There's not even a whisker in sight! Nice ties, too. What year was this taken?

1966, maybe? Gregg graduated in '65 and the Allman Joys broke up in early '67.
The guy next to Gregg is Bill Connell, the drummer. He was from Tuscaloosa. They were working quite a bit in Alabama by then.

Who's the blond in the middle? She's hot.

The blond's a slut. Don't go there.

Man, Duane sure did have a thing for wild shirts. I'm assuming this was another of his vices along with motorcycles and pharmaceuticals.

I'm not sure if this is politically correct, but, Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all, especially you, Donnah.

Yes, he did. I think I can track him through the years by what shirt he was wearing.

There's no PC police here, Willard. A Merry Christmas to you and yours.

WOW! Would you look at that! I saw the boys as the Allman Joys at the
Orange Wedge in Daytona Beach in 1965. I never got to see them after
that as the Allman Brothers or before Duane got killed again. I've seen
Greg several times in his other incarnations but there's nothing like the
old days. I remember them well. Thanks for the picture and the
memories!

Tell us about seeing them, if you would, Kathleen. We'd all like to hear.

As a true Florida cracker and as someone who was a singer in the 1960's
in a folk trio called The Portions of Tyme in the Tampa area, I've
seen lots of old Florida groups. The Allman Joys were one of the first
and they lived in Daytona Beach right down the street from my cousin.
Their mother still lives in the same house. I saw Greg in the hotel
where I sold jewelry in 1979 and have seen him as Greg Allman and
friends several times. I know the singer from the Nightcrawlers who
recorded Little Black Egg back in the day and he and I were talking the
other night about the Allman's and all of their ups and downs. He's
know Dickie Betz for years. We both have no regrets about giving up the
music business and wish that the Allman's lives could have been better.
When I saw Gregg in 2001 here in Melbourne at the King Center, he
seemed more lucid than in times past and actually spoke to the audience
instead of his usual claming up. It was a great show!

Thanks, Kathleen. Do you remember anything about Duane at the show?
We're Duane fans. Gregg only exists for me to mock, and he gives me lots of excellent material.

It seems like a lot of the Daytona guys consider themselves truly blessed to have dropped out of that scene. Good for them.

Chuck Conlon, right? Such a strange song that was.

Yes...that was a strange song! Nowadays people have lots of theories
about the underlying meaning of the words. He says they just wrote it
to rhyme...not to mean anything. It's kind of funny since that was such
a simpler time.

As far as remembering Duane at the Orange Wedge goes I don't. I just
remember them as being a great group back then and that Duane was a
great guitarist. Of course I remember all of their music as the Allman
Brothers and how good it was in the early days. Duane....what a waste
of a life and such a strange death. It's very sad.

I have to say I don't mock Gregg. He's had a lot of problems and yet
he's very talented. He plays the Hammond B3 with greatness. It was so
good to see that organ with the Leslie cabinet and to know that it's
still going strong. I sat on the side of the stage where he was on the
4th row so I could see his feet and hands perfectly. It takes a lot of
coordination to play an organ. I also play keyboard so I know how hard
it can be! He is a strange person but he always has been. I think he's
basically always lived in Duane's shadow and his self esteem has
suffered. Thus the need for lots of therapy and rehab!

I met a guy named Ed Freeman in Tampa back in 1965 who later wrote a
song on the Laid Back album which is one of my favorites. Ed performed
at a coffee house called the Eighteen String Coffee House and Music
Emporium Incorporated where we played almost every weekend for a few
years. I don't thing Ed and Gregg ever actually met so I find it
interesting.

Sorry for rambling on so long!