Today, New York Times Best-Selling Author Alan Paul, known for his explorations of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s life and the oral history of The Allman Brothers Band, announced he will release a new book on The Allman Brothers Band titled BROTHERS AND SISTERS: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the 70s. The book will see Paul dive deep into the time just before and immediately after their 1973 album Brothers and Sisters, which sold over seven million copies–their best-selling ever–and had a profound influence culturally and musically for generations.
The book is set to be released via St. Martin’s Press on July 25, 2023, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the seminal album. Paul plans to share an analysis of the making of the LP while presenting the cultural air of the era based on first-person interviews, deep research, historical documents and a cache of never-before-heard interviews conducted by the band’s “Tour Mystic,” Kirk West.
Of the contributions from West, Paul said, “Kirk was researching a book while the band was broken up in 1986 and 1987, and he interviewed all the surviving members extensively: Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe and Butch Trucks, as well as many other friends and associates. The subjects were talking to someone they deeply trusted, the band was twice broken up with no plans to reunite, and everyone was bracingly honest and deeply reflective and insightful. The interviews were an absolute gold mine, most of which not even Kirk had ever listened to. I am thrilled to get them out to fans of the band. I can’t wait to share this book and start talking about it!”
Paul’s expedition into the era was encouraged by the group’s impact on the country’s culture at the time: Playing a major role in electing President Jimmy Carter; linking with the Grateful Dead; inspiring Lynyrd Skynyrd, the Marshall Tucker Band and the Southern Rock Genre; the media’s unprecedented reaction Gregg Allman’s marriage to Cher; and the band’s links to Bob Dylan, Susan Sarandon and Native American activists.
“I had to convince myself that it made sense to write a second book about the Allman Brothers Band, but I knew that there was a lot more to say about them and about their impact on America beyond music,” Paul shared with Relix. “The era that was the most crucial yet most under-explored was the time before and after Brothers and Sisters, an album recorded and released in 1973, and as I began researching the time period, I grew ever more excited about the project.”
Paul continued to explain his reasoning for writing the new work, saying, “Brothers and Sisters became the Allman Brothers Band’s first true hit, pushing them to superstardom beyond their devoted circle of hardcore fans as they rose above being America’s great rock bands to become a national institution. Behind the album and its era was a larger story of America. It was also tremendously interesting and fun to dig deeply into the band’s relationship with the Grateful Dead and start figuring out why it abruptly ended after they pulled off the country’s biggest-ever rock festival together, drawing 600,000 people to Watkins Glen, New York.”
Brothers and Sisters covers Watkin Glen’s concert extensively through several chapters – the iconic gathering will celebrate its own 50th anniversary the week of the book’s release. According to a press release, BROTHERS AND SISTERS: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the 70s will be the deepest reporting and writing about the bond between The Allman Brothers Band and the Grateful Dead and what drove them apart to date. It will also include chapters on the making of Gregg Allman’s Laid Back and Dickey Betts’ Highway Call, solo debuts that have been largely overlooked. Fascinatingly enough, Paul will also explore the inside story behind Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous, which was based on his experiences touring with The Allman Brothers Band.
The release of BROTHERS AND SISTERS: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the 70s will be celebrated with star-studded musical events in Atlanta and New York City. More details on the celebratory events are expected to be shared soon.
