| Claude "Butch" Trucks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Claude Hudson Trucks |
| Also known as | Butch Trucks |
| Born | May 11, 1947 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock, Southern rock |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1964–present |
| Labels | Flying Frog Records |
| Associated acts | The Allman Brothers Band |
Claude Hudson "Butch" Trucks (born May 11, 1947 in Jacksonville, Florida) is an American drummer who is one of the founding members of The Allman Brothers Band.
One of Trucks' first bands was local Jacksonville band The Vikings, who made one 7-inch record in 1964. Another early band was The 31 February which formed and broke up in 1968. This group's lineup eventually included both Duane Allman and Gregg Allman. They recorded a cover of "Morning Dew", by 1960s folk singer Bonnie Dobson.
Trucks then helped form The Allman Brothers Band in 1969, along with Duane Allman (guitar), Gregg Allman (vocals and organ), Dickey Betts (guitar), Berry Oakley (bass), and fellow drummer Jai Johanny Johanson.
Along with that band's pioneering twin lead guitars and White blues vocalist, its twin drummers set a standard for rhythmic drive and complexity unheard in rock music. Trucks laid down a powerful conventional beat while the jazz-influenced Johanson added a second laminate of percussion and ad libitum cymbal flourishes, seamlessly melded into one syncopated sound. Many[who?] credit Trucks' relentless drive and energy as the backbone of a band which often employs its bass as a de facto third lead guitar.
Said founding member and co-lead guitarist Dickey Betts of Trucks' addition to the original band lineup, "...When Butch came along, he had that freight train, meat-and-potatoes kind of thing that set Jaimoe up perfectly. He had the power thing we needed."[1]
Trucks continues to record and perform with the Allman Brothers Band today, keeping a determined visual lock on certain members not only to set the beat but prod them on to greater virtuosity.[citation needed]
Trucks has had a long interest in philosophy and literature; in 2005 he published a letter in the New York Times Book Review criticizing a review of a decades-old article about the band in which the members were made to look like uneducated characters from a William Faulkner novel. [2]
His nephew, guitarist Derek Trucks, is the frontman and bandleader of The Derek Trucks Band and joined the Allman Brothers Band in 1999. His oldest son, guitarist Vaylor Trucks, is part of a trio called Bonobos Convergence based in Atlanta. He is also the nephew of MLB pitcher Virgil Trucks.
Trucks currently lives with his wife in Florida.
References
- ^ http://www.dickeybetts.com/print.php?sid=181 Dickey Betts remembers Duane Allman
- ^ Wednesday's Duane Allman pic (May 11, 2005), Blog article for Florida Cracker (accessed April 12, 2006
External links
- Flying Frog Records Butch Trucks' jamband label
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