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In the genre of Southern Rock, there’s no way that conversation happens without the Allman Brothers Band being mentioned as one of the giants against whom all others are compared.

This is why Duane Allman’s tragic death in a motorcycle accident in Georgia on this date in 1971 hit the music industry particularly hard just as the Allman Brothers Band was hitting their stride as the epitome of what Southern Rock meant.

There would be plenty of others through the years that would carry on Duane’s legacy (some of whom would also suffer tragic accidents that would decimate the band such as the plane crash involving Lynyrd Skynyrd) and the Allman Brothers themselves would endure a couple of breakups before reforming in the 1990s and touring heavily.

They’ve had so many wonderful tracks through the years and petrolheads would certainly recognise the Dickey Betts tune “Jessica” as the theme used in the BBC’s “Top Gear” even if they wouldn’t immediately think of an Allman Brothers tune becoming one of the most recognisable songs in the UK!

One thing I’ve come to love about picking these themes is the occasional bits of trivia that I learn about the musicians and the music along the way. I can see why my cousin Courtney is seriously enamoured by her studies in musicology because sometimes the journey is just as fascinating as the music.

Such was the case when doing the research for this theme when I stumbled across a factoid I’d never known before…Duane and Gregg Allman grew up in the Daytona Beach area, something I can certainly relate to having lived just south of there in Port Orange for two years before heading off to study at UCF. 🙂

Game 1 Warm-Ups

Post-Game

You might be wondering why “Jessica” appears twice…

Well, as a bit of a petrolhead and fan of Top Gear when it had Clarkson, Hammond, and May…it seemed like a decent tune to play whilst finishing up the paperwork.

Then there was the discovery of the sacrilege that the volume had been turned down as “Jessica” was playing whilst I was off on the journey to the cupboard beyond the other rink to retrieve the puck bag for the game.

Well, we’ll just see about that eh? 😉