0:33:16# With a girl named Linda Lu
0:33:16 > 0:33:20# When in walked a man with a gun in his hand
0:33:20 > 0:33:22# And he was looking for you know who
0:33:22 > 0:33:27# He said hey there fellow with the hair coloured yellow
0:33:27 > 0:33:30# What you trying to prove?
0:33:30 > 0:33:34# Cos that's my woman there and I'm a man who cares
0:33:34 > 0:33:36# And this might be all for you. #
0:33:41 > 0:33:44I think he was singing for the working man.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46That's what he was.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49A plain-spoken guy, you know?
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Truth is the truth and a lie is a lie.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Ronnie used to always say,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59"Men like me because I speak my mind
0:33:59 > 0:34:03"and women like me because I take my time."
0:34:03 > 0:34:08Ronnie was a brilliant man, and amazing poet,
0:34:08 > 0:34:13right on par with other southern luminaries in literature.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18Unfortunately, isn't viewed as such because of his image.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22He was short, rotund and performed barefoot.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25He wasn't very glamorous or flamboyant.
0:34:25 > 0:34:30In 1973, Lynyrd Skynyrd's classic debut album
0:34:30 > 0:34:34climbed to number 27 on the American charts.
0:34:34 > 0:34:35It was something to be proud of,
0:34:35 > 0:34:39especially when you saw that this music became popular.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41See, we've got some good stuff going on down here
0:34:41 > 0:34:43that you don't know about.
0:34:44 > 0:34:48As Lynyrd Skynyrd helped focus America's eyes and ears
0:34:48 > 0:34:49on the South,
0:34:49 > 0:34:53the Allman Brothers were now ready to return to the action.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02# Lord I was born a rambling man... #
0:35:05 > 0:35:10They headlined the largest festival of the era, Watkins Glen, in New York State,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13and were building a huge community of fans.
0:35:13 > 0:35:18The band proved they could remain faithful to Duane Allman's dream.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23I think a lot of his energy stayed with the band.
0:35:23 > 0:35:29# ..He'd wound up on the wrong end of a gun
0:35:29 > 0:35:35# And I was born in the back seat of a Greyhound bus
0:35:35 > 0:35:39# Rolling down Highway 41. #
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Their album, Brothers & Sisters, hit the number one spot
0:35:42 > 0:35:46and made them one of the most popular bands in and beyond America.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53The Allman's international success
0:35:53 > 0:35:56focused media attention on their hometown.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Hello, I'm Gregg Allman, welcome to Macon, Georgia.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05The Brothers have made Macon what it is right now.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08Give Macon five more years and it's going to be the music capital.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11If it wasn't for the Brothers, you wouldn't have all these freaks
0:36:11 > 0:36:14cos when the Brothers came here, in '69, there were very few freaks.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17Macon is just one big family, man.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20Everybody that makes music is family.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22We all know each other, one way or another.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26Capricorn snapped up a number of southern rock bands,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30including Cowboy, Wet Willie and the Marshall Tucker Band.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35Capricorn Records allowed us to have a lighthouse,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38it's like, out in the middle of the ocean.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39Seeing that lighthouse over there,
0:36:39 > 0:36:42because southern bands didn't have the place to go to.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44We just did not.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Capricorn was always open door, because they listened to everybody.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54# Meet some people travelling around
0:36:54 > 0:36:59# But home's always been the best place to go
0:36:59 > 0:37:05# And it's a lonesome feeling in my mind
0:37:05 > 0:37:10# A feeling I can't seem to leave behind... #
0:37:10 > 0:37:16Southern rock is a mixture of gospel music, southern loud guitar,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18rowdy rock and roll music.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24It's about the history, the land, and being connected
0:37:24 > 0:37:26to where you came from and where the music came from.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34It was the people that you felt like you knew,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36that you'd grown up around,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38the guys next door, the people that lived down the street,
0:37:38 > 0:37:42the people you went to school with, went to church with.
0:37:42 > 0:37:45Southern musicians play hard, they put more into it,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49they feel it more, they drive it more.
0:37:58 > 0:38:02The southern rock sound was moving beyond the Deep South
0:38:02 > 0:38:05and across the sun belt.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09How to describe southern rock boogie.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11Going to have to show you.
0:38:11 > 0:38:15Just can't tell you about it, just going to have to show you.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19ZZ Top from Texas, Black Oak Arkansas,
0:38:19 > 0:38:22the Atlanta Rhythm Section, and the Ozark Mountain Daredevils,
0:38:22 > 0:38:24were spreading the gospel.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29It was a time period of southern musicians loving southern musicians.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34Um, because they all supported each other in those years,
0:38:34 > 0:38:35they were all in it together.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40It was a big movement, a solid plan to take over the world with a certain sound.
0:38:41 > 0:38:45But first, southern rock needed a unifying, down-home anthem.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51# Sweet home Alabama
0:38:51 > 0:38:55# Lord I'm coming home to you... #
0:38:56 > 0:39:021974's Sweet Home Alabama was a huge hit single for Lynyrd Skynyrd,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04breaking them internationally.
0:39:04 > 0:39:07It was also Ronnie Van Zant's combative riposte
0:39:07 > 0:39:09to Neil Young's Southern Man,
0:39:09 > 0:39:12which reduced the South down to its troubled past.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19They just said to talk about Neil Young, but I don't like to talk about the gentleman.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24It's definitely got this in it.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28# Sweet home Alabama... #
0:39:31 > 0:39:34A lot of people were putting southern people down.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37He made it to where they didn't do it any more
0:39:37 > 0:39:40and he made it specific with Neil Young.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45# Now Watergate does not bother me
0:39:45 > 0:39:49# Does your conscience bother you? #
0:39:49 > 0:39:52That line where he says, "Does your conscience bother you?"
0:39:52 > 0:39:56It says more than a million protest songs.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58It says, wait a minute,
0:39:58 > 0:40:01who are you to be pointing the finger?
0:40:01 > 0:40:05He turns the mirror around and lets the Neil Youngs of the world
0:40:05 > 0:40:07look at themselves.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12But Ronnie's response wasn't just a southern counterattack.
0:40:12 > 0:40:15He appeared to be supporting the old reactionary ways of the south,
0:40:15 > 0:40:18in particular the prejudiced George Wallace.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow
0:40:22 > 0:40:25and segregation forever.
0:40:25 > 0:40:27I tend not to think
0:40:27 > 0:40:33that Ronnie Van Zant was supporting segregation with this song,
0:40:33 > 0:40:37but liked this aspect of Wallace's demeanour
0:40:37 > 0:40:41in telling off Northerners and other elites
0:40:41 > 0:40:45that you have no right to come down here and tell us how to be.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48# In Birmingham they love the governor
0:40:48 > 0:40:50# Boo, boo, boo
0:40:50 > 0:40:53# Now we all did what we could do... #
0:40:56 > 0:41:01I'll never know if Ronnie liked George Wallace
0:41:01 > 0:41:05because the lyric could go either way.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08"In Birmingham they love the governor,
0:41:08 > 0:41:10"now we all did what we could do."
0:41:12 > 0:41:16What does that mean? Did we try and get rid of the governor?
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Or did we support the governor?
0:41:19 > 0:41:22You don't know what that lyric means.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27# Sweet home Alabama
0:41:27 > 0:41:30# Lord, I'm coming home to you. #
0:41:30 > 0:41:35There's something enduring to the myth and the spirit
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and the funk of Sweet Home Alabama
0:41:38 > 0:41:42that transcends national and international boundaries
0:41:42 > 0:41:44and everybody, no matter where they're from,
0:41:44 > 0:41:50can identify with this longing for home and the beauty of home.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54# Sweet home Alabama
0:41:54 > 0:42:00# Lord, I'm coming home to you
0:42:00 > 0:42:02# Sweet home Alabama. #
0:42:06 > 0:42:09Sweet Home Alabama, was a game-changer for the band
0:42:09 > 0:42:11and southern rock.
0:42:11 > 0:42:16The movement was now about to take centre stage in American life.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20# I never seen such a beautiful day
0:42:20 > 0:42:24# Looked like everything is coming my way
0:42:24 > 0:42:28# Feel like a bird just leaving a cage
0:42:28 > 0:42:33# Looked like my luck is getting ready to change. #
0:42:33 > 0:42:36The annual Capricorn Picnic was the high point of the year in Macon.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40It celebrated the triumphs of Phil Walden and Frank Fenter's
0:42:40 > 0:42:42Southern Rock label.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Me going there as a 17, 18-year-old kid, felt very special.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47I felt pretty privileged to be there.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50I saw and heard a good many things for the first time
0:42:50 > 0:42:52at those Capricorn Picnics.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58A bunch of beautiful people in a southern redneck town.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00OK? It was great.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05Food everywhere. Meat. Lots of barbecuing.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09Dancing, drinking, partying down.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17The party'd go on for two or three days,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19and the headaches would go on for weeks.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24It was the party of a lifetime, each year.
0:43:24 > 0:43:27You'd go to these things and you'd say,
0:43:27 > 0:43:29"Is that Andy Warhol over there?"
0:43:29 > 0:43:32"My God, there's Jimmy Carter over here."
0:43:32 > 0:43:34And so it was far-reaching,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37the influence Capricorn had on the world.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Jimmy Carter announced he was running for president
0:43:42 > 0:43:45at a Capricorn Picnic.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48He represented a brand-new kind of southern politician.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50He was not racist, he was liberal.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53As far as musical taste is concerned, how could he help it?
0:43:53 > 0:43:55That's where he was raised,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57that's where he came from, you know?
0:43:57 > 0:44:00He had to like Allman Brothers Band, he had to like Marshall Tucker Band.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03he had no choice. It was part of his heritage.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08The Allman Brothers and others have expressed in clear terms
0:44:08 > 0:44:11to the young people a basic philosophy, I think,
0:44:11 > 0:44:13of enlightenment, the search for peace,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16it's had a profound effect on the consciousness
0:44:16 > 0:44:19not only of young people but of old people like me.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26We raised a lot of money to help Jimmy Carter get elected.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29But at the same time it was helping two-fold.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31It was helping Jimmy Carter to do it,
0:44:31 > 0:44:35it was letting people know that the southern bands really weren't
0:44:35 > 0:44:39a bunch of redneck, "cut ya and shoot ya" kind of guys.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46For his 1976 campaign anthem,
0:44:46 > 0:44:49Jimmy Carter chose Charlie Daniels' hit single,
0:44:49 > 0:44:52The South's Going To Do It Again.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00The South, there we go again.
0:45:00 > 0:45:04It's like, we been kind of looked down on
0:45:04 > 0:45:07the last many years,
0:45:07 > 0:45:09but look at us now.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14# South's going to do it again and again... #
0:45:15 > 0:45:17As Carter hit the campaign trail, southern rock
0:45:17 > 0:45:21and the new South were becoming positively fashionable.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24You had people on Long Island dressing in cowboy hats,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28going to see Lynyrd Skynyrd with bandanas around their neck, wanting to be southern.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31After a long, long period where people didn't want
0:45:31 > 0:45:34to acknowledge that, you know, the South had anything to offer
0:45:34 > 0:45:36other than racists and rednecks, you know.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40Suddenly, all of America wants to be a redneck.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Hollywood, too, was now popularising the Deep South.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50'From Georgia to Texas and back, in 28 hours flat.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52'Now who would do a thing like that?'
0:45:52 > 0:45:54Ha!
0:45:59 > 0:46:02Lynyrd Skynyrd were now the huge international rock band
0:46:02 > 0:46:06they'd dreamed of becoming as teenagers in Jacksonville -
0:46:06 > 0:46:09living the high life and jetting from show to show.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14# Well, I've heard lots of people say they're going to settle down
0:46:14 > 0:46:17# You don't see their faces and they don't come around
0:46:17 > 0:46:22# Well, I'm not that way I got to move along
0:46:24 > 0:46:28# I like a drink and to dance all night... #
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I can't tell you how many millions of people looked up to Ronnie.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34I mean, there were millions of people, not just in the South,
0:46:34 > 0:46:37but in the north as well.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41He represented that street guy. The street guy that had to fight.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Street guy that knew the tough part of life.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51A track from their first album had now become a southern rock classic.
0:46:53 > 0:46:58There are songs, once in a while, that come along,
0:46:58 > 0:47:03that just transcend generations, just hits everybody right here.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08It just hits everybody in their music-loving heart.
0:47:08 > 0:47:13# If I leave here tomorrow
0:47:17 > 0:47:21# Would you still remember me? #
0:47:24 > 0:47:27Then when they hit that part, that instrumental part,
0:47:27 > 0:47:28you watch people.
0:47:28 > 0:47:31Unless you're catatonic, you can't stand still
0:47:31 > 0:47:36and listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd play the instrumental part of Free Bird.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41I, Jimmy Carter, do solemnly swear
0:48:41 > 0:48:45that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47With the support of southern rock bands,
0:48:47 > 0:48:50Jimmy Carter won the presidential election -
0:48:50 > 0:48:53the first man from the Deep South to do this
0:48:53 > 0:48:56since before the 19th century American Civil War.
0:48:56 > 0:48:58It was the pinnacle of the new South.
0:48:58 > 0:49:02We are one, we are united, we are family.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06And this is the spirit we want to see in the White House,
0:49:06 > 0:49:12and it's what will help heal all of these rifts that have been
0:49:12 > 0:49:14happening in the post-war period.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20But the southern rock fraternity wasn't so healthy.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23The Allman Brothers were splintering.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26The new freedoms as well as the pain of losing two band members
0:49:26 > 0:49:28played their part.
0:49:33 > 0:49:37Too much personal things going on.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Too much drugs.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42And the whole bit.
0:49:42 > 0:49:44I mean, you see it every day.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48It happened before us, and it still happens.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50It'll be happening when we're gone.
0:49:50 > 0:49:55All the pressures of what goes on in your life.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Stress, and all the rest of it.
0:50:04 > 0:50:08The blues ain't nothing but a good man feeling bad.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16All God's children got the blues.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28The Allman Brothers Band broke up in 1976.
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Lynyrd Skynyrd embarked on a major series of concerts in 1977
0:50:40 > 0:50:42to support the release of their new album.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47On the 20th October,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51the band's tour plane flew from South Carolina to Louisiana.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53MUSIC: "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
0:50:53 > 0:50:57They knew that the plane had engine problems,
0:50:57 > 0:50:59and yet they continued to fly.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02What I understand is, they fired the two experienced pilots
0:51:02 > 0:51:06and hired two young guys, and the young guys,
0:51:06 > 0:51:09when they realised they were running low on fuel,
0:51:09 > 0:51:11he went to swap to the reserve tank,
0:51:11 > 0:51:15and he hit the wrong lever and he flushed the gas tank.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18And so they gave out of gas on a damn airplane.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23# Listen closely to what I say
0:51:26 > 0:51:32# And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day... #
0:51:32 > 0:51:38I actually sat on the couch with Donnie and his mom and dad
0:51:38 > 0:51:40when the call came.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42I remember looking at my family,
0:51:42 > 0:51:43and, um...
0:51:45 > 0:51:47and I didn't even have to say a word to them.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49They knew by the look on my face. That it was bad.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52And, uh, that was...
0:51:54 > 0:51:56..that was tough.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06# Troubles will come and they will pass... #
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Three members of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in the crash.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14"Say it loud and let it ring that we're all part of everything
0:52:14 > 0:52:16"Present, future and the past
0:52:16 > 0:52:19"Fly on, proud bird you're free at last."
0:52:19 > 0:52:21And that was it. After I'd got that done,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24it was kind of a catharsis for me, I felt like I've done all I can do.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26Couldn't do anything else.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29And I took it and I read it at Ronnie's funeral.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34# Oh, be something
0:52:34 > 0:52:37# You love and understand
0:52:37 > 0:52:41# Baby, be a simple
0:52:41 > 0:52:43# Kind of man... #
0:52:46 > 0:52:51The southern gothic tale had, it had reached epic proportions.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55It seemed that nothing else could happen.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And indeed, you know, it kind of began to die. It went corporate.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02Everything kind of changed after 1977.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06As a result, Donnie Van Zant and Larry Junstrom decided their band,
0:53:06 > 0:53:1138 Special, should embrace a more mainstream, less southern sound.
0:53:11 > 0:53:15We started writing with outside songwriters, not just ourselves.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17You know, and started really paying attention
0:53:17 > 0:53:20to what was happening with radio, you know.
0:53:20 > 0:53:23And then we put Rockin' Into The Night out
0:53:23 > 0:53:27and we had a top 40 single with Rockin' Into The Night,
0:53:27 > 0:53:29which opened the door completely out for 38 Special.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34By the late '70s,
0:53:34 > 0:53:38Phil Walden's mighty Capricorn Records was in serious trouble.
0:53:40 > 0:53:42They signed with Polydor,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46who made it too easy for Phil to get a lot of money.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48It's like, call up the record company,
0:53:48 > 0:53:50request a million dollars and you get it.
0:53:50 > 0:53:54At this particular time my brother was doing a lot of cocaine,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58and it became, "Let's get another million dollars!"
0:53:58 > 0:54:00And the next thing you know,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03he owes Polydor 14 million or something like that.
0:54:03 > 0:54:06They probably said they wanted some of their money,
0:54:06 > 0:54:11because it was becoming a routine that he was calling, asking for more money.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14And they went to put him out of business for it.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18Capricorn Records folded in 1979.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23When the doors were closing,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26it felt as if it was the nicest club that you've ever been to
0:54:26 > 0:54:30every night of your life and had the coldest beer,
0:54:30 > 0:54:32and the nicest looking women,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36and that door closed, and you'd never be able to go back there again.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42MUSIC "Please Be With Me" by Allman Brothers Band
0:54:42 > 0:54:45# So won't you please read my signs be a gypsy
0:54:45 > 0:54:51# Tell me what I hope to find deep within me
0:54:53 > 0:54:58# And because you can't find my mind
0:54:58 > 0:55:01# Please be with me... #
0:55:01 > 0:55:04The golden age of southern rock died
0:55:04 > 0:55:06with the fading Carter administration.
0:55:08 > 0:55:12That whole political thing is just, I mean,
0:55:12 > 0:55:16there doesn't seem to be any truth in there at all.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18Start to finish.
0:55:19 > 0:55:22I mean, it's all, you know,
0:55:22 > 0:55:27"I'll kiss your ass until I get elected, then you can kiss mine."
0:55:27 > 0:55:32In 1980, Ronald Reagan beat Carter by a huge majority.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38MUSIC: "Statesboro Blues" by Allman Brothers Band
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Southern rock made the South
0:55:48 > 0:55:52vibrant and alive after the darkness of the Civil Rights era.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55Lynyrd Skynyrd and others that followed
0:55:55 > 0:55:57took the sounds of the South to the world.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03It all began with the energy and vision of Duane Allman and his band.
0:56:05 > 0:56:09I don't care what colour you are or what creed you are,
0:56:09 > 0:56:14if you hear Duane Allman play the opening bars on Statesboro Blues...
0:56:14 > 0:56:18And maybe that's not your music, maybe you like Beethoven.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21I like Beethoven, you know. But if you listen to that,
0:56:21 > 0:56:25and that don't move you, you don't need to be listening to music.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28You know, you need to be doing something else.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30Go play golf or something.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34If that don't touch you, there's something wrong with your heart.
0:56:37 > 0:56:40# I woke up this morning I had them Statesboro blues
0:56:44 > 0:56:49# I woke up this morning I had them Statesboro blues
0:56:51 > 0:56:54# Well, I looked over in the corner, baby
0:56:54 > 0:56:56# And Grandpa seemed to have them too... #
0:57:02 > 0:57:05# Well, now, you want me to be your only man
0:57:05 > 0:57:08# Said, listen up, Mama teach you all I can
0:57:08 > 0:57:10# Do right, baby, by your man
0:57:10 > 0:57:13# Don't worry, Mama teach you all I can
0:57:13 > 0:57:15# Say I know a little
0:57:15 > 0:57:17# Lord, I know a little 'bout it
0:57:17 > 0:57:20# I know a little
0:57:20 > 0:57:21# I know a little 'bout it
0:57:22 > 0:57:25# I know a little 'bout love
0:57:25 > 0:57:28# Baby, I can guess the rest. #