PLEASE BE WITH ME: A SONG FOR MY FATHER: DUANE ALLMAN

PLEASE BE WITH ME                              GALADRIELLE ALLMAN
Posted:  April 28, 2014

  A deeply personal, revealing, and lyrical portrait of Duane Allman, founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band, written by his daughter

Galadrielle Allman went to her first concert as an infant in diapers, held in her teenage mother’s arms. Playing was her father—Duane Allman, who would become one of the most influential and sought-after musicians of his time. Just a few short years into his remarkable career, he was killed in a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty-four. His daughter was two years old.
Galadrielle was raised in the shadow of his loss and his fame. Her mother sought solace in a bohemian life. Friends and family found it too painful to talk about Duane. Galadrielle listened intently to his music, read articles about him, steeped herself in the mythic stories, and yet the spotlight rendered him too simple and too perfect to know. She felt a strange kinship to the fans who longed for him, but she needed to know more. It took her many years to accept that his life and his legacy were hers, and when she did, she began to ask for stories—from family, fellow musicians, friends—and they began to flow. 
Galadrielle Allman’s memoir is at once a rapturous, riveting, and intimate account of one of the greatest guitar prodigies of all time, the story of the birth of a band that redefined the American musical landscape, and a tender inquiry of a daughter searching for her father in the memories of others.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is more than just a book about a fantastic musician. It is also a daughter trying to find something out about a father that she never knew. She is able to talk to people who had either known her father or worked with her father and because some of the people still knew her they shared stories with her. She was also able to talk to her grandmother who gave her some insight into his personality. She also just slightly talks about the following that her father and the Allmans Bros band still have and the connection people fell to the music. They were probably first bigger as a touring band or concert. Their first few records were not big sellers. But there shows were all sold out. The groups that played with them for the part enjoyed it. Some of the artists that had recorded with him she said spoke like they had just seen each other and yet they had not worked together since the mid-60s. For me this was a great book I still enjoy his music and now knowing a little more of the story makes it even better. I don’t think you need to be a fan to enjoy this book I think anyone who has lost a parent can relate to her wanting to know more about the father she never knew except through music. I got this book from net galley.