Remembering BUTCH TRUCKS on his birthday (video)

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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. Trucks was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He played in various groups before forming the 31st of February while at Florida State University 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 reformed various times, Trucks remained a constant in their 45-year career.

One of Trucks' first bands was local Jacksonville band The Vikings, who made one 7-inch record in 1964. Another early band was The 31st of February which formed and broke up in 1968. This group's lineup eventually included both Duane Allman and Gregg Allman. They recorded a cover of "Morning Dew", by 1960s folk singer Bonnie Dobson.

Trucks then helped form The Allman Brothers Band in 1969, along with Duane Allman (guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals and organ), Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and fellow drummer Jai Johanny Johanson.

Together, the two drummers developed a rhythmic drive that would prove crucial to the band. Trucks laid down a powerful conventional beat while the jazz-influenced Johanson added a second laminate of percussion and ad libitum cymbal flourishes, seamlessly melded into one syncopated sound.

Said founding member and co-lead guitarist Dickey Betts of Trucks' addition to the original band lineup, "...When Butch came along, he had that freight train, meat-and-potatoes kind of thing that set Jaimoe up perfectly. He had the power thing we needed."

Along with band members Gregg Allman, Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson, and Dickey Betts, Butch Trucks is named as plaintiff in a lawsuit against UMG Recordings. The suit, initiated in 2008, seeks $10 million over royalties from CD sales and digital downloads services such as Apple's iTunes. Trucks sees the license given to users for downloads as legally unsound. Butch actually embraces Internet technology for the group and planned to use Moogis.com (Moogis is now defunct) to make the Web a real venue for the Allman Brothers and other jam bands.

His nephew, guitarist Derek Trucks, is the frontman and bandleader of The Derek Trucks Band and joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1999. His oldest son, guitarist Vaylor Trucks, is part of a trio called The Yeti Trio based in Atlanta. He was also the nephew of MLB pitcher Virgil Trucks.

source: wikipedia

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