Andrea
The drummer is the most important member of any band. You can typically find a group missing one of its members, but you won’t often find a band without a drummer.
And this affirms exactly what Butch Trucks and Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson were to the Allman Brothers Band. They were the first members in the group working on different projects since its inception, and they became inseparable ever since then.
One thing that always defined this band was the energy which came from the drumming. A drummer’s power begins with his ability to invent new ideas.
Each of these drummers had their share of incredible styles they would come up with during a performance. But what fascinated many listeners was their ability to work in harmony as if they had been practicing the songs for a long time.
They always practiced together, and sometimes their new music was even established during their practice. For this reason, they learned to examine each other’s minds and build a harmonious, inseparable bond. “Whenever they got on stage, you would think there was only a very powerful drummer handling all the pressure,” one fan said after one of their shows.
When it came to keeping time and rhythm, the band was known for its precision. To many, this was a huge surprise, since there were two different drummers keeping time for the band.
Many drummers prefer using a metronome, but Butch and Jaimoe had their own secret metronome in their heads. It came from one and flowed through the other, ensuring every rule had been kept.
There is nothing that would compare to the thunderous sounds that came from two incredible drummers. Butch’s drumming alone was powerful enough to make any audience explode.
Jaimoe, on the other hand, had a background as a sixties soul drummer who was featured in the same genre as Otis Redding. He meshed incredibly well with Truck’s bluesy, rock-steady pulse which gave him the ability to create syncopated beats all on his own.
With this combination, there wasn’t much the two drummers wouldn’t accomplish together. They had will to grow together as musicians, and they had pure friendship.
In 1974, the duo approached Elvis Jones with the intention of taking lessons from him. The jazz legend had already made a name for himself, and his work was making so many souls happy throughout the globe. Comically, when he saw the two, he turned them down, saying he knew who they were, and there was nothing left to teach them. That is quite some high praise from such a legendary drummer.
Elvis had seen a lot of their work and knew they were already a force to reckon with. And when a legend speaks that highly of you, you have every reason to carry your head high.
