Skydog -- The Movie

Duane Allman died on October 29th, 1971 at the ripe old age of 24. Despite Skydog’s short time on this earth, Rolling Stone Magazine would later list him as one of the greatest rock and roll guitar players of all time, second only to Jimi Hendrix.

Even though I grew up within walking distance of the Canadian border, it was difficult to go very long without hearing the South’s greatest band, the Allman Brothers blasting out of every older kids’ eight tracks inside their muscle cars. Unfortunately, I did not purchase my own copy of the classic Eat A Peach album until I reached adulthood. And, not unlike Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew, it would take me another dozen years or so of listening to it before I fully appreciated it.

Today, I can not listen to this without wondering how different today’s American music would be if we had had a few more decades of Duane’s influence.

There is an interesting twist to the final chapter of Duane Allman’s story. Duane Allman died in a motorcycle accident, crashing into the back end of a truck. Legend has it that the name of the album containing his final contributions, Eat A Peach, was derived from the crash. Supposedly the back end of the truck that ended Duane’s life was carrying peaches. Cool story...if it were true. Actually, according to snopes.com, the name came from a quote Duane made when asked by a magazine interviewer, what he was doing to help the revolution. His answer, “...every time I am in Georgia, I eat a peach for peace.”

Considering his father was murdered when he was a child, the adventures he must of had growing up with little brother Gregg, the incredible people he did session work with, his meteoric rise to fame, and the final, tragic crash that ended it all -- this legend’s short life would be great material for a movie.